October 2025 Price Increases

[Chi84]

Maybe or maybe not, but that's all subjective. You can only get Disney on a Disney ship and some people really like that.

I’ve heard the kids’ clubs are much better.

 

[MrPromey]

The first year we went to WDW in 2010 they were offering 45% off deluxe resorts. The only time I can remember there being no discounts was the two post covid years. I got 35% off at AKL in 2019. I have never paid rack rate for room. Not ever. Discounts aren't new.

Absolutely not and you've already been well trained to never pay the full price. That's part of the problem they had to find a solution for when too many guests realized what you understand.

You know what is relatively new? Genie Plus Lighting Lane and LL+ which COVID let them do.

Have you run the numbers on how much prices increase if we include the price of that when comparing current ticket prices to pre-COVID prices when that was an included benefit?

Pre-covid, FP+ was included in a base ticket and that included 7DMT. Today, if you want FP (rebranded) you'll pay extra for that and if you also want to be able to use it for 7DMT, that'll be extra-extra unless you only want to do 7DMT in which case, it'll just be extra.

Sound confusing?

That's the point. It makes comparisons to the before-time in a way that accurately reflects the true price differences really hard to make for most people.

Not to mention LL, launched as Disney Genie Plus just four short years ago at a price of $15 has more than doubled since then.... and that all used to be included in the base ticket price - an increase that far out paces the rate of ticket increases which are already outpacing inflation.

It's sneaky as hell if you take the magic away and just look at the numbers.

If you're staying at a Disney resort, you are more than likely going to the parks so you think you've got them with the room discount which has always been there and doesn't work as well as it once did for you and many others because a lot of their guests no-longer consider that a real discount but the price they expect to pay.** At the same time, they've got you with this whole new pricing scheme... plus more expensive park tickets and more expensive everything else.

I know this is already long but I want to address something people like to mention which is that LL and ILL are optional so you can't count that as an increase. Maybe you* say "It's not so bad for me because I didn't use FP+ to begin with" but that's exactly why Disney did it this way - to make people think they're being given more options now which disguises the price increase.

But like my last post, applying this logic to another example, lets say your favorite restaurant increases the price of their cheeseburger by seventy-five cents but at the same time, they also say the fries are no-longer included.

Well, there will always be some people who say "That's fine. I never ate the fries, anyway!".

That's kind of ignoring that the burger not only just got more expensive but also now comes with less and if you were a person who liked the fries with their burger, in addition to the extra seventy-five cents, they're also now charging almost four dollars more for the fries that were included before the price increase on just the burger.

In both scenarios, you're prices have gone up a lot, you're just either paying most of that cost by losing something you did or didn't value and only seeing a small actual dollar increase or you're paying a lot more for all of what you used to get at the base price that was lower than the now base price.

And this wasn't even remotely tied to inflation. It didn't exist and the one day, it did.

Overnight, the restaurant found a way to put a HUGE price increase in there without making that big of a change to the price people see on the menu... but certainly notice when the check comes... or in the case of Disney, when their credit card bill arrives a month after their vacation.

There is of course the whole argument that we should be blessed that the most magical amazing theme parks in the world included FP+ for "free" for so long while their chief competitor down the street has been charging hundreds of dollars for it all along.

The reason for that is also sneaky, probably saved Disney billions of dollars, didn't come without a major permanent hidden cost for guests and was not as guest-friendly as people want to think it was but I'll wait until someone brings that up and put that six paragraphs in another post.

*a figurative you - not a literal you-you. I know the tickets you're cashing in at DL have that benefit.

** a very similar scheme with medical providers and insurance companies has contributed in major ways to the medical crisis we now face in the US.

 

[MrPromey]

Maybe or maybe not, but that's all subjective. You can only get Disney on a Disney ship and some people really like that.

Wow that's a WAY better slogan than "you can only get a gastrointestinal disease on Royal Caribbean"!

No wonder Disney gets away with charging a premium!

 

[Miss Bella]

I’ve heard the kids’ clubs are much better.

They are impressive. My kids really enjoyed them. The biggest advantage I found with Disney over the others is the clubs never closed during the day. They are open from 10am until 1200-1am everyday even port days. There is also no curfew for teens on DCL.

One recent negative is they turned the tween club on the Dream and Fantasy into a Royal suite and the tweens took half of the teens club. My son was pretty mad about that. He had a lot of good memories in that tween club. He met one of his best friends there. He's now 21. I guess that Royal suite is going to make them a lot more money. Apparantly that's more important than adequate space for teens.

DCL also does a good job of getting the 18-20 year olds together for organized meet ups. Royal is supposed to have something for 18-25 year olds to meet. We shall see how that goes on our upcoming Royal cruise.

I have nothing negative to say about DCL except for the price and the itineraries. They put ships in Australia and Singapore and then offered nothing but 3-4 day cruises. They do the same stale itineraries in Europe and half the year is short cruises for the UK residents. Mostly the same in Florida with the majority of the ships doing short sailings.

 

[Miss Bella]

Absolutely not and you've already been well trained to never pay the full price. That's part of the problem they had to find a solution for when too many guests realized what you understand.

You know what is relatively new? Genie Plus Lighting Lane and LL+ which COVID let them do.

Have you run the numbers on how much prices increase if we include the price of that when comparing current ticket prices to pre-COVID prices when that was an included benefit?

Pre-covid, FP+ was included in a base ticket and that included 7DMT. Today, if you want FP (rebranded) you'll pay extra for that and if you also want to be able to use it for 7DMT, that'll be extra-extra unless you only want to do 7DMT in which case, it'll just be extra.

Sound confusing?

That's the point. It makes comparisons to the before-time in a way that accurately reflects the true price differences really hard to make for most people.

Not to mention LL, launched as Disney Genie Plus just four short years ago at a price of $15 has more than doubled since then.... and that all used to be included in the base ticket price.

It's sneaky as hell if you take the magic away and just look at the numbers.

If you're staying at a Disney resort, you are more than likely going to the parks so you think you've got them with the room discount which has always been there and doens't work as well as it once did for you and many others because a lot of their guests no-longer consider that a real discount but the price they expect to pay instead. At the same time, they've got you with this whole new pricing scheme... plus more expensive park tickets and more expensive everything else.

I know this is already long but I want to address something people like to mention which is that LL and ILL are optional so you can't count that as an incrase. Maybe you* say "It's not so bad for me becasue I didn't use FP+ to begin with" but that's exactly why Disney did it this way - to make people think they're being given more options now which disguses the price increase.

But like my last post, applying this logic to another example, lets say your favorite restaurant increases the price of their cheeseburger by seventy-five cents but at the same time, they also say the fries are no-longer included.

Well, there will always be some people who say "That's fine. I never ate the fries, anyway!".

That's kind of ignoreing that the burger not only just got more expensive but also now comes with less and if you were a person who liked the fries with their burger, in addition to the extra seventy-five cents, they're also now charging almost four dollars more for the fries that were included before the price increase on just the burger.

In both scenarios, you're prices have gone up a lot, you're just either paying most of that cost by losing something you did or didn't value and only seeing a small actual dollar increase or you're paying a lot more for all of what you used to get at the base price that was lower than the now base price.

And this wasn't even remotely tied to inflation. It didn't exist and the one day, it did.

Overnight, the restaurant found a way to put a HUGE price increase in there without making that big of a change to the price people see on the menu... but certainly notice when the check comes... or in the case of Disney, when their credit card bill arrives a month after their vacation.

There is of course the whole argument that we should be blessed that the most magical amazing theme parks in the world included FP+ for "free" for so long while their chief competitor down the street has been charging hundreds of dollars for it all along.

The reason for that is also sneaky, probably saved Disney billions of dollars, didn't come without a major permanent hidden cost for guests and was not as guest-friendly as people want to think it was but I'll wait until someone brings that up and put that six paragraphs in another post.



*a figurative you - not a literal you-you. I know the tickets you're cashing in at DL have that benifit.

I'm aware of how much the prices went up. That is why I no longer vacation there. That is my solution to the problem.

 

[MrPromey]

I'm aware of how much the prices went up. That is why I no longer vacation there. That is my solution to the problem.

Sorry if it looks like I was preaching at you. I remember your main entry into this discussion was about almost having a stroke when you tried to move your tickets to next feb and how this would be your last trip.

I'm pretty sure you already know that Disney has made money on your room with every resort stay, even when you've paid close to half rack rate so I'm absolutely not talking down to you.

It's just that you illustrate the challenge Disney faced when too many guests realized that the rack rate was like full price at Jo-Ann's. They had to get more creative with how they could get more money out of people concerned with finding deals and not paying full price* or at least finding a way to make people feel like the value proposition hadn't much changed from what they were already used to.

Regardless, when the price still goes up for what we want, for those of us who run the numbers and can either no-longer afford it or can but see the edge approaching quickly enough that we have to seriously consider the value (magic not withstanding), they're going to lose us, period.

I think all of this is for the people who can fully still afford it even if they know Disney's being, to put it generously, a good capitalist or still have plenty of available credit and aren't yet having to think too hard about the higher prices. Even if they know they're spending more, Disney's trying to make it easy for them to do without considering how or why.

It's not like that's the "next group to drop", though. We think of it as groups that are being alienated but they price someone out with every increase. A few here, a few there. Everyone's looking for the tipping point when people say enough is enough but it's already been happening, just slowly.

I think on here, especially those of us who are more cynical, like to imagine that guests are the frogs in the boiling pot when it comes to these increases but I sometimes wonder if it's actually Disney who is in the pot they're slowly turning the heat up on.

*either out of sport or necessity when it came to said guests.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I think it’s their market that makes the difference…

A beach hotel with 250 rooms during the high season on a seasonal basis is one thing

Disney is different. It’s designed on volume…

You have 30,000 rooms as a “gateway” for those staying to spend all their money for a week into your coffers…24 hours a day.

And they’re expected to be filled 365 days a year to 100%

That’s the design and model


All of a sudden thinking you can compensate for losses of traffic across all venues by giving out champagne in the lobby and double charging people to ride mine train is an “idea” for sure…a stupid one

I can see that perspective, although with a population of well over 300 million and then international visitors, I actually think Disney might be using something closer to “niche” pricing. They’re still a pretty limited commodity in a relative sense.

 

[DisneyHead123]

The purchasing power of the dollar keeps declining. It's definitely not just a Disney problem. They system is broken, and it appears that they are going to keep printing money to buy debt.

Yeah I feel like I’m getting to my “old lady yells at cloud” era on inflation, but good gracious, when will it end?! I am not a millionaire over here but we make an upper middle class income, and I’m really feeling it. I honestly can’t imagine how people making even a totally median income are dealing or even paying for necessities.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I can see that perspective, although with a population of well over 300 million and then international visitors, I actually think Disney might be using something closer to “niche” pricing. They’re still a pretty limited commodity in a relative sense.

200 million can’t ever dream of getting close to the place…

International visitors aren’t as many as people believe

They have too many rooms…they have for over 20 years…so filling them is a longstanding problem. Not everyday…but many

The issue is the price…there’s a ceiling and they keep smashing their heads into it with the definition of insanity

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Maybe or maybe not, but that's all subjective. You can only get Disney on a Disney ship and some people really like that.

I’ve been…a couple of times…it’s quaint but they need to increase their hardware and options

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yeah I feel like I’m getting to my “old lady yells at cloud” era on inflation, but good gracious, when will it end?! I am not a millionaire over here but we make an upper middle class income, and I’m really feeling it. I honestly can’t imagine how people making even a totally median income are dealing or even paying for necessities.

I honestly can’t imagine how many people are drowning…across the board

It’s gotta be alot higher than the power brokers will let be know

Just a hunch and I have this really annoying habit of them hitting

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Isn't that the norm all over the country? Global tourism is up everywhere except ths middle east and the US.

If prices were kept the same operating costs would have still gone up because of tariff taxes. The consumer always pays those in the end.

Their struggles are self inflicted…it isn’t due to masks, tariffs, the boogie man, the lost city of Atlantis or any other excuses to shield the culprit

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The first year we went to WDW in 2010 they were offering 45% off deluxe resorts. The only time I can remember there being no discounts was the two post covid years. I got 35% off at AKL in 2019. I have never paid rack rate for room. Not ever. Discounts aren't new.

Notice the first one was during the housing crash?

DAKL has always been a tough sell (mostly stupidity…but there are other excuses as well)

There isn’t much excuse for the constant onslaught of hotel discounts during the “greatest YUGE economy ever”

And at an increasing clip

 

[Miss Bella]

Notice the first one was during the housing crash?

DAKL has always been a tough sell (mostly stupidity…but there are other excuses as well)

There isn’t much excuse for the constant onslaught of hotel discounts during the “greatest YUGE economy ever”

And at an increasing clip

Maybe the economy isn't as great as you think it is. I don't think another liquidity crisis is out of realm of possibilities. In fact I think there is probably a pretty good chance.

 

[Miss Bella]

Sorry if it looks like I was preaching at you. I remember your main entry into this discussion was about almost having a stroke when you tried to move your tickets to next feb and how this would be your last trip.

I'm pretty sure you already know that Disney has made money on your room with every resort stay, even when you've paid close to half rack rate so I'm absolutely not talking down to you.

It's just that you illustrate the challenge Disney faced when too many guests realized that the rack rate was like full price at Jo-Ann's. They had to get more creative with how they could get more money out of people concerned with finding deals and not paying full price* or at least finding a way to make people feel like the value proposition hadn't much changed from what they were already used to.

Regardless, when the price still goes up for what we want, for those of us who run the numbers and can either no-longer afford it or can but see the edge approaching quickly enough that we have to seriously consider the value (magic not withstanding), they're going to lose us, period.

I think all of this is for the people who can fully still afford it even if they know Disney's being, to put it generously, a good capitalist or still have plenty of available credit and aren't yet having to think too hard about the higher prices. Even if they know they're spending more, Disney's trying to make it easy for them to do without considering how or why.

It's not like that's the "next group to drop", though. We think of it as groups that are being alienated but they price someone out with every increase. A few here, a few there. Everyone's looking for the tipping point when people say enough is enough but it's already been happening, just slowly.

I think on here, especially those of us who are more cynical, like to imagine that guests are the frogs in the boiling pot when it comes to these increases but I sometimes wonder if it's actually Disney who is in the pot they're slowly turning the heat up on.

*either out of sport or necessity when it came to said guests.

I don't have a problem with Disney making money on me. I would expect that. They are a business and businesses are in the business of making a profit.

The only thing that mattered is that I was comfortable with the price, I could afford it and I felt like it was worth it. The prices have gotten so high that those three things no longer apply. I'm okay with that.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Maybe the economy isn't as great as you think it is. I don't think another liquidity crisis is out of realm of possibilities. In fact I think there is probably a pretty good chance.

Amen, sister

I’ve been singing that tune for along time

I merely bring it up to point out how the talk doesn’t match the game today

 

[Miss Bella]

Notice the first one was during the housing crash?

DAKL has always been a tough sell (mostly stupidity…but there are other excuses as well)

There isn’t much excuse for the constant onslaught of hotel discounts during the “greatest YUGE economy ever”

And at an increasing clip

We went couple of times a year for several years with the 35%-40% discounts. Remember the bounce back discounts. We also had AP's. I managed to stay every deluxe resort with those discounts. I remember when WL was around 200 a night. We took a break from 2015 to 2019. I went back in 2019 did a split with AKL CL and YC. We went last year and stayed at Dolphin with points and got the special deal on the tickets, but I really disliked the new LL.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I'm aware of how much the prices went up. That is why I no longer vacation there. That is my solution to the problem.

where do you vacation now?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

where do you vacation now?

I’m gonna guess somewhere that doesn’t raise prices as they can’t fill their rooms or sell park tickets?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I don't have a problem with Disney making money on me. I would expect that. They are a business and businesses are in the business of making a profit.

The only thing that mattered is that I was comfortable with the price, I could afford it and I felt like it was worth it. The prices have gotten so high that those three things no longer apply. I'm okay with that.

So many great posts the last couple pages but ultimately this is what it boil down to for us also.

Prices are up on everything, the necessities are taking a larger piece of everyones budget… but with vacations it’s all about value… and when you compare the price of a Disney vacation to something like a trip to Europe it’s gotten harder every year to pick Disney over the other options.