EASING THE CROWDS
Shanghai Disneyland prices seek to shift visits away from peak days
Visitors to Walt Disney Co.’s newest theme park, Shanghai Disneyland, can get a break on ticket prices by waiting to visit the resort until the summer crowds thin out.
Disney announced Wednesday that it plans to put tickets on sale March 28 for the $5.5-billion resort opening in Shanghai on June 16. The park will feature six themed areas, two hotels, a shopping district and 99 acres of gardens, lakes and parkland.
The daily ticket prices will vary from 499 yuan ($76) during high-demand days, such as summer and in the two weeks immediately after the opening of the park, to 370 yuan ($56) on slower weekdays starting in September. The park will also offer discounts for children, seniors and visitors with disabilities.
The concept of cutting ticket prices for low-demand days has already been adopted at Disneyland Paris but has not been implemented on a long-term basis in Disney’s U.S. parks.
This week, Universal Studios Hollywood became the first major U.S. theme park to adopt a pricing plan that attempts to spread out spikes in attendance by lowering ticket prices for low-demand days, such as weekdays. The lower prices give visitors an incentive to visit when crowds are thinner.
The only Disney theme park in mainland China had originally been scheduled to open in December 2015 but was delayed because Disney and its Chinese partner, the Shanghai Shendi Group, decided to add more attractions costing $800 million.
The new park, along with several other resorts under construction in China by U.S. firms, is designed to attract members of China’s booming middle class, who are faced with a shortage of recreational options in China.