Disney is raising prices on various entry passes, add-ons and parking at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the company told Forbes Wednesday—as the company invests $60 billion into its parks division and takes heavy losses in its transition from linear television to streaming.
The Disneyland California Adventure park shown here on February 4, 2012 in Anaheim, California.
At Disneyland in California, the lowest-tier single-day ticket will remain $104, but the highest tier tickets are rising in price to as much as $194, a roughly 8% increase, the company said.
Disneyland raised the prices on multi-day tickets too, with the two-day passes rising nearly 9% to $310 and the five-day passes rising nearly 16% to $480.
The yearlong “Magic Key Pass” is increasing in price around 3% to $1,649 for the highest tier and around 11% to $499 for the lowest tier.
The company also raised prices for a number of add-ons: Disneyland’s “Genie+,” which gives visitors access to shorter lines, is increasing 20% to $30 per person, and the five-day “Park Hopper,” which allows visitors travel back and forth between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park on the same day, is increasing by 25% to $75.
In Florida, Walt Disney World’s single-day entry passes—which start at over $100—have not changed price, but the annual pass has increased about 3% to $1,449 for the highest tier and 10% to $439 for the lowest.
The cost of parking has gone up $5 at both parks, with standard car parking now costing $35 at Disneyland and $30 at Walt Disney World.
In September, Disney announced in a securities filing that it plans to invest roughly $60 billion in its parks division over the next decade, including the international parks and the Disney Cruise Line. That’s double what the company spent on its parks over the previous decade. CEO Bob Iger described the parks division as “a key growth engine” on an earnings-related conference call in August.
The starting price for the single-day, single-park ticket at Disneyland in California hasn’t changed since 2019, according to local news channel ABC7. At that point, the lowest price rose from $97 to $104 while adult tickets for the most popular and expensive days rose in price from $135 to $149, CNN reported at the time. The four amusement parks that collectively make up Walt Disney World in Florida, on the other hand, saw a price increase as recently as December. Those price hikes brought Animal Kingdom to $109-$159, EPCOT to $114-$179, Hollywood Studios to $124-$179 and Magic Kingdom to $124-$189, with each park depending on what tier a visitor purchases, USA Today reported. Some other Disney World price hikes—including charging for once-free perks—took place under ousted former CEO Bob Chapek and were reversed by Iger, who returned to the CEO role in November after a years-long hiatus and admitted the price increases were “too aggressive.”
The entertainment behemoth has been struggling in other divisions, specifically with the transition from linear television to streaming. In a CNBC interview in July, Iger called the linear television business model “definitely broken” and suggested Disney might sell off some assets. In September, reports revealed that Disney began early discussions to sell many of those television assets, including ABC, to local broadcaster Nexstar Media. Meanwhile, streaming, the emerging technology set to replace linear television, hasn’t produced the revenue Disney hopes for. In August, the company reported it had lost $3.7 billion from its streaming services in the 12-month period ending June 30, including flagship Disney+ as well as ESPN+ and Hulu.
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