Disney plans tiered multiday pricing
Walt Disney expects to roll out multiday peak-season theme park tickets around the end of this year so the crowded dates cost more, the company’s CEO and president Bob Iger said Monday.
In February, when Walt Disney World raised its prices, a company spokeswoman had said the Orlando theme parks would sell multiday tickets with the prices posted in advance, as part of its strategy to help even out crowds.
Iger expanded on the concept briefly as he gave an update during a question-and-answer session at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.
Disney plans to increase prices more during peak times compared to the emptier park days, Iger said, calling the pricing initiative good for the guest experience and the company’s bottom line.
“You’ll see more of that in the years ahead,” Iger said.
The latest price increase at Walt Disney World took effect Feb. 11.
The cost for a ticket at Magic Kingdom as well as the other three parks — Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom — increased as did parking and annual passes, including those for Florida residents.
He also touted Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which will open in California and Florida in 2019.
“They’re the largest lands we’ve ever built,” Iger said.
“They are big. They are big in terms of footprint, and they’ll be big in terms of experience.”
New flight service connecting Orlando to Portland, Ore., will take off this summer, Sun Country Airlines executives announced Thursday.
The seasonal nonstop flights between Portland International Airport and Orlando International Airport will run from June 14 through Aug. 19, according to a press release from the airline.
The flights are scheduled to operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
Introductory fares will start at $149 one-way, the press release said.
“Both Portland and Orlando are terrific vacation destinations of ours,” said Jude Bricker, president and CEO of Sun Country Airlines in a statement. “We look forward to connecting the two and bringing our Midwest hospitality and convenient nonstop service to more passengers through this route network expansion.”
It’s the second airline to provide nonstop service to Portland, according to Orlando International Airport’s website, after Alaska Airlines.
In February, both Orlando International and Sanford International airports announced new flight service to several cities in Alabama.
The next few weeks will be a busy time for tourism in the region. About 2.9 million people are expected to visit Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties during Spring Break, or the week before and after Easter, according to Visit Orlando.
Disney’s newest batch of MagicBands includes a customized version that salutes the plain — but Internet famous — purple wall in Magic Kingdom.
The flat surface between Tomorrowland Terrace and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor has become a popular background for Instagram photographs. Park visitors line up to pose in front of the otherwise nondescript wall.
A limited-edition MagicBand that features a silhouette of Cinderella Castle and the words “Meet me at the purple wall” will go on sale today. Its purple markings are exact matching of the wall’s shade, Disney says.
It will be part of a twoweek flash sale on ShopDisney.com. A post on the official Disney Parks Blog says the item will be sold in tandem with a purple wall-designed hat that is already available at Walt Disney World retail locations.
MagicBands are wearable technology tied to the My Disney Experience app. They are used for park entry, maintaining FastPass+ reservations and opening hotel room doors at Disney resorts.
Although the original MagicBands came only in solid colors, subsequent designs have saluted Disney characters, movies, anniversaries and details within attractions. It’s a trend that Disney has implemented in other collectibles such as pins and Vinylmation, the themed plastic figures.
Other MagicBands released in March include one with various “Star Wars” symbols and one marking the 20th anniversary of Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park.
There are other photographic hot spots that have gained Instagram popularity, including the moss wall inside the Pandora area of Animal Kingdom, the colorful walls near the exits of Epcot’s Spaceship Earth and the Seas With Nemo and Friends.