Disney Park Ticket Price Increases

As I am sure you are aware, Disney recently announced that they are raising the prices on park admission tickets. For most this comes as no surprise. Each year, around June, an announcement has been made that ticket prices will be going up. These increases are for regular park tickets and for the annual passes.

The Premier Annual Pass that Danny and I have loved so much for the last year – purchased May 2012 for $750, renewed May 2013 for $850 – will now cost nearly $1000 ($979 +tax)! We feel fortunate that we were able to renew our passes this year but know that next year will not be a realistic. On the bright side, this increase may mean an increase in us traveling elsewhere, maybe even saving up to visit one of the international Disney Parks – Paris, anyone?

Something Danny and I have discussed has been hypothetically purchasing several sets of Disneyworld no-expiration, hopper, water parks & more tickets while they still exist. That way when we have kids, and they are old enough to go to the parks we will have locked in some current prices. Since the water parks count as separate admissions we could in theory get 20 days of vacation out of one 10-day PHWP&M pass. After observing how friends with kids tackle their Disney vacations with more leisurely days, days off to spend at the pool, adding in other places to visit (the beach, non-Disney parks, etc), and doing non-park things on travel days like dinner at a different Resort or going to Downtown Disney, I think that this could be a very wise investment in our future family’s future vacation. One trip could use a few park days (3) and a few water park days (2) plus non-park stuff for travel days and you have a full week of vacation but have only used 5 of your 20 days. Using this rate of ticket use we could have one of the primary expenses of a Disney vacation tucked away for several trips.

In theory this all sounds like an amazing plan but since we are not quite in the having kids phase we aren’t sure how many we may need and this would be a huge upfront cost even if we are thinking of a modest family of 4. For now, we plan to just enjoy this second year of our awesome Premier Annual Passes with a trip late Aug/early Sept to Disneyland and two trips to WDW (Nov & Jan) and maybe swing a second trip to DL if we can in the winter or Spring for one last hurrah before the passes get retired.