Walt Disney World raises ticket prices for 2025

Unpopular opinion: it’s still not enough.

One can’t help but wonder how much Universal will bring the hammer down once Epic opens next year.

@James - I would agree with that if Disney wants to utilize price controls to manage crowd levels, but as we've seen over the past 10+ years, it really doesn't matter how high prices get or how much people complain at how much it costs to visit WDW, it doesn't significantly impact demand.

We're in the process of planning our summer vacation through Europe, and all of the theme parks we've been looking at have single day admission tickets that run in the 50-70 Euro range ($60-80). Even Europa Park, which is one of the largest theme parks in the world in terms of size and number of attractions, has 1-day admissions that run @$65.

Disney has become a victim of its own success, and that has created a theme park market where people are willing to drop $100 or more for a single day. That has extended to other parks around the country. We are likely to visit 4-5 major European theme parks in July (including the potential of staying at a couple of on-site resort hotels) for what it would cost us to spend 2 days at WDW (and stay at Pop Century). The US theme park market, particularly in Orlando and SoCal, has gotten out of control.

"10+ years" indeed. I still have a 1986 clipping from an Orlando Sentinel letter to the editor responding to someone who wrote an article complaining that $24.50 was too expensive for a WDW, single day ticket.

What's more obnoxious is that despite the ever increasing ticket price, no matter how much you pay you'll still be a second-class citizen unless you also drop the additional $30 for Genie+. Once upon a time Genie+ got you elevated status, but now it's the price to buy into what's effectively the standby lane, the LL.

If you don't but Genie plus, the line you're in--ostensibly called the standby line--is now something far worse. It's the "up yours, peasant" line, designed to screw you over in favor of the G+ line. You have no idea how long the wait will be, because Disney (i) lies straight to your face about wait times, and (ii) really can't predict how long you'll wait in any event (because if a big group of G+ people arrives, you'll be made to wait until they all pass through. Pity the peasant line if a parade lets out, for example).

Airlines charging $30 a bag is beyond obnoxious, and engenders ill will every time you buy a ticket. But when super-expensive Disney is gleefully reaming you in the same way? Beyond insulting.

@TH - I cited 10 years primarily because the early to mid 2010's is when Disney first started using pricing to manage demand (2015 is when WDW started charging higher admission for MK and for peak seasons). Yes, prices have been steadily rising for decades, but only over the 10+ years has Disney been using those tools as an attempt to smooth demand/attendance.

As an aside, we have 10-day non-expiring park hoppers on our Magic Bands that we bought back in 2005. The cost of those worked out to be @$47/day, and in 2025 would cost @$94/day (peak season). That's a 2X increase over 20 years, and you can't buy the non-expiring option anymore.

thecolonel, I’m curious as to why you are producing so much venom and bile towards Disney when it seems to me that they’re just following the lead as *checks notes* every other park on the planet.

@James - I agree that it's a tired refrain from thecolonel, but you are both accurate. Disney is just following the lead by charging guests extra for faster access to attractions, something theme parks have been doing for decades. However, the biggest difference I see is that upcharge expedited attraction access at other parks (be it Universal Express, Quick Queue, Flash Pass, Fastlane, Timesaver, etc...) is a privilege that a relatively small percentage of daily guests pay for at those parks (though Universal's percentage has gone up in recent years). However, at Disney, it's been reported (by Iger himself) that nearly 50% of guests pay for Genie+, and who knows how many more are also purchasing ILLs. Because people are paying for Genie+, Disney has to give those guests value for that upcharge, which comes at the expense of guests not paying the upcharge. The issue has become that Genie+ has almost become a necessity, so more and more people are buying it, so to make sure those guests paying for the service feel like they're not getting ripped off, guests in standby lines are forced to suffer.

Because Disney tried to straddle the fence by providing some line-skipping advantages like the old FP/FP+ systems, but wanted to charge a nominal fee (compared to the price of admission), we've got a system that has become essentially a surcharge for very little benefit that makes life miserable for regular guests.

James, being critical of a corporation is "venom and bile"? If you say so. I was raised to think the unexamined life isn't worth living. Russell, a tired refrain? Don't read my posts, my brother in christ, and spare yourself the boredom. Maybe go touch grass and my posts won't be such a burden for you.

In any event, Disney is not just any other park. It's a luxury vacation destination with mind-busting prices. It's one thing to be charged for an extra bag on Frontier airlines, but I don't expect similar treatment in United first class. That's especially true because the Genie+ upcharge has made all lines slower for everyone. As I say in my post, the LL now moves about as quick as the old standby line, and the current standby line oftentimes doesn't move at all.

They've made it worse for everyone, and most everyone would gladly pay the $30 extra a ticket if they went back to the old system, where everyone waited in line less. You're cool with that? Enjoy. Me, I'm going to keep raising the issue in the hope that something will change.

@theolonel - Did you miss the part where I agreed with you and backed up your claim?

You do realize that Disney NEVER goes backwards. Any system or service that is retired or improved never goes back to the way it was, no matter how good it was or how much guests likes it over its replacement. Genie+ is here to stay (and will only go UP in price, not down), and unfortunately guests are gobbling it up at a ridiculous rate, which is only going to embolden Disney and justify their decision to charge more and more for the service. It's not Disney who you should be angry with, it's the people who willingly accept the $30 upcharge for minimal return that has made Genie+ a worthless product and deteriorated the experience for guests not wanting to play Disney's game.

I'm probably going to conjure TH into this chat by saying this, but the problem with Genie+ is the Disney Drones, who gobble up anything and everything Disney sells for whatever price it sells for. If a more selective number of guests (30% or less of daily attendance) purchased Genie+, it would work far better for everyone, not just those who buy the service, who could probably get closer to the 4-5 LL selections initially envisioned when the service launched and not the 2-3 they get today, but the guests who don't want to pay the upcharge with standby lines that move more predictably because the LL lines are not constantly bombarded by Genie+ guests.

Disney really screwed everyone with the Genie plus. They sell too many of them and it's still massively inconvenient to use. I'm sounding like a broken record but they need to just copy Universal already and charge for a real express pass that is good for all rides at all times. Charge $500 per person I don't care just make it convenient for those willing to spend the money and cap how many you sell. They would still make tons of money and the lines would actually get smaller since not as many people would spend the money. People who are willing to spend that much on express passes would still be happy because they would get huge value from not having to plan every second!