Disney World raises
ticket prices
By Sean Mussenden | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 27, 2004
Walt Disney World announced its biggest ticket-price increase in at least 15 years on Friday, another signal that the region's flagging tourism-based economy is on the mend.
On Sunday, the price of a one-day, one-park adult admission will increase $2.75 to $54.75, before tax, restoring Disney's title as owner of Central Florida's most expensive collection of theme parks.
Historically, SeaWorld, Universal Orlando and Disney raise ticket prices at about the same time each year. Universal and SeaWorld both raised prices on one-day, adult admission tickets $2 in January to $53.95, pre-tax.
Disney had raised ticket prices $2 each year since 1999, and only once since 1989 had the annual increase been larger than that -- $2.25 in 1998.
Clearly, the record increase shows that Central Florida's tourism-driven economy is recovering from the 2001 recession and the Sept. 11-imposed travel slump, said Abe Pizam, dean of the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management.
"The economy in their eyes has recovered," he said of Disney. "People are coming back to Orlando, and visiting Disney again, so there's room for a rate increase."
In justifying the higher ticket price, Disney touted two new attractions -- Mission: Space at Epcot and Mickey's PhilharMagic at the Magic Kingdom -- that have opened since the last increase in June.
"We continue to think that this ticket represents a great entertainment value," Disney spokesman Rick Sylvain said.
On a percentage basis, $2.75 constitutes an increase of roughly 5 percent -- not the company's steepest change. In the early 1990s, the company raised ticket prices more than 6 percent for two consecutive years.
"This aligns with other price increases, which in recent years have typically been between 3 and 6 percent," Sylvain said.
What it does not align with is inflation. Since 1989, the average price of goods and services purchased by Americans has increased 48 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In that same period, Disney tickets have gone up 96 percent, a Sentinel analysis shows. If Disney's ticket increases had matched inflation since 1989, a one-day admission would cost $42.05 today.
Beginning Sunday, other Disney tickets will also cost more. One-day, one-park tickets for children ages 3-9 will increase $1.75 to $43.75. Four- and five-day "Park Hopper" passes for both adults and children will also go up -- four-day adults from $208 to $219, four-day kids from $167 to $176, five-day adults from $269 to $282, and five-day kids from $216 to $226.
Annual passes for Florida residents will not change, remaining at $299 for adults, $254 for kids ages 3-9.
The rate increase should do little to harm attendance, Pizam predicted. When people are spending thousands of dollars on hotels, airline tickets and food, an extra $2.75 for a park pass "is not a significant expenditure," he said.
