Theme park pricing outpacing other forms of entertainment over the last decade

Universal Orlando does this with their multi-day VIP tickets (admission + unlimited express). The price you pay is based on the first day of use.

ApolloAndy said:

I will say, however, that we completely changed our travel plans based on crowd forecast (we were originally planning on taking a longer trip during Easter week, but apparently it's one of the worst weeks to go) and I'd be willing to pay a significantly higher price if it chased away some of the crowds.

I'm largely convinced that there is no such thing as a time of the year when DLR isn't busy and it sounds like WDW is approaching that status as well. We visited DLR on a Tuesday-Wednesday in late-July and it was wall-to-wall people, especially in Disneyland. I've been watching the Star Wars land construction pic updates on Mint Crocodile and I'm shocked at the crowds in what I would think would be a slower part of the year (January/February).

I think there's largely little sticker shock with people planning Disney trips because so many people buy park tickets as part of an overall package. I've done WDW and DLR in the last 18 months and I couldn't tell you what I paid total or per day at either because it was just a fraction of an overall park/hotel package. I know I passed on the extra cost of hoppers at DLR because we only planned on 2 days, but that was as far as my price awareness extended.

Yeah. I'm not expecting it to be light crowds (It is spring break season, though just barely so. A couple of rides come back up that week from off season maintenance. We went the same week 2 years ago and it was busy but not overly crowded), but I'm assuming/hoping/betting that it's also not wall-to-wall like Easter week will be (when the entire state of CA has spring break).

We did WDW over Easter about 10 years or so ago and it was crazy busy. MK was closed in the morning due to capacity 2 of days we were there and one of the other parks had the same issue another day. I think it was AK. We swore never again and anytime someone asks about Disney over Easter, we tell them don't do it. This was back in the day when you could buy a 5 day park hopper that never expired.