Mickey on Demand: Disney Ups Prices in Demand-Based Scheme

Just in time for the busy spring and summer seasons, Walt Disney World yesterday rolled out demand-based pricing for its one-day tickets–dividing the calendar into value, regular, and peak periods.

At Disney World parks in Florida, a daily ticket during value season (late August through September) will cost $97, the same price admission has been for the past year. During peak season (spring break, most of summer, and Christmastime), admission at Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom will go up to $114. Regular season prices will rise to $102.

Magic Kingdom, arguably the most popular park, will rise to $110 for regular periods, and to $124 for peak. Prices will remain at $105 during the value season.

Disneyland in California also will have a tiered-pricing system, with prices set at $95 for value, $105 for regular, and $119 for peak.

Disney said the new pricing will help better “spread out visitation,” which has been growing during peak season, throughout the year. The company is also expanding its parks to compensate for overcrowding.

Overcrowding has been a growing problem for Disney. Over the holiday season, Disneyland and Magic Kingdom both reached full capacity and were forced to shut their gates. The parks saw a 10% increase in attendance in the last three months of 2015, a new record, on top of a 7% year-over-year increase in 2014.

The new pricing comes as major new attractions are planned for the parks. New themed lands based on AVATAR, Star Wars, and Toy Story are in the works, along with a new stage show based on the Frozen movie later this year, and a Frozen Ever After attraction at Epcot.

Multi-day tickets and annual passes will not be affected.

Demand-based pricing, already common in  the airline and lodging industries, was adopted by Universal Studios Hollywood earlier this month.

Consumers likely will be unhappy with the price hike; the backlash already has started.

“If Walt [Disney] were alive today, he would probably be uncomfortable with the prices they’re charging right now,” Scott Smith, an assistant professor of hospitality at the University of South Carolina whose first job was as a cast member in Disney’s Haunted Mansion, told the Washington Post. “They’ve priced middle-class families out.”

Photo courtesy: Chris Harrison