Disney is having a week, and it’s only Wednesday.
In the aftermath of the Jimmy Kimmel fallout, where Disney seemingly acquiesced to the Trump administration’s attempt to control what the media says about the right, the company is dealing with the loss of a lot of bipartisan public trust. Reinstating Kimmel to advocate for the comedian’s First Amendment rights came a little too late for many; the numbers were felt from those who boycotted the company by cancelling their Disney+ subscriptions. To make matters messy, Disney then went ahead and raised the price of its streaming platform while pushing out Tron: Ares, a lukewarmly received tentpole, at least by critics.
Disney decided then that this was the perfect time for some Disney resort-wide price increases. It’s never a good time to get the news that Disney Parks are getting more expensive, especially in this unprecedented economic times. Variety recently reported that one-day, single-park tickets to Disney World or Disneyland now cost more than $200 for the first time ever during peak vacation times during the winter holidays. That’s a 5% increase for the Orlando resort and up 8.7% at Anaheim’s original park. It’s a headache to see the pricing get more expensive the more days you add to a vacation or if you want to opt-in on tickets that will let you go park to park on the same day.
And with a packed park comes the option to add Lightning Lane passes, yet another additional fee beyond your entry ticket, which now runs a whopping $34 per pass at Disneyland. Lightning Lane pass prices also increased across the parks at Disney World, with multipasses increasing between $4 and $6, and individual ride passes increasing a couple of dollars depending on the ride.
Similarly, the theme park’s annual passes, known as Magic Keys at the Disneyland Resort, have also seen a price increase for their top-tier options. Variety also mentioned that Disneyland’s most expensive pass, the “Inspire Key,” now costs $1,899 (an increase of $150) and the “Believe Key,” which has more blockout dates in comparison (days where it’s not admissible for park entry), went up $100 to $1,474.
Weirdly, the lower-tier passes, “Enchant” and “Imagine,” did not see an increase, remaining at $974 and $599, respectively. Sadly, that reinforces the public belief that these moves are to price out middle- and lower-class families during the holidays in favor of folks with deeper pockets who can spend more during those peak times or for pricier-tiered pass holders who they want to give more access to the parks compared to the average park-goer.
That wasn’t the only unfortunate news Disney found itself dealing with this week. Entertainment Weekly reported today that a guest at Disneyland was found unresponsive at the end of Haunted Mansion, one of the park’s most popular rides, and declared dead at a local Orange County hospital near the theme park. The cause of death has not been determined as of yet. This passing follows the death of another park guest at Orlando’s Epic Universe, where a young man was found unresponsive after riding Stardust Racers, a new coaster at Universal Studios’ recently opened theme park.
At least it’s not all bad for the Disney Parks division, which is still largely holding it down for the company as holiday season travel is meant to kick up despite the government shutdown (though airports need air traffic controllers stat). Today the company also confirmed that The Muppets Rock n’ Roller Coaster is set to open next summer at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Before that, one of the quieter attraction refurbishments, Zootopia Better Zoogether!, will be opening up November 7. The new show will be taking over the space Pixar’s It’s Tough To Be A Bug occupied under Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life. I’m already endeared to the neat animatronic Clawhauser that will host the “4D” show that centers on the residents of Zootopia’s many biomes preparing for Zoogether Day.
Speaking of animatronics, Frozen Ever After at the Epcot Norway Pavilion is finally getting the good animatronics—just like the new ones seen at World of Frozen over in the international parks. Gone will be the outdated animatronics with the haunted-looking digital screen faces that looked washed out on a good day and on a bad one would glitch out in really nightmarish ways. Whether or not they’ll be worth eating the extra prices on tickets to get in and see them, however, remains to be seen.
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