It has been a minute since my last post. In that time lots have happened. Disney is both raising prices and giving discounts. I think they could have garnered more good will if they just lowered prices. Grandma and I are getting ready for our May trip. Epic Universe is having a soft open. Tourism is down over all. Don’t have to tell you why. So where to begin? This post is going to be a little free form so bear with me!

Raising and Lowering Prices

Tom Bricker in the Disney Tourist Blog has a great write up of the ticket prices for 2026. In his article, 2026 Ticket Price Increases at Disney World he has the following comparisons:

Here are the existing single-day ticket price ranges for January through October 2025:

• Animal Kingdom: $119 to $169
• EPCOT: $129 to $179
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $139 to $184
• Magic Kingdom: $139 to $189

Here are the new single-day ticket price ranges for January through October 2026:

• Animal Kingdom: $119 to $179
• EPCOT: $129 to $194
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $139 to $199
• Magic Kingdom: $139 to $199

credit Disney Tourist Blog

So the single day prices are increasing when compared to the same time frame in 2025. As Tom noted, some sites are comparing these new prices to November – December pricing, which is always higher. Another factor is the cost of Lightening Lane passes. These are always going up. With variable pricing makes it harder to tell by how much. Granted Lightening Lane passes are optional, but many people feel that it is a necessary expense.

Tom makes a great observation, Disney follows Kohl’s department store model of pricing and discounts. This model states that the discounts look better if you raise the list price. If you ever been to Kohl’s you will see what me means. No one ever pays the list price at Kohl’s. There is always a discount. This is human psychology in action. You feel better when you get a “deal”. Already Disney has announced several incentives such as Disney Dining, Kids Eat Free, and some resort discounts. There are also special pricing on theme park tickets. All designed to make you feel better.

As usual it really pays to look around for ticket deals. The Walt Disney World web site is one source. I look at Get Away Today to see what discounts are currently being offered.  

We are Disney Vacation Club members. Grandma and I are also annual pass holders. So, we are a little insulated from theme park and resort price increases. However, all prices are going up from food to merchandise. These costs can be mitigated by making sure you use all available discounts. For instance DVC and annual pass holders get discounts on food and merchandise. When we go with the family, I make sure everyone takes advantage of our memberships. You can also find discounts on Disney Gift cards. Sam’s Club was offering $100 gift cards at a discount. This is an instant savings for your trip. Plan smart, look around and be diligent. Be a coupon clipper and it help make the vacation a little (or a lot) less expensive.

So what is a coupon clipper? Back when the family was young, Grandma and I had a pretty tight budget. Grocery stores and manufacturers would print coupons in the newspaper ads. We had some stores that would double face value on the coupons on historically slow days like Tuesdays. Every weekend, we would go through all the newspapers. We would sit around the table and clip the paper coupons for the weekly trip to the grocery store. Now days coupons are electronic. Convenient, but I kinda miss the family time of sorting and clipping coupons.

Epic Universe

Now to the Elephant in the room; Epic Universe opens to the general public on May 22. However, it has been holding a soft opening for several weeks. Universal has also announced extending this soft opening period until May 19. This park looks amazing. Its construction has been chronicled by the areal photographer BioReconstruct. His work is amazing. You can find it published on this Youtube Channel: bioreconstruct. Really worth watching.

Do I think Epic Universe will have an impact? Absolutely! As witnessed by, all the Disney blogs having first hand articles on the new theme park. It is almost like the old days when TV shows would be interrupted: We Interrupt this program for breaking news!. One article I especially like was from the Disney Food Blog. It is a great overview. The buzz and excitement is there. The official word from Disney is that Epic is an answer to all the work that has been put into WDW. This maybe true. However, from the looks of it, it is real first class competition. It raises the bar pretty high.

Granted, Universal has more thrill rides than Disney. Disney has thrill rides, sure, but it also has a many family friendly rides. Disney theme parks have always been more than just the rides. Theming and immersion are the hallmark of Disney parks. You get to suspend reality and be immersed in Disney story telling. It is all part of the magic. Universal was never like that for us. It was more the rides rather than the themes. It worked for them. Epic Universe changes that. Each land is intricately themed. You enter through Portals which reinforces the illusion. From what I have seen, Universal may have just out Disneyed Disney.

Grandma and I are great horror fans. We especially love the old Universal Monster movies. You know the Black and White ones! So the Dark Universe is very high on our list of must do’s for our November trip. We will be reporting on this when we return. Hear that Disney! Better get Villain’s land up and running soon!

Wrapping Up

Grandma and I are putting the finishing touches on our Summer get away. We will be spending our Anniversary at Disney. Pretty fitting if you ask me. Our time together has been magical and what better place to celebrate but the Magical Place itself! We have never done a Summer trip before and as I explained before, we are not big summertime heat fans. A trip report will be coming when we return. We will explain how we beat the heat and survived!

Until Next Time