Here’s How Much a Middle-Class Family Could Pay for Disney Parks in 5 Years
Disney World is touted as “The Most Magical Place on Earth” while Disneyland goes with the “Happiest,” but they certainly aren’t the cheapest. Sadly, even Minnie and Mickey Mouse don’t seem to be inflation-proof. And in five years, visits to these parks might become out of reach for many middle-income families.
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Long gone are the days when Disney’s Magic Kingdom opened in Orlando in 1971, when tickets were $3.50 a person. Now, a visit for a family can reach thousands of dollars, making the trip unaffordable for many. Let’s examine the reason for this below and take a look into the future. When you’re done reading, also check out nine things the middle class should consider downsizing.
What Makes Disney So Expensive?
It’s no secret that a Disney vacation is one of the more luxurious trips you and your family can take in 2024.
According to Nick Burgess, editor-in-chief at Trip Trend Setters, while there are several ways to book the hotels, tickets, extras and even higher-level items such as VIP tours, even the cheapest Disney trips can still cost around $5,000 for a five-day, four-night trip for a family of four. This would include airfare, transportation from the airport, hotels, park tickets, food, drinks and merchandise.
“The bad news? It’s likely to get even more expensive,” said Burgess.
Indeed, a recent Raymond James survey of Disney “superfans” found that “overall pricing growth likely needs to moderate.” According to the report, “It is not news that a Disney trip is expensive, but the magnitude and speed of price increases over roughly the past five years was jarring to many respondents, and we do not believe similar increases over roughly the next five years are feasible.”
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How Much Could It Cost in 5 Years?
Disney executives themselves recognized that the parks had experienced a slowdown in visits, as “the lower-income consumer is feeling a little bit of stress,” according to a transcript of the Aug. 7 earnings call.
Burgess also noted that the company’s latest earnings report indicated that the enthusiasm for their parks is decreasing, with year-over-year revenue declining.
As he explained, five years from now introduces a fascinating time for Disney World as it just got approved for a new $17 billion development deal, with $8 billion committed in the first 10 years, that is rumored to include plans for a fifth theme park, as well as nearly doubling their hotel capacity.
“Disney is going to have to pay for this somehow, and the ‘somehow’ is you,” added Burgess.
According to him, keeping in mind that Disney has moved to a surge pricing model of more expensive tickets during peak seasons, we can look at historical price charts to extrapolate out ticket costs.
“Using AllEars’s 2019 price chart, tickets at Disney World were $159 during peak season for non-Florida residents,” he said. “Five years later, tickets at peak season top out at $189, a 19% increase.”
In turn, a further 19% increase in tickets five years from now is a $36 increase per person, per day.
“With an additional 3% annualized ‘vacation increase’ we historically see matching inflation, we can start to see that Disney vacations in 2029 are going to cost a fair amount more than they do now,” said Burgess.
With this, the typical Disney World trip for a family of four will be nearing $7,000 in 2029.
“That’s an eye-watering number, especially when compared to the average household income in the U.S of $74,580,” said Burgess. “This means that a Disney trip has all of a sudden eaten 9% of a U.S. household’s pre-tax income, just a devastating amount to wear some ears and enjoy a turkey leg.”
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