Got a piggy bank at home? Good. Get ready to break that sucker open to afford your next Disney trip. Come to think of it, do you have about 100 piggy banks? ‘Cause, you’re gonna need it! 💵

Disney World can be EXPENSIVE. We know…shocker! 😉 Depending on how you plan, that price tag can go WAY up. We’ve shared lots of tips on how to save money on your Disney vacation, but there are some unavoidable expenses that you’ll run into along the way. We’re taking a look now at 9 ways that Disney World is going to cost MORE in 2022.

Now, don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of tricks you can use to save money and make your Disney World trip a more affordable vacation. You can choose an off-peak time to visit, budget for food and souvenirs (and stick to that budget!), and choose a Value resort instead of the Deluxe one.

But Disney World has seen prices rise steadily over the last few years on merchandise, food, hotel rates, tickets, and more. So with 2022 already well underway, we’re wondering how a Disney vacation is going to be MORE expensive than it was before.

In some ways, you can’t avoid many of these price increases. But there are other price hikes that you CAN avoid. We’ll let you know about both kinds that you’ll run into this year and then share some tips for keeping costs low where possible.

Before we jump in, we want to mention that Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently commented on why Disney World guests are spending more in the parks. You can read his statements here. 

Definite Price Increases

1 — No Magical Express

Unfortunately, this price increase is unavoidable if you take an airplane to Disney World. If you’re flying into the Orlando International Airport, you’ve got to get from there to Disney World. And now you don’t have Disney World’s free Magical Express system to get you there. The Magical Express has officially been discontinued in the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Instead of using this free service, you’ll now have to pay for transportation to/from the hotel and the airport. There are a few options for you to pick from when it comes to that.

One Magical Express replacement service is called Mears Connect, which is operated by the same company that previously ran the Magical Express (Mears). It operates much like the Magical Express, in that it is a bus that you can take from the airport to your Disney World hotel.

But you do have to pay for Mears Connect. There are two different levels of service available — standard and express.

The standard service is a shared vehicle (a bus) that makes a few different stops on its route in Disney World. This service costs $16 per adult and $13.50 per child for a one-way trip. For a round trip, it’s $32 for adults and $27 for children.

If you’d prefer a more direct service, you can book the Express Service option, which has limited to no wait time and offers direct service to your hotel. This costs $250 total for a group of four people and $55 for each additional person. (Express service was previously priced at $200 but that price has since increased.)

Note that only round trips are available with this Express Service. These prices may increase over time since Mears has noted that these are the introductory rates, so just keep that in mind!

The Sunshine Flyer is another Magical Express replacement service you can look into. This is operated by a different company but offers a similar bus service to Disney’s hotels. There is only one level of service offered with The Sunshine Flyer (a more standard shuttle service) and it is normally priced at $16 per adult and $12.50 per child one way or $32 per adult and $25 per child for round trip service. But, kids ride FREE on the Sunshine Flyer throughout the summer, and you can read more about that here.

The unique thing about these shuttles is that the buses themselves are themed to old trains, offering families some theming from the time they start their travel from the airport to their hotel.

If you’d rather not use these Magical Express replacement services, you could book a rideshare service instead, such as Uber or Lyft. Both companies are available for the trip from the airport to Disney World and back. Depending on the time of year and demand, these trips can cost anywhere from $35 to $50+ per vehicle (for a one-way trip).

If you’re traveling with more than two people and are able to find a rideshare in that price range, then you could save money this way as opposed to the Mears Connect service. We have noticed, however, that ride-shares can be difficult to acquire during peak times or can be dramatically more expensive during busier times of the day. Those are all things to keep in mind when booking your trip.

Click Here to See Our Step-By-Step Guide on How to Get to Disney World from the Orlando Airport.

Disney also has its own rideshare service — Minnie Vans — that are operated by specially trained Lyft drivers!

They recently returned to the parks and can be a great option if you have a larger group or are in need of carseats for your little ones.

Everything You Need to Know About Minnie Vans

2 — Disney Genie+ and Pay-Per-Ride

Disney’s PAID Disney Genie+ program officially replaced the free FastPass+ system in Disney World (and Disneyland too) in 2021. Essentially, if you’re looking to skip the lines at any of Disney World’s attractions, get ready to pay to do so. Since FastPass+ used to be included with your park ticket, this is a pretty major price increase in Disney World.

There is a free component to Disney Genie which is essentially a planning tool. This aspect is built into the My Disney Experience app and it allows guests to tell the Genie what types of things they want to do. The Genie will then develop a customized itinerary, help you make dining reservations, show you wait times, and more.

But if skipping the lines is what you’re after, you’ll need to look at Disney Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection — 2 PAID services.

Genie+ costs $15 per ticket, per day. Genie+ allows you to look at attractions’ next available Lightning Lane return times (i.e. the times when you could skip the regular standby line). If you see a return time you want for a ride you want to ride, you can use Genie+ to make that Lightning Lane selection.

When your time comes, you can then go to the ride, scan your MagicBand (or ticket), and use the former FastPass+ line (now Lightning Lane) to skip the standby wait. You can continue to make 1 Lightning Lane selection at a time throughout the day.

BUT not all rides are included in Genie+. Some super popular rides are only available through Individual Attraction Selection (or pay-per-ride). If you want to ride one of the attractions included in this service, you’ll need to pay a certain amount which will let you use the Lightning Lane once for the attraction you pay for (you can buy a maximum of 2 per day).

Now, keep in mind, you do not have to buy Genie+ or pay-per-ride Lightning Lane selections at all if you don’t want to. These are not required for you to get on the attractions, as you can always use the standby line instead. You might not feel like you want or need Genie+ for every day of your vacation or for every ride.

By getting to the theme parks before opening time and heading to the biggest attractions as early as you can (a.k.a. “rope dropping”), you might be able to get on some of those popular rides without a long wait. You can also take advantage of things like Early Theme Park Entry or Extended Evening Hours (if you qualify) to get extra time in the park with somewhat lower waits.

Genie+ might be worth it for your group, depending on your priorities and which park you’re visiting. Some parks with more attractions — like Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — might be better for buying Genie+ so that you can get on as many attractions as possible.

But if your goal isn’t to get on as many attractions as possible (and you’d rather ride a few attractions and then focus on the snacks, shows, and gift shops), then Genie+ might not be worth it at all for you. Learn more about Genie+ with our posts and videos to decide if the new system is worth it for you.

Click Here to See Our Full Guide on Understanding Genie, Genie+, and Pay-Per-Ride

3 — Surge Pricing for Pay-Per-Ride

As we mentioned above, with the pay-per-ride system in Disney World, guests can pay an extra fee to skip the lines on the most popular attractions. Again, you can’t skip the line on these attractions through Genie+ — the only options to get on these rides is to use the standby line or to buy the pay-per-ride selection.

The cost to skip the line varies depending on the attraction, the park, and the time of year. Disney announced that the prices would change based on demand, and we’ve already seen those prices increase during busier times.

During the weekends, we’ve seen prices increase by a couple of dollars on some attractions. A few attractions’ prices have gone up one or two dollars — for example, at one point Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was $8 to skip the line, but during a weekend and during another busy period it cost $10.

You’ll want to keep this in mind as you plan your Disney World trip, because the pay-per-ride prices will likely be higher on holidays, weekends, and during the other busy times of year. If possible, plan your trip during an off-peak time to save money on these attractions.

Click Here to Learn All About Some of the Surge Pricing We’ve Seen in Disney World

4 — Holiday Parties

Another change we saw in recent years was that the normal holiday parties were replaced with shorter After Hours events. This happened with Halloween and Christmas parties in 2021, which changed from Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party to the Boo Bash and Very Merriest After Hours events.

The Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party will be offered from 7PM to midnight (with guests admitted to the party at 4PM if they didn’t already have a park ticket), and will cost between $109 and $199 per person (for the adult ticket prices) depending on which day you go.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has RETURNED, but we have to admit, the prices are a little scary! Plus, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is returning later this year as well.

Click Here to See PRICES and DATES for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

5 — Food

We report regularly on the menu price increases in Disney World, which happen pretty frequently. Usually the increases are just by a dollar or two, but they happen often enough that they can make a difference in your food budget during your vacation.

In early 2022, we saw HUNDREDS (literally, hundreds) of price increases impact restaurants and snack spots throughout Disney World. These were some of the most sweeping price increases we’ve seen. Popcorn refills & popcorn buckets, DOLE Whip floats, Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bars, Mickey waffles, alcoholic drinks, and MORE all went up in price.

Again, some of these were small (just a matter of cents), but some were $1 or more. Hundreds of price increases across various restaurants could mean your snack budget needs to be adjusted ahead of your next trip! It likely will cost you MORE to get some of the exact same items you bought during your last trip.

Besides the price increases on the normal menus at counter-service and table-service restaurants, prix fixe menus are getting more popular at Disney World restaurants.

Space 220 opened in EPCOT last year with prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner, and the only option to not use a prix fixe menu is to visit the Space 220 Lounge.

We’ve even seen other restaurants switch to prix fixe menus for a bit, such as California Grill and lunch at Be Our Guest. These menus can make the meals more expensive, or at least guests generally can’t choose to make the meals cheaper by ordering less expensive items.

See why Disney World is SUPER obsessed with Prix Fixe menus right now!

In addition, more restaurants in the parks are serving alcohol now, which can get expensive very quickly. Alcoholic drinks can also drive up the price of some experiences. And with select alcoholic beverages now more expensive, that could impact your budget even further.

Due to inflation (and potentially other issues) Disney has indicated that price increases or other things might be utilized to combat increasing costs. Disney’s Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy, sad that there are “lots of things that are worth talking about.” McCarthy said, “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.”

So with the existing price increases and potentially more changes on the way, we’re paying more for food in Disney World.

Click Here to See the Biggest Takeaways from the Hundreds of Price Increases in Disney World

6 — Tickets

Disney World tickets have increased in price a number of times over the years. In 2000, a one-day park ticket cost $46. In 2010, the cost was $79-$82. In 2017  the price was at $105-$107 for value season and all the way up to $124 for peak season. And in 2019 it increased to $109 for the low season, all the way up to $159.

This price range ($109-$159) has stayed the same for the last few years. But that doesn’t mean your trip will cost the same this year. Though ticket prices themselves (in terms of the price range) haven’t gone up for 2022, some dates which were previously in a lower price bracket (meaning they fell on a date that was priced lower) are now in a higher bracket for 2022.

The ticket prices themselves haven’t gone up, but some dates that were considered to be lower in terms of demand for previous years have now been adjusted and thus fall into the more expensive end of the price range.

And considering the fact that the ticket price range hasn’t changed since 2019, it’s likely that Disney World is due (or past due) for a pure ticket price increase soon.

Another indication that we may see a ticket price increase in Disney World soon is that Disneyland got its own ticket price increases back in 2021. Most of the ticket tiers at Disneyland increased in price by $5 to $25, so we’re anticipating a similar increase in Disney World.

Click Here to Learn More About Disneyland’s Ticket Price Increases

7 — MagicBand+

The next generation of MagicBands were announced by Disney last year. The new bands — which are called MagicBand+ — feature all sorts of upgrades from their predecessor including color-changing LED lights and haptic feedback.

These new MagicBands have all of the same functions of a normal MagicBand (serving as your park ticket, hotel room key, Lightning Lane ticket, and more) with some extra, new ways to interact with the Disney World parks.

The bands interact with the 50th Anniversary gold character statues in all four parks, allow guests to become bounty hunters in Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and sync up with the nighttime fireworks shows in the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.

The new bands start at $34.99, but like the old MagicBands, the price can vary depending on the design you choose. Normal MagicBands cost anywhere from $19.99 for the basic solid color bands to $58 for the designer bands. There are options for other price points in between as well.

This price increase (from MagicBand to MagicBand+) is another optional change. The new MagicBands aren’t be required for your park visit.

And if you don’t want to use a MagicBand at all, remember that you can just use your smartphone to hold your ticket, scan you into your hotel room, and do most of the other things that a MagicBand does. You’ll just need to utilize the free Magic Mobile service in the My Disney Experience app.

Click Here to Learn More About MagicBand+

Expected Increases

8 — Merchandise

Similar to food, we see price increases on Disney World merchandise on a fairly consistent basis.

In the past, merchandise like MagicBands, Wishables, lightsabers, spirit jerseys, and more have gotten price increases.

Some of these increases have been small, but others have been pretty big. For example, the lightsaber experience at Savi’s Workshop in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge went from $199.99 to $219.99.

Since the numbers on the price tags rarely go down, we’re expecting more increases in 2022 as well.

Click Here to See 10 of the Biggest Price Increases in Disney World from 2021

9 — Other Potential Costs

We could see a number of other price increases still to come in 2022 (and beyond).

For starters, Disney’s new pay-per-ride system (which lets you skip the lines at select, popular rides if you pay for them) only currently applies to the most popular attractions in each park typically. But Disney World has a couple of big attractions that are currently in the works.

TRON: Lightcycle Run is moving forward with construction although there isn’t an opening timeline for that ride yet, and Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana is well underway over in EPCOT.

When these rides open, it’s possible that they’ll become pay-per-ride attractions since they’ll likely become some of the most popular rides in their respective parks. If that’s the case, guests may be able to pay an additional fee to skip the lines at these rides, which could add to the cost of your overall vacation.

But it’s also possible that Disney World will simply replace some of the existing pay-per-ride selections with these new rides (rather than just adding them on and making it so that there are 3 pay-per-ride selections in those parks). We’ve already seen Disney do this, so chances are the system will be updated in the future.

There are a LOT of unknowns here, but we’ll be on the lookout for more updates!

Click Here to See the Current Pay-Per-Ride Attractions in Disney World

Your trip to Disney World in 2022 could cost you THOUSANDS more based on what we already know and what price increases could be on the way.

But remember that there are still some ways to SAVE on your trip. You could use discounts and deals to shave some dollars off of your tickets or hotel stay. And you could avoid some of these increases by skipping extra costs like Genie+, opting to forgo the MagicBand+ option or sticking to a tight merchandise budget.

Make sure to keep following DFB for more tips on how to save money during your Disney World trip!

Is Disney World TOO Expensive for Average Families? Click Here to See Our Analysis!

What are your top tips for saving money on your Disney World vacation? Let us know in the comments.