The cost of visiting Disneyland is going up.
Many are concerned that families are being priced out of "The Happiest Place on Earth." The cost of a single two-day, park-hopper ticket is $290 for an adult and $275 for a child.
In addition to tickets, families have to pay for food, transportation and, of course, somewhere to stay. Unfortunately, some families are reporting hotel rooms at the park and in nearby Anaheim are going for twice as much as before the pandemic.
“We usually stay a little closer to the entrance, but this time we booked a little bit farther just because the prices have gone up,” said a visitor to CBS-2.
It is not only the surrounding area’s hotel prices that are becoming more expensive. Visitors who bought annual passes to bring down the cost of visit are out of luck. According to Deadline, Disneyland will be retiring its annual pass program for good and bringing in a new way to reward the park’s “superfans.”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek has said that annual passes will likely be replaced by what is being called a "Frequent Visitor Program."
Disney super-fan and blogger Dusty Sage says that the company’s canceling of annual passes hurts regular visitors.
“Now all of a sudden it's very expensive to visit Disneyland if you don’t have an annual pass because you have to pay the whole price. That can be very expensive for a family of, let’s say, four,” said Sage.
Using the cost of a two-day park hopper ticket as a guide, a family of four would spend $1,130 on tickets alone.
Nearly 40 years since Disneyland first started offering annual passes, it was announced that the theme park would discontinue them in January.
On June 15, Disneyland in Anaheim increased the park’s capacity and dropped social distancing requirements. Disneyland Resort Theme Parks also announced it will welcome non-California residents back to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure park.
The company’s change in policy coincided with California’s dropping of most mask requirements and social distancing across the state.