Disneyland Paris recently adopted a demand pricing model that rewards visitors who book early and punishes those who wait too long to buy tickets for the European theme park that often serves as a testing ground for other Disney resorts around the world.
Disneyland Paris moved to an airline-style dynamic pricing model for individual dates based on seasonality and demand in November.
“Under the new system, that price can change tomorrow, next week, next month or three days before you visit,” according to Blog Mickey. “If the date that you want to visit becomes more popular between today and the date you want to visit, the price can change at any point between now and when you ultimately purchase the ticket.”
The new Disneyland Paris pricing model goes by various names in the travel industry — demand, dynamic, surge, flexible and variable.
The new model mimics pricing strategies used by airlines, hotels and rideshare operators that raises prices when demand spikes and lowers them when demand decreases.
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A review of the Disneyland Paris ticket calendar stretching over the next 12 months showed prices ranging from $57 to $152 for a one-day, one-park ticket.
The most expensive dates were Bastille Day ($107), Easter weekend ($120), Halloween ($147) and New Year’s Eve ($152).
The least expensive dates were in January ($57), November ($63), September ($71) and April ($72).
The new Disneyland Paris pricing model breaks tickets into six tiers:
- Tier 1: $57 to $63
- Tier 2: $64 to $72
- Tier 3: $73 to $82
- Tier 4: $83 to $95
- Tier 5: $96 to $101
- Tier 6: $102 to $152
The highest-priced tier had three times as many dates as the lowest-priced tier over the next 12 months.
Although Tier 6 had the widest price range, most tickets in the tier stayed between $102 and $120.
The new demand-pricing model at Disneyland Paris only gives ticket buyers an hour to make their purchase before prices may fluctuate — either increasing, decreasing or remaining unchanged.
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Disneyland Paris is currently the only Disney theme park resort in the world using the airline-style dynamic ticket pricing model.
“Previously we have seen other services introduced first at Disneyland Paris and then rolled out at Disneyland and Walt Disney World,” according to Mickey Visit. “That resort has served as a sort of testing ground for new products.”
A new financial analyst report says Disneyland and Walt Disney World are expected to move to airline-style dynamic ticket pricing strategy similar to the variable pricing model rolled out last year at Disneyland Paris.
New York City-based Lightshed Partners expects Disney theme parks in the United States to shift to a dynamic ticket pricing model in the next few weeks, according to an investment note published on Feb. 21
“Given the early success of Disneyland Paris’ pricing strategy shift, we expect Disney to announce it is moving to a similar airline-style, dynamic pricing plan in the U.S. later in Q1 2025,” according to the Lightshed report.
Disneyland and Walt Disney World have no immediate plans to move to a dynamic pricing model similar to Disneyland Paris.
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The shift to dynamic ticket pricing could help increase attendance and visitor spending in the parks and encourage theme park visitors to buy their tickets further in advance, according to the Lightshed report.
“If a consumer is worried that prices will go up, they are likely to purchase their tickets sooner than they probably would have done in the past,” according to the Lightshed report.
Disneyland and Disney World moved from a flat-rate ticket model to tiered pricing in 2016.
The current ticket model requires Disney’s U.S. parks to announce upcoming price increases — typically on an annual basis.
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A move to a dynamic-pricing model would mean Disneyland and Disney World would never have to publicly announce ticket price increases again — or endure the headlines that come with the annual price hikes.
“In the new fully dynamic, airline-style pricing plan, there is no ‘set’ price for a ticket on any given day,” according to the Lightshed report. “The only way to find out what a ticket costs is to try and buy one at that moment in time. In turn, you never have to publicly raise ticket pricing.”