Is it worth traveling to the Disney parks in Orlando?

As Disney has increased the price of tickets and rooms hotel in its theme parks and has added expensive and difficult to use toolseven their most loyal fans are wondering if they should rethink their vacation.

Earlier this year, Toronto filmmaker and content creator Jake Williams made his long-awaited return to one of his favorite places in the world: Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

After traveling to Disney World and Disneyland several times a year since he was a child and being an annual passholder as an adult, Williams had not visited a Disney park since 2019.

“I was someone who went all the time. So, in my case, it’s crazy that I haven’t been to a Disney park in so long,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s a special place.”

Before his trip, Williams heard about some changes at Disney Worldbut he did not foresee that things were so different now, starting from the airport.

Since your last visit, the company got rid of Magical Expressa free bus that for more than 15 years transported people from Orlando International Airport to the Disney resorts.

Now, visitors must take a bus that costs between $23 and $30 per adult each way, depending on the time of year, use a ride-sharing service, or rent a car.

For Disney-goers, the absence of the Magical Express is a reflection of a larger problem: The cost of visiting the happiest place on earth is rising while the perks disappear.

As the company has increased the price of tickets and hotel rooms and added expensive and difficult to navigate tools to book attractions to replace previously free products, even its most loyal fans wonder if it’s still worth going.

According to Williams, a day at the Orlando parks and a night at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort cost a staggering sum of $886.34 for two adults.

He decided to calculate how much the same trip had cost in 2017, the year in which he visited the park several times. The cost: $567.90. Even taking inflation into account, he was stunned.

“It’s hard to justify going to Orlando instead of, say, Iceland,” he said. “With a budget like that, one can go to many places and see and do many things. “You could even take a Disney cruise for less than that.”

Williams is not the only one. Len Testa, president of Touring Plans, a website that helps travelers organize trips to Disneyand co-author of The Unofficial Guides to Walt Disney World and Disneyland (Unofficial Guides to Walt Disney World and Disneyland), says he’s hearing more and more about Disney fans now planning another type of vacation.

“There comes a time when Disney vacations start to compete with ‘Let’s see Europe,’ and I think that’s what a lot of people are doing,” Testa said.

“Over the last few years, I’ve had several people say to me, ‘We’ve priced it out and we could take our kids to eat pizza in Epcot’s Italy pavilion or, for the same money, we could go to Italy for two weeks. We’re going to Italy for two weeks.'”

For Testa, collecting data on Disney is a passion. In the late 90s, when he was studying computer science, he decided to create a computer program that would help people navigate Disney World in the most efficient way possible.

That research continued during his PhD and the program he created became Touring Plans. His team of developers and data scientists record what happens at Walt Disney World every day, minute by minute.

The data that the Testa team has collected in recent years shows that The cost of a trip to Disney World on average has increased almost 25% since 2019.

70% of this increase corresponds to services that were previously free.

He parking and ticket prices have gone up systematically in recent years.

In 2022 the price of tickets rose twice. In 2023annual passes suffered a increase of between 30 and 50 dollarsdepending on the level, while tickets for several days also rose. A one-day ticket to any of Disney’s US parks costs now 109 dollars for those over 10 years old.

One study found that between 2014 and 2025, the base price of tickets rose 32% and increased 90% for the most expensive tickets.

In 2025the base price of a ticket one day for adults will be $119 and the most expensive tickets will cost $199.

Hotel prices have also risen. Disney World’s cheapest hotels now cost an average of $187 a nightaccording to Disney Magic Guides, a resource for planning trips to the parks.

On an earnings conference call this week, Disney officials acknowledged that activity slowed down in the parks and that, due to the economy, lower-income visitors have difficulty accessing, while higher-income visitors travel abroad.

Y Disney’s case is not the only one: Tickets to Universal Studios Florida and California often cost as much as Disney tickets.

In July, Comcast stated that Universal’s revenue had fallen 11% in the previous quarter because visitors preferred to take cruises and international trips.

In an email, a Disney spokeswoman said the company always tries to offer its customers a wide range of tickets and experiences. For the company, and for its most loyal fans, the value of experiences it’s worth it.

“We are determined to create more ticket and hotel prices than ever before to offer visitors a variety of opportunities visiting our parks,” he said, adding that “a visit to a Disney theme park is a experience from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with attractions, entertainment and much more.

For many visitors, price is not the only obstacle, as they now have to use several new apps and tools if they want to have more opportunities to access the most popular attractions.

In the past, they could get a free FastPass, which gave them a front-row seat to an attraction.

In 2021, Disney replaced FastPass with a digital feature called Genie+ that guests had to pay for and that was supposed to make booking attractions more efficient. But it caused so much confusion that content creators started making videos showing how to “hack” the tool.

To get the most out of Genie+, visitors had to purchase the app first thing in the morning (park fans recommended doing so at 6) and, at 7, book the day’s attractions.

They could only book more attractions once the first activity was completed or two hours after making the first reservation. AND They couldn’t choose what time they wanted to go on an attraction: Genie+ did it for them. Testa said that all this caused “Disney complexity fatigue“.

“And God forbid that on your vacation you want to go back to the hotel to take a nap,” Testa warned. Others said that The fact of always having to be on the phone detracted from the experience of being on vacation..

Disney heard the complaints. In June, Genie+ became Lightning Lane Multi Passwhich allows you to reserve attractions in advance instead of doing so the same day you are in the park.

The new system, which starts at $30 per day, is an attempt to combine Genie+ and FastPassbut only those willing to pay more can use all the features.

The Disney spokeswoman said that so far, guests are “very satisfied” with the Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Comments on social media show that it is too early to tell.

On Reddit, reviewers criticized the different prices for Lightning Lane passes, and one person said they “disliked the process” of booking in the new system so much that they felt like throwing their phone.

Jeremy Sonkin, a content creator from Chicago who makes videos about theme parks, was at Disney World the first day the new system went live. He said the new app is less confusing than Genie+, but it’s not perceived as an improvement.

“The idea of ​​recovering the ‘Fast Pass plus’ system is correct, but there is no level playing field and I think it will cause as much or more frustration to visitors“he noted.

Greg Antonelle, managing director of MickeyTravels, a travel agency that books Disney tours, said his company is having a great year as travelers want to experience new attractions like Tiana’s Bayou Adventurewhich replaced the old Splash Mountain. She says complaining about Disney is normal.

“We’ve been in business for 13 years and hearing complaints about costs for 13 years,” Antonelle said. “It’s nothing new.”

Tariro Mzezewa, former national correspondent for The Times, is a journalist who writes about culture and style.

The New York Times / Special for Clarín

Translation: Elisa Carnelli