Epcot changes everything

Image: Disney

With the opening of EPCOT Center on the horizon, Disney needed a radical change to its ticket model. While the individual attractions at the Magic Kingdom lined up well with the pay-per-attraction model, EPCOT Center would consist of vast pavilions that each contained numerous large and small attractions. It was time to abandon the ticket books and embrace a radical new concept - all-inclusive admission.

Disney knew that it would take time for park visitors to absorb the up-front sticker shock associated with the new model. In particular, locals who used the Magic Kingdom as a place to relax, skipping the ticketed rides and merely paying a low fee to walk around and enjoy the free attractions, would be upset. In addition, many visitors paid at the gate for a small ticket book and then purchased additional tickets throughout the day at ticket booths located across the park. They might have actually paid more that way, but shelling out a few cents at a time was entirely different psychologically.

To accommodate the changeover, Disney implemented a transitional year. In 1980, the company began offering two day and three day passports that included all attractions at the Magic Kingdom except for the Frontierland Shootin’ Gallery. In 1981, one day all-inclusive passports debuted. The passports were big paper tickets attached to a string that hung from the wrist or shirt button.

My family visited every year for my birthday in July. In 1981, my fifth birthday was just a little more special because my parents decided to invest in the one day passports. Throughout the day, we were repeatedly waved to the front of the line at fast-loading attractions. My theory is that, since taking tickets cost time, Cast Members were eager to fill seats right before dispatch with riders that didn’t require that extra step.                                 

Image: Disney

That year, a one day all-inclusive passport cost $12 for adults with the Magic Kingdom Club discount. In today’s dollars, that translates to $31.50. So, when adjusted for inflation, the price of a day at Disney kept pace from 1959 through 1981.

However, the 1980s marked the beginning of “Disney inflation,” or a rise in ticket prices that far outstripped the rising costs of other goods and services. The most dramatic ticket price increase of the 1980s happened in 1985, when two price increases raised the cost of a one day adult ticket from $18 to $21.50, or from $39.92 to $47.68 in 2015 dollars. Is it merely a coincidence that Michael Eisner had taken the helm the previous year? By the end of the decade, a one day one park ticket had climbed to $29 for adults, or $55.81 in today’s money. Eisner had clearly spotted an opportunity to increase margins.

Interestingly, though Eisner’s '90s “Disney Decade” is often referred to as the beginning of the end for classic Disney, prices didn’t really rise that much during that time. In 2000, a one day one park adult ticket cost $46, or $63.75 in 2015 dollars. Still, in the first 15 years of Eisner’s tenure, the real cost of Disney admission doubled the inflation rate - it’s just that the bulk of the increase happened during his first few years in charge.

Multi-day ticket options

Of course, most people who visit Walt Disney World stay for more than one day. Disney offered special commemorative tickets to celebrate Epcot’s 1982 grand opening. The tickets were valid for three days of unlimited admission to both Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, and came with a special welcome letter and envelope. The price was $30 for adults, $24 for juniors ages 12 to 17, and $18 for children ages 3 to 11. Translated into 2015 dollars, the adult price was $74.19 for three days, or $24.73 per day. Compared to the inflation-adjusted all-inclusive one day price from the year before, this was a real saving. It was the beginning of the multi-day model that would prevail in later years. But let’s take a look at what happened next.

Three day ticket prices climbed steeply over the next two years, even before Eisner took charge. By 1984, the cost of a three day adult ticket was up to $42, or $96.97 in today’s dollars. The junior ticket category was also eliminated that year, turning 13 year olds into Disney adults for the first time. In 1985, Eisner’s first full year of tenure, the price rose to $48.50, or $107.56 today. By the end of the 1980s, a three day ticket cost $80 for adults, or $153.96 in today’s money. So in seven years, the price of a three day ticket more than doubled in real cost! For families with children, prices effectively rose even more. In 1987, Disney lowered the child age bracket, turning 10 year olds into Disney adults.

Prices continued to rise through the Disney Decade. In 1990, three day tickets were discontinued. The shortest multi-day option was the four day All Three Parks Passport, priced at $111 without discounts for adults. In 2015 dollars, that equals $202.67. By 1999, the cost for a four day Park Hopper ticket was $167 for adults, or $239.21 today.

So much for the shortest multi-day options. What about longer tickets? In 1982, the longest multi-day ticket available was the six day World Passport. The adult, non-discounted price was $60, or $148.38 today. It was discontinued in 1984 in favor of the five day World Passport, which cost $62 for adults, or $142.40 today. Interestingly, that price did not significantly rise until 1986, when it climbed to $85, or $185.08 in 2015 dollars. By the end of the 1980s, a five day World Passport cost $110, or $211 today. Prices continued to rise during the Disney Decade, topping out at $206 in 2000, or $285.48 in today’s dollars.

So multi-day ticket prices also vastly outstripped inflation during the 1980s and 1990s. The price of the shortest option more than tripled inflation, while the price of the longest option nearly doubled inflation. Clearly, new management was steering the parks in a vastly different direction.