Price Increases Likely Soon for Late 2023 & 2024 at Disney World & Disneyland
Walt Disney World and Disneyland typically raise their prices once per year, with increases on park tickets, food, parking, Annual Passes and more all typically going up around the same time. This post offers offers dates of past price increases, when we’re expecting this to happen in 2023, and and our commentary about the amount of cost jumps, motivations for the changes, and more.
For starters, we should emphasize the “typically” in the sentence above, as prices increases are not a sure thing at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. In fact, the California parks recently went over a full year without a single increase. Granted, that was the year-plus that the parks were closed…minor detail.
Aside from that not-so-notable exception, price increases don’t always happen “only” once per year. Last year, Walt Disney World raised ticket prices twice. The first increase occurred in mid-February and the second happened on December 8. That was actually a bit of a weird one, as Walt Disney World made structural changes and removed reservations for single-day tickets and gave three weeks’ notice before implementing the changes. But it was also effectively a price increase for most dates.
This isn’t entirely unprecedented, as Walt Disney World and Disneyland have raised prices twice annually on a few occasions in the last decade. That’s why we’ve been advising readers to purchase tickets in advance to lock-in current prices in our 2023 Discount Walt Disney World Ticket Buying Guide and our Discount Disneyland Ticket Tips posts.
If you’ve read those posts, you’re likely already aware that Disney typically increases ticket prices in February and/or October. With only a few anomalies like last year and ahead of the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, this has happened consistently since 2014. (Prior to that, price increases typically happened in the summer.)
In any case, the best recent predictor of an October price increase has been the lack of a February price increase. Guess what didn’t happen this winter at Walt Disney World or Disneyland?!
As noted above, the last major price increase at Walt Disney World occurred on December 8, 2022. Again, that was an outlier due to structural changes. There’s absolutely no reason to believe Disney will wait until the heart of the holiday season to raise prices again.
Usually, prices are raised at the start of the fiscal year–which just happened on October 1, 2023. Last year, Disneyland raised its prices on October 11. That was very much a typical increase, with prices going up on preferred parking at the theme parks, valet parking at the hotels, and the Genie+ service. Naturally, admission was the big thing that went up, with new ticket tiers added and prices going up for both single and multi-day tickets.
If you’re looking for a blueprint of the upcoming price increases, what happened last year at Disneyland–both the timing in October and what will be impacted–is probably it. It’s also possible that Disney will make other ancillary changes in the name of guest satisfaction or substantive offerings to take the “sting” out of the price increases.
If we were placing bets on that, the odds-on favorite would be Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway joining Genie+ and ditching the Individual Lightning Lane. Other possibilities could include news about returning entertainment or the dropping of the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
I’m skeptical either will happen–attaching unrelated positive news to negative news isn’t really Disney’s style. Aside from the MMRR change, they’ll likely just highlight existing new stuff and seasonal offerings that make the parks “exceptional values” or whatever. Hope you’re all getting the full value out of those Disney100 celebrations!!!
Offering ‘forecasts’ about how much specific tickets will increase is a fool’s errand. Expect prices to go up by around 5-10% on average, with some prices remaining unchanged and others going up by 12-15%.
One prediction we will make is that the starting price of 1-day tickets will NOT go up. These still start at $109–but only for Animal Kingdom–which has been the base price since the introduction of the date-based system back in October 2018. Maintaining this $109 starting price is an important talking point for Disney. When costs of visiting are discussed in the mainstream media, there’s typically a quote from a Disney spokesperson reiterating that the base price has not gone up in over 5 years.
That’s technically true, but the practical reality is that 95% of tickets actually cost more. That is, unless you are only visiting Animal Kingdom for one day during the off-season. Our guess is that 1-day tickets to DAK don’t account for a tremendous amount of ticket sales, so the ‘static base price’ talking point is largely fluff. (It does really underscore why Animal Kingdom needs expansion, though!)
The other prediction we’ll make is that Annual Pass prices will go up. Those last increased when APs weren’t even on sale, which was a weird move, but they did not go up prior to sales resuming this spring.
This is a bit bolder of a bet, as no tiers of Annual Passes for Walt Disney World have sold out since sales resumed. That was despite Disney warning on day one that they’d likely sell out that day. That was months ago, and it’s been smooth sailing since!
Again, the amounts of the increases are anybody’s guess. If there were logic to this, the most obvious increase would be a major one to the Pixie Dust Pass. Unlike the other tiers, this option for Floridians didn’t have sales paused, so there are a ton of them in circulation. That’s resulted in some ‘interesting’ and unprecedented crowd dynamics, such as the weekends (when that AP is blocked out) being the slowest days of the week at Walt Disney World this year.
Trying to ‘nudge’ Pixie Dust Passholders to higher tiers via higher pricing on it would make sense. But then again, Walt Disney World may not want to lose ‘borderline’ APs, especially since that tier helps fill the parks during the off-season.
The good news is that you can guard against the likely increases on admission. If you’re a prospective Annual Passholder, you can purchase a voucher or certificate to secure current pricing. If you have a Walt Disney World trip planned between now and December 2024, you can buy tickets now to lock-in current costs and guard against future increases. There will almost certainly be one price increase between now and the end of 2024, with 2-3 price increases in that timeframe being a distinct possibility.
Again, see our 2023 Discount Walt Disney World Ticket Buying Guide and our Discount Disneyland Ticket Tips posts for recommendations on where to buy to save the most money. That also covers topics like whether to purchase Park Hoppers, AP breakeven point, and more.
With that said, if you’re on the fence but planning on buying via an authorized third party ticket seller, you are probably fine to wait until after the price increase is announced/occurs. For the past decade-plus, authorized sellers have maintained inventory of the existing tickets at the “old” prices, usually for a couple of weeks after the price increase. I can’t remember the last time that was not the case, so it’s safe to say it’ll likely happen again with the October 2023 price increases.
However, if you’re booking a Walt Disney World vacation package that includes tickets, do not wait. Lock-in something ASAP. Once those prices go up, there’s no workaround for getting the old prices. Your only alternative would be a room-only rate, and buying tickets separately via the aforementioned authorized discount sellers.
This is especially true for those of you traveling between now and Spring Break 2024, as a number of discounts are already available. (See All Current Walt Disney World Discounts – Fall 2023 to Spring 2024.) Vacation packages, including discounted ones, reflect the price of tickets when originally booked. This means if ticket prices were to go up overnight, you’d pay more for the Free Dining Card Deal, tomorrow than you would today.
This doesn’t just apply to brand-new bookings…it also applies to modifications. If you have a vacation package booked today, but ticket prices increase and you then apply a retroactive discount, you’re going to pay the new rate for admission. Over the years, we’ve heard from readers who have been surprised that their price is higher with a discount than without. This is usually why–base prices increased between the time they made the reservation and the time they applied the discount. That’s why it’s best to both lock-in rates and apply discounts ASAP, whenever possible.
Obviously, it’s not possible to apply discounts to stays in April to December 2024 (aside from bouncebacks), but it is possible to at least book the undiscounted package now. After these potential price increases, it’s possible that’ll end up being better than future promotions. (We highly doubt it given how aggressive discounting has gotten, but we’d still recommend hedging!)
It’s likely there will be price increases on more than just regular tickets, parking, and Annual Passes. Other potential big ones are things like Droid Depot and Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and price increases on character dining experiences, which last went up across-the-board in the middle of last October.
Last year, there were also price increases on hundreds of menu items all around the parks & resorts and a new (mostly more expensive) date-based pricing for the Genie+ service. That second one was essentially an indirect means of raising the cost of admission, which could explain why Walt Disney World didn’t directly raise the price of tickets last year.
There’s very little you can do to guard against this type of price increase. Booking any prepaid experiences ASAP is savvy, as Walt Disney World should honor the price paid at the time of the reservation. It doesn’t always work out that way, but it’s worth a shot. As for everything else, there’s really not much you can do.
We’re not expecting any massive changes to Genie+ at this point until the pre-booking rolls out in Winter or Spring 2024. That’s likely to be a complete paradigm shift (yet again), so it’s doubtful they’ll mess with Lightning Lanes yet again in between. Prices will go up, on average, but that’s due to the upcoming months being busier and Genie+ now using date-based and per-parking pricing.
With all of that said, there are a couple of compelling “arguments” against price increases. The first is that, upon returning, Bob Iger indicated that he was “alarmed” by previous Walt Disney World price increases and layoff plans in leaks to media. It’s worth noting that came out after the Chapek regime had announced Walt Disney World’s price ‘changes’ (read: increases) last holiday season, but before they had been implemented. They happened anyway.
Given that Iger was largely brought it to stem the bleeding from streaming and improve Disney’s financials, I have a difficult time believing that he is going to take the immediate hit on prices and the other upcharges just to improve goodwill among Walt Disney World fans. It’s very difficult to envision a way that Iger does that in the near-term given the uphill battle that Disney+ and Hulu face.
Instead, our hope has been that Iger improves the guest experience, the quality of the parks, and the value proposition for visiting. He’s almost certainly not going to do that by decreasing prices–that’s a fan fantasy–but by restoring elements of the magic. That’s the realistic best-case scenario. To his credit, Iger has done exactly that. A little over a month after returning, he started moving on that sentiment by announcing 3 Big Changes at Walt Disney World to Improve Guest Experience & Value. A few months later came the announcement of 5 Major Improvements for 2024 at Walt Disney World.
The other reason they might hesitate on more price increases is that Iger also confirmed on the most recent earnings call that attendance and hotel occupancy are both down at Walt Disney World. Disney executives have repeatedly ‘warned’ investors of a slowdown at Walt Disney World due to the end of revenge travel and conclusion of the 50th Anniversary. Disneyland has comparatively overperformed, but it also saw lagged pent-up demand, so it’s also likely to slow soon.
Walt Disney World and Disneyland both did a “great” job of capitalizing on revenge travel, raising prices and increasing per guest spending by a whopping 40% as compared to 2019. That’s a big part of why increases occurred at an “alarming” rate–because guest demand was so strong and resilient no matter what shenanigans Disney pulled.
Consequently, it might be time for the company to take its foot off the gas and pump the brakes on runaway pricing. There’s already the 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 yet even more price increases certainly can’t help.
Wall Street analysts and investors have similar fears, and have asked the company about contingency plans and whether the current rate of growth is sustainable or damaging in the long term. (Remember the proxy fight earlier this year? That was one of the issues.) In response, Disney indicated that there are a number of “levers” they could pull. We’re already starting to see that happen via discounting.
There are also the matter of expectations of an economic slowdown or recession in 2024. (We cover this in What Does Walt Disney World Do During a Recession?)
My guess is that price increases will happen in October 2023, but by lower amounts than in the past few years–with the possible exception of certain Annual Passes. I think there’s probably internal apprehension about the perception of even more price increases, and also how it’ll negatively impact the already-soft forward bookings. But not enough that they won’t do it.
For one thing, inflation is still an issue. Thankfully, this is starting to decelerate as consumer spending also starts to cool, but inflation does remain elevated. Its own costs having increased, Disney has a motivation for raising prices. It also has a degree of justification, as consumers are already accustomed to paying ever-increasing prices.
For another thing, Walt Disney World long ago adopted the “Kohl’s Model” to pricing, where the sticker prices are almost meaningless due to discounts. Even during the Great Recession, Walt Disney World kept raising prices…while also ramping up the special offers. As Kohl’s learned ages ago, if the base price is higher, it makes the discounted rate look like even more of a bargain! The Disney Dining Plan also has this impact on menu prices. If the latter increases, it makes the DDP look like a better value, and 2024 Disney Dining Plan prices are quite high!
Ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see what, if anything, happens with prices at Walt Disney World and Disneyland in October 2023. Even in the face of pent-up demand exhausting itself, the next few months of Halloween and the Holidays will likely be busy. However, these price increases and other changes last beyond Christmas. It’ll be interesting to see whether capturing extra revenue for another couple of months is worth the headlines that further cement Walt Disney World and Disneyland as travel destinations with sky-high prices.
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
Thoughts on the potential price increases? Think Walt Disney World and Disneyland will raise rates across the board in October 2023, or will they hit pause in light of the economy? Do you think Disney is going too far with increases in a way that’ll leave lasting reputational damage, or will the company be able to quickly pivot along with economic circumstances? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any other considerations we failed to take into account or details we missed? 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!
Thanks for your objective analysis! Any idea when discounts may be released for summer or fall 2024?
It’s just not fun, feeling like you are overspending. Takes all the joy away. When vacations aren’t fun, the people don’t come back. Genie plus also sounds awful, not interested in that at all. Just go back to no line skipping so everyone can have a better experience and save money. The lines aren’t so bad when thousands of people aren’t skipping in front of you.
I went to the website you recommended, Get Away Today to buy Disneyworld tickets and I couldn’t find a promo code box. Can you confirm that the code is working?
I’m glad to hear that Disney is raising prices. I hope they use the money to clean the restrooms better. The parks are very crowded, and the restrooms are getting dirtier over the years. I remember the days back when the restrooms were perfect. I hope they won’t use the money to do something pointless.
Will Universal Studios Orlando also raise prices around October for 2024? They do not have specials going into Spring Break 2024 yet. Is it best to buy tickets now for Universal Studios Orlando, or wait until a special promotion comes out?
Thank you for the reminder! I renewed my Incredi pass today after seeing your email. Your tips and advice are always appreciated.
Best wishes to you and Sara!
I’ll provide a different view. I’m an out of state incredi-pass holder and up for renewal this month and I will renew ( likely tomorrow just in case of price increase). Last year I used a portion of my Disney Reward dollars towards my AP and I will be doing the same this year. Next year might be a different story because the Reward dollars I’ve been saving for years are dwindling down. I’m also in a different situation, my kid has outgrown Disney and I usually go by myself which means all expenses including my AP are only x1. That is much different than a family of 4 with younglins $$$$. While the costs are high ( so is everything else) it’s still my get away weekend trips that honestly would cost me more to go anywhere else-I’ve priced other vacations too. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a breaking point but right now it’s worth it for me to unwind multiple times a year without having to pay for entertainment or a car rental for that matter $$.
Personally I would rather see Disney increase prices even further on predicted “9/10” and “10/10” crowd level days while adding more dates around the $100 range across the board. This would be commensurate with how many pro sports teams use tiered pricing for big games/rivalry weekends — why should those selling tix for insanely inflated prices on the secondary market make all the profits? (goes the thinking). Lionel Messi road games where MLS game tickets are sold at 10x normal prices are the latest example of this. Surge pricing for Uber/Lyft is another example. I suppose AP blackout dates are aligned with this philosophy to some extent.
I know this WON’T happen at the level it could, partly because WDW doesn’t have the same supply/demand dynamic as a sports arena and partly due to PR concerns. But doubling down on “free market” based approach could make more visitors help keep the parks less stiflingly crowded on big holidays – perhaps explained to the public that CMs are being paid extra (I assume time-and-a-half or better) to sell you churros and sweep up your garbage instead of being with their families. And partly explained by the same reasons that airlines, cruise lines, car rental agencies, etc., jack up prices over holiday weekends.
I’m not being elitist here — I write this as someone in my mid-40s who mostly due to financial pressures has spent around 15 days total in Disney parks in my entire life (and feel grateful it’s been that many!). But from my perspective:
A. I’d generally never consider coming to WDW or DLR on a predicted 10/10 day or slammed holiday weekend. I just don’t find that crowd level enjoyable in terms of ambience or total number of attractions I can enjoy. Plus (as noted above) the extra hassles and $$$ to get to a park from the Midwest on a holiday weekend make it even more onerous.
B. If I did come into some money and found myself in Orlando or L.A. on a busy weekend/holiday, it would be nice to think I could splurge on a “surge priced” park day without navigating a miserable level of crowds (per “A” above). For the same reason I’d rather pay $5k to attend the Super Bowl vs. $500 but with the stipulation that I have to share a seat with a stranger, taking turns sitting on laps.
Aside from PR, I think the other big reason this won’t happen at scale is because Disney has not demonstrated tremendously mastery of using discounts, pricing, and blockouts to redistribute crowds. Just look at how dead July Fourth and Labor Day were. Looking forward, Thanksgiving week will have the opposite problem despite really high prices.
I could see what you’re describing happen for hard ticket events, especially Oogie Boogie Bash. As much as I hate to admit it, the free market has decided that OBB is tremendously underpriced. While I don’t love the idea of paying more for tickets, I’d prefer that to spending 6-8 hours in a virtual queue and tickets being sold on the secondary market for double (or more!) their face.
Tom,
any predictions on if Disney will bring back the 4 parks for $99 per park for 2024?
Good luck with baby coming soon!
I think we’ll definitely see ticket discounts like that–for the general public and not just Floridians. Bringing back that exact deal makes sense, as it “forces” people to visit Animal Kingdom, and not disproportionately do Magic Kingdom or DHS.
That’s just a guess, though, and I have no clue when they’re roll it out. Perhaps the beginning of the year, with blockouts for spring break? Maybe for shoulder season or late summer?
I have to say I am disappointed with Disney. The dream of going to Disney is for the rich. I am Canadian. For a family of 4 it would now cost us 900. for ONE day at MK over the holidays. That price is just our admission tickets. I know that everything has gone up in price but Disney is taking advantage of it.
My pass expired in early December. Should I wait to renew or renew 60 days in advance? I assume I will have notice for when the prices are supposed to increase and can purchase before that happens?
I assume you mean it expires in early December 2023? If so, I’d renew as soon as your 60 day window opens. I would not necessarily assume any advance notice.
Hey Tom, what are you thoughts on if they will bring back the Canadian resident offers? Getting tougher to justify Disney World at current exchange rates!
Honestly, Canadian resident deals aren’t something I track closely, and I don’t want to speculate about something outside of my wheelhouse.
With that said, I’d imagine that sooner or later Walt Disney World will offer more aggressive deals for international audiences–especially if the dollar stays as strong as it is now and pent-up demand for international travel starts to exhaust itself. But that’s just a guess on my part, informed only by a mix of past precedent and what strikes me as logical.
We are still sitting on 5 day one park passes that were part of a CDN deal back in 2017/2018. They were offering the tickets in CDN prices, almost at par. They don’t have an expiry date to use them. Only the “will expire after x number of days once started”. It is not even clear how these will work given the current state of things. I will have to call down and find out prior to the next trip, which at this point, is not any time soon.
Sorry, but I don’t think discounts for people out of the country should exist, you should get the same discounts we do.
I don’t go to your country and get discounts!
“I don’t go to your country and get discounts!”
That’s not totally true. Due to the tremendous strength of the dollar and wage disparities between the United States and most of the rest of the world, Americans are effectively paying less via purchasing power than natives to most countries.
Among other things, this is a big reason why we’ve been enthusiastically recommending Tokyo Disney Resort. It’s significantly cheaper due to the exchange rate and lower average salaries in Japan–if you adjusted for those factors, there wouldn’t be as much of a gap.
Beyond that, Disney has long used price discrimination as a means of attracting international guests who will stay longer and spend more over the course of their trips. It’s a savvy approach, even if some Americans may think it’s unfair. I wish we got similar treatment, but completely understand why we don’t!
Disney is greedy!
My Anual Pass cost has almost doubled since I got it five years ago!
Yes, I’m still giving them my money but cannot keep going at this pace.
Disney Capt. Robert Iger: Let’s raise prices in the face of a recession. Gotta address the balance sheet. Titanic Capt. John Smith: Full speed ahead. Its only ice. Need to beat the Atlantic crossing record.
You are absolutely right. No one is addressing the elephant in the room. My husband and I are booking a VRBO near the ocean next year for a week for 1/3 the cost. Of course I adore Disney and always feel that pull to go. However. I am also not going to spend thousands on a depreciating experience. I haven’t heard anything good from my friends that have gone recently and 1 is a Disney planner.
Honestly, after our last “vacation” at WDW we won’t be back for a long time, if ever. The price gouging has gotten out of control and the joy of visiting has gone. Genie+ was a disaster. We barely got on any rides due to the system constantly refreshing and could never find anything open later in the day. The only plus was that we purchased MVMCP tickets and got to ride EVERYTHING at MK 2-3 times with very short lines.
How much money can Disney get out of people before they opt out? Especially when many of us have had very negative experiences on our Disney vacations after the pandemic. I’m getting to a point where I’m just ready to stop caring. This is clearly a vacation spot for the uber-rich who don’t mind being on their phones all day and waiting in line for rides that break down right before you get on. Disney, if you read any of these comments, you suck! I’m unsubscribing and planning a cruise. Done.
Disney hides behind their $109 one day ticket price, then sticks it to you when you buy..I just bought a one day ticket for my husband with hopper for Thanksgiving week. It was well over $200! With the census numbers down this is not the way to encourage people back to the parks. My family, and daughters family gave up passes long ago because of their greed but still go occasionally because of the kids.
The prices at Disney World are already out of control, and Genie+ has taken away the magic for us. We visit less frequently now even though we have the outrageously expensive Incredi Passes. We are considering dropping down a level when we renew our passes in 2024, and we will definitely do so if the price for the Incredi Pass increases.
Disney has already made prices such that a family of four has to save for years to visit two or three parks. if the prices continue to rise, the average family won’t be able to afford to go. Leave the price as is and let some of the Disney executives take less salary like others have had to do in rising inflation.
They have already overpriced themselves out at Disneyworld. Even as DVC members, we have not been able to return since 2018. Inflation in all areas of our life has nixed the Disneyworld vacation. We have been using the rental of our points to finance other trips in more affordable yet just as enjoyable or even more enjoyable, elsewhere.