Disney Parks Officially Deemed "Biggest Rip-Off in America"

Visiting Walt Disney World has only grown in cost over the recent years, and now, according to a survey, the Orlando theme parks are the biggest rip-off that someone can experience. 

It’s hard to believe that when Walt Disney World opened in 1971, admission prices were $3.50 for adults, $2.50 for juniors under age 18, and $1.00 for children under twelve. Now, on President’s Day, we saw tickets for Magic Kingdom selling for $184.00 per person. That is a 5157.14% increase in just over 50 years of operation on tickets alone.

Since the parks reopened from the pandemic, things have only become more costly. Not only have daily tickets gone up in price, but Annual Passholder costs have as well, with the highest tier totaling over $1450.00 per year. In addition to this, food and drink prices have gone up across the board, and now, FastPass is no more, and Disney Genie+ has been added. FastPass used to be a free service for guests to skip certain attraction lines, but now, that same service has a new name, and if you want to use the Lightning Lane (fast side of the line) you must purchase Disney Genie+, which can cost well over $30.00 per person on certain days.

The service only guarantees to skip the line of 2-3 attractions, and some more popular rides require another fee to skip their lines.

A recent survey that used a total of 5,000 participants was used to ” headfirst into Google Trends and Tripadvisor to determine the top “rip-offs” people were talking about at national, state, and local levels”.

Casino.org conducted the study, and began by stating, “Bamboozled, beguiled, and swindled: sometimes the only way of describing experiences that were certainly less than we bargained for. The allure of “as seen on TV” and an influencer’s POV of travel can leave us disappointed when we realize we didn’t get our money, time, or both worth. Buyer beware as we’re unpacking some of the biggest rip-offs of all time: from universal woes, not-so-national treasures, and even every state’s scams.”

In the end, Disney World ranked as the #1 biggest US tourist attraction rip-off. The publication wrote, “Following the Tripadvisor results for the top 10 US attractions, we asked participants to rank what they thought was the biggest to least rip-offs according to their experiences.

60% of respondents concluded that Disney World is the biggest rip-off for US attractions. The happiest place on Earth turns out to be the “most scammy” place on Earth too as this top attraction ranks #1 for rip-offs. Starting at $109 per person for the most basic ticket, we start to see why Disney makes the top rip-off ranks. Ciao, Mickey Mouse! ”

Many have accused Disney of pricing their parks for the 1%, pushing out the middle-class average family due to the cost of their vacations.

Just a few days ago, Bright Sun Travels shared a video titled “Disney World Has Gotten Too Expensive” where Jake Williams and his girlfriend Emmi Lancaster came to Disney World after years of not visiting. The couple totaled what they would expect the average family to spend on one day at Disney, staying in a moderate resort (Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside), visiting Magic Kingdom, buying Disney Genie+, eating some snacks, having one table service dinner (Skipper Canteen), and buying no merchandise.

In the end, the couple spent over $886.00 for one day at Disney World, and that is with just two people.

Jake compared the same costs of his trip to what the same trip would have looked like in 2017, and the price was far lower, at $567.00 per day. The 44% increase in cost in seven years outpaces the extreme increase that we have seen with economic inflation, making a visit to Disney World certainly feel like a rip-off.

You can watch Jake’s full experience below.

The survey continued, “Every state has its own money grab, be it the “World’s Biggest Insert-underwhelming-thing-here” or a theme park asking for a small fee of $60 just to park your car. What a time to be alive (and swindled). We asked participants from each of the 50 states to rank the state’s Tripadvisor top 5 attractions that they believe are rip-offs. When looking at California and Florida, Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort were both listed as #1.

Do you think a Disney World or Disneyland vacation is a rip-off?