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In a surprising report, prices for Disneyland have more than quadrupled since the beginning of the millennium. And the situation with annual passes is even worse.
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There’s nothing quite like visiting a Disney Park. Whether it’s to enjoy the wonderful theming, delicious food, or iconic attractions like Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, or Pirates of the Caribbean, you know that your family will have a wonderful time.
That being said, not everything is perfect. One of the most common criticisms of traveling to a Disney Theme Park has always been the price. And Disneyland Resort is no different. However, it may be surprising to learn just how much the cost of a park ticket has increased over the years at the Happiest Place on Earth.
Disneyland Ticket Prices Have Quadrupled Since 2000
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If you’re taking a trip to any Disney Park, you’d expect to pay a pretty penny. That being said, the price increases in our current millennium have been shocking, often locking out lower-income families from participating in the magic.
In 2000, the most expensive single-day ticket would cost you $43. Now, that ticket price has increased to $194, and that’s on the less expensive days you can visit Disneyland or Disney California Adventure. For those who don’t want to do the math, that is a 351% increase. While some may argue that this is partially due to inflation, it is worth remembering that inflation from 2000 to today would increase the ticket price by $78, a 76% increase.
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The situation is just as shocking for Park Hopper tickets. Nowadays, if you wanted to Park Hop for a single day, it would cost you a minimum of $169. In 2004, a Park Hopper ticket cost $119… for three days. That’s right, in 2004, it was cheaper to visit Disneyland California Adventure and Disneyland for three days than it is to visit one of them today.
The markup that the Walt Disney Company has been able to get away with over the past two decades is bonkers. That being said, they wouldn’t do it unless people were willing to pay for it. But if you think this looks bad, you’ll be even more shocked when you see how much the prices have increased for Annual Passes.
Annual Pass Prices Are Even Worse
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While the markup for regular Disney ticket prices is ridiculous, it’s even more ludicrous if you’re looking at an Annual Pass. Back in 2000, the highest-tier Annual Pass was $199. Now, you cannot even get the lowest-tier Magic Key for that amount. The Imagine Key is $499.
If you match equivalents, the highest Magic Key tier, Inspire Key, is $1,649. That’s a price increase of 729%. While there may be some arguments regarding what Inspire Key offers its owners, it’s still undeniable that over 700% is an absurd increase, especially since inflation would make that original price around $362. Does this feel inspiring?
Can You Find Cheaper Disney Ticket Prices?
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Related: Disney Annual Pass Prices Increased Effective Immediately
Either way, it is unsettling to see just how expensive prices have gotten just to get into Disneyland Resort. And this is just one Disney Park! This doesn’t account for Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, or Disneyland Paris.
Fortunately, not everything is completely bleak. There are military discounts, cheaper tickets if purchased through AAA, and special deals if you are a Southern California resident. Still, if you want to vacation at the Happiest Place on Earth, you’ll have to set aside a small fortune.
Do you think Disney Parks have gotten more expensive?
This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.
We have not renewed our AP’s since 2020. We ran them out and the price was way too high for us. Since we are DVC members we go to Disney and do stuff around the property. Have not been to a park since our AP’s ran out. Way too expensive for an average working person. Disney has literally priced themselves out for the average person. BUT they don’t seem to care about that. They want the people who will come and spend $7,000 to $10,000 on a visit, but only come once in a while. Having that “larger” sum of money is more important to them than attempting to make it affordable for the average person. They seem to forget who it was that kept them going the first 5 or 6 months after the reopened during the pandemic. It was not the people spending the big bucks, it was the DVC members and the Floridians who had AP’s. But all that is unimportant too Disney. All they care about is the money now.