Walt Disney World has had a LOT of changes recently, and more changes are here.

We have seen Genie+ get a price increase and surge pricing, hundreds of price increases put in effect for food at restaurants in the resort, and more. Disney previously announced major changes were coming to theme park tickets in terms of pricing and certain options, and those changes are finally here.

What Change?

Starting December 8th, Disney has put a park-specific pricing system in place for 1-day, 1-park tickets. Instead of just purchasing a ticket that could be used at any of the 4 theme parks, you will have to buy one specifically for the park you want to visit, and the pricing is different for each park.

The price of a ticket will depend on the park you select. So, a ticket to Magic Kingdom may cost MORE than a ticket to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on the same day. These prices will also change depending on the time of year like they do now. So, times of higher demand will see higher prices for tickets.

What Do Things Look Like Now?

When you visit the Disney World ticket website now, you’ll encounter a screen that shows standard theme park tickets begin at $109 per day. That is technically the same starting price as before, but what price you’ll actually pay for your ticket will vary greatly depending on what day you visit and what park you choose to go to.

Price INCREASE with Ticket Range

Once you hit “continue” you’ll see a screen showing you the ticket price range from 1-10 days. This is where you start to see those changes. Here’s a look at just what has changed (these prices are for standard 1-day, 1-park tickets):

• 1 day — remained the same at $109
• 2-day — was $107, increased to $112
• 3-day — was $107, increased to $114
• 4-day — was $106, increased to $114
• 5-day — was $91, increased to $99
• 6-day — was $78, increased to $85
• 7-day — was $69, increased to $75
• 8-day — was $65, increased to $70
• 9-day — was $60, increased to $65
• 10-day — was $56, increased to $60

Keep in mind these are the starting prices for those tickets.

The Calendar Looks Different

When you look at the calendar showing all of the 1-day ticket prices for the month, you’ll notice that they now show a price with a “+” following them. That did not previously exist. The “+” represents this new 1-day, 1-park ticketing change because while tickets for, say Animal Kingdom may be priced at $134 for one day, a ticket to Magic Kingdom may be much more — hence the “+” to indicate that there is a range of prices for each date and that the price displayed is only the starting price for some (or one) of the parks.

Park-Specific Pricing

When you go to buy your 1-day ticket, you’ll now see a screen that prompts you to select whether you’ll be buying a 1 Park Per Day ticket, Park Hopper, or Park Hopper Plus. These options used to be displayed above the calendar, so this marks a shift in that process as well.

Under this new system, remember that 1-day, 1-park tickets are now park specific — that means you’ll need to buy a ticket for the specific park you want to go to on that date. Because of this change, your 1-day, 1-park ticket will also automatically come with a Park Pass reservation at the time of purchase.

If all parks are available, you’ll see an image like the one below, displaying all of the parks and the pricing for each. For the particular date we chose (December 11th) pricing is as follows:

• Magic Kingdom — $164
• EPCOT — $159
• Hollywood Studios — $164
• Animal Kingdom — $149

So it appears (at least for this day), Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are the most expensive, while EPCOT and Animal Kingdom are cheaper.

The exact pricing of the tickets can vary depending on the dates you pick though. For example, here’s a look at the 1-day pricing for October 31st, 2023 (Halloween). Magic Kingdom is priced at $154 on this day and so is Hollywood Studios. EPCOT and Animal Kingdom are $144.

Park Hopper prices also vary by date now, so you’ll see some changes there.

Let’s take a look at another example. What if you want to go to Disney World on Thanksgiving of 2023 (November 23rd). Previously, you’d buy a 1-day, 1-park ticket at a single price and then make a Park Pass reservation for whatever park you wanted to visit.

That’s not the case anymore. Now, you’ll see the 1-day, 1-park ticket price depends on what park you want to visit. Magic Kingdom is the most expensive at $184. Hollywood Studios follows at $179, then it’s EPCOT at $169, and Animal Kingdom at $159.

Ticket prices have varied by date for a long time, it’s the added fact that the 1-day, 1-park ticket price now also varies by park that is the key to this change.

Some Dates Are MORE Expensive Now Than Before

In addition to the fact that 1-day, 1-park ticket pricing now varies by park, we’re seeing some price INCREASES depending on the dates you visit. In other words, some dates in 2023 are now more expensive (or fall under a more expensive ticket bracket) than they were before.

Take January of 2023 for example. This is a screenshot of what 1-day, 1-park ticket pricing looked like BEFORE the December 8th changes.

This is what it looks like now.

Here are just a few of the changes we’re seeing:

• January 1st — was $154, starting price is now $159
• January 6th, 7th, 8th — was $134, starting price is now $144
• January 9th, 11th, 12th — was $124, starting price is now $139
• January 10th — was $124, starting price is now $134
• January 13th — was $134, starting price is now $139

And those are just some initial observations.

What You Need to Know

So, what are the big things you need to take away from this?

1 — 1-day, 1-park ticket prices now vary depending not just on the day you visit, but on the PARK you want to visit.

These are the new price ranges for tickets, depending on the park:

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom — $109-$159 (no change from current costs)
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios — $124-$179
• EPCOT — $114-$179
• Magic Kingdom — $124-$189

2 — If you’ll be buying a 1-day, 1-park ticket, you’ll need to select what park you’ll be going to and buy a ticket specific to that park.

3 — A Park Pass reservation will automatically be made for you when you buy that 1-day, 1-park, park-specific ticket.

4 — We’re seeing all kinds of price increases — whether that’s specific to the tickets themselves or to the dates on which those tickets are for.

Be sure to update your budgets accordingly if you haven’t already bought your tickets.

For more on changes at Disney World, check out the BIG Genie+ changes finally announced for Disney World, all the menu changes and price INCREASES that hit Disney World restaurants in November, and every major change since Bob Iger returned as Disney’s CEO.

Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World news and updates!

How do you feel about this new pricing system? Tell us in the comments.