Ever look at the bills and credit card statements after your recent Disney World trip and want to cry a little? Well, you’re probably not alone.

A Disney World trip can be very expensive and it seems like things are only getting pricier! If you feel like you’ve been spending more and more on your Disney trips, you’d be right. Costs for Disney World trips are going UP and now we’ve got an insight as to why.

Guest Spending is UP

Recently, Disney shared its quarterly earnings report for Q1 of fiscal year 2022 and it held its earnings call to share the results. As a result of the earnings report and earnings call, we learned a whole bunch of things about Disney+ subscriber numbers, capacity, and more. One of the big things we saw is that the Parks, Experiences, and Products division hit some all-time RECORD numbers when it comes to revenue. 

Growth in operating income at the parks was attributed to a number of things including higher volumes and increased guest spending. Disney shared that the increase in guest spending was due in part to things like an increase in per capita ticket revenue, higher average room rates, and an increase in spending on food, beverage, and merchandise. The increase in per capita ticket revenue was due in part to Genie+ and Lightning Lane (a paid service that replaced the free FastPass+ service).

So while in some ways guests might just be spending more because they want to buy more, some of this increase in spending does appear to come from increases in costs in the parks (on things like room rates and more) which then equal higher levels of spending. And we’ve seen LOTS of price increases taking place over the past several months.

Click here to see more about the all-time revenue record hit in the Disney Parks division

A Whole Bunch of Price Increases

If you recently stopped by Disney World and thought, “Wow! That DOLE Whip, spirit jersey, etc. felt like it was more expensive this trip,” you’d be correct. Price increases have impacted a number of things all throughout Disney World.

When it comes to food, we saw HUNDREDS of price increases impact snack stands and restaurants throughout Disney World’s parks and resorts recently. Popcorn refills and popcorn buckets, DOLE whip floats, Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bars and Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches, Mickey waffles, Mickey pretzels, alcoholic beverages, and MORE have all seen an increase in price recently.

But that’s not all. Over the past several months we’ve also seen spirit jerseys, MagicBands, the lightsaber experience in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and much more increase in price.

When it comes to park tickets, annual passes have seen a bump in price. For regular theme park tickets, while the range of ticket prices hasn’t increased (yet!) in 2022 you’ll find that some days which were previously at a lower price level now fall into a higher price bracket.

That means that even if you visit Disney World in 2022 on the exact same days you visited in 2021, you might find that the tickets are now more expensive because they now fall into a more expensive bracket (remember that each day on the Disney calendar falls into a different price bracket based on expected demand).

There are also other things that cost more now like the After Hours events that replaced the previous holiday parties.

We’ve theorized and heard some responses as to a number of reasons why these prices might be going up. For one thing, there’s inflation. In fact, Disney’s Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy, previously shared that inflation is something Disney is looking to address.

McCarthy said they were discussing a variety of options. She noted, “you know we can adjust suppliers. We can substitute products. We can cut portion size, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines. We can look at pricing where necessary. But we aren’t going to go just straight across and increase prices. We’re really going to try to get the algorithm to right to cut where we can and not necessarily do things the same way.”

Supply chain issues may also be making it more difficult to obtain certain things, driving increases in prices. And there could be other factors at play. But recently Disney CEO Bob Chapek gave some clarity as to what he sees as the driving factor behind these increases in price

So WHY Are Prices Going Up?

Following the recent earnings call, an interview between CNBC and Bob Chapek was released. During the interview, Julia Boorstin specifically noted that some days have gone up in price (as we mentioned above) and she said that some have raised concerns about affording a trip to the Disney parks with their families.

Boorstin asked Chapek, “how do you address those concerns and what is driving those prices up? Is it inflation, is it labor shortages?”

Chapek’s response? Demand. Chapek shared that demand is what is driving prices up. Chapek specifically stated “This is a supply and demand business.” Chapek noted that (unlike some other things like Disney+), the physical Disney parks have a fixed supply.

Chapek said that they commit to giving guests “the absolute best Disney experience no matter when they come” and one of the ways that they do that 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.”

It seems that as long as people keep coming and and the demand is there, prices will continue to increase. It also seems that, based on Chapek’s statements, Disney is working on somewhat balancing out those lower priced days by offering those experiences that guests pay more for (or other price increases on other days of the year).

So what can you expect for your Disney World trip this year or into the future? Expect things to be a bit pricier than they were during your last trip. Your trip might be more expensive due to the limited number of hotel rooms available, spending on things like Genie+, or food price increases.

And prices may continue to increase as a result of demand, as Chapek has indicated. So don’t be surprised if we hear about ticket price increases or other increases over the upcoming months (and certainly the upcoming years).

Planning a trip and worried about costs? See our posts below to check out how you can SAVE on a trip or what costs you’ll want to keep in mind:

• See why your Disney World trip in 2022 may cost you THOUSANDS more
• Check out our page full of information about Disney discounts and tips
• Learn about new ways to save for your trip
• Find out how you can save big in Disney World this February

And stay tuned for more Disney news!

Click here to see the most expensive days to visit Disney World in 2022!

What are your best tips for saving money while at Disney World? Tell us in the comments!