Well gentle readers, Disney’s fiscal year is coming to a close. This usually means all kinds of announcements. Most of them bad news for us pinched consumers. We can always expect price increases this time of year and this year was sadly no exception. As with Disney’s custom, bad news was tempered with good. They walk a fine line between succumbing to infinite corporate greed and serving the best interests of their guests. I think they have failed this time. Read on for details and why I think things may be about to change.

Past Predicts Future

I have written before about how expensive a Disney vacation can be. Every year there price increases on everything from lodging to dining. Some years it seems they hit dining hard, others lodging and theme park tickets. This year they did things a bit different. What increased? You may be surprised.

Park Tickets

Walt Disney World park tickets did not change all that much. The Disney brass wants us to believe that ticket prices are holding steady until October 2026. This is sorta true. Disney employs tiered pricing. That is the price you pay is subject to demand. You pay more for busier times. For example:

• EPCOT: $129-$194  
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $139-$194  
• Magic Kingdom: $139-$199 

Now Disney stated that the top and bottom prices won’t change. However, the middle tiers, the most common, will be increasing by an average of $5. Which does not sound like much, but as with all things there is more to the story. Disney controls the tier system. Both the number of tiers and when each tier is in effect. it is a real shell game. They can technically claim that prices are not increasing on the lowest or highest tier, then severely cut the number of days these tiers are in effect.

They play this game very well and in fact have sophisticated crowd modeling to predict how to maximize profit based on projected changes to pricing. Why would they not? Disney is a for profit corporation. They do have a duty to their shareholders, Right?

Yes they do. However the top brass keeps getting huge paydays and pension packages. If these increases were held in check, then the share holders would still be served, without gouging their guests. Case in point here are the CEO-Median salary ratios:

• Michael Eisner 2005 — 187:1
• Bob Iger 2023 595:1

Hmm seems like the CEO has done much better than his minions. As my Grandmother used to say “I Don’t mind a man making a living, I just don’t like him making it all in one place!” Make no mistake, we are the place.

Annual Passes

Following suite to Park Ticket increases, the price for annual passes has also increased.

• Incredi-Pass: $1,629 (previously $1,549)
• Sorcerer Pass: $1,099 (previously $1,079)
• Pirate Pass: $869 (previously $829)
• Pixie Pass: $489 (previously $469)

These increases also effect Disneyland Magic Keys:

• Inspire Magic Key: $1,899 (previously $1,749)
• Believe Magic Key: $1,474 (previously $1,374)
• Enchant Magic Key: $974 (previously $974)
• Imagine Magic Key: $599 (previously $599)

Full disclosure Grandma and I are Walt Disney World Annual Pass holders. We are also DVC and qualify for the Sorcerer Pass. We find it a pretty good value as we make multiple trips a year and it covers all 4 parks. We are not, and probably never will be Magic Key Holders. They are much more expensive and only cover 2 parks. We just don’t go enough to make it worth while.

Lightening Lane

The next place where your pocket book will take a hit is with the line skipping offerings the Lightening Lane family. Lightening Lane Multi Pass pricing is variable, depending on “demand”. Here is the peak pricing for all 4 parks:

• Magic Kingdom: $45 per person (previously $35)
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $39 per person (previously $35)
• EPCOT: $37 per person (previously $32)
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $35 per person (previously $29)

Following suite Lightening Lane Single Pass is also seeing increases.

Disney is seeing a drop off of Lightening Lane utilization at Walt Disney World. Not a real surprise to me as I find it an expensive add on that just does not justify its cost. I have posted before on why LLMP is not for me, so I will not rehash it here.

Food and Drink

As with past years Food and Drink pricing has also increased. I do not have the space to cover all the food items, but for instance our favorite QS is the Beer-battered Fish and Chip at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop. This is seeing an increase from $13.49 to $14.49. You can expect most menu items to go up from $1 to $2. Again not that much compared to other years. So that is sort of good news.

Grandpa’s Take

Ok Price increases are inevitable. The fundamental cost of doing business is going up. This includes wholesale pricing, wages, insurance, utilities, taxes, etc. Companies pass these increases on to their customers that’s a given. Many companies do use this as an excuse to cut services, offerings and maintenance in the name of saving the consumer money. While, in fact, the real reason is preserve profit margin without raising prices. You simply get less (sometimes much less) for your money.

Disney is guilty of the cuts, but I maintain less so than other entities. Sure the cost of you Dole Whip may be more, but the portion size has not changed. Disney does have a maintenance problem. In the old days, everything always looked new. Now not so much. I put this more to losing good people during the pandemic closures. I see a slow and steady turnaround. Things are getting spiffed up. Rides are breaking down less frequently. Overall the park experience is improving.

Which leads me to the obvious. There is construction everywhere. New lands are being built. Attractions are getting a much needed face lift. I think there is more construction and refurbishment going on than anytime I can remember. I for one cannot wait to see what the imagineers have cooked up for us. Part of this is because of Epic Universe, I’m sure. However the same price increases are hitting Disneyland. Construction is happing there as well as Disneyland Forward gets underway. I am hoping that Disney wants to make sure that guests feel like they are getting more than they pay for. Sadly at the moment this is not the case.

What to do about it?

In a word PLAN. You can control the cost of a Disney vacation.

Plan on when you go. Prices for tickets and lodging vary with season. If you can, go when the prices are lowest.

Plan on where you stay. Disney has some very steep discounts on lodging. Careful planning can save you hundreds of dollars. If you go when crowds are low, you can forego purchasing Lightening Lane passes. Grandma and I never buy them anyway. So you can save over $30 per person, per day, per park!

Plan on buying your park tickets in advance. To save even more use a discount ticket broker like Get Away Today, or Undercover Tourist. These brokers offer great prices and for the most part the tickets are refundable. Grandma and I use these services for our Disneyland and Universal tickets. And no I do not get any renumeration for recommending these services.

In light of the current smallish price increases, it may not seem that important to plan. However, in the past such increases have not been so small. I expect to see large increases when new lands and attractions open. Simple supply and demand. New stuff always drives demand. Price increases likely will follow. Get in the habit of planning and budgeting now. Work out your process for saving money, now. Make it second nature and you will be surprised at how little effort it really is. I will outline how Grandma and I save money in the next post. In the meantime I am interested in how you save money on a Disney Vacation. Or do you? Please let me know in the comments.

So until next time: