If you’ve found yourself spending a LOT more at Disney Parks recently, you’re not alone, and now we know why.
©Disney || Bob Chapek
Recently, Disney held its first Earnings Call of fiscal year 2022 for the Walt Disney Company, covering their Quarterly Earnings Report from their first quarter. We just learned about the growth of guest spending at Disney Parks, and here’s what you need to know.
According to the Quarterly Earnings Report, guest spending has grown at Disney Parks. This growth has been attributed to a few different reasons, including higher average per capita ticket revenue. Disney shared that this increase in per capita ticket revenue was due in part to attendance mix (and they noted that there were higher volumes in the parks due to increases in attendance).
TTC Crowds
Another reason Disney cited for the increase in per capita ticket revenue is the addition of Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. Disney Genie+ and the use of Lightning Lanes in general (including through Individual Attraction Selection) are Disney’s paid replacements for the formerly free FastPass+ service.
Disney Genie+ costs $15 per day in Disney World and $20 per day in Disneyland, per person. Through Disney Genie+, guests get access to make Lightning Lane selections for certain Disney Parks rides. Guests can look at the attraction return times and select one they want. When the time arrives, they can then skip the standby line at that ride and instead enter through the Lightning Lane (a.k.a. the old FastPass+ lane). Guests can then go on and continue making 1 Genie+ selection at a time throughout the day.
Lightning Lane
But select popular rides aren’t available through Genie+. If a guest wants to skip the line at those popular rides (like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance) they’ll need to pay a la carte for those rides through what’s called Individual Attraction Selection. A maximum of 2 of these selections can be purchased per day. Prices range on these rides depending on the date, ride, and park — but they can generally be between about $7 and $15 per ride.
Click here to see our step-by-step guide to using Disney Genie+!
According to the Walt Disney Company, revenue also grew due to an increase in guest spending on food, drinks, and merchandise, as well as higher average daily hotel room rates.
We’ve seen all kinds of price increases that likely factored into this situation and could factor into future guest spending during upcoming quarters. Tickets and parking rates increased in Disneyland in 2021. At Disney World, prices went up on annual passes. For 2022, ticket price ranges have remained the same, but some days now fall into higher price brackets, making them more expensive (that’s an impact we could see play out in future quarters).
Grand Floridian Hotel & Spa
Disney World also recently enacted hundreds of price increases on food and beverages, and we’ve noted the increase in hotel rates as well. Again, some of these may have been enacted past the end of the fiscal quarter that just ended, but they may impact spending in future quarters.
Price increases hit Aloha Isle!
You might have noticed your Disney vacation budget increasing quite a bit, and these might be some of the reasons why. In fact, we’ve already taken a look at why Disney World will cost you THOUSANDS more in 2022.
Goofy
What’s driving prices up in the Disney parks? Well Disney CEO Bob Chapek actually got asked that question recently during an interview with CNBC.
In the interview, Julia Boorstin noted that for “the more crowded times, the more popular times those prices have gone up.” She also shared that people have expressed concerns about costs in the parks and asked Chapek how he addresses “those concerns and what is driving those prices up? Is it inflation, is it labor shortages?”
Main Street Popcorn Cart menu
Chapek responded by saying it’s “demand.” Specifically, Chapek noted that “This is a supply and demand business. Unfortunately, unlike say Disney+, we have a fixed supply.”
Chapek shared that one of the ways that they provide the “best Disney experience” is by “taking those guests that want to have a more bespoke, more personalized, more customized, more expensive day and using that essentially to keep the lower prices on again, the second Tuesday in September. And so, it’s really demand that drives it.”
Magic Kingdom
Overall, the Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products division had a record quarter (and guest spending played a factor in that). The division hit an all-time revenue record in the last quarter and essentially DOUBLED its revenue compared to the prior-year quarter.
©Disney
Want to learn more about what Disney shared during the Earnings Call and report? Click the links below to get all of the info you need!
- Click here to see the latest Disney+ subscriber numbers
- See Disney’s comments on theme park capacity
- Learn more about the RECORD numbers the parks division hit
- How many guests are actually buying Genie+? Click here to find out
- See Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s comments on the metaverse
Stay tuned to DFB for more news and updates from the Walt Disney Company.
Why you’ll pay MORE to get LESS in Disney World.
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This was our 8th Visit to Disney in 15 years. We visited at the start of January. This will perhaps be our last for many years to come. Before this visit we had spoken about future visits and what we do.
On our return My wife and I agreed Disney was Choking the magic, the kids now young adults were also taken aback by the increases.
Prices for merchandise, Food, Fast passes, lack of daily room cleaning, ( we stayed at the Coronado). No magical express. We visited from the 3rd to the 17th of January and were told this was low season.
The Parks were crowded most days, the queues were long. The quietest and most memorable day was a very pleasant and uncrowded Typhoon lagoon.
We really have loved all our trips to Disney but the prices and lack of daily room cleaning and other add-ons and things that have disappeared made it feel as if you were there to be milked of every penny possible.
What can Disney do? Bring back some Magic? Stop raising prices and cutting services.
They need to start constructing a 5th park and start planning a 6th as the crowds in January seemed almost as busy as any other time.
No wonder Disney is making profits from the Parks, perhaps instead of another Disney Holiday i should buy a few Disney shares.
Sadly increases everywhere, $5 items costing now $7 (40% increase) it seems everything is not just a few % more it a lot more. No wonder why Disney made much money when everything went up double digits the last couple months, that is not inflation that is pure greed. My trip late fall really did lack the magic and I felt like my dollars spent at WDW did not justify what I got in terms of entertainment. Sadly out once a year trip is not going to happen anymore. I do wonder, when all this pent up demand wanes what is going to happen?
It is sad all this milking us for every penny while they talk of record profits. It is making me regret buying a timeshare.
Has anybody else noticed that whenever Chapstik opens his mouth, there isn’t one ounce of empathy for the folks who pay his salary. It’s all about how much money he can squeeze out of the consumer. Chapstik blames the surging crowds at the parks for forcing up prices. Did we have some kind of a baby boom that we weren’t informed of? No… Bob summed it up with his “supply & demand” comment. If people are willing to fork over their hard earned cash, Bob is more than happy to take it. After all, he isn’t hurtin’
We Spent a lot more money on our January trip. Did a VIP tour and it was SOOOO worth it. We’ll probably do it every time we come (well, our big yearly trip).
We probably spent less on food and merchandise overall and being DVC members, we’ve already pre-paid for our hotel and still have APs.
I don’t see our habits changing any time soon. This was probably our best trip to WDW ever.
Unpopular opinion: Chapek is absolutely right. No matter some people hate him and want him out, he’s right.
Live in Tampa…….lived in Orlando……Season passholders forever……not this year. No way to afford Disney anymore. Used to take 3 day trips all the time……stay at the Dolphin, Yacht Club, Port Orleans…. The kids are very upset, my husband and I are beside ourselves…..No Festival of the Arts….Garden & Flower…….Holiday…….Because of Law of Demand….Greedy Mouse…….Greedy Mouse. The Magic is gone. Normal middle class has been priced out….locals have been priced out….Chapek is the devil. He needs to go…..Disney is not supposed to be about $$$$.
I say Chapek should go. I agree he has taken all the fun and magic out of the Disney experience. Walt and his brother would be ashamed of what this greedy man is doing. He has destroyed Walt’s dream for the family’s. I have been going to WDW with family and friends since the late 70’s and enjoyed every trip except my last one in January. The magic was gone. Other family and friends were going to plan future trips but have decided against it. The only reason crowds are bigger right now is because of Covid which has caused limited travel in the world. People aren’t stupid. They will see what this uncaring greedy man is doing.
As long as people flock to the parks and spend their hard earned cash on an incredibly expensive, but totally less magical vacation, nothing will change. Making money is what it’s all about. So sad to see this happening. This is not what Walt Disney had in mind, but I guess it’s Bob Chapek’s vision now. Maybe more attention should be paid to maintenance of rides before someone gets hurt. If profits are up, and we know they are, make some improvements, Bob, so guests, notice I did not say consumers, get more bang for their buck!
Does any one realize that Disney is not the only business in the world that has increased their pricing? While you cannot stop buying the entry tickets, you can stop buying or at least reduce your spending at the stores and restaurants. “Voting” with your wallets will make a definite impact but unless that happens, Disney will continue to raise the prices because they can.
FYI, I am a stockholder and pretty happy with the financial results thus far.
Thank god he’s giving us that second tuesday in september, eh?? 🥴
His comments are on point with the new Disney parks trajectory. People are still going to the parks, booking resorts, dining and other experiences has not decreased, guests are buying expensive merch to the point that it sells out, all of course as they are free to do. I belong to some Disney groups and God help you if you have any negative comment about the cost of visiting the parks, merchandise and the dissappearance of “free perks,” the Disney faithful will come after you and remind of the Magic is worth it and don’t go if don’t like it. There was a single mother mother that posted about about considering maxing out her credit cards because every time she thought she had enough the prices went up, the number of people that encouraged her to do so was incredibly, in their opinions Disney was worth it. As long as this culture of thinking lives on Mr. Chapek’s new trajectory will be successful. We still visit the parks, stay at our favorite resort but we cut down on the number of visits, we don’t readily buy merchandise just because we like it, I refuse to pay nearly $80 for a Spirit Jersey, we are more selective about how we spend our money there. We found other other vacations just as memorable but in different ways. We still get our Disney fix but we are much more comfortable now not buying into the “spend the money because is worth it” philosophy than we did before.
All I can say is that I’m so glad our family has chosen to take a break from our annual Disney vacation. Between unnecessary park reservations, this Genie+ garbage and increased crowds and costs, it just doesn’t seem fun anymore.
Spending more time in the parks?? Of course!! Because it takes for frickin ever to get anything done! You spend most of your day in lines!!!
The only supply and demand is for Bob “Paycheck”. He supplies less magic and benefits and demands more money. That is why it costs so much more to visit Disney World.
Mr Paycheck is doing his job and keeping the stockholders happy…..and his pockets …. He can’t even pronounce the word “magic”
The Magic was over when Eisner left. Eiger was a good replacement for the stockholder, but not the guest and Cheapskate is even worse. Oh well, the good old days were just that.
Bob Chapek says “It’s demand”, eh? I take that to mean there is more room to continue to raise prices and continue to let quality and service levels drop (e.g., not increase staff to meet higher customer demand) before the demand (i.e., customers willingness to go to Disney properties and buy stuff) balances out.
This just adds to my negative impression of today’s Corporate Disney. My demand for all things Disney will continue to drop.
We have a trip planned for May that was postponed from last year. As a family, we’ve already decided this will sadly be our last for a while. It’s always been pricey on previous trips, but we always felt like we were at least getting our $$ worth. Not so much anymore. We can go to so many better places for less or the same amount.
So sad. Our family are huge Disney fans. Prices have increased tremendously while the perks we were used to have been taken away ( magic hours, transportation from the airport etc.). How can any family afford a trip to Disney?
Chapek and d’Amaro need to go, d’amaro just a yes man to the latter. really had high hopes for him what has he done? he hides… these people know nothing about the parks its all about the dang shareholders and its ruining the palce. chapek is the worst of the evils. Id like to see a whole new disney board, I think they are part of the problem too. stocks stock stocks to hell with attraction quality . all they will keep doing is cutting and cutting while raising and raising costs. They dont even know what they are doing to epcot, they have totally wrecked that park inside and out. the moral of the disney brand right now is not good.
Gigi, Philip said that one of his complaints was LACK OF CLEANING OF THE ROOM. Gigi is this a new policy of Disney not to clean the room or is it in return for a $10 per day reduction in the price of the room?
He says demand is up. Well it does seem that way when you still don’t have everything opened up. All resorts aren’t opened. All restaurants aren’t opened. Instead of raising prices on everything, open everything up. People are saying the parks are full because of the long lines. The lines are long because of the lighting lane. They take priority over the standby line. If they would do away with the lighting lane, the standby line would move faster. But of course, Disney isn’t making more money if they do that. Yes the magic is slowly slipping away, and now it’s only about the money and not the costumer. The cast members do their best to make you happy and keep the magic, but they can only do so much. Not sure if it will ever get to being about the costumer and not the money. And I do understand it’s a business, but Walt wanted this for families and not just the money.
Bob Chapek is ruining the Disney experience. Disney wasn’t about spending money before. Now that is ALL that it’s about. The Magic is dead and gone. It didn’t even get a nice funeral. Walt’s vision is in tatters, now it’s just about the almighty dollar, just like any other company. How depressing.
It’s half the experience for twice the price. It will be interesting to see numbers at the end of the year. I’ve noticed a major uptick in the number of people who have said they aren’t returning after a recent trip. We had two bad trips in a row last year & haven’t been back since. We use to average a weekend trip every other month. We’ve actually become passholders at another park now.
I get that WDW is a for profit business. They need to recuperate from the pandemic shut down. We went in Nov., I had hoped for a room discount but wasn’t angry that I didnt get one. I expected prices to be higher and planned accordingly. We even bought Genie+. But where I have A hard time is whenI pay for skipping the lines but don’t actually get to skip any lines! I am Feeling like the Disney vacation just isn’t what it use to be, no longer having Magic Express, package delivery, EMH makes me question the need to be on site. Maybe we’ll try Universal where when you pay to skip lines you actually get to skip lines
Thanks for all the replies.
My family have loved WDW Florida our Group has ranged from 4 to our largest group of 9. This time there were 5 and one was a first timer who found everything amazing.
I have no problems with price rises, but service, quality, shorter ( quicker)queues, should go with this.
I understand the need for wage rises and profits.
If the quality had risen with merchandise prices we would probably have still spent every Dollar.
The lack of daily cleaning was a big thing for my wife.
My wife could give you chapter and verse on the Christmas shop both at Disney Springs and the shops in Magic Kingdom and all the places in Epcot. We have always spent lots of our merchandise dollars on Disney Christmas. This year the Christmas range was very disappointing and over inflated price wise.
As i look at our fireplace we have the sleigh, car, 2 different trains and the Christmas tree , the Magic Kingdom Castle all Mickey and Friends Christmas ornaments. There are also many smaller Christmas ornaments, they never get put away. They are just to nice to get put away and they remind us of our times in the parks.
This trip to the park was the first year we did not bring back a large Christmas ornament. Still a few more Mickey baubles for the Tree, they do get put away, but no ornament.
The quality was just not there and the prices were higher.
I like to remind Bob Chapek that Walt’s dream was to make both Disneyland and WDW an affordable family vacation. You have killed Walt’s dream. My family visited WDW this past New Years and we were amazed how much less we received for the increase in pricing. We were very disappointed in the changes made to the fast pass, Disney Express and the park hopper. We have been coming since WDW opened in 1971 and have had visited many times in the past. In fact we came on the 25th anniversary and were excited coming to to the 50th. Unfortunately due to the significant cost increases we don’t know when we will be coming again even though we have a time share at the Beach Club. Mr. Chapek enjoy your salary at the expense of everyone who visits the parks.
Hi Ron, Disney Resorts have scaled back room cleaning to every other day. You can read about their Housekeeping Service by clicking here.
Gigi, when my family of 7 came last to Disney in 2019 we were asked at the front desk a question. Do you want to save $10 by not having your room cleaned. We all said NOOO. We were surprised that the question was even asked. This was before the Pandemic. Of course Disney had a Fabulous Quarter for the company, Management and share holders at the EXPENSE OF THE CUSTOMERS (GUESTS). EVERYTHING WAS INCREASED IN PRICE WHILE AT THE SAME TIME WE RECEIVED LESS FOR MORE. When will Disney GREED end. Gigi, THANK YOU FOR SHARING VERY USEFUL BUT PAINFUL INFORMATION. Ron
Wow. Anyone else see a theme in all these responses? LOL
sounds very disney villainous to me. he could have said lots of things, but he chose the villain thing to say.
I entered a post the other day about EMPTY HOTEL ROOMS but it HAS NOT been put up. Please put it up.
Hi Ron, when messages are not approved it is for a number of reasons including, but not limited to insensitivity, inaccuracy, language, etc. All comments must be linguistically appropriate for a wide audience, and generally not inflammatory. Thanks!
Can anyone point out a product or service that has reduced or maintained their price without changing their portion size or altered their offerings?
Let me remind folks that Walt Disney passed away in 1966, that’s over 55 years ago.
Thanks Gigi, sorry the post came across that way. Ron
The intention is obviously to reduce “Demand” from poorer people to reduce the crowding in the “Supply”.
The supply is not increasing by more or larger parks to support a higher demand.
Hi Ralph,
To quote you, “ Can anyone point out a product or service that has reduced or maintained their price without changing their portion size or altered their offerings?”
Arizona Iced Tea… still $0.99.
Yep the Disney “experience” has taken a nosedive in recent years. We have been DVC members for over 20 years and have taken dozens of trips there. However, it has lost its splendor thanks to greed! We pay an exorbitant amount of money already just for our annual passes to enter these parks and ride the attractions, only to now be forced to pay even MORE to ride the rides we already paid to ride 🤔, OR spend our entire day waiting in lines and ride a fraction of what is available. Not much magic to that in my opinion. Shame on Disney for allowing this. Walt would never approve.
Lisa, I agree with everything you said. We all are getting less for more and the corporate elite at Disney are getting more and giving us less. This was NEVER WALT DISNEY’S DREAM. Let’s hope that 2023 will bring sanity and compassion back to Disney World.