Disney World Ticket Prices Increase Would Have Walt Disney Spinning In His Grave

The current rumors suggest that Disney World ticket prices will increase soon, according to NBC, with the Magic Kingdom ticket prices breaking the $100 barrier, at $105 per person for a day, while a ticket for Hollywood Studios, Epcot, or Animal Kingdom will be $99.00 (plus tax). Would these decisions by the “family” company have Walt Disney spinning in his grave?

In a related report by the Inquisitr, a new Universal Studios water park called WonderSea Island is rumored to be a secret project in the works for the central Florida area.

Increasing the Disney World ticket prices seems to be an annual theme nowadays for the company. It seems like every year, the house of the mouse inches their prices further higher, making Cinderella’s castle seem like it is floating in the sky, far out of the reach of many families. At the same time, the Disney World workers worked out a contract agreement last year where they could have their hourly wages increased to $10 an hour by the summer of 2016, but only at the expense of new hires not receiving pensions.

Back in 1971, Walt Disney World’s ticket prices used to be a mere $3.50, but now it costs thousands for a family to come from out of state, and even hundreds for locals. But Dr. Abraham Pizam, dean of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida, believes that breaking the $100 mark won’t deter most of these people.

“I don’t think that there is a magic number such as $100 per day, that if you reach it or go above it, you’ll see a significant decrease in the number of visitors,” said Pizam, according to Bay News 9.

“That has not happened in the past at the $50, $75 or any other admission level. People will still come. For out-of-towners who spend more that $2,000 for a family trip to Central Florida, a $50 to $60 increase in the admission to the park represents only 2.5 to 3 percent of the total costs. That, of course, may be different for locals, whose percent increase will be much higher.”

The real question is whether or not Walt Disney would agree with increasing the Disney World ticket prices even beyond the average price increase of the U.S. Department of Labor’s consumer price index (CPI). After all, one of his many quotes would seem to indicate that wasn’t the vision for theme parks.

“What this country really needs is an amusement park that families can take their children to. They’ve gotten so honky tonk with a lot of questionable characters running around, and they’re not too safe. They’re not well kept. I want to have a place that’s as clean as anything could ever be, and all the people in it [his park] are first-class citizens, and treated like guests.”

Do you think the Walt Disney World ticket prices are priced fairly?