News Disney Parks Chief Josh D'Amaro Says Pricing Model Aims to Keep Vacations Affordable for Families

[Trauma]

I’m going on vacation to Florida but skipping Disney the pricing is outrageous and for a family of 6/ I paid for a week resort air bnb. Sorry Disney won’t be visiting til you lower your day passes . Over 1200 for one day pass for family of 6/ and that’s affordable . Not

If you can’t afford it you’re not the target audience.

You should work harder and refill your water bottles.

You cant get one courtside seat at a playoff game for less than $1200.

You should be thanking Josh for these up charges.

Am I doing this right ?

 

[Tha Realest]

If you can’t afford it you’re not the target audience.

You should work harder and refill your water bottles.

You cant get one courtside seat at a playoff game for less than $1200.

You should be thanking Josh for these up charges.

Am I doing this right ?

Almost there. No stray shot at Universal or blaming macroeconomic conditions on one side of the political aisle.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Today is May 20 2025. Josh D’Amaro thought about affordability today when he found out most guests don’t consider Victoria and Albert’s a quick service dining location.



Next Josh D'Amaro affordability thought update will be tomorrow May 21 2025 after Josh finishes his caviar and champagne.

Thank you!

I don’t know why I was starting to get worried. I knew he was probably busy doing something like ending world hunger.

 

[JD80]

That’s not the reality for “most”, but credit card debt is not Disney’s problem. The problem is this simply isn’t sustainable and eventually this demographic will be less likely or flat out unable to visit. Disney is banking on the upper class to step in and fill the void, I’m just not convinced they want to put up with theme park crowds and the heat.

It's been sustainable for 50 years. I've been working on a project and comparing the cost of a WDW vacation vs median household income for the last 30 years. For example a value stay for a family of four in 1994 (4 tickets, 4 people, 6 nights) was roughly 3.5% of your annual household income. In 2025 it's 4.25%. In 2019 it was 3.63%.

I used the 2nd week of June as a baseline. All inflation adjusted numbers.

This is not taking in to account all the perks or money you'd have to spend to make up for the loss of free perks.

I think people always assume things are getting more and more expensive exponentially. They aren't. I also think inflation warps people's sense of money and value. Especially over the decades.

 

[HauntedPirate]

If you can’t afford it you’re not the target audience.

You should work harder and refill your water bottles.

You cant get one courtside seat at a playoff game for less than $1200.

You should be thanking Josh for these up charges.

Am I doing this right ?

You forgot "it's never been affordable for most". You may want to throw in the Broadway show false equivalency, just to really take it to the next level.

 

[Raineman]

Today is May 20 2025. Josh D’Amaro thought about affordability today when he found out most guests don’t consider Victoria and Albert’s a quick service dining location.



Next Josh D'Amaro affordability thought update will be tomorrow May 21 2025 after Josh finishes his caviar and champagne.

I am assuming at some point, Joshie will have an affordability thought while sitting on his toilet made of gold in his massive, marbled bathroom with his servant handing him tp & towels?

 

[HauntedPirate]

It's been sustainable for 50 years. I've been working on a project and comparing the cost of a WDW vacation vs median household income for the last 30 years. For example a value stay for a family of four in 1994 (4 tickets, 4 people, 6 nights) was roughly 3.5% of your annual household income. In 2025 it's 4.25%. In 2019 it was 3.63%.

I used the 2nd week of June as a baseline. All inflation adjusted numbers.

This is not taking in to account all the perks or money you'd have to spend to make up for the loss of free perks.

I think people always assume things are getting more and more expensive exponentially. They aren't. I also think inflation warps people's sense of money and value. Especially over the decades.

Are you comparing the same ticket value now vs. pre-Chapek? When you got FastPass and park hopping included in your ticket price? How are you seeing June ticket prices for 2019?

 

[HauntedPirate]

I am assuming at some point, Joshie will have an affordability thought while sitting on his toilet made of gold in his massive, marbled bathroom with his servant handing him tp & towels?

Wait... he's invaded Bob's private office now?

 

[Trauma]

You forgot "it's never been affordable for most". You may want to throw in the Broadway show false equivalency, just to really take it to the next level.

Thanks for this tips. I’ll get it right next time !!

 

[Tha Realest]

It's been sustainable for 50 years. I've been working on a project and comparing the cost of a WDW vacation vs median household income for the last 30 years. For example a value stay for a family of four in 1994 (4 tickets, 4 people, 6 nights) was roughly 3.5% of your annual household income. In 2025 it's 4.25%. In 2019 it was 3.63%.

I used the 2nd week of June as a baseline. All inflation adjusted numbers.

This is not taking in to account all the perks or money you'd have to spend to make up for the loss of free perks.

I think people always assume things are getting more and more expensive exponentially. They aren't. I also think inflation warps people's sense of money and value. Especially over the decades.

Thanks for sharing this. I also think some of this comes from many of us not being in a position to make this cost/benefit analysis at that time (e.g., I was a kid and traveling with my family in the 80’s and 90’s)

 

[JD80]

Thanks for sharing this. I also think some of this comes from many of us not being in a position to make this cost/benefit analysis at that time (e.g., I was a kid and traveling with my family in the 80’s and 90’s)

The huge differences is making up for loss of free Fastpass and the loss of extra magic hours.

Also tickets took a huge increase post COVID but have leveled off since then.

Also if you want to track Deluxe costs as a percentage. Using the Polynesian - 1994 was 6.47% of the median household income, and this year it's 8.62%.

Median household income has increased from $61k to $80k in that time frame adjusting for inflation.

 

[Laketravis]

Today is May 20 2025. Josh D’Amaro thought about affordability today when he found out most guests don’t consider Victoria and Albert’s a quick service dining location.



Next Josh D'Amaro affordability thought update will be tomorrow May 21 2025 after Josh finishes his caviar and champagne.

 

[John park hopper]

If you can’t afford it you’re not the target audience.

You should work harder and refill your water bottles.

You cant get one courtside seat at a playoff game for less than $1200.

You should be thanking Josh for these up charges.

Am I doing this right ?

court side seat you are comparing apples to oranges

 

[HauntedPirate]

The huge differences is making up for loss of free Fastpass and the loss of extra magic hours.

Also tickets took a huge increase post COVID but have leveled off since then.

Also if you want to track Deluxe costs as a percentage. Using the Polynesian - 1994 was 6.47% of the median household income, and this year it's 8.62%.

Median household income has increased from $61k to $80k in that time frame adjusting for inflation.

I'm not sure where you're getting the "tickets took a huge increase post COVID".

Disney World Ticket Price Increases 2019-2022

Tracking the yearly increase in Disney World ticket prices since seasonal pricing began in 2019.

touringplans.com

Nothing I'm seeing out on the interwebs suggests ticket prices have done anything but maintain their upward velocity at roughly the same pace since 2019.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Society has breaking points as to what it's willing to tolerate from those at the very top. They've been broken countless times throughout human history, plenty of examples even within the past couple hundred years. The chart above represents a small handful of very wealthy people playing with matches while sitting atop a tiny rock surrounded by an ocean of gasoline.

Warning, warning, unpopular take incoming.

I see people speak in these terms (online, not in daily life) a lot these days and I feel what gets left out of the conversation is the concept of value creation. I think evolution has wired our brains to see resources as zero sum - if that guy over there foraged all the fruit, he’s preventing me from having it. But modern wealth is often very different - we’re sometimes talking about intellectual industries that sprang up from a few people’s ideas, creating millions or billions in value with them. That value might not be shared equally, but it wasn’t taken from others.

Don’t get me wrong - I want a better life for everyone. The future of housing in the US concerns me. Inflation concerns me. How to maximize wellbeing in a globalized economy concerns me. The increasing strain on our environment with the growth of human endeavors concerns me. There are a ton of legitimate concerns out there. But I do think it’s worth remembering that companies (I can’t speak for all of them, but I’m going to assume at least the majority of them) - do also create previously nonexistent value for people. Including Disney. I don’t mean value as in “I personally think this is a good value”, I mean value as in “This cruise ship, restaurant, show, ride, etc., did not exist in time-space before and now it does.” They’re growing fruit, so to speak, not just picking what already existed.

Again, I realize “Won’t you think of the executives!” is not necessarily going to be a popular take, lol. But honestly, from the little I know about them, I like Iger and D’amaro. I think they get painted as these cartoon villains on here sometimes when any account of them I’ve read on Reddit or wherever says they’re genuinely nice people who really do care about the Disney company and what the Disney company creates.

 

[Lilofan]

If you can’t afford it you’re not the target audience.

You should work harder and refill your water bottles.

You cant get one courtside seat at a playoff game for less than $1200.

You should be thanking Josh for these up charges.

Am I doing this right ?

Some just make excuses on how they can’t save / earn more money. Nothing new here. It takes effort and sacrifice something foreign to some. Interesting to note that 75% of luxury good buyers are from the middle class. As Dave Ramsey would say these folks will stay middle class.

 

[Lilofan]

Warning, warning, unpopular take incoming.

I see people speak in these terms (online, not in daily life) a lot these days and I feel what gets left out of the conversation is the concept of value creation. I think evolution has wired our brains to see resources as zero sum - if that guy over there foraged all the fruit, he’s preventing me from having it. But modern wealth is often very different - we’re sometimes talking about intellectual industries that sprang up from a few people’s ideas, creating millions or billions in value with them. That value might not be shared equally, but it wasn’t taken from others.

Don’t get me wrong - I want a better life for everyone. The future of housing in the US concerns me. Inflation concerns me. How to maximize wellbeing in a globalized economy concerns me. The increasing strain on our environment with the growth of human endeavors concerns me. There are a ton of legitimate concerns out there. But I do think it’s worth remembering that companies (I can’t speak for all of them, but I’m going to assume at least the majority of them) - do also create previously nonexistent value for people. Including Disney. I don’t mean value as in “I personally think this is a good value”, I mean value as in “This cruise ship, restaurant, show, ride, etc., did not exist in time-space before and now it does.” They’re growing fruit, so to speak, not just picking what already existed.

Again, I realize “Won’t you think of the executives!” is not necessarily going to be a popular take, lol. But honestly, from the little I know about them, I like Iger and D’amaro. I think they get painted as these cartoon villains on here sometimes when any account of them I’ve read on Reddit or wherever says they’re genuinely nice people who really do care about the Disney company and what the Disney company creates.

Iger is one of the longest serving CMs. Started at ABC at the bottom right after college earning $150 weekly in 1974.

 

[TalkingHead]

Iger is one of the longest serving CMs. Started at ABC at the bottom right after college earning $150 weekly in 1974.

Nobody was a CM at ABC in the 70s

 

[Biff215]

It's been sustainable for 50 years. I've been working on a project and comparing the cost of a WDW vacation vs median household income for the last 30 years. For example a value stay for a family of four in 1994 (4 tickets, 4 people, 6 nights) was roughly 3.5% of your annual household income. In 2025 it's 4.25%. In 2019 it was 3.63%.

I used the 2nd week of June as a baseline. All inflation adjusted numbers.

This is not taking in to account all the perks or money you'd have to spend to make up for the loss of free perks.

I think people always assume things are getting more and more expensive exponentially. They aren't. I also think inflation warps people's sense of money and value. Especially over the decades.

Sorry, my 40+ trips over 20 years tells me otherwise. And hotel rates and ticket prices don’t tell the whole story either thanks to discounts. Disney has capitalized in the last five years on guest spending once in the parks. I don’t necessarily fault them for it, I simply choose not to partake, and I’m not alone. That’s why it’s not sustainable if it continues at this pace.

Maybe I just need to work harder as @Lilofan has pointed out?

 

[Lilofan]

Sorry, my 40+ trips over 20 years tells me otherwise. And hotel rates and ticket prices don’t tell the whole story either thanks to discounts. Disney has capitalized in the last five years on guest spending once in the parks. I don’t necessarily fault them for it, I simply choose not to partake, and I’m not alone. That’s why it’s not sustainable if it continues at this pace.

Maybe I just need to work harder as @Lilofan has pointed out?

Work smarter is better than working harder.