Price Increases
For the first time since February 2020, the Disneyland Resort has increased its general admission prices. The average increase was 6%, with some ticket options increasing as much as 8%.
The lowest ticket option, a one-day one-park ticket on a Tier 1 day, remained unchanged from its 2019 price at $104.
There was a sixth tier added to the usual five-tier system, increasing the highest one-day ticket price from $154 to $164 for a one-park ticket and $209 to $224 for a park hopper ticket. Tier 6 pricing days are not expected to begin until March 2022.
Theme park self-parking has been increased from $25 a day to $30 a day. Hotel self-parking at the resort hotels went from $25 to $40, and valet at the resort hotels increased from $35 to $50.
Parking Trams Returning
Missing-in-action since the parks closed in March 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Disneyland Resort Parking Trams from the Mickey and Friends and Pixar Pals parking structures will be making their grand return to service in early 2022. Maintenance and rehiring of cast members will be taking place in the next few months.
Other transportation to the parks has returned in recent months, including buses from the Toy Story parking lot in June and the monorail from the Downtown Disney District in mid-October.
Highest Magic Key Sells Out
Introduced in August 2021, the annual pass replacement Magic Keys has caused a strong debate with Disneyland locals about how worth the price the new options are. Despite the schism, the highest-tier Magic Key, the Dream Key, has sold out less than two months after beginning sales.
Having been sold at $1,399, the Dream Key offered no blackout dates and was the least restrictive pass option currently available at the Disneyland Resort, also covering parking costs.
The other four Magic Keys, Believe, Enchant, and Imagine, are still on sale. Much of the discourse over Magic Keys has stemmed from the apparent lack of reservation availability during weekends and holidays for Magic Keys holders.
DisneylandForward Expansion Proposal Submitted
Back in March of 2021, the Disneyland Resort announced plans for major expansion with the DisneylandForward initiative. While no concrete plans were announced, it did introduce the idea of expanding the current theme parks into the spaces currently occupied by cast member parking and much of the Downtown Disney District, building a new parking structure across Harbor Boulevard, and creating a new shopping district in the current Toy Story parking lot.
Last week, the resort made its first major step in making the expansion a reality by submitting a project proposal to the city of Anaheim that marks out the project scope and features an “Environmental Impact Report”.
Notable features seen in the proposal is the removal of the current Disneyland Drive, which bisects the Disneyland Resort and would impede the intended theme park expansions, the cancellation of road expansions into the current Toy Story parking lot, and the construction of the long-awaited parking structure across Harbor Boulevard originally announced back in 2016 and canceled in 2017.
The submitted proposal for the initiative mentions a 30-year timeline, which would, if approved, align the completion of the project with Disneyland’s 100th anniversary in 2055.
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Clint Gamache is the owner of ThrillGeek. He started ThrillGeek to share his love of theme/amusement parks and pop culture with the world. You can find him at Halloween Horror Nights. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @iamcg83