Disney hikes prices again as new ticketing platform is introduced.
Walt Disney World has announced a new era for ticketing as the resort has introduced a new platform for ticket purchases and prices that vary from day to day. The new online platform features an interactive calendar that indicates the ticket prices based on date and visitors now have the ability to check out the admission cost for every day through the end of December 2019.
Disney has also raised the price of parking and annual passes on the same day a new date-based ticket system was launched.
Parking at theme parks has gone up by $3 per day to $25 per day while preferred parking is now $50 per day, up from $45. Oversized vehicles will now pay $30, up from $27.
“Guests pay one fee for a parking pass good all day at all 4 theme parks—Magic Kingdom park, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park,” Disney’s website says.
The prices on most annual passes have now risen anywhere from approximately three to nine percent, depending on which pass is purchased and the announcement marks the second rate hike this year, with a recent price increase announced in February.
Disney’s Platinum Plus pass is now $849, up 2.4 percent from $829; the Platinum Pass is now $749, up 2.7 percent from $729; the Gold Pass is now $609, up 3.4 percent from $589; and the Silver Pass is now $479, a 9.1 percent increase up from $439. The Florida Resident Theme Park Select Pass stays at $439, with weekend restrictions for select parks that includes no Saturday admittance to the Magic Kingdom and no weekend admittance to Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival. The Weekday Select Pass is now $319, up 10.4 percent from $289, and it restricts visitors to a Monday-through-Friday access only.
The Epcot After 4 Pass jumped $10, from $279 to $289, a 3.5 percent increase, and Water Parks After 2 rose from $75 to $79, an increase of 5.3 percent.
Disney says, depending on the day, ticket prices will have gone up, down or stayed the same. But there continue to be many factors that play into the final cost, including length of stay, Florida residency and park-hopping abilities.
For example, a guest purchasing a 3-day ticket with a start date of Feb. 10, 2019 will now actually pay $4 less per day than they would have before. A guest purchasing a 6-day ticket with a start date of this Thanksgiving will now pay a little more – an average of $5 per day – since it’s one of the most popular times of year to visit.
The new process is available at disneyworld.com, and tickets can still be purchased over the phone, at the theme parks’ front gates and elsewhere.
Generally speaking, individual-day prices are higher on weekends than on weekdays, but the costs rise for holiday periods such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, which traditionally have been heavy traffic times at the theme parks.
Disney says the pricing changes are “part of our broader efforts to better spread attendance throughout the year, and is intended to help us improve and deliver a great experience for our guests.”
Bottom line, Disney continues to discourage guests staying off property and it remains to be seen whether these increases will have any effect on the lines for the rides at the attraction parks.
