A YouTuber who loves Walt Disney World recently posted a video denouncing the meteoric rise in prices that the famous Florida theme park has imposed on visitors in recent years.
On his Bright Sun Travels channel, Jake Williams accuses Disney of being “anti-consumer” and eliminating several previously included services.
At the beginning of 2024, the influencer and his girlfriend spent a day and a night at the Orlando theme park. According to their observations, the cost of such an excursion has increased by 44% over the last seven years. This is almost twice the inflation over this period.
They visited Magic Kindgom Park and stayed at Disney's Port Orleans Resort Hotel.
Including the ticket price, accommodation, transportation and meals for the day, Jake and his partner estimate their visit cost them $886.34 (C$1,193). In 2017, an identical trip cost US$567.90 (C$764).
Photo from Youtube / Bright Sun Travels
Pay to get to the hotel and wait less
In addition to the price of the pair of parking tickets increasing from US$226.84 (C$308) to US$328.02 (C$519), it is formerly free, now paid services that explain the sharp increase in vacation-related expenses at the Walt Disney World Resort, emphasizes the YouTuber.
In early 2021, Disney discontinued its Orlando Airport Shuttle service, which allowed guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort to transport their suitcases there for free.
Such a shuttle service now costs 33.60 US dollars (45 Canadian dollars).
Photo from Youtube / Bright Sun Travels
Also in 2021, the amusement park eliminated the Fastpass system, which allowed visitors to reserve spots in a fast-track queue for most attractions at no additional cost. Walt Disney World Resort also launched its new Genie+ application and introduced its Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes system.
To use Fast Lane at most attractions, visitors now must pay an individual fee of at least $25 per day; The price varies depending on the park and time of year.
Additionally, to quickly skip the lines for the most popular attraction at each of the four theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort, vacationers must now purchase an “Individual Lightning Lane,” which varies in price from $14 to $39 per person per day.
“There is no argument for Genie+ and the elimination of Fastpasses. It’s just anti-consumer, just like these steep price increases,” says the influencer.
As an example, Jake Williams cites the Tron Lightcycle Power Run attraction, for which he and his girlfriend had to pay $21.30 per person because there is no traditional queue. There are virtual queues, but the places, which are only released twice a day, fill up very quickly.
“$42 for a 60-second attraction is a hard pill to swallow,” laments the YouTuber.
Disney more expensive than Europe
Based on current prices, Jake Williams estimates that a family of two adults and one child spending six days in a hotel and four days in the parks would have to pay a total of $4,000, including food and line-avoidance options.
In comparison, a trip to the French Riviera costs $3,462, while a stay in Bali would cost $4,600, says Jake Williams.
“I really like the Disney parks, but I no longer want to encourage these price hikes and this complicated system when I know there are better places to spend my money,” he proclaims