Disney CEO Bob Iger Under Fire: Allegations of Deception Over Impending Ticket Price Surge

Going to Walt Disney World in 2025 is about to cost you even more money, with prices set to increase to an astronomical rate for many middle-class guests.

When Walt Disney World opened in 1971 the cost of admission was $3.50 for adults, $2.50 for juniors under age 18, and $1.00 for children under twelve. Now, during peak times of the year, it is not unexpected to see tickets for Magic Kingdom selling for $184.00 per person.

That is a 5157.14% increase in just over 50 years of operation on tickets alone.

The price of a Disney World Resort vacation has only continued to climb, and since the pandemic, the cost of visiting the parks has skyrocketed. Not only are tickets and annual passes constantly going up in cost, but hotel prices have been on the rise with the “budget” hotels which were once normalized at a $85 per night cost for All-Star Music, Movies, or Sports, now costing nearly $200. Food and drink prices also continue to move up, and complimentary offerings like the Magical Express or free Magic Bands have been removed.

With FastPass disappearing and Disney Genie+ inserting itself at over $30 per person per day during busy seasons for guests to ride 2-3 attractions via the Lightning Lane, a perk that was once free, families should look to save well over $6000 for an economical week at Walt Disney World Resort.

As of today, 2025 reservations have officially opened through to October 2025, and with that has come another price increase on theme park tickets.

The previously modest base price of $109 has notably been bumped up to $119, as indicated by the Disney World pricing calendar. Ticket prices across the board have seen an increase of roughly $5 to $10 per ticket, per day.

This marks a shift from Disney CEO Bob Iger’s criticisms regarding the aggressive pricing strategies under former CEO Bob Chapek. It signifies a notable increase in the base price for visiting Walt Disney World, even during the cheapest times of the year.

Below, we can take a look at the cost of tickets in February 2025. The base rate for many days is now $169.

Below, we can see that the lowest price is for Disney’s Animal Kingdom at $169. EPCOT comes in at $174 per day, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is $184, and Magic Kingdom is a whopping $189 per day, per person.

 

Now, we took a look at the 2024 pricing for February, which on its highest dates, only had Magic Kingdom at $174. For a full list of pricing, you can check the Walt Disney World website. 

As noted by Deadline just last year, returned Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that fans had a right to be irked as theme park ticket prices crept higher under the previous regime and said it wasn’t the best way to manage the brand.

“I always believed that Disney was a brand that needs to be accessible,” he said. “And I think that in our zeal to grow profits, we may have been a little bit too aggressive about some of our pricing. And I think there is a way to continue to grow our business but be smarter about how we price so that we maintain that brand value of accessibility.”

Overall, it seems that that mindset has disappeared. Just this small change can end up increasing a family of four to another $50 per day, which means another $200 for one four days at the theme parks, which could have covered the cost of multiple snacks, a table service meal with characters, merchandise, or other extra-cost activities. Now families will have to save up a little more, or cut out that dinner at Chef Mickey’s.

What do you think of this new price increase at Walt Disney World? 

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