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

[mattpeto]

Any word on removing discounted annual passes for locals. Simply no need for this giveaway, when you have so many tourists wanting to get in.

Donnie Chapek isn't a fan of unfavorables.

 

[Lilofan]

This. They may not always make the right decisions but they’re not terrible evil Scrooges either. Nuance.

The irony is some who continually criticize them still vacation at WDW to feed the Mouse. Iger and Central FL says thanks !

 

[Disstevefan1]

The irony is some who continually criticize them still vacation at WDW to feed the Mouse. Iger and Central FL says thanks !

WDW fans criticize because we care; we want things to be better!!!

Folks who don't care, don't criticize and also don't show up either.

 

[Lilofan]

WDW fans criticize because we care; we want things to be better!!!

Folks who don't care, don't criticize and also don't show up either.

I’d say if I was continually unhappy with product I’d take hard earned $$ elsewhere. I’d still be supporting the Sunshine State. Life is too short to be continually unhappy.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I’d say if I was continually unhappy with product I’d take hard earned $$ elsewhere. I’d still be supporting the Sunshine State.

Well, yes if someone was "continually unhappy".

My secret is to keep my expectations at their lowest when visiting any; WDW, Universal, SeaWorld.

 

[Lilofan]

Well, yes if someone was "continually unhappy".

My secret is to keep my expectations at their lowest when visiting any; WDW, Universal, SeaWorld.

Good way of approaching things. I never get my hopes up on the food options at any theme park in FL. Like eating pizza there is barely the quality of a slice at Costco.

 

[networkpro]

Incomes have gone up but the value of the dollar has gone down

(shh, dont bring economic comprehension into the conversation, its easier to boil the frog when they cant see the fire)

 

[Lilofan]

(shh, dont bring economic comprehension into the conversation, its easier to boil the frog when they cant see the fire)

If you invested long term in diversified markets just cash out from time to time , enjoy spending the interest on your passions or other things in life. Nothing better than your money working harder than you do. None of this dollar value won’t matter much.

 

[nickys]

Someday you’ll get over this. Well, maybe not. But I’ll be sure to think of you every time I pack food and go to the park just to ride Guardians then go home

Wait though, aren’t you gonna stake your spot for Luminous by 6pm? That’s just wasting your pass.

 

[Jrb1979]

I’d say if I was continually unhappy with product I’d take hard earned $$ elsewhere. I’d still be supporting the Sunshine State. Life is too short to be continually unhappy.

I do take my hard earned money elsewhere. The Sunshine State won't thank me for it. I spend my summer vacation visiting parks in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I do take my hard earned money elsewhere. The Sunshine State won't thank me for it. I spend my summer vacation visiting parks in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Good for you!!! I hope to enjoy a less crowded WDW

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Tickets are there for costs and to get people in the park to spend…they’re not a profit center.

It was designed to be a lure to stay and spend

The management mucked it up

I think this has been their biggest mistake, a decade ago we’d often add days to our vacation because the price for additional days was so small. We saw enough value between a 4 and 6 day ticket to spend an extra $200 a night on the hotel, plus another couple hundred a day on food, drink, souvenirs, etc because the extra days of tickets were so cheap, our last trip we only did 3 days because we couldn’t justify an extra $120 each for tickets for a 4th day; plus another $250 a night for our hotel, plus $100 a day in LL and formerly included extras, plus a couple hundred more for food, etc.

It used to be the longer you stayed the more value you got, that’s not the case anymore. They messed up their brilliant business plan that was focused on keeping you on property 24/7 in exchange for a couple extra dollars a day in ticket costs.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think this has been their biggest mistake, a decade ago we’d often add days to our vacation because the price for additional days was so small. We saw enough value between a 4 and 6 day ticket to spend an extra $200 a night on the hotel, plus another couple hundred a day on food, drink, souvenirs, etc because the extra days of tickets were so cheap, our last trip we only did 3 days because we couldn’t justify an extra $120 each for tickets for a 4th day; plus another $250 a night for our hotel, plus $100 a day in LL and formerly included extras, plus a couple hundred more for food, etc.

It used to be the longer you stayed the more value you got, that’s not the case anymore. They messed up their brilliant business plan that was focused on keeping you on property 24/7 in exchange for a couple extra dollars a day in ticket costs.

They do still do this but now it isn't until like day 7 whereas yeah, in the past at like day 5 it got noticeably cheaper so could more easily justify an extra day or two ... Now you have to already be there for a week to get to that point

 

[HauntedPirate]

They do still do this but now it isn't until like day 7 whereas yeah, in the past at like day 5 it got noticeably cheaper so could more easily justify an extra day or two ... Now you have to already be there for a week to get to that point

It used to be $4-5/day to add park days beyond 4-5 days. Now? Yeah, pony up an extra $50/day.

A 3-day Park Hopper starting September 2, 2025 - $449.26
A 7-day Park Hopper starting September 2, 2025 - $646.68

Edit:

Oops. My bad. Back in 2007, it would cost you $3/day to add days beyond 5. A 5-day Park Hopper in 2007 was $233. A 10-day Park Hopper was $248. Source: Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2007.

 

[Lilofan]

I think this has been their biggest mistake, a decade ago we’d often add days to our vacation because the price for additional days was so small. We saw enough value between a 4 and 6 day ticket to spend an extra $200 a night on the hotel, plus another couple hundred a day on food, drink, souvenirs, etc because the extra days of tickets were so cheap, our last trip we only did 3 days because we couldn’t justify an extra $120 each for tickets for a 4th day; plus another $250 a night for our hotel, plus $100 a day in LL and formerly included extras, plus a couple hundred more for food, etc.

It used to be the longer you stayed the more value you got, that’s not the case anymore. They messed up their brilliant business plan that was focused on keeping you on property 24/7 in exchange for a couple extra dollars a day in ticket costs.

Is not our country the live to work instead of work to live mentality. Compared to some other countries we take the least amount of vacation time per year and some of my former peers haven’t taken time off in 2-3 years and instead cash out their vacation time instead. The longer you stay mindset maybe not the case anymore.

 

[Lilofan]

Good for you!!! I hope to enjoy a less crowded WDW

With less attendance which equals less cast on the payroll don’t count your chickens and expect all offerings are open. The bean counters look for efficient ways to operate.

 

[Lilofan]

I do take my hard earned money elsewhere. The Sunshine State won't thank me for it. I spend my summer vacation visiting parks in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Good. PA and OH thanks you for supporting their economy.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think this has been their biggest mistake, a decade ago we’d often add days to our vacation because the price for additional days was so small. We saw enough value between a 4 and 6 day ticket to spend an extra $200 a night on the hotel, plus another couple hundred a day on food, drink, souvenirs, etc because the extra days of tickets were so cheap, our last trip we only did 3 days because we couldn’t justify an extra $120 each for tickets for a 4th day; plus another $250 a night for our hotel, plus $100 a day in LL and formerly included extras, plus a couple hundred more for food, etc.

It used to be the longer you stayed the more value you got, that’s not the case anymore. They messed up their brilliant business plan that was focused on keeping you on property 24/7 in exchange for a couple extra dollars a day in ticket costs.

Indeed…

Also that policy discourages going to the competitors…which are way more attractive now then they’ve ever been before

Two huge mistakes were eliminating a big chunk of the multiday ticket discounts and whacking people for park hopping. Those things cost nothing

Penny wise and pound way foolish…obviously decisions made by people who are clueless about the park dynamics and why they were appealing

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They do still do this but now it isn't until like day 7 whereas yeah, in the past at like day 5 it got noticeably cheaper so could more easily justify an extra day or two ... Now you have to already be there for a week to get to that point

It’s not even close…check your history

 

[Nubs70]

I think you're focusing on a generational difference and assuming that if kids were raised the way they were in your day, everything would be fine. The thing is that extracurriculars are a relatively - relatively - small piece of the pie for most families, unless you get deep into travel sports, competitive cheer or something like that. Also, fwiw, extracurriculars are not about 'coddling' or 'pampering' kids. They take a good bit of work, after kids have already been in school all day. It's more about doing something that you hope will be developmentally beneficial for children and teach them stamina, discipline, teamwork, etc. (And before you tell me they should be playing stickball in the streets for that, lol, there's no one out in the streets to play stickball with and it's entirely possible someone would call the authorities if they saw a kid wandering the streets alone. It's just not an option in 2025.)

Things that have gone up exponentially in price - home prices / rent, home repair prices, car prices, car repair prices, college tuition / room and board, health insurance, health care and prescription prices (it used to be that you paid your copay and that was it, now it's commonplace to get a random bill for anywhere from $50 - $900 after fairly routine medical care). I'm not sure that daycare was as common in previous generations so I can't necessarily say costs have gone up, but current cost for daycare near me is $22,000 a year for an infant, around $19,500 for a preschooler. Also, if you want to be a working professional in many areas, for a family a requirement of that is often a two car household, two laptops, two smartphones, and internet. Recently, of course, groceries have gone up quite a bit in price as well.

Of course average household incomes have also gone up quite a bit over the past few decades. I'm just saying, I don't think you can make blanket statements. Sure, some people might be missing out on Disney because they're frivolous with money - I don't claim to know the finances of everyone in the US. But for many, I think the basics of life have grown exponentially more expensive since the days when kids played until the streetlights came on.

This is a direct result of Modern Monetary Theory or the Magic Money Tree. MMT is a belief the government can print money without consequence. Unchecked printing of money leads to inflation, or conversely, decreases the purchasing power of a dollar. Decreased purchasing power results in more dollars needed to purchase the same item. We all wanted bailouts during Covid, the result is increased prices.