Putting it in perspective: Ticket Prices Over the Years

[Richard M Nixon]

With the influx of threads discussing ticket price changes, I thought I'd have some fun and look at ticket price changes since WDW opened in 1971. I've charted one-day adult tickets over time to see how annual rate hikes grew. Then, I made annual inflation adjustments to match the change in consumer price index year over year.

As it turns out, Disney isn't just pulling prices out of themselves! Ticket prices correlate very strongly with inflation, and although there may be a disparity for a few years at a time where prices may grow notably faster or slower than CPI changes, over the long run there is virtually no difference between the actual price at the gate versus the inflation-adjusted 1971 ticket.

The current 2016 ticket price of $105 for a one-day MK ticket is only 0.09% higher than the $104.91 that a 1971 ticket would cost today (it cost $5.75 in 1971).


What does the DIS think about putting price hikes in context? The cost on the price sheet is increasing, sure, but it's keeping in line with the increase of everything else we consume and, presumably, annual salaries.



Note: In 1970s, 12 ride tickets were used.
In 1980-1990s, one-day tickets were used
In 2000s-2010s, one-day MYW base ticket for MK was used

Small chart:

Big chart with prices overlaid:

Chart of prices, inflation, and disparity

 

[mom2rtk]

Isn't it sort of apples and oranges when you compare a ticket book to "all access" pricing?

 

[Richard M Nixon]

Well the adjusted prices I have listed are just year-over-year inflation adjustments, so when all-access tickets came into the picture, the adjustments start getting based off of that. For completion I had to include the initial tickets, but I went with the most expensive 12-ticket package as it was as close to everything as could be done.

 

[JudieB]

When you lay it out like this, it seems logical. If you want to take it one step further, you could itemize price per ride based on the average number of ride options in 1971 vs. now. Price per ride would be lower, right? Note that while I'd love a lower price, Disney is certainly keeping up with the times. Universal is keeping up as well, they're charging $105 for one park/one day and $155 park hopping.

 

[BrianL]

It is fair to raise prices to coincide with inflation, but they should not be cutting positions and guest experiences at the same time. The timing on all of this is more than a little irritating. I hope the belt-tightening doesn't last too long.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

When you lay it out like this, it seems logical. If you want to take it one step further, you could itemize price per ride based on the average number of ride options in 1971 vs. now. Price per ride would be lower, right?

Right.

there are far, far more attractions and entertainment options now then there were at any point in Disney's past. So not only are prices not really increasing relative to inflation, you are getting a lot more for your money. In CPI terms this is called hedonic adjustments (they are already baked into the CPI numbers, but they aren't in your Disney ticket numbers. If you added hedonic adjustments to Disney ticket prices your orange line would be way below your green line).

 

[Orsino]

What do you mean by "Ticket Price (in 1971 dollars, adjusted for inflation)"? It's a bit confusing to me. Are you taking contemporary prices and converting into 1971 dollars? And then adjusting for inflation? That pretty much by definition undoes converting into 1971 dollars, because that is precisely what "in 1971 dollars" means... adjusted for inflation.

Or are you taking the 1971 ticket price and inflating that to the contemporary price? Which would make sense, but isn't what the column states. Labeling it "1971 ticket price adjusted for inflation" would be more clear, I think.

 

[DavidNYC]

You can really use a bunch of different measurements. If I were to use the Consumer Price Index - you'd expect an increase of 137% between 1983 and now. In fact it's been over 600%. So if you use that measure - the increases have been wildly out of proportion.

To me the problem is that salaries for your middle and lower class demographic have not been nearly keeping up with increases (not to mention the increases in food, special events, etc.) It's a business - supply and demand. But compared to many other similar things - the price increases really have outpaced a lot of different measures. I feel the same way about baseball games now and many sporting events - it's become really unaffordable for the average family. Any place with limited capacity can figure out where the line is for people they need to cater to and set the prices accordingly. They'd be stupid not to (and presumably if they didn't we'd be seeing park closings due to capacity a lot more). Understanding it doesn't mean I have to like it . . .

 

[toddinboston]

i'm not quite sure what your charts are supposed to be comparing...$5.75 in 1971 is equal to $33.74 today...there are numerous online inflation calculations you can use, they are all remarkably consistent...
to increase from $5.75 in 1971 to $105 in 2016 is approximately 8.4% annually...typical average rate of inflation per the Consumer Price Index is 4.5% or so...so yes, Disney's annual ticket price increases are almost double the rate of inflation...

 

[jpeden]

The problem with this is that you're comparing just the one-day tickets. If you did this chart for say the four-day hopper, it would show a much greater disparity. For example, a four-day hopper in 1995 was $137.00 (and yes, I know that now you get an extra park with a hopper versus that ticket in 1995, but I'm strictly comparing the product here). Today, a four-day hopper is $394.00. $137 adjusted for inflation from 1995 would be $212.98 in today's dollars. There's a big difference between $394.00 and $212.98.

 

[hakepb]

Something seems wierd in the maths

In row 1, $5.75 *(1+5.29%) = row 2's $6.05
But row 3's $6.51 is 7.6% higher than row 2, yet stated inflation is only 3.27%???

 

[hakepb]

That's what the maths are doing
The OP is multiplying the Actual ticket price of the year by the inflation rate to get the "adjusted" ticket price for the next year.
(There is no reason for 1977 adjusted to be lower than 1976 adjusted)

But that's not how you compound inflation. You would multiply that year's adjusted price by that year's inflation rate to get next year's adjusted price.

 

[C-CMom]

i'm not quite sure what your charts are supposed to be comparing...$5.75 in 1971 is equal to $33.74 today...there are numerous online inflation calculations you can use, they are all remarkably consistent...
to increase from $5.75 in 1971 to $105 in 2016 is approximately 8.4% annually...typical average rate of inflation per the Consumer Price Index is 4.5% or so...so yes, Disney's annual ticket price increases are almost double the rate of inflation...

Good point.

OP - I like the exercise - thanks for some math fun today.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

When we went back in 1976 and did the ticket books, you only rode space mountain 1 time (for most families of 4) and when the E tickets were gone, you went to the other attractions (A,B,C,and D tickets) Now, I can ride space mountain all day long, as many times as I can get on, if I choose to do so. Touring styles have changed a lot and the opportunities have grown exponentially as well since 1971. Supply and demand and if you don't like it, don't go

 

[hakepb]

I think this is how the spreadsheet should work

Inflation isn't everything. Inflation is a nice guide. Some categories like appliances and electronics have not gone up, while other items do go up.

Eventually prices cannot outpace customers spending power(i.e. more dual income families may increase spending power, while other expenses may decrease spending ability)

 

[Slapshot1188]

OP not trying to be mean but your math is horribly wrong...

Real math would show that the cost increased at roughly double the rate of inflation, not on par. Given that fact perhaps you might want to change your poll to reflect reality.
For a real eye opener compare the increases since 2008 to the annual inflation rate in your chart.

What a different picture that paints.

 

[DSLRuser]

supply and demand people. As long as people keep coming, the prices will continue to go up, regardless of value. We have not hit critical mass yet.

Hopefully, people will start staying away. Which will lower crowds. Lower crowds will eventually either create lower prices to boost crowds back up again, or even lower standards to boost profitability. If the lower standards happen, then disney as we know it is truly dead.

 

[epcotty]

I don't know what you're using but with inflation calculators I've used now consistently it puts it at 34/35. The most I get from the initial amount from 1971 converted to today is about $35 (meaning the price w/ inflation would be $35 today). The price has far outpaced inflation especially in more recent history

 

[supersnoop]

I think this is how the spreadsheet should work

Inflation isn't everything. Inflation is a nice guide. Some categories like appliances and electronics have not gone up, while other items do go up.

Eventually prices cannot outpace customers spending power(i.e. more dual income families may increase spending power, while other expenses may decrease spending ability)

I don't understand your last column. Shouldn't it say that tickets today are 300% more than in 1971, adjusted for inflation?

 

[bcrook]

I think this is how the spreadsheet should work

Inflation isn't everything. Inflation is a nice guide. Some categories like appliances and electronics have not gone up, while other items do go up.

Eventually prices cannot outpace customers spending power(i.e. more dual income families may increase spending power, while other expenses may decrease spending ability)

That tells quite a story.

I would like to see a similar chart for buffet prices to see how they stack up. Free Dining did a number on those offerings.