Every Disney theme park has seen price increases just about every year, from the ticket counter to the restaurants to parking.
What would you expect from the most popular theme park destination in the world? According to the World Almanac, the Magic Kingdom in Florida, Disneyland in California and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan are the top three most visited theme parks in the world!
The past 12 months have seen a flurry of higher prices in the Disney parks. It would take too long (and be too depressing) to list them all here. So we’ve broken down 20 of the most noticeable price hikes for the Disney Parks in the past year.
Walt Disney World One-Day and Park Ticket Prices
The most noticeable increase starts at the ticket booth. In October 2018, Disney World raised the price of daily admission to between $109 and $129 depending on the popularity of the day, as determined by a new date-based ticket price system. One-day park hopper tickets also saw an increase, with tickets on dates between Christmas and New Year’s being the most expensive times of the year.
Click here to see AllEars.net’s Ticket History chart.
Walt Disney World Parking Prices
If you decide to bring your vehicle to the theme parks, you’ll also have to pay more to leave your car in the parking lot. Walt Disney World’s parking fees increased from $22 to $25 last October.
Walt Disney World Annual Passes
Annual passes can be a cheaper option if you visit the parks enough times in a year, but their prices have also increased. Last October featured a number of price changes throughout both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The prices jumped for Disney World’s Annual Passes saw significant increases — for example, the Platinum Annual Pass went from $849 to $894, an increase of $45 per year.
Walt Disney World Annual Pass Prices…Again
Disney World raised the price on its Annual Passes a second time in June 2019. The Platinum Annual Passes are now $1,191.74 and Platinum Plus Annual Passes are $1298.24! The Gold Annual Pass for DVC and FL Residents only is now $744.44.
Walt Disney World Beverages
The October 2018 increases also included price hikes at the counter service restaurants and snack carts across all the parks. Bottled water jumped from $3.00 to $3.50 and bottled soda jumped from $3.50 to $4.50 each. Places like Casey’s Corner, Pecos Bill’s Tale Tale Inn and Cafe and the Columbia Harbour House in the Magic Kingdom saw fountain drink prices increase from $3.29 to $3.99.
Walt Disney World Food
Food prices weren’t immune to Disney’s park-wide price hikes. Items at snack carts like Joffrey’s Coffee and Tea Company in Tomorrowland changed the price of pastries from $4.19 to $4.99. The price of popcorn refills at Epcot’s popcorn carts jumped from $1.75 to $2.00 per single buckets. Turkey legs at the Fife & Drum Tavern in Epcot’s World Show rose by $2 to $13.25 each. Menus at other restaurants saw numerous price increases.
Click here to check on the prices and menus at ALL Disney World restaurants!
Disneyland Ticket Prices
Meanwhile on the other side of the country, Disneyland and California Adventure’s ticket prices also increased last January, with the cheapest one-day ticket landing between $97-$104 for low demand days, an increase of 7.2 percent from the last price hike. Regular demand days rose by 10.3 percent to $177-$129 and high demand days rose 10.4 percent to $135-$149.
Disneyland Parking Prices
Just like Walt Disney World, parking lot prices also rose for the Anaheim resort. Now, the prices mirror the Florida parking lot prices with a $5 increase to $25.
Disneyland Beverages
Disneyland’s most sought after beverage choices also weren’t spared from price increases. Ordinary drinks like fountain beverages at Disneyland saw an increase from $3.59 to $3.99 for a regular size drink and $3.99 to $4.19 for a large drink at all counter-service restaurants.
Click here to check on the prices and menus for Disneyland restaurants!
The Dole Whip
We’ve already talked about price increases, but this one warrants a separate line item! The iconic frozen treat, which is served around the parks on both coasts, saw one of the steepest increases at Disneyland this past year. The soft serve Dole Whip went from $2.99 to $5.69, the Dole Whip float rose from $3.69 to $6.49 and the Dole Whip float with rum jumped from $10 to $11. (A regular Dole Whip cup seems a comparative bargain now, at just $4.99; the float is $5.99!)
Magic Kingdom’s Crystal Palace
The famous “buffet with character,” which can satisfy the biggest appetites, saw increases for all three meal times. The breakfast buffet price for rose from $34 to $38 for adults and from $20 to $23 for kids. Lunch rose from $28 to $31 for adults and $20 to $23 for kids. Dinner prices jumped from $47 to $52 for adults and $34 to $38 for kids.
Crystal Palace Lunch/Dinner
Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Tree Tavern
Another price increase appeared on the menu for this all-you-care-to-enjoy eatery located in Liberty Square. Prices for adults rose from $36 to $38 for adults and from $20 to $21 for kids.
Magic Kingdom’s Be Our Guest Restaurant
Food prices at this “Beauty and the Beast” themed restaurant in Fantasyland rose for its breakfast (from $25 to $28 for all seven entrees) and the three-course prix-fixe dinner rose from $55 to $60 for adults and from $35 to $36 for kids. That’s not a nice way to treat guests!
Be Our Guest Dinner
Hollywood Studios’ Hollywood and Vine Restaurant
The movie theme park’s Disney character meet-and-greet restaurant moved closer to the price of a restaurant on the real Hollywood and Vine. The Play ’n Dine Breakfast went from $20 for the kids to $23 and from $34 to $38 for the grown-ups. Minnie’s seasonal dining, which is available during lunch and dinner has also increased both for kids and adults.
Epcot’s Biergarten
This staple of the German wing of Epcot’s World Showcase is a must-visit for fans of juicy bratwurst and delicious, refreshing beers for lunch and dinner. However, you’ll have to pay a little more to get in the place. The German buffet increased its prices to $44 for adults and $24 for kids from $35 for adults and $19 for kids for lunch and $41 for adults and $22 for kids for dinner.
Biergarten - Lunch/Dinner
Frozen Drinks
Bottled water and soda weren’t the only drinks that saw a rise in prices, and I’m not talking about Coca-Cola’s Beverly soda (shiver). The frozen slush drinks at places like Epcot’s Cool Wash went up from $4.50 to $5.50 making the brain freeze and the price $1 more painful than usual. Other frozen beverages, like Goofy’s Glaciers found at a number of locations jumped from $4.79 to $4.99 for a standard cup, $8.99 to $9.69 for a souvenir cup and $10.99 to $11.69 for a special, themed souvenir cup.
Alcoholic Beverages
Alcoholic beverages weren’t immune from price increases. Beers, wine, mixed drinks, throughout the Disney parks and resorts saw at least incremental price increases too numerous to spell out.
Epcot Food and Wine Festival
It’s one of the most anticipated culinary events in the entire park, so it’s understandable that Disney would raise the prices of the food and beverage found in the international marketplace booths. The shocking part is that in 2018, some prices went up right in the middle of the festival. For instance, all of the food and beverages at the Refreshment Port in Epcot’s World Showcase — different varieties of poutine and pineapple soft-serve ice cream — jumped by $1.00.
Disneyland’s MaxPass System
The MaxPass is one of the newer and cooler ways to skip the long lines of most of Disneyland Resort’s most popular rides (sorry “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” fans, maybe next year). For a little extra money, guests can use their smartphone to reserve FASTPASS tickets in the parks they’ve paid to enter on the day of their visit and download an unlimited number of PhotoPass photos throughout the parks. Now it also costs a little extra. MaxPass System prices jumped from $10 to $15.
Walt Disney World’s Overnight Hotel Parking
The parking price hikes weren’t just limited to the theme parks. Walt Disney World’s hotels increased their overnight self-parking prices. There was enough outrage when this new parking fee was implemented, and that continued when prices went up! Reservations that were booked before June 18 only had to pay $13 per night for the Value resorts, $19 per night for the Moderate resorts and $24 per night for the Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts. Hotel reservations booked after the effective date will come with overnight parking charges at $15 per night for the Value resorts, $20 per night for the Moderate resorts and $25 per night for the Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts. Then again, there’s always Uber and Lyft!
Whew! That’s quite a list! Which price increases caught you off-guard? Have you changed the way you visit Disney due to these increases? Drop us a comment below!
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Disney thinks so many people will be coming for Galaxy’s Edge that they need to dissuade people from driving in & congesting the roads so they start an over night parking fee. I wonder if GE will payoff for Disney like they expect or if regular visitors will stop coming because we’re put off by the rising prices, diminished hotel perks & excessive crowds
“Have you changed the way you visit Disney due to these increases?” Yes. I will go less often. Instead of multiple trips in a year. I will only visit once a year or every other year. I will utilize my DVC and prepare meals in my villa. I will plan fewer park days and more resort days. I once would have defended the cost of Disney. But I am paying premium price for average product.
Disney hikes prices more than my dog hikes his leg on the neighbors rose bushes.
I suggest moving to Pluto. (And snatching him away before he tries that again.)
I’ve stayed on Universal property, and while I enjoy it, they definitely nickel & dime their guests, too. They started charging to park at their resorts a couple of years before Disney did. They have an Express Pass, but it’s not free like Disney’s FastPass is. At Halloween Horror Nights, for example, the cost of the Express Pass is often the same price as your admission ticket, so it’s like buying two park passes, often exceeding $100 each. And like any other tourist destination, food and drink is always pricier than the same food outside the resort at any business along I-Drive. I haven’t seen or experienced these new $73/night resorts you’re talking about, so I can’t comment on those, but I’d like to learn more with Google’s help later. Happy vacationing!
If you stay at Universal’s higher end resorts the Express Pass is free.
But not for Halloween Horror Nights.
We have been to WDW since 1973 and live in NJ. September will be our 45th trip. No more. Since we are now retired, we drive down to WDW and stay at one of the resorts. Mainly a moderate priced resort. We now feel that Disney has now gone too far in nickel and dime the quests to death. Yes, I can see price increasing of food and admission but parking for on-site guests that used to be free and not annual but frequent price increases on other items is just too much. All I can say is I hope Disney enjoys my money now, they may not get it again.
I’m not sure I’ve done any one thing in my entire life 45 times. Except repeat the 3rd grade.
In that case, I worry about the health of your teeth. That’s a lot of missed brushings.
I get some price increases. A slight increase in food is reasonable. But a $9 increase to the adult dinner price at Biergarten? Seriously?
Parking at the resorts is a whole other issue. They took something that was complimentary and turned it into a huge revenue generator. They weren’t happy with that so they raised parking fees again within one year of instituting them! You are already paying top dollar + to stay at a Disney resort. Much more than any comparable hotel off property. Then they hit you with a crazy parking fee. The parking fee was the most over the top thing Disney has done in the last few years.
Annual pass increases were also crazy. My family has just about been priced out of a Disney vacation and we are DVC members. We are going to get one last big vacation out of our points and then sell them. I can get back all the $ from my initial investment and then some.
I wonder if Disney would’ve ever chosen to charge for resort parking if Universal hadn’t done it with their resorts first. Often I think Disney’s actions are really reactions to what their competitors are doing. And yes, the consumer always loses in this situation.
I seriously doubt it. Disney is always trying to best Universal, not keep up with them. No parking fees were one of the perks that made Disney superior to Universal. Why would you start doing things that the lesser competition does? If anything, Universal should have taken Disney’s lead and stopped charging for resort parking if they really wanted to compete. The reason is greed plain and simple. They’re making us pay dearly for all of these expansions and new rides we’re getting. I hope they lose their butts and people start protesting with their pocketbooks. I have no choice but to do so. I’m priced out of my yearly vacations to probably going every 3 years or so and staying off property just to see what’s new. No more 2 and 3 times a year here.
There’s a lot of great hotels off property yo stay at. The rooms are bigger and you get more perks. Make sure you do your homework. We went to Disney this past May. That may have been our last trip. It’s way too expensive .
Universal has been charging parking fees at their resorts for well over a decade now. I stayed at the Royal Pacific back in 2007 and had to pay for parking. Fortunately my stay was for a business seminar being held at the hotel so my company reimbursed me for the charge.
I was a Disney AP holder for many years, visiting the parks multiple times a year. A few years ago, Disney became less enjoyable. The park was overcrowed and prices started increasing. I just stopped going. I will not argue that Disney has added a lot to the parks in recent years, but who the hell wants the heck wants to stand on line for 2 or more hours to go on a ride.
It seems to me that Disney is getting greedy. I can understand increasing food prices but how is a few ounces of juice and a bit of ice cream cost $11.00? How can you justify the cost of non-tangible items like parking and such? Disney is also milking their movie properties. For example, the big marketing campaign to see Avengers Endgame with extra footage. The extra footage was a total rip off. Besides a touching tribute to Stan Lee, it included a horrible scene with the Hulk and a Spider man Trailer. Also, the remake of the classic animated features that have been horrible for the most part and the butchering of Star Wars.
Just seems to me that Disney is out of control. They are buying up more and more properties and then extorting cash from the public. It seems that I am not alone in this thinking, Abigail Disney just said the same thing.
Walt Disney wanted his movies and parks to be enjoyed by families, with these prices how many families can really afford a trip to Disney World?
The recent Star Wars films were the best that the franchise has done since 1983. They perfectly captured the feel of the original trilogy and created one of the most admirable female characters since Princess Leia (RIP, Carrie). I do agree with everything else you have said here, though.
Just got back from disneyworld, yep, maybe the,next trip, if there is one, stay at a Disney Springs resort hotel with same benefits as staying onsite at Disney, charging parking, is just stupid, and,its not even valet parking, like the hotel i am staying at right now, at least someone parks my car fpr the same price disney is charging me. Also noticed park attendance seems to be down, not sure if it is people waiting on star wars to open, or simply price point is now too high for average consumer, parkibg lots and crowds seem to be lighter than previous summer visits
We are always considering other vacation options these days. We are priced out of a WDW vacation as often as we have been going. No more daily, pricey Character meals, etc for us. Our last FL trip/2018 was spent at Universal, much more-affordable and very enjoyable. Universal just built hotels you can stay at for as little as $73/night!!! for 5 or more nights. They get that families want to vacation but don’t want to take out a mortgage to do it. Will we still go to WDW? probably, but definitely not as often and we won’t be spending as much/ having as many park days as we have in the past.
Woo hoo! Bring on the whiners and venters in 3…2…
Nice try at a preemptive strike to silence critics. The last thing Disney addicts want to do is defend and justify their addiction. So let the attacks on critics begin in 3, 2, 1……….
Yup. The old saying “whoever smelt it, dealt it” holds true in this case. Bob is in denial.
My my, looks like I turned a few heads with my own criticism. And for Big John’s sake, I’ll be sure to limit my Chipotle and Taco Bell visits.
Complaining about being price-gouged does not equate to being either a “whiner” or “venter”. Some of these price increases may be legitimate. For example, the cost of food has gone up so that is passed onto the consumer. However, charging resort guests who bring a car an overnight parking fee to park is simply greedy.
No attempts to silence anyone here. Just predicting the inevitable. The critiques are expected by now, but they also point out the obvious most of the time. No one likes being price-gouged, including Disney addicts, but some of us are at least aware that criticisms on an unofficial Disney site won’t improve the situation or effect any significant change by the Disney company, which makes the criticisms, however valid, essentially just venting.
I happen to agree regarding the parking fee, which is a frustrating change after decades of free parking for resort guests, and then to raise it only a few months after initiating it is even more irksome. But venting is not what I come to this site for. People clearly have different kinds of needs met via this site, and mine is simply getting a minor Disney fix while waiting for my next major one. I’ll gladly defend my Disney addiction to anyone, but justifying it is pointless since it’s all subjective anyway. Disney was always expensive, and I suspect it always will be, but like anyone with an addiction, I’ll always find a way to get my fix.
As for the criticisms, I hope they don’t stop. They provide a healthy balance, as long as the critics realize they are not immune to criticism themselves.
Agreed
I am right there with you Bob. It hurts this Disney addict that my kids can’t possibly afford to enjoy Disney with their kids the way I was able to enjoy it with mine. I’m sure Walt himself wanted to make money, but I can’t believe he would condone the money grab of recent years. On the flip side of my frustration, when you have a hot commodity that keeps your parks and resorts near constant capacity, why not price it higher? We addicts have praised Disney Magic until we have apparently made believers out of the whole world and now they are filling the place up.
I’ve just about had it. The annual pass increase was insane!