The U.S. travel sector has been surprisingly resilient when it comes to travel.
Domestic travel numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels and air travel has surged even as more than a third of travelers planned to take on debt for summer trips. However, inflation-weary consumers might be taking their money elsewhere when it comes to theme parks.
In its 2024 third-quarter results, Disney blamed a “softening consumer environment” for sliding demand in its theme parks. Domestic parks, which include Walt Disney World and Disneyland, saw a 6% drop in operating profits, despite revenue climbing 3% compared with the year prior, the company said.
Universal Studios’ parent company Comcast reported a nearly 11% drop in theme park revenue driven by lower attendance in that same period, its fiscal second quarter.
“I think what we’re seeing is consumers have a lot of choices, and they’re making thoughtful decisions as to where they want to go,” said Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock, “which means it’s a competitive environment, which means that we need to be smart and thoughtful about making sure we’re listening to what their needs are and how do we appeal to their needs.”
While Disney parks are still the most-visited theme parks in the world, with 142 million visitors globally in 2023, ticket prices and the cost burden of visiting a Disney park have been rising.
A one-day, single-park ticket for Walt Disney World has climbed on average 5% per year over the past 10 years. Between 2014 and 2024, the average cost for a single day Walt Disney World ticket inflated 56%, according to Wolfe Research, well above the national rate of inflation at 32%.
On the other hand, the price of Disney World and Disneyland’s cheapest ticket has remained steady since 2019. A Disney World one-day, one-park, off-peak ticket will cost a park-goer $109, and its equivalent at Disneyland is $104. But on average, a one-day ticket at Walt Disney World costs $154, according to Wolfe Research, and a Magic Kingdom ticket costs as much as $189 during peak travel times.
“Given that linear television has been disappointing Disney and everybody else in that business for the last decade, it stands to reason that Disney might have responded to that by pricing its parks a little more aggressively in order to prop up its financial results,” said Peter Supino, the managing director at Wolfe Research. “It continues to be a premium experience that puts pressure on the more price-sensitive cohort of customers that want to go there and struggle with the cost.”
So is a Disney vacation getting too expensive for the average American? Watch the video above for the full story.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.