Seasonal Pricing at Walt Disney World: Pay More to Wait in Line Longer!
OVERVIEW: WALT DISNEY WORLD PRICES
This site recommends that you arrive in Disney World one of the first three Saturdays after Thanksgiving.
For those who cannot go to Walt Disney World then, the material that follows illuminates the different resort room prices you will face from going to Walt Disney World at different times of the year. For ticket prices, see this.
You can find 2013 prices here and 2014 prices here.
PAY MORE TO WAIT IN LINE LONGER
The major prices at Walt Disney World that vary by season are hotel room costs. (Disney also does seasonal increases in dining prices, but if you use the Dining Plan, this won’t affect you much. It does NOT change theme park ticket prices by season.)
“Season” does not mean anything as simple as fall or winter. Disney changes prices much more frequently than that.
It changes prices when it predicts a change in demand, or a change in willingness to pay.
The business intent of these changes is to extract maximum value from high demand/willingness to pay periods, and to attract families into lower demand periods by lowering the costs of attending during those times.
One of the upshots of this is that Walt Disney World charges more for the periods when most people want to be there–which is also when it is the most crowded.
As a result, in general, the more crowded the parks, the longer the lines, the more your hotel will cost.
There are a couple of exceptions to this.
- Late February and early March are expensive, but not crowded. (This is from the increased willingness to pay of northeasterners getting away from the snow.)
- Mid-July to mid-August is cheap at the deluxe resorts, but still crowded. August is priced this way to pull deluxe guests out of June and earlier July.
See the graphic for the relationship between prices and crowds. Click it to open it; when it is open, click it again to enlarge it.
See the links below for exact price seasons for 2013, and forecasts for 2014. In addition, for even more detail on 2013 price seasons, see the material that starts on this page at MouseSavers.com.
MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD
- For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
- For the next best dates, see this
- For the best and worst times to visit, see this
- For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
- For the 2013 Week Picker, click here
- For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
- For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
- For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here
- For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here
- For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
- For 2013 price seasons, click here
- For projected 2014 price seasons, see this
- For weather at Walt Disney World, see this
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12 comments
Do you have to purchase theme park tickets well in advance if you are attending the week of Christmas- do they reserve until capacity only and then stop selling tickets?
Thanks
Hi Nancy!
Great question, but no, you don’t.
At Disney World, new tickets aren’t associated with a date when they are sold. Your tickets don’t have any sense of “when” until the first day you use them–and then a clock starts during which they work for 14 days.
I would like to plan a trip for a family of 6 but I would like to know that if you book or purchase a vacation package, does it include park tickets to Disney World?
Erika, with Disney you can do it many different ways. You can book just hotel rooms; you can book just tickets; you can book both; and you can add other stuff like pre-paid dining plans, waterpark tix, etc. It’s pretty flexible.
Question
I would like to know if you guys have a program where I can purchase a annual ticket on a payment plan and pay for it monthly and start using the pass ASAP.
Hi Hugh!
First, I’m just a guy with a website, not Disney…
Second, on your question, there is such a program, but its for Florida residents only—see http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/monthly-payment/
Hello, I am planning a trip to disney in late Feb early March, I see the PoP Century Resort is good for Firts timers on a tight budget, we are a family of 4, my wife and I, and our 2 kids 11 and 9, I am 6’3″, is there any room size options at Pop Century? and any general tips you can add would be great… Dave.
Hey Dave, all beds at Pop are full sized, so it will be a stretch. The next least expensive option with queen beds is Port Orleans French Quarter.
For other tips, start with the home page http://yourfirstvisit.net For more on where to stay, click the Where to Stay link on that page or in the left sidebar.
Hey Dave, I’m trying to plan a vacation with my family of 6. 4 children and 2 adults. Im planning to go in late July and I live in Florida. I’ve heard u can get tickets cheaper if your a Florida resident. How does it work? And when do I buy our tickets? Please help.
Hi Miranda, DIsney offers various deals over the year for Florida residents. To see what’s on offer, see the box on the right side of this page: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/
Hi Dave! We’re looking at a trip to WDW inmid November. We can get 20% off our rooms at a low end resort if we book directly. But this will not include a meal plan, theme park tics, or our flight. Or would oyu recommend going thru a T/A for the entire pkg
Hi! I’m guessing you are writing from overseas–likely the UK–as that deal is not available in the states. In the US a travel agent can’t get you a better deal than you can get yourself–the just do the work for you. But I don’t know if that’s true for visits from overseas…
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