October 2025 Price Increases

[Sirwalterraleigh]

On days like this, I am reminded that no job pays as well, tax free, when you are dead, than retiring from Disney. Every day my Dad takes us to the park it’s now an extra $900! my Mom’s total compensation increases. (3 one day park hoppers + parking)

I don’t know how regular folks do it.

…well there’s a take

 

[hopemax]

It's not the first time I've posted it!

Every year the benefit just goes up, up, up. Some companies offer 401K matches, Disney gave this.

 

[Chi84]

Everyone should be welcome in a Disney park, however, the thing that brought Disney to where it is today wasn’t appealing to nostalgia baited adults or shill influencers, or “adults” looking to get plastered on festival, kiosk adult beverages, it was the everyday family that saw an amazing product and made a connection with it. Disney at one point used to work hard to want to have those people in their parks, however, the current regime would rather have higher margin guests that spend more on food and beverage and merch at the expense of the quality of their parks.

Ask yourself has the Disney experience gotten better or worse in the past 20 years?

The truth is that only a very few current guests have been going to Disney for 20 years.

My theory is that only a couple of generations grew up at the same time that Disney was created and initially expanding and those generations are coming to an end.

Disney is going after a different kind of guest now and many people are still seeing an amazing place but without doing the comparison you’re suggesting.

If they lower prices and make the parks affordable to everyone, how do they keep the crowds from getting out of hand? No one wants to go back to 2019.

I’m asking based on the current reality of WDW - not what would have been possible if Disney had done things differently in the past. There are no time machines.

 

[BrianLo]

Ask yourself has the Disney experience gotten better or worse in the past 20 years?

Both. It continued to rapidly decline post Everest and then started to rapidly improve post Springs.

Today is better than 2005... 1995 on the other hand is questionable depending on how much you love Animal Kingdom (and I do).

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If you look, they've also let DL surpass MK in peak day pricing.

Which is appropriate based on the differences in clientele/location

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't doubt your knowledge, wisdom, and perspective. But saying belittling comments about Disney adults when everyone on here clearly is one (perhaps not so much as the negative connotations with influencers) is just strange.

I don’t think the crossover between forums and “Disney adults” is 100%…

Not if you read what the book defines them as…

Certainly a lot of crossover…but many of us predate what a Disney adult is and are actually too old to qualify…if that makes weird sense?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Both. It continued to rapidly decline post Everest and then started to rapidly improve post Springs.

Today is better than 2005... 1995 on the other hand is questionable depending on how much you love Animal Kingdom (and I do).

Oh no no no…

What are you using as the measuring stick to what “better” is?

The enjoyment is not tied just to building new buildings and skins on top of older ones…that’s what your assertion seems to define the criteria as…

The peak of wdw as far as value and customer comfort goes was 1999…not specifically to when the globe started floating…but ironically that can be the benchmark

 

[KDM31091]

8 bucks for a pretzel and 5.50 for a bottle of coke IMO is a bit much

It’s insane. You know they pay next to nothing for the drinks. We all must stop buying them and maybe they’ll reconsider.

Over $200 a day for MK is also insane with a good quarter of the park behind walls

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Prices are still less than our local sports stadiums. It's all wildly expensive.

Not a valid comparison…but shows up every time a price discussion occurs

 

[BrianLo]

Oh no no no…

What are you using as the measuring stick to what “better” is?

Exactly what it means, the hard product.

Epcot was already trashed by 2005. We can split hairs on Animal Kingdom, but I largely enjoy Pandora and technically Everest didn't come online until 2006. Magic Kingdom seems lateral from that period, in-spite of a number of additions and night entertainment improvements. Springs and DHS are large improvements. Most food is improved in aggregate, I'm overly fond of the skyliner.

Price is not improved, but that wasn't the question being asked. The soft product is worse, I cannot speak to the soft product personally in 2005.

As I mentioned, going back to the 90's is a different beast that I'm receptive to the argument. But I struggle giving back Animal Kingdom.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Exactly what it means, the hard product.

Epcot was already trashed by 2005. We can split hairs on Animal Kingdom, but I largely enjoy Pandora and technically Everest didn't come online until 2006. Magic Kingdom seems lateral from that period, in-spite of a number of additions and night entertainment improvements. Springs and DHS are large improvements. Most food is improved in aggregate, I'm overly fond of the skyliner.

Price is not improved, but that wasn't the question being asked. The soft product is worse, I cannot speak to the soft product personally in 2005.

Other than springs…which was a footprint expansion…and avatar…

The rest falls more or less in the category of side
Grades…taking things out to build “”new”
Things has not really resulted in better days…since the 90’s

Been at this awhile slugger

It’s not about construction…that’s what the highlight to the fools so they’ll promote it in the next vlog for free…

It’s about the decline in ability to balance the pieces of a day together to have the take away Feelings meet or exceed expectations. That’s a very complicated concept…but guess who is paid to pull it off?

 

[BrianLo]

Things has not really resulted in better days…since the 90’s

Which is also my argument. It's 30 years, not 20. 2005 is an already lowered bar.

If you really want to point the finger at one man, he arrived on scene in 1996.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Which is also my argument. It's 30 years, not 20. 2005 is an already lowered bar.

If you really want to point the finger at one man, he arrived on scene in 1996.

The new lead singer for Alice In Chains?

 

[BrianLo]

The new lead singer for Alice In Chains?

The weatherman and all the strategic planning hoopla that corporate acquisition brought with it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The weatherman and all the strategic planning hoopla that corporate acquisition brought with it.

Unfortunately strategic planning predates him…

Maybe that’s what he was reading for the first 8 years there when nobody knew who he was or what his function was?

 

[monothingie]

The truth is that only a very few current guests have been going to Disney for 20 years.

No and you can thank DVC for this. Not to mention that children of the 90's who experienced the Disney Decade are now adults who have come fully circle back into the ecosystem.

My theory is that only a couple of generations grew up at the same time that Disney was created and initially expanding and those generations are coming to an end.

Of course, because that was 54 years ago. The real formative impact was with the 80's and 90's.

Disney is going after a different kind of guest now and many people are still seeing an amazing place but without doing the comparison you’re suggesting.

It's turning out great right? Higher prices, less value, more stuff behind paywalls, less accessibility for normal guests. It's the BEST EVER TIME!

If they lower prices and make the parks affordable to everyone, how do they keep the crowds from getting out of hand? No one wants to go back to 2019.

I don't intend to be offensive, but what an amazingly out of touch and deluded take. I would take 2019 over the last 4 years of price increases, cuts, amazingly incompetent management decisions in a heartbeat.

I’m asking based on the current reality of WDW - not what would have been possible if Disney had done things differently in the past. There are no time machines.

There's a difference between the present and the past. All you need to look at is the public perception of Disney today versus 20 years ago. Can you imagine telling Michael Eisner back in 1996 that his company and theme parks would be look unfavorably by between 40-50% of the population (depending on poll, pre Kimmel) and have a company admiration score of "fair" down from excellent only a couple of years prior?

Generally speaking, it's takes like yours that are the problem. More people are waking up to how poorly the company is being run and it's has caused and continues to cause an immense amount of longterm damage that we're just starting to see the effects of now. There is no reason why Disney should be the center of polarizing issues that it's overall loosing.,

 

[monothingie]

Both. It continued to rapidly decline post Everest and then started to rapidly improve post Springs.

Today is better than 2005... 1995 on the other hand is questionable depending on how much you love Animal Kingdom (and I do).

For Florida anyway, The 90's brought about two new parks, two new water parks, a larger number of incredibly themed (by todays current product) hotels, iconic attractions such as Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Test Track (at the loss of WOM), DVC, etc.

 

[Chi84]

No and you can thank DVC for this. Not to mention that children of the 90's who experienced the Disney Decade are now adults who have come fully circle back into the ecosystem.

Of course, because that was 54 years ago. The real formative impact was with the 80's and 90's.

It's turning out great right? Higher prices, less value, more stuff behind paywalls, less accessibility for normal guests. It's the BEST EVER TIME!

I don't intend to be offensive, but what an amazingly out of touch and deluded take. I would take 2019 over the last 4 years of price increases, cuts, amazingly incompetent management decisions in a heartbeat.

There's a difference between the present and the past. All you need to look at is the public perception of Disney today versus 20 years ago. Can you imagine telling Michael Eisner back in 1996 that his company and theme parks would be look unfavorably by between 40-50% of the population (depending on poll, pre Kimmel) and have a company admiration score of "fair" down from excellent only a couple of years prior?

Generally speaking, it's takes like yours that are the problem. More people are waking up to how poorly the company is being run and it's has caused and continues to cause an immense amount of longterm damage that we're just starting to see the effects of now. There is no reason why Disney should be the center of polarizing issues that it's overall loosing.,

DVC is probably the only reason we visited so often through the years and why we can still afford to take our party of (now) 10 every couple of years.

As far as having the best time ever, people are so different in what they enjoy that it’s not possible to compare them.

For example, I would willingly choose price hikes over the ridiculously overcrowded conditions in 2019. We couldn’t get on the buses or monorails without a long wait, we waited 45 minutes to be seated at a TS restaurant (with a reservation) and parking was miserable. Crowds aside we had fun but I would not want to go back to that time.

I think enjoyability is largely based on circumstances. If you’re an adult without a large family, navigating crowds, finding QS seating and waiting in lines isn’t that much of a hassle. But add those factors and the crowds become miserable.

I will admit that I don’t care about the reputation of Disney or the long-term health of WDW. I enjoy it but I’m not addicted to it and I have no delusions that anything I do is going to affect it.

If it stops being fun I’ll go somewhere else. Life is too short to be all that concerned about a company that has absolutely no concern for me.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Oh no no no…

What are you using as the measuring stick to what “better” is?

The enjoyment is not tied just to building new buildings and skins on top of older ones…that’s what your assertion seems to define the criteria as…

The peak of wdw as far as value and customer comfort goes was 1999…not specifically to when the globe started floating…but ironically that can be the benchmark

Exactly. What metric are you using? It better not be personal takes or experience. There has to be EVIDENCE

 

[monothingie]

Exactly. What metric are you using? It better not be personal takes or experience. There has to be EVIDENCE

Public polling on TWDC is a great barometer with hard data to support this.