LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Disney executives are addressing concerns over rising ticket prices and park attendance as the company continues making changes under new leadership.
During a presentation with Goldman Sachs, Disney Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston discussed ticket pricing, attendance and the company’s investments across Walt Disney World.
Just a few months ago, Disney released its 2027 prices, showing a one-day, one-park ticket for Magic Kingdom will reach $219, a record price.
“It is hard, I hate to say it, it is to pay those prices. I mean, and I’m talking from just people that I know, but then when you look at the park attendance, it doesn’t reflect that,” said Michele Atwood, founder of The Main Street Mouse blog.
Disney addressed those concerns during the presentation, saying it is adding more value to the parks through new attractions and areas, including Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom, Monstropolis at Hollywood Studios, and Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom.
“At times, there are questions around, you know, are we pricing too much? The reality of it is, we price when we deliver more value. I’m fond of the expression, price is what you pay, value is what you get. The fact is, by virtue of making these investments, we’re giving the consumer more value,” Johnston said.
Disney also said it saw fewer international visitors in the last quarter than anticipated.
At the same time, the company shifted its focus toward domestic travelers.
“We’ve really pivoted our marketing and pivoted our promotional activity to a domestic audience, and that played out very well,” Johnston said.
While attendance was expected to be lower, specifically at the Orlando parks, Johnston said the numbers were stronger than anticipated.
“The numbers were quite the opposite. They were rather strong. And that’s a lot about our IP. It’s about our unique offering that Disney World and Disney broadly is. It’s just a very, very different offering than perhaps some of the others,” Johnston said.
Disney executives also discussed the array of projects currently underway at Walt Disney World and how they believe these investments will increase capacity and deliver more value to consumers from their tickets.
Disney provided more information about some of those projects and when they could open during its D23 Expo.
During the presentation, Johnston also discussed broader changes within the company, including a greater focus on technology, Disney original content and collaborative operations.
Working under what Disney calls “One Disney” is one of the priorities for the new leadership.
Johnston said different departments within Disney have operated separately in the past, but the company is working to move away from that model.
“We’re trying to sort of create that single relationship with consumers, and by virtue of doing that, we think we can reduce the friction that we have in terms of engaging consumers,” Johnston said.
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