Here are the new prices for Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s annual passes.

The inevitable happened yet again.

Disneyland and Walt Disney World has raised prices for all existing annual passes again, but there are also new passes available that cost more and give some more benefits.

Here is a full pricing breakdown of all the types of annual passes that can now only be purchased for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts.

Effective October 4, 2015

Disneyland Resort

Renewal discounts (including from Disney Vacation Club and Club 33) + monthly payment options for Southern California residents still in effect.

Annual Passes – new purchase prices listed below:

• Signature Plus (formerly Premium)* – $1049 [$270 increase]

• Signature (w/ holiday blockout dates)* – $849

• Deluxe – $599 [$50 increase]

• SoCal (renewals only) – $459 [$70 increase]

• SoCal Select – $329 [$30 increase]

• Parking:

  • Parking add-ons for SoCal Select, SoCal, and Deluxe passes have been made available again for $199 [$30 increase]

  • Daily parking price is now $18 [$1 increase]

  • Downtown Disney parking changed to 2 hours free parking with an additional 2 hours with validation [decrease from 3 hours free]; hourly rate after that is now $12 [$6 increase]

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Walt Disney World Resort

This is an all-new pass structure.

Annual Passes – new purchase prices listed below:

• Platinum Plus (no blockout dates)* – $829

• Platinum* – $749

• Gold – $549

• Silver – $389

• Weekday Select – $259

• EPCOT After 4 – $249

• Parking:

  • Included on all annual passes; $25 for one-time parking [$5 increase]

*The newest top tier annual passes (Signature Plus, Signature, Platinum Plus, Platinum) include unlimited PhotoPass digital downloads.

Disney Premier Pass

Disney’s Premier pass, giving access to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts is now $1439 [$340 increase].

* * *

As most of you are thinking, why would Disney raise the price of their tickets year after year? A variety of reasons have been shared on and off the internet: keeping park attendance manageable, to pay for new experiences i.e. Star Wars-themed land, and even more reasons to count. The reality is that a majority of these reasons fall under a bigger umbrella – because they’re a business.

Just as much as Apple can charge some of the highest prices for a cell phone or computer, Disney can charge some of the highest prices for their admission media. They are able to do so because of their brand power and year after year, we see that power put into play with these price increases.

What is interesting through all this is that people are still willing to pay these premiums in order to experience a Disney Park. The latest quarter financial filings by Disney show that spending on tickets has increased 4% from the previous quarter to nearly $4.1 billion. It’s a figure that would very much lead a consumer’s questioning to why they even need more money in the first place, but such concerns shouldn’t be theirs.

When they’re first announced, these price increases always seem to make Disney “evil” with things said like pricing out the middle class from enjoying America’s favorite theme parks or some other argument; All of which turns these occurrences into something that mimics a human rights issue. This is certainly not the case.

As one blogger put it, going to Disneyland or Walt Disney World is not a right, it’s a privilege.

The Walt Disney Company is first and foremost a business and their parks and resorts operate as such. Whatever the reason these price increases happen shouldn’t be of our concern. I still truly believe that Disney provides a great product in their parks and resorts that warrants an equivalent cost to those wanting to consume.

Instead, the concern should be toward whether one should use their extra liquid cash for a theme park experience that will remain the same (or even be lessened due to all the closures and related construction happening next year), or toward something else like the bare necessities of food, water, and shelter.

Hopefully, that’s a decision that’s fairly easy to make. And who knows; maybe the prices will actually come down one day! But that’s a wish that Fairy Godmother has yet to grant.