It is a well-known fact that Disney’s theme parks dominate the amusement park industry as Disney World and Disneyland are some of the most visited theme parks in the world.
Disney (DIS) has a total of 12 theme parks and six resort locations worldwide. In the last few months of 2024 alone, Disney earned around $8 billion from its theme parks.
Despite generating massive profits, Disney’s theme parks have been embroiled in controversy over the past few months.
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After Disney World and Disneyland announced price increases for tickets and passes in October, and quietly hiked food and beverage prices at multiple dining locations, consumers took to social media to express frustration with inflated theme park prices.
This concern over high prices may have had an unintentional consequence. In Disney’s fourth-quarter earnings report for 2024, the company revealed that it saw “lower volumes attributable to declines in attendance” at its U.S. theme parks.
Amid the criticism, a recent report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that Disney executives are allegedly worried that its theme parks and resorts have become too expensive for middle-class families.
Disney CEO finally responds to growing concerns
As Disney continues to face scrutiny over high prices, Disney CEO Bob Iger finally addressed the controversy during Disney’s annual shareholder meeting on March 21.
Iger said that consumer demand at Disney’s theme parks and resorts is “extremely high” as they provide “tremendous” value to visitors, despite recent concerns about affordability.
Tourist take photos at the park entrance in front of a topiary display with Goofy and Spaceship Earth in the background during the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orange County, Florida on May 30, 2022.
“I was just at Walt Disney World on actually a weekday in March, and the place was really busy, really across the whole property,” said Iger. “In Pandora, our Avatar Land Galaxy’s Edge, which is our Star Wars land, riding Guardians of the Galaxy of Epcot and Tron and Toy Story Land and at Disney Springs, which is our great retail dining and entertainment destination.”
He also defended Disney’s theme park prices, claiming that there are several affordable options for families who want to save money on their Disney trips.
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“We’re constantly considering and developing and implementing new ways to make the experiences that we offer both more enjoyable, but of equal importance more accessible,” said Iger. “We provide several options for families looking to spend less, including our lowest price ticket to Disneyland, which we’ve kept at the same level since before the COVID pandemic. And two years ago when I returned, we tripled the number of days that low-price ticket was available.”
Disney vacations are putting consumers in debt
It is no secret that Disney tickets have grown to become more expensive over the last few years.
Over the past decade, between 2014 and 2025, Disney World’s lowest-priced 1-Day ticket has increased by almost 27%, or $25, according to a recent analysis from MickeyVisit.com.
Another analysis from MickeyVisit.com also found that the highest-priced 1-Day ticket at Disneyland has climbed by about 114% since 2014.
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A recent survey from LendingTree last year even revealed that 24% of consumers have gone into financial debt in order to fund a Disney trip. For consumers who are parents of young children, that figure spiked to 45%.
Consumers in the survey said that unexpected high costs was a major factor of their debt, with 65% claiming that Disney’s in-park food and beverages cost “significantly more” than they had budgeted for.
Despite facing controversy over high prices, Disney has big plans for its theme parks. The company is planning to spend $60 billion in 10 years to expand its parks worldwide.
“You can look at every single location that we’ve got; there’s land, but most importantly, we have so much IP (intellectual property) to mine that there’s opportunity there to create experiences that we know people will love to have in our parks,” said Iger during a conference in March last year.
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