Outraged Disneyland fans slammed the Mouse House for jacking up ticket prices again — with some posting memes portraying CEO Bob Chapek as various Hollywood villains including Dr. Evil, Hannibal Lecter and the murderous doll from the “Chucky” horror franchise.
Disneyland and neighboring California Adventure Park in Anaheim, Calif., on Tuesday raised single-day ticket prices by as much as 10%. Which means the value of entry on “high demand” days like weekends and holidays will now cost $179 versus $164. Two-day passes, previously priced at $255, jumped 12% to $285.
The Los Angeles-area resort — which didn’t announce the increases, leaving it to customers to find them on the corporate’s website early Tuesday — also raised the value of preferred parking to a whopping $50 a day from $45.
In response, one user retweeted a thread that superimposed Chapek’s face onto Kathy Bates’ ax-wielding character in “Misery.” One other showed Chapek because the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz,” saying, “I’ll get you my pretty…”
Other images included the CEO as Hannibal Lecter from “The Silence of the Lambs,” The Joker, Dr. Evil, Dracula and Ivan Drago, the Soviet boxer from “Rocky.”
Disney’s website also revealed that the associated fee for the brand new Genie+ service, which allows customers to skip long lines on a number of the hottest rides, rose to $25 from $20. Disney World in Orlando, Fla., also increased its Genie+ pass to $22 from $15 but didn’t change its ticket prices.
“Our tiered ticketing structure offers guests different options to experience that magic all year long, including our lowest price point — which hasn’t modified since 2019,” a Disneyland rep said, referring to day by day ticket prices on “low demand” days, currently at $104.
The value hikes come a yr after Disneyland raised day by day ticket prices as much as 8% and increased day by day parking rates by 20%. It also follows a 16% hike in annual passes just two months ago.
Disneyland increased prices as much as 10% for single-day tickets.GC Images
Chapek has hinted on earnings calls that if demand continues to surge, price hikes are prone to follow. The news didn’t sit well with cash-strapped fans who took to Twitter to gripe.
“We get it Disney! You’re gonna keep raising prices, keeping the regular folks out. Perhaps if people just stopped giving in and going, they may lower their prices,” a fan tweeted.
“Bob Chapek: Worst CEO EVER,” tweeted one other fan.
Disneyland customers slammed the Mouse House for one more round of price hikes.Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
“I refuse to purchase this…. it’s the principle of all of it. I don’t just like the direction Disney goes, and I’ll proceed to indicate with my $,” added one other.
Chapek has faced blowback this yr for price increases at each Disneyland and Disney World following the pandemic, which had shuttered the corporate’s theme parks. Fans have also griped in regards to the quality of food, portion sizes and the general experience on the parks while Chapek has reeled in compensation of $32.5 million, earning him the moniker “Bob Paycheck.”
As for add-ons, Hotel Valet jumped 30% from $50 to $65.
Regular theme park parking stays $30 – but preferred increases from $45 to $50. pic.twitter.com/UecFjDULc0
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) October 11, 2022
Journalist Scott Gustin broke down all the value increases via Twitter with charts, denoting increases that range from 6% for single-day tickets to 30% for valet parking.
