Disney is changing the ticket prices of its parks for the very first time. The move goes in effect Sunday, Feb. 28.
Disney revealed the changes in a blog post that detailed its "seasonal pricing." It highlighted that peak period visits, such as the Christmas holidays, will cost its visitors more than non-peak period visits, which will provide visitors with more value for money.
The first Disney parks to adopt such policies are the facilities at the Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. CNN Money reported that Disney will divide deals into three calendars: Value, Regular and Peak periods and will only cover one-day ticket rates. For instance, a one-day ticket to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida will cost $105 during the Value season. But this rate will increase to $110 for the Regular season and $124 for the Peak season.
CNBC reported that the company is doing the changes to minimize overcrowding especially during the holidays, which also covers Fourth of July weekend and Thanksgiving. With the parks introducing newer attractions this year -- such as "Star Wars," "Toy Story," and "Avatar" rides, and its recently unveiled "Frozen" park -- it is expected that lines will be longer.
"In addition to expanding our parks, we are adopting seasonal pricing on our one-day ticket to help better spread visitation throughout the year," said the company spokesperson. "Multiday tickets, annual passes and visiting during nonpeak periods also provide our guests with options and savings." Disney stated that prices to the seasons are posted and updated regularly on their websites so that visitors are always aware of the changes.
The theme park isn't the first to adopt such measure as Universal Studios in Los Angeles also introduced seasonal pricing in anticipation of the launch of its updated "Harry Potter" attraction next month, L.A. Times reported.
