The happiest place on the planet is also becoming the most unaffordable; with one Disney fan declaring that it’s cheaper to take a family on holiday abroad than to visit the famous theme parks.
Jake Williams, long-time Disney fan criticized the park for being “anti-consumer,” noting that eliminating some of its ancillary services adds hundreds of dollars to a family’s day at the park.
Jake visited the Disney Magic Kingdom park in Orlando, Florida, and documented how much it costs for two people to visit the park, noting a whopping 44 percent price increase since 2017.
Visiting the park with his partner Emmi, Jake stayed at the Disney resort in Port Orleans and opted to visit the Magic Kingdom park for a day.
Disney fan Jake Williams (pictured) criticized the park for being “anti-consumer,” noting that removing some of its ancillary services adds hundreds of dollars to a family’s day at the park.
Jake criticized the park for being “anti-consumer,” noting that eliminating some of its ancillary services adds hundreds of dollars to a family’s day at the park.
“I got a discounted rate of $249 a night, but it actually turned out to be $280 a night with tax, so for starters,” she shared of her room. which he called “quite nice” and in a good location.
The couple started their day at Disney in the resort’s dining room.
“We both got the reward plate, which was pretty good,” he shared. “The plate costs $22.79 per person and that worked out to a nice $27.24 with tax.”
From there, they were able to take Disney’s free shuttle bus from the resorts, but the park had reformatted the pricing tier of its annual pass system since Jake last visited.
“(They) increased the prices of both passes and day tickets,” he explained. “We chose to do the classic Magic Kingdom Park, which is also the most expensive park, unlike the past Disney, now has variable prices for each park depending on when you go.”
Magic Kingdom costs $154 per person, which makes $328 for him and his girlfriend Emmi.
“As expensive as it may seem, at least it’s not on a more expensive day like late November, where one-day tickets can cost up to $184 per person,” he said.
Once at the park, Jake reported that the lines were “insane,” with lines up to 90 minutes for some attractions and rides.
Magic Kingdom cost $154 per person, making it $328 for him and his girlfriend Emmi, wait, Jake says the crowds were “crazy.”
He paid a discounted rate of $249 per night for the room at the Disney resort in Port Orleans, which ended up being $280 per night with taxes.
Jake noted that the difference between the 2024 and 2017 prices was around $320, or a whopping 44 percent.
The park’s changes to its annual pass system have been reformatted since Jake last went and are much more expensive. Jake also noticed long wait times for all the attractions.
However, while in the past park-goers could have used a FastPass to skip the line, Disney overhauled its queuing system in 2021 and renamed it LightingLane.
The exact same trip in 2017 would have cost a total of $567; That’s almost a $320 difference between two trips, representing a 44% increase in just 7 years, far outpacing inflation, which is around 24 percent.
Jake said the main reason for the price increase was Disney’s decision to start charging for the resort bus and fast passes.
“During our trip we paid $23 per person, which makes a total of $46 for the two of us,” he reported. “So after purchasing the privilege of something we used to get for free, we booked a few attractions for later that day, like Pirates and the Haunted Mansion, but throughout the afternoon the wait times were consistently long.”
Jake and his partner Emmi visited the park and spent a total of $886 between them for one day at Magic Kingdom.
“In this iteration they now charge you money for it,” he said unhappily, adding that the system means you have to buy another app called Genie+ to download it, and on some trips you have to pay more to wait in line.
“I don’t like crowds at all, I don’t like standing for long periods of time – it’s all very uncomfortable for me, so we didn’t really do much,” Jake admitted.
The couple stopped for lunch at Park Columbia Harbor House, paying $31.70 between them, and after wandering around for a few more hours had coffee and popcorn as a snack, which cost $12.70 together.
The only attraction Jake wanted to try was the Tron Lightcycle Power Run, which opened in spring 2023. Unlike the regular attractions, it has two “digital” queue entrances, which were missed.
Because of this, they had to purchase the individual Lightinglane, the new remodeled fast pass, which cost them $20 each.
“$42 for a 60-second ride, that’s a tough pill to swallow,” he admitted.
Jake and Emmi had dinner at Skipper Canteen, which cost $83.75, which Disney fans said was “too expensive.”
Overall, the day at Disney for two adults came to $886.34, a difference of more than $320 from 2017 prices.
“Taking a trip to Disney World has gotten a lot more expensive,” Jake reflected.
“And remember, this is without purchasing additional merchandise or any other snacks or even magic bands that used to be free but now cost around $35.”
Although he is a Disney fan, he admitted that it is “hard” to justify how expensive it is.
“It’s frustrating to see Disney do something that used to be free, make tens of millions, and give no extra value to the parks,” he said.
He said a hypothetical trip for a family of three (two adults and one child) spending six days at a resort and four days in the parks, along with food and drinks plus additional costs for queuing for attractions, costs about of $4,000.
“I can’t help but think that no one seems to care if Disney is staggeringly more expensive than it used to be, while at the same time eliminating perks that used to be free,” he observed.
“At this point there is basically no argument in favor of Genie plus and the removal of Fastpass, it is simply anti-consumer as are these steep price increases,” he continued. “But people just swallow the costs.”
By comparison, Jake said he had priced a trip to the French Riviera at $3,462 and a luxury trip to Bali at about $4,600.
“I really love the Disney parks, but I’m not willing to put up with the huge price increases and this complicated system where I know there are better places to spend my money,” Jake stated.