Disney raises park prices, suspends sales of new SoCal passes

Orange County Register ^ | 5/18/2014 | Sarah Tully

[jeannineinsd]

ANAHEIM – Disneyland Resort raised its ticket prices on Sunday, with a one-day, one-park ticket for visitors 10 and older going to $96.

The $4 boost at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure is about the same as previous hikes, which usually happen about once a year. Single-day ticket prices have more than doubled since 2003.

The cost for annual passes went up, too.

- snip -

The increase comes as the Disneyland Resort is experiencing strong growth. Since Cars Land opened as part of the Disney California Adventure makeover in June 2012, Disney has often reported record attendance during its quarterly reports.

Also, Disney suspended new sales of its popular Southern California annual passport because of the crowds. Those who already have them can renew them. And those who let Southern California passes expire in the last 90 days can renew them as well.

The parks have been particularly crowded on Sundays – the only weekend day usually available for those with the Southern California passes, which now cost $379 on renewal. A cheaper pass – the Southern California Select at $289 – is blocked out on weekends and is available for new purchases.

Other annual passes – the Deluxe, with some Saturday and peak-holiday-period blackouts, selling for $519, and the no-blackout Premium, selling for $699 – may be suspended in the future.

[Secret Agent Man]

since they went gay i wont go back. let all the homodollars they are gunning for keep these places afloat.

[Ezekiel]

What, exactly, is there to do in the “Tom Sawyer’s Island” area? From what I’ve read, there are no attractions there: no restaurants and no rides.

Exactly. I think the point was to ship the fidgedy little "Tom Sawyers" [who just drank a quart of soda] off to the island to pee in the woods (saves a trip to the restrooms) so mom and grandma could spend quality time in the Enchanted Tiki Room.

[Ezekiel]

The Haunted House was nifty but there wasn’t much “there” there. The Pirates, though... definitely worth the lines. I wonder if they still have that “auction” going on or have the feminists completely destroyed the ride.

[originalbuckeye]

Tom Sawyers Island used to be so much fun! But then they took out the rifles in the stockade and the balancing rock. I think a little girl caught her finger in the trigger of one of the rifles and it cost them boatloads in a lawsuit. Ahhhhhh, the olden days were GOOD! I remember Sally Ride on her first Shuttle trip.......said it was definitely an E ticket.......I bet it was!

[Ezekiel]

I wonder if they ever thought of using that tune to extract information from the guests at Club Gitmo. It would have been just as effective as water boarding.

Mothers were surely way ahead of the curve. How many of them used the prospect of going on that ride as a threat, lol. I suspect that the Harmony Hut in Addam's Family Values was inspired by that ride.

[ifinnegan]

Can you lend me a pass or something?

[ifinnegan]

The shooting gallery is still there, but now it’s electronic.

The shooting gallery actually took coins, not tickets. It was unique in that way.

[ifinnegan]

I remember when I was a kid that Knotts was free. They had panning for gold.

Walter Knott was a genius.

Boysenberry jam is delicious.

[KarlInOhio]

I wonder if they ever thought of using that tune to extract information from the guests at Club Gitmo. It would have been just as effective as water boarding.

They tried it but the CIA interrogators were confessing too.

[wardaddy]

I was in orlando last month
Auction still there

Depp pirate everywhere now

Me and wyfe and our last 3

All boys under 15

500 for tickets

100 for food

250 for souvenirs

Lines so long we only did 3 rides in 7 hours

Monorail down

5-6 major rides down

Counting rooms for one night another 300 in Buena Vista

1100 to 1200 for Disney one day 3 rides

Screw that...’.4 hours later we are at South Beach.at the W Hotel

It im gonna go broke it aint gonna be surrounded by fat pink Americana and legions of Brazilians chasing mouse rides

Its gonna be on the beach in supermodel land

Mom loves beach and Bal Harbor and boys liked scenery same as daddy

[Myrddin]

My last trip was in September 1985. Bank of America night with my mother-in-law and two sons. I had 40 stitches on the top of each foot from a recent lymphangiogram. Follow up testing for cancer. No real interest in another visit.

[Wayne07]

Knott's still does their fried chicken. They say they still use the same recipe as when they opened in 1934.

[fatnotlazy]

Went to Disneyland once back in the 1970s. Waited 45 minutes to get on the Mattahorn ride which lasted about a minute and a half. The park was overpriced and underwhelming.

We have an amusement park here that's been around for a hundred years. Not a big name, but a heckuva lot better than Disney.

[Mjaye]

Speaking of Knotts, back in the fifties, my oldest brother, about age 13 or 14, wrote to Walter Knott and asked if he and a buddy could come and spend the night where there used to be a group of circled covered wagons on the property. Mr. Knott graciously invited the boys to bring their sleeping bags and camp out. They rode their bikes out there from Long Beach and had a great time!

This was back when it didn’t cost anything to get in and the train, stage coach etc. were probably a dime to ride, if that. And robbers did in fact hop on board every train ride with guns blazing! And none of us kids ever suffered from nightmares or any other trauma as a result, we thought it was great fun and not far off from the cowboy movies we enjoyed.

My Dad and I would often drive out to the General Store at Knotts to buy the best licorice pipes I’ve ever had, plus horehound drops. Those were the days!

[Cowgirl of Justice]

I am wanting to take my next vacation with you and your family. Although, I notice I didn’t see any drinking fund listed.

[ExCTCitizen]

Six Flags are better and in New England, the oldest amusement park is a great park, Lake Compounce. Disney is overrated.

[Caipirabob]

:D

[FroggyTheGremlim]

"I just bought our last season pass for Disneyland. We hadn’t been in about five years. The famous customer service is long gone, long lines, cranky cast members...blech.

Oh, fiddlesticks! We're at Disney World right now celebrating our 25th Anniversary.

Haven't been here for about 20 years.

The "Cast members" have been extremely pleasant; the service is top-notch; it couldn't be a nicer experience.

Lines are long, but that's not Disney's fault. It's because lots of people are here, even in the "moderate" season. I'd call that a Business Success, which we Conservatives admire, don't we?.

Disney invented the "Fast Pass" system to help folks plan which attraction they want to see. With a Fast Pass, the wait is only a few minutes.

Food and incidentals are expensive, but we bought the Annual Pass which gives us a 10% discount on almost everything we buy.

We're staying at one of the "All-Star" resorts, which cost about $110 per night. That's not Motel Six pricing, but it's affordable. The room is smallish, but very clean. The bed is quite comfortable and the service is good - free movies every night. We had a problem with the (Gore one gpf) toilet not flushing - we reported it and it was fixed right away.

Whoever at Disney thought up the "Princesses" idea should be given some kind of award - there are thousands of little girls running around dressed as Cinderella, Snow White, Pocohantas, ... sweethearts all. The outfits sell like mad.

No, Disney World is still magic. We'll come back, I'm sure.

But don't ask me about Amtrak's Autotrain!

[Vigilanteman]

. . . back in the days when Walt himself was running things to appeal to families, not queers.

[OldPossum]

I can get in for free ;)

Just curious, how do you get in for free?

jeannineinsde, it's all by way of again reminding us of how important Mr. max americana is in Hollywood.

And we aren't, you see?