At this point, you can set your watch by Disney's theme park price increases. They’ve happened in early October every year for the last several years (pandemic notwithstanding). Alongside every price increase comes frustration from guests who see one of their favorite activities only getting more and more expensive.
It’s a common question asked with every price increase: Have we finally reached a tipping point? Are Disneyland and Walt Disney World officially too expensive yet? The question was once again asked on Reddit recently, and one user pointed out something a lot of people didn’t want to hear: that finding and passing the “tipping point” is part of the point of the price increases. They said:
The solution to both of these problems is to raise the prices so fewer people attend. The data bears this out. Attendance is down, but park profits are up. Disney sees this as a win-win, and don't care one iota what the people complaining on the subreddit have to say about it.
This is a good point, and the reason I know that is that it’s one I’ve made myself. Three years ago, I stated that the goal of the price increases was, in part, to price people out. As the Redditor points out, while prices have gone up, and that has seemingly harmed attendance, while attendance was up in 2024 at Walt Disney World, it was at a fraction of the increase of the previous post-pandemic years. Disney Experiences, the division that handles the parks, is seeing record profits.
This is because, while some people may have decided the price is now too high and stopped going, those who are going, who can afford to do so, are spending more money. Happy customers tend to spend more so Disney is trying to make the customers with the most money the happiest.
As the Redditor points out, Disneyland and Walt Disney World have had no issues selling out hard ticket events like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or the incredibly expensive Lightning Lane Premiere Pass, which lets guests not only skip the lines, but do so at their leisure, without needing to schedule attractions in advance.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t appear that we have hit any sort of major tipping point yet. While some people have clearly had enough with the price of Disneyland and Walt Disney World, most people who want to go are still going. That day may come when we see massive reductions in attendance, but as the original statement points out, if that happens, and profits go up, then it’s all a win for Disney. At least, if that happens, and you are willing to spend the money, it will be less crowded.
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