Disney’s U.S. Theme Parks Introduce New Seasonal Pricing System

 

Walt Disney Co. has changed their prices based on what time of year you go, they’re hoping the new changes will spread out demand amid growing visitors.

This new structure has been introduced in all of Disney’s U.S. theme parks, and will only apply to single-day tickets.

As of Sunday 28th February, Disney is charging more during peak times and less during slower days, and will be based on three seasons – value, regular and peak.

A value day ticket for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando will cost $105 — the same as the current ticket price. Regular days will cost $5 extra while peak days will cost $124.

These days will also vary at different parks and will depend on how busy they expect the park to be on the day of purchase. In addition, visitors will be able to view a calendar 8 to 11 months from now to find out which days are classed as value, regular and peak.

According to Disney, peak days will fall in line with Easter, weekends in the summer and Christmas holidays.

It seems such changes have come about after large crowds led to the temporary closure of Disneyland in California. The park was forced to turn down visitors after it reached its full capacity on Christmas Day.

“The demand for our theme parks continues to grow, particularly during peak periods,” Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said in a statement. “In addition to expanding our parks, we are adopting seasonal pricing on our one-day ticket to help better spread visitation throughout the year.”

The new pricing system should not only tackle the problem of overcrowding, but it should also help boost Disney’s total revenue as most visitors are likely to pay more for their tickets.

And after Disney recently announced some of its most exciting attractions to date, it seems the park is looking to grow its popularity.

New attractions will include – Frozen Ever After at Epcot, Star Wars Lands at Disneyland and Disney Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom.

Although multiple-day tickets have also increased, they are not part of the seasonal tier pricing so won’t be based on attendance levels. However, season passes won’t alter as Disney increased them in October.

What do you think of Disney’s new demand-based pricing? Would it stop you from visiting?