Disney to roll out seasonal pricing on one-day park tickets

The Walt Disney World Resort has announced that effective Sunday, February 28, theme park tickets will be priced based on a seasonal system. “Multiday tickets, annual passes and visiting during nonpeak periods also provide our guests with options and savings”, Disney said in a statement. Prices will rise to $US110 for regular periods, and to $US124 for peak.

At the company’s Disneyland and California Adventure parks in Anaheim, “regular” single-day adult ticket prices, which will be offered for about half of the year, will climb to $105 per day from $99 now.

Value days will be most weekdays during the school year, while peak times are around holidays and weekends in July and December.

Walt Disney Co unveiled new single-day ticket prices on Saturday (Feb 27) for the company’s United States theme parks, switching to a three-tiered system that charges visitors more on the year’s busiest days and less during typically slower periods.

Disneyland had to shut its gates during the holiday season, including Christmas Day, due to reaching maximum capacity, KTLA reported. During the company’s last financial quarter, which ended January 2, domestic park attendance rose 10 per cent from a year earlier, setting records.

Peak days will account for 26 percent of the calendar, regular days make up 44 percent of 2016 and 30 percent will be value days.

Some fans aren’t convinced that higher ticket prices will relieve Disney’s overcrowding problem. All times when families are most likely to vacation at a Disney resort.

Which days are value, regular or peak will vary at individual parks and will be determined by the venue’s visitation patterns. But Bloomberg estimates that only 83 days will be designated “value” days.

Walt Disney World in Florida is incorporating a somewhat similar pricing structure. A four-day ticket is now $325 – up from $305. Unlike the Disney resorts, Universal Studio’s Hollywood didn’t increase prices for peak-demand days.

Disneyland is not the only theme park in California to have a tiered pricing system. Disneyland and Disney World’s Hollywood Studios will both be expanded to include Star Wars-themed areas.

Disneyland at 60: the “happiest place on Earth”, but by no means the cheapest. Disney will also launch a stage show based on the popular film Frozen.