More Walt Disney World Resort Stories

Disney Parks Adopt Seasonal Pricing on 1-Day Ticket

Thomas Smith

by , Editorial Content Director, Disney Parks

As regular readers know, it’s an exciting time to visit Disney Parks as new fan favorites come to life at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort.

New Star Wars experiences have already opened at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. And, this year, several new experiences are expected to open on both coasts, such as the new Soarin’ Around the World at Disney California Adventure park and Epcot, a “Frozen”-inspired musical at Disney California Adventure park, new nighttime experiences at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Frozen Ever After attraction at Epcot and a new stage show at Magic Kingdom Park.

As you may have read in the news, the demand for Disney Parks continues to grow, particularly during peak periods. At the same time, we have an unwavering commitment to exceeding the expectations of all our guests. That is why we continue to expand our parks with new attractions like those noted above, as well as entire new themed lands based on AVATAR, Star Wars and “Toy Story.”

It is also why we continue to look for ways to help spread out visitation. So, beginning tomorrow, we are shifting to seasonal pricing for 1-Day tickets. It’s an approach that you are probably familiar with from many other areas, including sports, entertainment and travel.

How does it work? Each month is divided into value, regular and peak days with an 8-11 month calendar available for viewing online. Here’s an example, if guests plan their visit for September, they’ll have a variety of options, including many days in the value period, which will give them the opportunity to pay less for a 1-Day ticket. If they plan to visit during a peak period, like the winter holidays, they will pay more. Purchasing a 1-Day ticket in a non-peak period, or choosing multi-day tickets and annual passes, will provide additional flexibility and value.

Seasonal pricing for a 1-Day ticket and price increases for multi-day tickets go into effect at Disney Parks on Sunday, Feb. 28. You can check out our Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort pages for more details.

Comments

  • Oh this makes me so sad, I’m a teacher and it was hard enough to afford a trip to Disney anyhow; now I am seeing that I will always have to pay the higher seasonal prices because of course my breaks are peak times at Disney. At least my students will get to skip school to make the family trip!

  • I purchased 1 day tickets beginning of February for myself, my husband and our 4 little boys for our vacation at the end of March. Will I now need to pay a price difference since we planned to use our tickets March 28th (my birthday ) since that day falls on a “peak” day?

  • @Heather Poierier Yes tickets do expire. Value of the ticket does not. After 12/31/17 you may apply the dollar value to the purchase of a new ticket. Think of it as Groupon, the deal has expired, but you won’t lose the actual money spent as you can still use that to purchase new. The non-refundable part is that you can’t straight out return it, like taking merchandise back to a store. 14 day use applies to multi-day tickets. Say you bought a 3 day park hopper, you have 2 weeks to go 3 times. You can’t buy a multi-day ticket and spread it out throughout the year. That would be an annual pass. Hope this helps.

  • I can not find the seasonal ticket price calendar anywhere on the Disneyland site. Where can this information be found? You introduce the pricing but where is the calendar for planning?

  • Hi Thomas, and thanks for the information. I’m wondering about your comment that “Purchasing a 1-Day ticket in a non-peak period… will provide additional flexibility and value.” Does this mean if a value ticket is purchased ahead of time, it can be used for entry on a peak day (as long as it’s before the ticket’s expiration date)?

  • Well, it is similar to hotel pricing, but they only sell so many hotel rooms. We don’t know how or if they limit park ticket sales.

  • So, similar to hotel pricing, then? Don’t see why that’s so hard to figure out.

    Thing is, though, who buys 1-day tickets? Most vacationers stay for a week to park-hop, and locals (especially Anaheim) have AP’s. Seems like the only people who go to the Parks for 1 day are the convention crowds in both cities, and there’s often group-sale deals for those.

  • Maybe I’m not understanding, but if you puchase a 3 day park hopper, and you want to go during peak times…how does the website know to give you the price increases tickets? I just clicked through and it didn’t ask when I was going. Is the increase only if you purchase at the gates and go in that day?

  • WDW Annual Passes went up October 2015 and are not included in this increase. They also went up the same time in 2014, so unlikely to see any additional rise until next fall. Multiday tickets can be seen on the WDW sit under tickets. Except for 1 day, they do not vary in price and the 1 day depends on which of the 3 seasons it is — by selecting the date AND the park. MK is still higher than the other 3. Parkhopper and other options are as always available for extra cost.

  • If single day tickets can change their prices what is the base price multi-day tickets are based on?

  • I’m confused… Do all tickets no longer expire? When going to purchase tickets on the website at one part it says, “Price varies by date and theme park. Must be used by December 31, 2017; price paid for unused ticket can be applied to a new ticket, subject to restrictions. Non-refundable.” and then at the bottom it says “tickets and any other options purchased must be used within 14 days of first use.”

  • When will the calendar for WDW be posted to the site?

  • I’m with a lot of the others…..what about multi-day and/or Annual Passes?????

  • Such a shame. It was already expensive. This just pushes it over the top. I can travel to Europe for less than a Disney vacation.

  • Kevin, you missed the last paragraph stating “… And price increases for multi day tickets go into effect … Sunday February 28”. Hope it doesn’t include APs!!!

  • for anyone interested the 1 day ticket is still available for the current price. and when purchased through there (probably only today) you’ll have that price locked in “Tickets are valid now through December 31, 2016.” We all know that the “off season” pricing isn’t going to go down, it will probably stay at $99 for one park at the DLR. and have summer and winter prices go through the roof. If I was planning on going after my pass expires I would have purchased one today, but with the long term referbs I won’t be going back until after Star Wars land opens.

  • Will Disney also start capping attendance to prevent overcrowding, especially on days where we are paying a premium to be there?

  • Will A.P. prices change?

    • Hi Deborah, no change for A.P. prices.

  • How does this affect people who have already bought tickets for a trip later this year?

    • Tickets purchase before 28th are valid. Thanks, Jeremy.

  • Will annual passes be excluded from the increases that happen tomorrow?

    • Yes, they are excluded.

  • Are these links live yet? I keep just getting redirected to the front pages for both resorts.

    • Hi Colin – the links are live now. Please try again.

  • Will prices for annual passes increase as well? Thanks!

    • No increase. Thanks, Nicole.

  • I’m VERY surprised this is only one 1 day tickets

  • Will multiday tickets have seasonal tiers or a set price regardless of time of the year?

    • Great question, Christopher. Seasonal only applies to single day.

Comments are closed.