Major Price Increases on Park Tickets & Genie+ at Disneyland
Disney has increased parking and ticket prices for the remainder of 2022 and 2023 at Disneyland and California Adventure, with 1-day, multi-day, Park Hopper, and Genie+ costs now up across the board. In this post, we’ll share price change info and offer commentary about the ever-growing
First of all, none of this is even remotely surprising. If you read last week’s update to our 2022-2023 Discount Disneyland Ticket Buying Guide, you already read our recommendation to buy tickets ASAP. That was premised on the reservations pause being driven by looming ticket price increases, which has now proven correct.
Before we get going, the good news is that Get Away Today, our recommended authorized third party ticket seller, still has tickets at the “old” prices for right now. By purchasing your Disneyland park tickets via them, you can lock in the previous pricing and save significantly on multi-day tickets!
This October 2022 price increase is the first since last year, which occurred shortly after Magic Keys debuted. Even though they had gone up in the fall, we were honestly surprised that Disneyland ticket prices didn’t increase again in February along with Walt Disney World’s most recent price increase.
Here’s how the latest Disneyland ticket price changes stack up, with some comparisons in the old versus new prices. Brace yourself, as some of these increases are pretty significant…
Ticket Price Increases
Single Day & Park
- 1-Day, 1-Park (Tier 0) – $104 (new tier)
- 1-Day, 1-Park (Tier 1) – $114 (previously $104)
- 1-Day, 1-Park (Tier 2) – $129 (previously $119)
- 1-Day, 1-Park (Tier 3) – $144 (previously $134)
- 1-Day, 1-Park (Tier 4) – $159 (previously $149)
- 1-Day, 1-Park (Tier 5) – $169 (previously $159)
- 1-Day, 1-Park (Tier 6) – $179 (previously $164)
Single Day Park Hoppers
- 1-Day Park Hopper (Tier 0) – $169 (new tier)
- 1-Day Park Hopper (Tier 1) – $179 (previously $164)
- 1-Day Park Hopper (Tier 2) – $194 (previously $179)
- 1-Day Park Hopper (Tier 3) – $209 (previously $194)
- 1-Day Park Hopper (Tier 4) – $224 (previously $209)
- 1-Day Park Hopper (Tier 5) – $234 (previously $219)
- 1-Day Park Hopper (Tier 6) – $244 (previously $224)
Multi-Day Single Park Tickets
- 2-Day, 1-Park – $285 (previously $255)
- 3-Day, 1 Park – $360 (previously $330)
- 4-Day, 1 Park – $395 (previously $360)
- 5-Day, 1 Park – $415 (previously $380)
Multi-Day Park Hopper Tickets
- 2-Day Park Hopper – $345 (previously $315)
- 3-Day Park Hopper – $420 (previously $390)
- 4-Day Park Hopper – $455 (previously $420)
- 5-Day Park Hopper – $475 (previously $440)
The Genie+ ticket add-on will now cost $25 per day, which is up from the previous cost of $20 per day. As a reminder, Genie+ includes PhotoPass at Disneyland, which is one reason why it costs more. The California parks also have a better Genie+ ride roster, so the line-skipping service is more useful.
As with Walt Disney World, same-day Genie+ purchases will be variably priced based on date and demand. Read our extensive commentary about that change, which is mostly the same for Disneyland Resort. The key difference is that Genie+ has yet to collapse in California’s crowds, which is likely (again) due to the more robust ride roster.
In addition to PhotoPass, Genie+ at Disneyland also recently added AR lenses. Now we know why! While those will drain your phone’s battery more than they’ll add value to your day, they are something. (See our Guide to Genie+ at Disneyland and Lightning Lane FAQ for more background and info on how paid FastPass works at DLR and what all it includes.)
More significantly, WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure is now part of Genie+ as of today. The attraction was previously one of 3 Individual Lightning Lane attractions at Disneyland Resort, with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Radiator Springs Racers being the others. Leaving those bona-fide E-Tickets as the lone Individual Lightning Lanes makes sense, as does adding another attraction to the smaller Genie+ roster at DCA.
Price increases have also hit preferred parking at the theme parks (up from $45 to $50) and valet parking at the hotels (up from $50 to $65). No changes to regular self-parking prices at the parks or resorts.
As for ticket price increases, it’s a clever move by Disneyland to add a new tier, as the base price for single day tickets doesn’t increase; it’s $104 before and after. The company can still tout prices “starting at $104 per day.” That has been the case for the last ~5 years, and our commentary has been consistent throughout that.
Last year, Disney added another tier at the high end. This year, they’re pulling a page out of the Resident Evil playbook with a “zero” prequel. Perhaps it’s named after the number of days that’ll be eligible for that low price. As with last year, adding another tier was likely done for greater control over pricing and so that direct comparisons of price increases don’t look as bad.
One thing that’s noteworthy here is that the price increase for Tier 6 dates for 1-day tickets this holiday season is that they’re effectively up $20 year-over-year. Since there was no Tier 6 until last October, no dates on last year’s calendar were in that tier–they were all Tier 5.
In addition to prices increasing, the number of lower tier days has seemingly been shrinking while the number of higher tier days is increasing since reopening. The more accurate way to view the price increases is likely in percentage terms, with prices jumping by ~9% on the high end–perhaps a bit more for some dates if you factor in the tier shifts.
When it comes to multi-day tickets, most prices are up by approximately $30 per ticket. Percentage-wise, these are higher than the last go-round, with most tickets up by 8%. This is above historical standards, with increases of about 5% per year being the recent norm. Even that isn’t completely consistent, and this year’s increase is about on par with the one before Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened.
Unsurprisingly, park reservations are no longer paused, and are once again available on a rolling 120-day basis (currently through February 2023).
Even though seemingly unrelated, this pause was the red flag that Disneyland park ticket price increases were incoming.
Park Ticket Price Increase Commentary
Frankly, I’ve lost the capacity for surprise when it comes to Disneyland price increases. In this case, I’m more surprised at how long the company has gone without increasing prices. This is the most significant change to ticket pricing since February 2020.
At this point, crowds are crushing, pent-up demand is still strong, and the parks have a devoted and passionate fanbase. The busy Christmas season is right around the corner, which was so popular last year even at top-tier prices that Disneyland ran out of reservations and suspended ticket sales.
Looking forward to January, the 100 Years of Wonder Celebration kicks off with new nighttime spectaculars and the debut of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. It’s going to be busy during what’s historically a slower season, and that’s even without new Magic Key sales. Why wouldn’t the company increase prices?
On top of that, inflation is running hot around the globe, with the United States hitting a four-decade high above 8% this year. Most of these price increases are in the neighborhood that. On top of that, the least expensive single day tickets haven’t gone up since October 2018.
However, it’s also fair to point out that with the end of free FastPass+ and introduction of paid Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, which Disney has indicated that roughly one-third to half of guests are purchasing, the effective cost of visiting has gone up by more than 10%. In order to have an equivalent experience as compared to pre-closure, you’ll need to spend an extra $25 per day, at least, and that’s just for Lightning Lanes. That’s still not exactly apples to apples, but it’s close enough for the sake of our comparison.
During earnings calls and interviews throughout the year, CEO Bob Chapek has directly addressed price increases–and prepared fans for more of the same. He has said that Disney’s theme parks are seeing unprecedented demand, and have pricing power as a result. Chapek has also boasted that the company’s domestic parks and resorts have achieved all-time revenue and operating income records.
For several consecutive quarters, per guest spending at the domestic parks has been up more than 40% versus the same quarter in 2019, an absolutely staggering number. This has been driven by a more favorable guest and ticket mix (read: fewer Annual Passholders), plus higher food & beverage and merchandise spending, as well as contributions from Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. Revenue and operating income exceeded pre-pandemic levels, and that’s even as Disney continued capping attendance.
It’s hard to make a compelling case that Disneyland has any sort of pricing problem, at least for now. Even with all of the recent (non-ticket) price increases, the company is posting unprecedented numbers and demand is off the charts.
We’ve spent many days in the parks over the last few months, and the crowds have been absolutely bonkers. This is something we’ve touched upon elsewhere, but it’s tough to overstate just how busy Disneyland has been in the last two months–even before fall break, Halloween, and Christmas seasons arrived in full force. (We were again in the parks over this past holiday weekend, which can best be described as bonkers plus.)
In short, as long as consumers keep spending and pent-up demand is strong, people will pay the prices for Disneyland park tickets, Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and whatever else has gone up in price. 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.
Ultimately, it’s still our belief that things aren’t too far from normalizing. (You might call it wishful–or delusional–thinking!) At some point, pent-up demand fizzles out, inflation on necessities influences discretionary spending, higher interest rates, underperforming investment portfolios, and growing household debt will bring the party to an end. The clock is ticking on all of that.
When all of some of that happens, consumers will return to being more cost-conscious and price sensitive, and things will normalize to at least some degree. However, there don’t appear to be any signs of those things happening anytime soon. So, get used to high prices, heavy crowds, and nickel & diming at Walt Disney World and Disneyland as this record run of revenue and income continues for the foreseeable future. We’ll be paying careful attention to all of the changes, and will keep you updated as we learn anything new.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of these price increases to Disneyland base ticket and Park Hopper price increases? Thoughts on the changes to Genie+ at Disneyland Resort? Will you still be visiting the parks this year, 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!
Just saw that Genie + is $29 today. I was shocked. We were planning on $15 a few months ago. For a family, that’s $150.
I’m not surprised this last weekend was bonkers. My family grew up going the second Sunday in Oct. because my Dad got union discounts for that date. Even 25 years ago it had above-average crowds and that was in the days before Halloween was a big deal at DLR.
At this point I would rather work around Grad Nights and go in late May/early June than October.
I’ve commented before that the current era of Disney Parks reminds me of Paul Pressler’s reign of terror and every time I read about more price hikes and poorer experiences and maintenance, my opinion is further cemented. Let’s hope it doesn’t take the deaths of 3 guests to change things this time.
Hi, Tom-
We are taking our three kids to DL and DCA for their first time over the last weekend of October (10/29-11/1). I have seen several of your posts mentioning the absolutely insane crowd levels at DL. We were mostly aware this could be a possibility but we’re now coming to grips with the fact that there’s basically no chance there won’t be a nightmare crowd. Any advice on how we could maximize our time and make the most of what will more than likely be the kids’ only trip to DL anytime soon?
Thanks for all you do. This is seriously the best “Disblog” on the web. Keep it up!
Hi Tom. I’ve noticed you make a number of Resident Evil references over time. Would love to know your ranking of the games?
I’ll just give you the ones that I genuinely love from the mainline series:
8. Resident Evil 5
7. Resident Evil 7
6. Resident Evil Code Veronica (would be higher, but the controls absolutely did not hold up when I replayed it last year)
5. Resident Evil remake
4. Resident Evil Village
3. Resident Evil 3 remake (too short, but otherwise fantastic)
2. Resident Evil 2 remake
1. Resident Evil 4
I also enjoy the shooters on the Wii and Revelations. Resident Evil 8 really lost me with the amount of action and blockbuster nature of it all. I wouldn’t mind if they went back and remade a toned down version of that. Although action-heavy, I liked RE5 a lot more.
Hot take on REmake being so low! That’s #1 for me with RE4 being second.
Code Veronica is one of my favorites but I do think that one is most primed for an awesome remake. Excited for the RE4 remake but that game needs it less.
An RE0 remake would be cool too, but that game has, more serious issues it would need to work out.
So I suppose Chapek won’t care if the Disney Company goes down the drain as long as he makes money.
I have zero issues paying a premium for the premium Disney theme park experience. That being said, I’m not sure I’m getting that premium experience anymore. Far too many broken effects on rides these days.
I understand prices for tickets are going up. Do you know if season passes are going to be out for sale again or only returning members can get it??
Those people who go once in five years are also being priced out, so why are annual passholders not welcome at Disney parks? We’re keeping you in business!
I’m so glad I saw this info. We purchased tickets (4-day PH) without G+ for our upcoming Dec 11-15 Disneyland trip through Undercover Tourist a few weeks ago. I was planning to add G+ as needed each day depending on crowds. With the price increase, I’m kicking myself for not just adding it on at the time we purchased tickets. I was able to re-order through UT with G+ included and it comes out to an extra $18.87 per person per day above the prices we paid w/o G+.
We are going to be in disneyland November 16th 2022 and we’re wondering why California Adventure closes at 5:00pm that day. Does anyone know why?
There is a private event that night.
Who can afford to buy out the whole park?
I think Disney will study a lot of metrics to determine how far they can push ticket prices. for instance, are they seeing a large cut back in in- park spending? Really when I think about how quickly I blow through $10 at Disneyland, it’s not that big of a deal. But perhaps I will start thinking twice about that extra treat or merchandise as I’ve already spent it just getting in the park.
Hot dogs and French fries breakfast, lunch and dinner. And forget about buying t-shirts and souvenirs. Spending all that money on admission.
I am starting to doubt things are ever going to normalize to what they were prepandemic price wise. Yes, there has been stimulus money combined with (some) households having been able to increase savings during lockdown when nothing was open, and that has helped boost travel. But I think what was initially described as “revenge travel” or “pent up demand” may be more of a permanent mindset shift in a lot of people to prioritize travel and experiences. The pandemic showed that if you put those things off, you may find you aren’t able to do them, and as a result people are going to keep prioritizing taking that trip they’ve been thinking about even if it costs more (and pay for it by cutting elsewhere).
At this point, barring a *major* recession (like 2008 level or worse), I think we are still several years out from Disney needing to heavily discount to fill the parks or meet income targets. By that time prices will have increased so much that even big discounts won’t bring them back to 2019 levels. The days of a Disney vacation being relatively affordable are long gone.
Really interesting perspective. I think you’re right about the shift in mindset.
I was doing some back of the napkin math, and these prices would have stung this summer. There is something psychological about 80 dollars for Genie+ for a family of four vs. 100. That’s a lot of In-N-Out!
Speaking of In-N-Out Burger, they’re starting wage is currently higher than Disneyland, their prices are still reasonable, and their customer service is (in my opinion) better.
Perhaps the “In-N-Out Institute” should be a thing. I’d think that’d be more valuable and honest than whatever they’re claiming over at the Disney Institute.
Hi Tom,
I believe you have a mistake in the multi-day park hopper ticket prices? It doesn’t look like they’ve gone up quite that much, thank god.
This is why I shouldn’t be allowed to do math. I’ve corrected the 3 to 5-day multi-day park hopper prices. Everything else looks accurate to me. Thanks for the heads up!
Do you have any thoughts on how long the discounted tickets at the old prices will still be available at Get Away Today? Is there a cut-off date or could they go away anytime?
I love the blog!
Thanks!
I haven’t heard a cut-off date yet, but hopefully I’ll hear something once they’re in the office. It’s usually a week or so.
Thanks for the heads up! I went ahead and ordered our tickets for next May today. You saved us $220 compared to the new prices! Thank you so very much! I appreciate all the awesome information on your blog.
We have a package booked on their layaway program for next June. They’ve told us we have until 10/20 to pay in full and we’ll get tickets at the “old” prices. After that, the “new” ticket prices will be added to our account.
Wow. ~10% ticket increase and 25% Genie+. Even with high inflation in the past year, Disney still manages to outpace inflation by a good bit. As you say, supply and demand at work.
It’s worth pointing out that an annual pass at Disneyland Paris is cheaper than a 3-day parkhopper, and in some cases cheaper than a 2-day parkhopper. And there have been some pretty good airfare prices to Europe recently.
Also worth pointing out that the dollar is incredibly strong right now, making all of the international parks significantly cheaper than pre-closure for Americans, even accounting for price increases since!
We just got back from a trip that included 4 days/3 nights at Disneyland Paris. Spent $500/person USD for room and park hopper tickets for the 4 days, AND their 30th anniversary celebration is lovely. Crowds were big but manageable, and we got on most rides in 30 minutes or less (the worst waits were for Peter Pan’s Flight at 40 minutes and WEB Slingers at 50 minutes).
All that said, it wasn’t quite the same as the magic at the original Disneyland. But it sure is a nice alternative (and Paris as a whole is absolutely fabulous).