Original article published on Slashfilm.com (06/19/18) by Ben Pearson
Disneyland is piloting dynamic pricing, starting with the preview of its Pixar Pier area in California Adventure ahead of the grand opening. Rather than paying a normal ticket price, guests had to pay a premium of $299 to spend six hours in the park. Disney has already made different pricing tiers available for different times of the year, with single day, single park prices ranging from $97 to $135 depending on dates that fall into the Value, Regular or Peak seasons. The company is trying out dynamic pricing to avoid huge crowds in the park, setting tickets at different prices to guarantee maximum sales and maximum revenue. The implication is that Annual passholder previews might be phased out, despite Disney executives supposedly being “wary of appearing to gouge customers” and “going against founder Walt Disney's vision of affordable family entertainment.” Another likely factor is the rival Universal Studios park's use of dynamic pricing since the start of this year, adjusting prices based on projected crowd levels. It is probable that a similar deployment will be made in the lead-up to the 2019 grand opening of Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge area.
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