Walt Disney increases park prices as much as 4.9 percent

Walt Disney Co. raised ticket prices at most of its domestic theme parks from 1.9 percent to 4.9 percent, more modest increases than last year when the company introduced higher fees on the most popular days.

The cost of a regular ticket to Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Florida, will rise to USD115 from $110, the company said Saturday in an e-mailed statement. The $124 peak price at Magic Kingdom, which includes many summer days and holidays, is unchanged. Magic Kingdom is the world’s most attended theme park.

At Disneyland, in Anaheim, California, the regular, single-day ticket price rose by $5 to $110. The peak price at the company’s two parks there also reached $124. All of the changes went into effect yesterday.

Disney, the world’s largest theme-park operator, has been investing heavily in the business, opening a $5.5 billion resort in Shanghai last June, for example. An attraction modeled after the film “Avatar” will debut at the company’s Animal Kingdom park in Orlando in May. Two “Star Wars”-themed lands are planned in California and Florida for 2019.

The company introduced three tiers of pricing at its domestic parks last year, with the cost of a ticket on the busiest days rising as much as 20 percent. Disney offers discounts on tickets purchased for multiple days. It also offers annual passes.

Prices for two of the highest levels of annual passes at Disneyland, the $849 Signature Passport, which excludes some days, and the $1,049 Signature Plus, which provides access every day of the year, are unchanged. Some multi-day options will decrease in price.

“Our pricing provides guests a range of options that allow us to better manage demand to maximize the guest experience and is reflective of the distinctly Disney offerings at all of our parks,” Suzi Brown, a spokeswoman for the Burbank, California- based company, said in an e-mail.

Theme parks were the only one of Disney’s four divisions to post an increase in profit last quarter. Operating income for the three-month period ending in December rose 13 percent to $1.1 billion, even though domestic attendance fell and the Orlando properties were closed for a day because of Hurricane Matthew. Domestic attendance slipped 5 percent in the December quarter and was down 1 percent in the fiscal year that ended Oct. 1.  Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg