Disney World 2020 AP & Ticket Price Increases
2020 Annual Pass, Park Hopper, and multi-day ticket prices have increased at Walt Disney World, as Florida prepares to open Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. This comes ~6 months after a huge hike for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which was under a year after the prior increase. (Updated February 12, 2020.)
None of this is all that surprising. We’ve been warning readers to purchase tickets ASAP to lock-in current prices in our 2020 Discount Walt Disney World Ticket Buying Guide, as we’ve been expecting an imminent price increase since December. The good news here is that Get Away Today, our recommended third party ticket seller, still has tickets at the “old” prices through February 20, 2020–you can save up to $78 per ticket!
The other bit of good news is that this doesn’t impact regular one park per day tickets, which is likely welcome relief for many reading this. (See update below.) This additionally does not impact those of you booking vacation packages. In this post, we’ll offer more on all of that, plus additional pricing commentary, and a breakdown of the before and after pricing…
Let’s start with the Annual Pass price changes for Walt Disney World. As soon as we saw the 2020 Disneyland Ticket Price Increases, we anticipated this would follow. Because of the Disney Premier Annual Pass that offered unlimited admission to every Disneyland and Walt Disney World theme park, Disney often likes to take the “opportunity” to increase prices for one coast’s APs when they raise prices at the other.
The aforementioned Disney Premier AP is now up to $2119. Walt Disney World’s flagship AP, the Platinum Plus Pass, increased from $1219 to $1295. Here are the other before and after AP prices:
- Disney Platinum Plus Annual Pass up to $1295 from $1219
- Disney Platinum Annual Pass up to $1195 from $1119
- Disney Gold Annual Pass up to $719 from $699
- Disney Silver Annual Pass up to $539 from $519
- Disney Weekday Select Annual Pass up to $369 from $349
- EPCOT Afer 4 Annual Pass up to $319 from $304
Just as interesting are what prices did not increase. Florida Resident rates have remained unchanged for both the Disney Platinum and Platinum Plus Passes at $899 and $999, respectively. Another Florida Resident exclusive AP, the Disney Theme Park Select Pass, also saw no change at $439.
Finally, there was no movement on either of the water parks annual passes, which offer access to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. ($139) or the Water Parks After 2 Pass ($89).
Park Hopper Ticket Price Increases
Moving along to the Park Hopper add-on increase, we’re simply seeing an across the board increase of $5 for this option. This is not a per day increase, but per ticket. This is irrespective of ticket duration or whether you’re opting for the Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus option.
This means that the added cost of the add-on for a 1-day Park Hopper has increased by $5 from $60 to $65, and at the other end of the spectrum, the cost of adding Park Hopper Plus to a 10-day ticket has also increased by $5 from $100 to $105. (And by extension, everything in between has also increased by $5 per ticket.)
Note that this does not impact previously booked vacation packages for future travel dates, nor does it impact newly-booked vacation packages. In other words, you could book a new package with a hotel stay today and you’d still pay the old prices.
After some confusion about the fireworks dessert party alcohol availability (which is still unresolved), we called twice to confirm this and received the same answer both times. That doesn’t mean the answer we received will be true tomorrow, but at the time we’re publishing this, it’s accurate.
Our suspicion is that vacation package pricing will eventually reflect this change, and that another broader price increase is on the near-term horizon for Walt Disney World. The fact that single day tickets are unaffected strikes us as odd–especially given that attendance is up.
February 12, 2020 Update: After initially reporting that this doesn’t impact non-hopper multi-day tickets, we’ve since been informed by several readers who have indicated that their before/after prices have increased. In comparing prices on DisneyWorld.com against third party sellers, that appears to be true.
Unfortunately, Walt Disney World’s date-based ticket pricing system makes this very difficult to assess. This variable pricing obfuscates increases (which is probably by design), and it’s thus impossible for us to say what did or did not increase. We do know that the lower and upper limits on pricing remained unchanged, but beyond that, we’re unsure of what has changed. Some readers have reported ~$20-$40 price increases on their multi-day tickets. (As with the Park Hopper changes, this doesn’t impact vacation package pricing…for now.)
Again, you can still purchase Walt Disney World tickets at the “old” pricing via Get Away Today, but only through February 20, 2020. As always, we recommend locking in current pricing as soon as you know you’re going to be visiting Walt Disney World. Buying tickets today is a safeguard against future increases. (For the best deals, see our Money-Saving Tips for Walt Disney World Tickets post.)
Although tangential to the main point of this post, we highly recommend almost everyone purchase the Park Hopper add-on, even after this price increase. Park Hopper tickets give you more flexibility and the ability to more dynamically plan your day.
This is especially key right now, with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance using the virtual queue and boarding pass system. While this is being used (and there’s no end of it in sight), being able to move between Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot is incredibly valuable. Normally, the ability to start in the park with morning Extra Magic Hours or spend extra time in Magic Kingdom (or whichever park is your favorite) is also a nice luxury.
Park Ticket Price Increase Commentary
Frankly, I’ve lost the capacity for surprise when it comes to Walt Disney World ticket price increases. At this point, attendance is up, the parks have a devoted and passionate fanbase, and a slate of new additions rolling out pretty much non-stop between now and 2022. Why wouldn’t they increase prices?
In our post about Disneyland ticket price increases, we discussed how attendance was soft last summer at Disneyland. This meant that opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge didn’t meet expectations, which was both the cause and consequence of attendance woes. (Again, we covered this in our Why Are Star Wars Land Crowds So Low? post.)
Speaking to this perceived problem at the time, Disney CEO Bob Iger said: “we do not feel that we have a pricing issue at our domestic parks.” Just last week, Iger was asked about it again on the Walt Disney Co. Q1 2020 earnings call, and seemed generally unconcerned–indicating they’d pivot approaches when it became necessary.
Last fall’s attendance at Walt Disney World after the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge probably didn’t meet expectations, either. With few exceptions, we experienced low crowds and implored readers to take advantage of Extra, Extra Magic Hours, which were downright dead.
The key difference between Disneyland and Walt Disney World is that this occurred during the off-season in Florida, whereas it came during California’s peak tourist season. The expectation of crushing crowds and the need for Extra, Extra Magic Hours in September–during hurricane season and right after school went back into session–was always wishful thinking.
Since November, there has been absolutely no attendance slump at Walt Disney World. In fact, January and February 2020 have been far and away the busiest Jan/Feb we’ve ever experienced…which comes after the same months last year were the busiest we had ever experienced up until that point. (Which came after the same was true during the previous year.)
It’s hard to make a compelling case that Walt Disney World has any sort of “pricing issue,” at least on park tickets. Hotels might be a slightly different story given some of the discounts we’ve seen. Even then, occupancy has been shockingly high the last two months, and availability quite limited.
At this point, it would seem that price increases will continue unabated until the next economic downturn. Given the staggering number of “Most Expensive Day Ever” and “#BROKE” shirts (among hundreds of other similar Etsy designs) visible in the parks right now, we do think Walt Disney World has a serious pricing reputation and perception problem.
However, as long as consumer confidence remains high, people will pay the prices…and then spend even more to wear shirts complaining about said prices. The serious issue will come down the road when people are not feeling so hot about their economic circumstances and future.
At that point, it’s a question of whether discounting will be enough to incentivize guests to return, or if irreparable brand damage will have been done during the last decade or so of increases. We don’t have an answer to that–no one does–but it’s definitely something about which we’re curious.
The most surprising thing to us about the latest round of Walt Disney World ticket price increases is that they largely do not impact Florida Residents. As we’ve noted previously, there is an ongoing population explosion in Central Florida, with several cities in the Orlando metro area being among the fastest growing in the United States.
Many of these new Florida residents are families fleeing the Northeast and Midwest who are more enthusiastic about Disney than longtime locals. If new home prices and construction around Walt Disney World are any indication, these transplants are also on the more affluent end of the spectrum. (Behind Magic Kingdom, there’s been a proliferation of subdivisions with no end in sight–most of these have homes starting at over $300,000 and ranging up to $800,000.)
This is significant because it means Walt Disney World, traditionally a tourist destination with a far lower Annual Passholder pool than Disneyland, has likely increased its AP population in the last few years. This is despite all of these price increases, which one would assume are thinning the herd.
Anecdotally, this has been our experience in the last year-plus at Walt Disney World. School breaks, weekends, evenings, and other times when locals would be turning out in larger numbers have been disproportionately crowded. This has been especially true with Disney’s Hollywood Studios since Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opened, and during Epcot for the last few festivals.
It’s thus somewhat surprising that Florida Resident Annual Passes and pricing largely remained unchanged. When it comes to pricing, Walt Disney World doesn’t do things arbitrarily. There must be a reason why Annual Pass prices are increasing for non-locals but not Florida residents, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out what that reason might be.
The slight bump in prices for the Park Hopper add-on makes much more sense. Walt Disney World has offered several ticket specials in the last six months or so to normalize attendance among the parks and prevent guests from spending more time in Magic Kingdom while only doing half-days in the other parks. This is another step in that direction, albeit a baby one.
Ultimately, we highly doubt that this will be the last ticket price increase of the year at Walt Disney World–there’s a decent chance it’s not even the last one of the month. With several new things debuting soon in the lead up to Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, it should be an interesting year. We’ll be paying careful attention to all of the changes, and will keep you updated as we learn anything new.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of these Walt Disney World Annual Pass price increases? Will you still buy one, or are you priced out? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Tom: to follow-up on employee related discounts, I compared the following: 4-day park hopper for 3 adults starting May 11, 2020
– Disney direct $1676 (558 per adult)
– Undercover tourist $1535 (512 per adult)
– Get Away today $1527 (509 per adult)
– Tickets at Work $1448 (482 per adult)
It’s worth noting, however, Undercover tourist has many more options for deals beyond a 4-day ticket (free fifth day and options all the way up to 10 days) and the price increase is dramatically less for each day beyond 4 days. Of course 3rd party prices may rise soon as their inventory of lower priced “old stock” is consumed and the new Disney pricing kicks in.
I’ve taken my kids to Disney every 2 years since they were 1 and 3, except the last trip was 3 years ago and we did Universal two years in a row because we fit two trips into one seasonal pass period. They will be 11 and 13 this year, and we were planning on a big trip to check out Star Wars. But, prices have increased so dramatically we can literally go to Europe for less than a moderate-level disney trip, including direct flights, great accommodations and a generous site seeing budget. I gave my kids the choice, and they chose Europe. I doubt we will be back to Disney as a family.
If prices were at 2012 levels, I probably would have just booked Disney without giving it much thought. It was only after adding it all up and saying “we might as well book transatlantic flights!” that prompted sitting with the kids and discussing European city options. Now we have a list….
I should add, that I do like a long weekend adult-only (girls weekend or as a couple) trip once in a while, and likely will continue those. (Which is why I’m still reading this.). From my home, it’s an easier trip than Vegas, and comparable price-wise, once air and all entertainment is factored in, especially because we don’t get park tickets for every day we are there.
But for a 7-10 day family trip? Europe is so much more attractive with older kids.
Disney can do what they want I get it but at some point, it’s gonna get outta control…maybe already there. People are still paying. I think Disney is at the insane level of pricing for pretty much everything. Nothing is a value at Disney properties.
My issue is, my daughter has a disability and in California, Disneyland has a special event called the happy hearts program. In a nutshell, Disney offers discounted tickets for a very limited amount of people who are in the Regional Center programs (they help people with disabilities to live independently or help them get services that will help them)
The discount was just that a discount. But every year it increased higher and higher until now the discount is quite literally only about $25 off the full ticket price. Considering that not everyone got to participate in this program I don’t see the reasoning behind Disney continuing to raise the prices on this particular program until it’s not really a saving. In some years I can get a better deal with the California resident tickets.
I get that Disney is, on one hand, trying to limit crowds and make money because they can, but at some point, people are going to stop coming because the prices are getting out of hand IMO.
I’m at the edge of losing the Disney magic at this point. We have been big fans of WDW for years. We are going in 2 weeks, after the half marathon and before the big Spring breaks start. We like this time of year as it has been traditionally a “slower” season.
If we go and see huge crowds every day at every park, then that’s it for us. Don’t care to try and navigate the massive crowds. The price hikes in all areas is a turn off too. I quit buying merchandise a few years ago, and thankfully, the grandkids would rather be at Universal now. All this saddens me, but our money will probably be spent on other travels and sights thanks to all this money grabbing and cutting back in hours and CM’s to man the rides. We will see what this next vacation brings.
Is it crowded? Then the price is not too high.
I’m glad we decided to buy APs in November for our mid to late 2020 visits. Looks like it saved us a little bit for now.
I purchased our 5 day base tickets for our May trip from an authorized ticket seller back in November. I had already booked our hotel with a pin code we received. After reading your blog and strategizing Rise of the Resistance, I decided it would be a good idea to add Park Hoping to our tickets. It was going to cost $85 more per ticket. I decided to wait and see if ROTR went to Fast Pass before our trip. I didn’t think there was any rush to add Hoppers. Today, it will now cost $114 to add Hoppers.
Also, adding a day was going to be only $10. Now it’s $43. I’m so depressed.
I may have totally missed this, but did Florida resident Gold and Silver AP increase, as well?
We’re Orlando locals and among a good portion of my local friends and acquaintances, the AP Price increase before galaxy’s edge priced them out (or at minimum caused them to go lower tier). That pricing plus increased attendance (locals don’t like busy days) feels like it is keeping more locals away. That’s all anecdotal, so take with a grain of salt, but I definitely felt a strong shift in local APs back in the summer. I have to wonder if Disney saw the same playing out despite the continued housing boom.
We have a visit scheduled for April and my annual pass will expire a few days before. I saw the mention about Sam’s Club as a possibility but can’t find anything but a Disney gift card in a search. Is this still a viable option? If it is, are there any clues how to activate?
Always enjoy your blog!
It seems to me that Sam’s Club stopped selling those passes sometime late last year. I bought an annual pass from Sam’s club last year Immediately after the price hike was announced but before the price increase at Sam’s Club. Not sure if you have access or not, but you might want to check out ticketsatwork.com, I think they sell annual passes as well if you have access through your employer.
We are from the UK and confirmed Disney addicts (my husband 1st in 1971 as family in Florida). We have visited Florida every year for 18 years and I often spend summers in Orlando visiting parks most days but we won’t be renewing our annual passes again – we renewed ours at the old rate last year due to an error but that’s the last time. We will renew SeaWorld/Busch and get universal instead. I understand concept of goodwill for locals but difference in price is too much when the further you live the less often you can visit.
Can’t believe I am saying it but we are Very unlikely to visit at 50 years.
I can’t be the only one who wishes they would bring back the Water Parks & More option! We never park hop, so paying more for access to the water parks kills me. With the old, cheaper Water Parks & More option, my family would go to the theme parks every other day with water parks in between as “recovery days”. So much cheaper than the current system of having to purchase the more expensive hoppers just to get access to the water parks!!!
With that being said… where do I sign up… (insert sad face)
This is really upsetting, the prices are sky high. The saddest part about this all the we continue to go. Soon enough I would not be able to afford Disney any more. They should let us get the FLEX PAYMENT METHOD that FLORIDIAN get. They already get a discount on tickets already for being FLORIDIANS. The parks aren’t the same any more….. SAD SAD SAD NEWS
My family of 6 has been to Disney World twice, once when they still had homeschool days for a good price, and once on 10-day passes. Both times we went down to Orlando for two weeks, rented an off-property house with 3-4 bedrooms and a pool for a total of $1500, packed our own food for the parks, had a great time, and it didn’t bankrupt us. Our last trip was two years ago in January with 10-day passes. I got an annual pass for myself, which I believe was $749 at the time for the cheapest non-resident pass. It made sense because with free parking, memory maker, and the store discount we saved money that way, and I got to go back twice later in the year all by myself which was a fun break. That same annual pass is now $1195. An increase of $450. In two years. That is just insane! I understand that apparently a lot of people are still willing to pay it, but for me, no. This is beyond reasonable in my book, and I am just not going to pay those prices. I am sad, but for now our family Disney days are over. I wish they weren’t. But I just can’t get myself to participate anymore.
My son gets season passes which includes free parking to Cedar Point amusement parks. Which is good at any of the Cedar Point parks in the US. He pays around $200 per person. He also gets the food option for about $120 per person. It gives him 2 meals per day anytime during the year. It is a much better deal than Disney.
You suggest locking in prices now for future travel dates – but what if those travel dates are not until November/December 2021, are we able to make those hotel/ticket reservations now or do we have to wait until at the earliest June 2020 and be subject to the increased prices?
Sorry–I should’ve specified through December 31, 2020. Unless you buy the Flexible tickets (and overpay for them), you’ll need to wait until next year’s tickets are released, unfortunately.
“ There must be a reason why Annual Pass prices are increasing for non-locals but not Florida residents, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out what that reason might be.”
Oh I think this is fairly obvious actually. The closer you are geographically to Disney, the more likely you are to be buying an annual pass out of convenience/mild interest rather than obsession with Disney. (This excludes the people who moved to Florida explicitly for Disney, but they’re presumably a minority – it’s amazing how many locals have absolutely no interest, if my conversations with Uber drivers are any indication). The further you live from Disney while still being interested in an annual pass (which means a minimum of 3 visits per year), the more obsessed you are likely to be with the resort and the higher % of household income you are likely to be in, which combined leads to a lot of resistance to price increases.
But that’s not a new development–what you’re saying has always been true.
The Central Florida population explosion is a new trend. If these transplants are disproportionately higher income households (and I STRONGLY believe this to be the case), why wouldn’t prices increase for Florida Resident APs, too?
Maybe they are revamping the Florida resident pass levels and aren’t ready to roll it out yet, so they decided to hold off all together? That’s the only thing I can think of…
I do wonder how much these prices increases are actually gaining Disney. I don’t think it’s right to assume price increases are pure profit (even ignoring the obvious drop in demand for tickets!). Shareholder relations for EuroDisney made a case that travel budgets are fairly fixed, and higher entrance prices cannibalise in-park merchandise and dining sales. I also wonder how many rite-of-passage visitors fall in love with the place like I did with that entrance fee in the back of their mind.
Out of curiosity, what annual pass price would make you stop visiting WDW entirely? (For the purposes of simplicity, let’s assume other ticketing options such as single day / park toppers aren’t available). It’s hard to know until it’s actually tested in practice, but I think $1500 would have me seriously questioning the value I get from WDW and considering alternative entertainment options, including going to Florida and visiting the resort but just not entering the parks. I think $2000 would be a “no brainier” decision to stop.
“Shareholder relations for EuroDisney made a case that travel budgets are fairly fixed, and higher entrance prices cannibalise in-park merchandise and dining sales. I also wonder how many rite-of-passage visitors fall in love with the place like I did with that entrance fee in the back of their mind.”
I think this is right on the money.
It seems like the (or at least one of the) major market for merchandise now is College Program kids who aren’t paying for admission anyway, and are probably at least partially divorced from real world financial realities.
The prices for things like those Loungefly bags or spirit jerseys (among other products) strike me as patently absurd–and these things are popular. Maybe I’m just an old man.
My daughter really likes those Loungefly bags, but there is no way we are buying one at $80. Perhaps at half that price. But I see many people walking around with them, so they must sell.
Regarding the lack of local price increase, one considerstion is public good will. Disney continues to expand within its wetland property. It benefits the brand image to have a majority of the public come to their defense, should an environmentalist group begin to generate negative sentiment for the brand.
That’s a good point.
I’d speculate that the recent transplants (as a whole) have a much more favorable view of Disney than native Floridians. If this is true, perhaps the tide is already turning in WDW’s favor in Florida.
i made this comment on the disneyland price increase post, but i’ll paste it here as well:
i’m very far from a disney apologist. i don’t like price increases, let me be very clear on that. i do have an interesting new perspective though. we visited mall of america last month, and as much as i tried, i couldn’t steer my oldest away from the theme park inside, even though we tried to supplement other entertainment. i relented and said they could ride a few rides. i’m a bargain hunter and for everything else we did was able to find discount tickets ahead of time, but didn’t for the theme park. the “best” discounts i could find were for all day wristbands, but we did not plan to spend all day to get the value out of buying wristbands (and the discounts weren’t substantial like they were for the other things we did). well, it cost me $30 plus tax and fees for my kids to ride 3 underwhelming rides. that’s $10 per ride… same thing at the county fair every summer.
i’m not saying disney is “right” or “justified” in their prices- just looking on paper is shocking. but when i compare what’s included in a park ticket at disney versus some other places, i feel like if i choose to spend at disney, i’m getting my money to go a lot further. again, not being an apologist, the price increases eventually have to hit a wall. but looking at what you’re getting offers a different angle. i totally see the shock when i price our family for a day at disney, it’s a lot. i get it.
I think that’s how a lot of people justify it. On a per hour basis, Disney is definitely cheaper than any professional sporting event, broadway plays, live concerts, and more.
However, the value is worse if you compare Disney to regional amusement parks, museums, National Parks, the beach, state parks, and more.
The reality is that none of these comparisons are apples to apples. What ultimately matters is whether people continue to show up and pay the prices. So far, they are!
i can help my cause to spend at places like disney or other offerings that don’t really offer significant discounts by finding free days at a lot of the places you listed. Smithsonian offers a free museum day every year simply by signing up for a newsletter, most museums offer free days throughout the year, as do some national parks, etc. i save where i can so i can spend where i can’t save, if that makes sense. i’m always online looking for coupons or discounts. on that same minnesota trip, i discovered by accident we were visiting during the monthly free day at the mn children’s museum, so guess where we went that day. we don’t do disney but every few years at this stage in life. again, i’m not trying to be an apologist or say they are right in increases. i agree, there are plenty of people who seem still willing to pay whatever they will charge.
I will wholeheartedly argue that the cost of Disney parks passes are a great value. The problem is that all the other costs have skyrocketed. I was scrubbing my gmail account a couple of days ago and found my bill from the Art of Animation in 2013. My mom joined my family of 4 for a 10-night trip starting the day after Thanksgiving. We had parkhoppers and the standard dining plan for 3 adults and 2 small children. The total cost of that trip package was $4887.60. I just priced the same package, for a family of the same size/kids’ ages, for the same dates in 2020. The cost is $9,538.72. I’m sure the 2013 prices reflected whatever discounts were available that season, but, even so, those numbers are pretty shocking, in my opinion.
I live in Miami and to be honest I spend less money in Disney with my three kids than doing local stuff. We do dinners in Disney spring and parks. Refreshments are over $5 same cost. Dinner has a discount at Disney, we actually spend more locally.
Well, Tom, the weekend pass for the Rolex 24 at Daytona (the kick off to the US sports car racing season) is THE best bang for the buck in Florida (and all of sports). 30+ hours of on track action (race, support race, practices and qualifying) for about $115.
I like WDW, but going to Universal for the first time in over 15 years (and for more than just a day trip) is going to be very interesting this summer.
Someone (nose goes) could do some interesting analysis to put all the price changes in context to evaluate Disney’s bang for the buck.
I’d be curious to know how the price changes have corresponded with changes to a) park operating hours, b) entertainment offerings (weighted for scope and scale) and c) attractions (similarly weighted for scope and scale). I’m sure I am missing something but those seem like the big three?
It *seems* like there have been reductions in operating hours (hard tickets anyone?) and entertainment (night time parades?) but there has been a net increase in the slate of attractions.
If you could throw all that together and factor for inflation it’d maybe paint an interesting/comprehensive picture of whether we are paying more for more, or more for less.
Could be a good project for when I get fired for reading Disney blogs during lunch :-).
A) Park hours have definitely decreased–there’s no question about that. Even more so when you factor EMH into the mix. This becomes especially problematic because, at the same time, attendance has also increased.
Larger crowds, higher prices, and fewer hours. Doesn’t quite compute.
B) This is more difficult to measure, but my guess is that entertainment has slightly decreased. I don’t think it’s as bad as some might think, as many cuts have been followed by an addition elsewhere. Often the addition is not commensurate with the cut, though.
C) If weighted for popularity and marketability, this is a definite increase. We fans often grouse about this or that ride being replaced, but the reality is that our tastes frequently do not match those of the general public. For example, Maelstrom for Frozen Ever After or Universe of Energy for Cosmic Rewind is hardly a 1:1 exchange.
You may be right, Tom, but I will maintain that entertainment value has dropped off a cliff since Great Moments in History was torn from the Magic Kingdom!
Well. Only 18 days until we could renew our annual passes, they are good to 4/29. Do you think it would be better to renew them with the %15 discount from this new price or wait to buy new ones at full cost (risking yet another increase) if our next trip isn’t until maybe the end of August, thereby not “paying” for 3-4 months and then moving the next renewal date out to August 2021? I may need some advanced rocket science math for that one.
I’d risk the possibility of another price increase, but that’s just me.
I have a hard time seeing multiple increases to the same AP this year, at least before October. Now, if this were 2021 with the 50th Anniversary on the horizon, my answer might be different.
Yep. It’s kind of a gamble. I also can’t rule out that we may want to make a trip during our “planned lapse”. I am trying to do math to see how the 15% renewal discount equates to the length of the lapse.
Rick, I was in the same boat last year. Instead of waiting, buy an Annual Pass voucher from Sam’s Club. They allow you to lock in the current price, but you can activate them any time before 2030 without penalty. You can even activate them within the My Disney Experience app, so you’re still eligible for the 60-day FP+ window and other perks. If you are certain that you will renew, but plan to lapse for a few months, I’ve found this is the best way to save.
We almost bought an extra pair of passes last year under the old price that we could then use after the first one expired. That would have locked in the price and also allowed for the time lapse in- between. But it also would have assumed we had an extra couple of thousand dollars laying around to tie up that way. An opportunity cost issue.