Guess what tickets cost in 1989?

[Mr Snappy]

I was going through an old photo albumn and ran across the actual tickets my wife (Girlfriend at the time) and I used on March 17 & 18, 1989. These were two-day tickets.

The same ticket today costs $175.00

Guess how much they were then (NO FAIR SEARCHING THE NET, GOTTA GUESS!)


p.s. This is not a rant about the cost of Disneyland, I just found it interesting.

 

[starshine514]

Ok. I'll play - $70?

 

[Mr Snappy]

getting warm...but still too high

 

[tdhickey]

About $30-$40 I believe...

 

[Mr Snappy]

About $30-$40 I believe...

I will call that a win

$38.25 for a two-day pass.

For those of you who might say..."Yeah, but with inflation, everything is more expensive"....not really. If you use an "Inflation Calculator" the price with inflation would mean that those tickets should be $71.73 today.

I read the biography of Michael Isner and they discuss the pricing of the theme parks. I won't bore you with the entire dialog, but at it's core, many consultants told them they were seriously under-pricing their theme parks.

 

[ashley0139]

I read the biography of Michael Isner and they discuss the pricing of the theme parks. I won't bore you with the entire dialog, but at it's core, many consultants told them they were seriously under-pricing their theme parks.

Considering that attendance is still very high, I'd say they were probably correct. People are still paying the ridiculous prices. The parks are packed.

 

[mamaCta]

Considering that attendance is still very high, I'd say they were probably correct. People are still paying the ridiculous prices. The parks are packed.

This

 

[sheetz]

It's not exactly comparable because there are 2 parks now, so the 2nd day of a ticket in 2013 has greater value than the 2nd day of a ticket back in 1989.

 

[Mr Snappy]

It's not exactly comparable because there are 2 parks now, so the 2nd day of a ticket in 2013 has greater value than the 2nd day of a ticket back in 1989.

Incorrect.

The price I compared was for a single park two-day, not a park-hopper two-day.

The previous reply is correct about supply and demand. You keep raising prices as long as you have customers willing to pay it. I do not see an end to the annual price increases any time soon.

 

[phyzch]

Incorrect.

The price I compared was for a single park two-day, not a park-hopper two-day.

.

The second day is still more valuable with a second park. Just because you don't include hoppers doesn't mean you have to use the second day at the same park as the first day.

 

[DarthMole]

Incorrect.

The price I compared was for a single park two-day, not a park-hopper two-day.

The previous reply is correct about supply and demand. You keep raising prices as long as you have customers willing to pay it. I do not see an end to the annual price increases any time soon.

Actually, it is correct. With today's single park ticket, you can still pick which park you want to go to each day. Day one, DL. Day two, DCA. So the comment that the value to the consumer is increased based on the choice they have on the second day is correct. If Disney offered a ticket where your X-Day pass was only good at one park, then the price of that ticket would be an apples to apples comparison.

That said, the driving factor in ticket prices is and always will be supply and demand. It's such a simple but complex rule of economics that rarely ever fails. I do agree that we will not see an end to the increases any time soon.

 

[ArchOwl]

But doesn't a two day ticket without the hopper option offer more than it did? Wouldn't there be an increased value to the consumer because there are more attractions available now then there were back then? Surely, this would justify an increase in prices.

And I agree, it doesn't seem that Disney has even come close to what they could get away with charging. The parks are packed almost year round now!

 

[Mr Snappy]

My point about not being a correct observation was not about choice, but of the prices i used for comparison.

You may have the choice of going to DCA on the second day, but if you compare apples to apples, the price for the 1989 tickets are directly comparable to the 2013 two-day single park tickets.

I would also argue that Disneyland is still the greater of the two parks and two days at Disneyland are a better value than two at DCA or one DL/ one DCA day.

No big deal, just a way to illustrate the pricing from 1989 to now.

 

[asunutgirl]

I have a parking stub from 1985. $2!!

I also remember getting into the park for around $25 and I'm old enough to remember E tickets. Ah - the good old days.

 

[Mommy26]

And I agree, it doesn't seem that Disney has even come close to what they could get away with charging. The parks are packed almost year round now!

Stop with that talk!


Has anyone mentioned that this is not the price that everyone pays, so many people are annual members and the amount they pay per day is nowhere near what someone from say Canada would pay for two days in the park?

Also how much does it cost for the higher tech rides compared to the rides they had in '89?

I'm sure Indiana Jones is more expensive to build and maintain than Dumbo...

 

[tdhickey]

It is crazy how cheap it was, even with the core DLR park. They have since added a lot of things (Indy, Buzz Astro Blasters, Innoventions and Toon Town) and replaced the electrical parade with Fantasmic.

Gas was $1.02 a gallon...

Personally, I think ticket prices are still a bargain for longer stays. A 1 day ticket is a little steep, but you get a lot for it (in some cases 16 hours of entertainment).

 

[MillauFr]

One of the big factors in the increase in attendance is the decrease in airline ticket prices. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s our family never flew anywhere on vacation because it was too expensive. Now it is cheap and we fly everywhere. We will drive to Oregon or to BC, but California we always fly. I can get an annual pass and make it to DL 2 or 3 times a year. I've seen flights on Alaska Air in low 100s for a RT to Orange County.

 

[Mr Snappy]

One of the big factors in the increase in attendance is the decrease in airline ticket prices. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s our family never flew anywhere on vacation because it was too expensive. Now it is cheap and we fly everywhere. We will drive to Oregon or to BC, but California we always fly. I can get an annual pass and make it to DL 2 or 3 times a year. I've seen flights on Alaska Air in low 100s for a RT to Orange County.

WOW! Good for you guys!

Airline tickets here in Kansas City have gone through the roof in the last couple of years. It cost me $2,000 for a my family of 4 to fly last March...it use to cost me around $900. The main reason is competition. Southwest came in and knocked everyone else out (for the most part) then they jacked the prices up. The few airlines that fly through KC simply matched SW prices and now we are stuck. If we flew out of LAX or O'Hare, it would be better.

 

[Castle2Castle]

It's interesting to see the change, although I would agree with those that you don't have a truly apples-to-apples comparison, even if you excluded the option of visiting DCA with one of the 2-day tickets. While continued demand continues to drive ticket prices, new and improved attractions affect the value of today's tickets relative to 1989. Likewise, systems like FastPass increase the value of a day in the park by allowing guests to make better use of their time and experience more attractions than they likely would have in 1989.

With respect to Disney likely being able to get away with even higher prices, it's interesting that an above post would mention airline ticket prices as a factor (lower travel costs leading to increased demand) as there have been reports about the ability of theme parks to capture additional revenue using more dynamic pricing models similar to airlines -- i.e. park pricing similar to their resort pricing with higher prices for weekends, discounts on weekdays, variable pricing by season, etc. I imagine Disney and other parks weigh those potential profits against other considerations like public perception and response (airlines aren't a consumer favorite), but who knows what the future holds. . .

 

[eduk8r26]

I remember back in the late 70's when they would have CTA days (for teachers) at Disneyland and tickets were $5 for the day. Sometimes they would close the parks in the evening and have SeaBee nights for the same price.