Theme Park Inflation: How Ticket and Parking Prices Have Changed at America’s Favorite Theme Parks [Data Study]

Between expensive tickets, pricey snacks, costly parking, and souvenirs, there are plenty of ways for families to spend a pretty penny at theme parks every year. Even more distressing for families on a budget, costs for many of the country's biggest theme parks have been rising, with both national and local news outlets regularly reporting on price increases.

But how much have prices really increased? Our research team at FinanceBuzz collected current and historical prices at 20 of America's most popular theme parks to understand how prices have shifted for tickets, parking, and more over the last decade.

Key findings

• We compared ticket and parking prices for single-day tickets in 2015 vs. 2025. 
• On average, single-day tickets in 2025 cost $105 at the 20 most popular theme parks in North America, and have increased 37% since 2015. 
• The top six theme parks where ticket prices have risen the most in the last decade are all owned by Disney. On average, single-day admission prices to Disney parks have increased by 69% over the last decade.
• Universal single-day ticket prices across its parks have increased by 49% on average in the past 10 years.
• Parking fees at theme parks have increased by 83% since 2015.
• Hersheypark, Busch Gardens (Tampa), & SeaWorld (Orlando & San Diego) are the only parks to decrease ticket prices in the past decade.

Changes in the price of admission

While things like merchandise, express passes, and food present theme park guests with a nearly endless list of upcharge opportunities, none of it would be possible without a park ticket. The price of admission is typically the biggest upfront cost, and it's also one of the most variable line items that parks adjust year to year.

Between Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, there are six different Disney theme parks operating in the United States, all of which made the top of the list for price hikes between 2015 and 2025. Disney's Hollywood Studios increased the most in the last decade with a 79% increase ($97 in 2015 vs. $174 in 2025). EPCOT is second, with a 72% increase, and Magic Kingdom comes in third, with a 70% increase. Price increases at Hollywood Studios and EPCOT are double the 36% national rate of inflation from 2015 to 2025.

Knott's Berry Farm is the only non-Disney or Universal park to land in the top 10 for increases, with the California park's 60% increase sandwiched between the six Disney parks and Universal's three locations. While Universal hasn't raised prices quite as steeply as its mouse-y counterparts, the company has still raised ticket prices an average of 49% across Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios Hollywood — higher than the national inflation rate.

Other popular theme parks not operated by the two largest theme park operators in the country have not only raised admission prices at a rate slower than inflation, but in some cases have actually reduced the price of a day ticket compared to 2015.

A single-day ticket to visit SeaWorld San Diego cost $86 in 2015, and that same ticket comes with just a $75 price tag in 2025, a 13% reduction in cost compared to a decade ago. Hersheypark has also made it more affordable to enter its park, reducing admission costs by 11% over the last decade, while SeaWorld Orlando has lowered costs by 9%. Ticket prices for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay have gone down by 6%.

Data notes

Admission prices day-to-day are not consistent, even at the same park. For instance, holiday weekends may cost more than weekdays, or prices may be higher at busier times of the year. 

To factor this into our analysis, we collected single-day admission prices for every calendar date with tickets available for 2025 using pricing listed directly on park websites, and used the WayBack Machine (an internet archive that takes snapshots of websites at different times) to access 2015 versions of park pages. We averaged these out for the purpose of the figures shown above.

For Disney prices specifically, we used news articles and third-party blogs for pricing information, which we corroborated with multiple other Disney news and fan blog posts about ticket pricing and Disney's current site listing pricing.

 Of course, single-day tickets aren't the only way to buy tickets, and parkgoers may spend less by utilizing resident discounts, multi-day passes, annual passes, bundled vacation packages, and other discount opportunities that vary from park to park. 

A full list of sources can be found in our methodology. We also reached out directly to parks with our figures for clarification prior to publication. 

Detailed results

Rising Ticket Prices at Disney Parks

Disney theme parks are the clear leader when it comes to overall popularity, and they also lead the way in 10-year cost increases for tickets and parking.

Since 2015, Disney and most other major parks have introduced date-based pricing, where the cost of admission varies depending on the specific date guests choose to visit. As a result, there are comparatively high-cost and low-cost days to visit the parks, as well as many days that fall somewhere in between. Of note, date-based pricing is set and published in advance, so guest can plan their trips based on actual costs for their visits months ahead. 

At all six Disney theme parks in America, the average admission cost for a single-day ticket has increased by at least 60% since 2015, with the biggest increases coming at a pair of Florida parks: Hollywood Studios (79%) and EPCOT (72%).

Though many things go into price changes, it's worth noting that major upgrades and changes in both parks over the last decade have likely contributed significantly to cost increases. For instance, two entirely new themed lands have opened in Hollywood Studios (Toy Story Land in 2018 and Star Wars Galaxy's Edge in 2019), and EPCOT has seen the addition of a pair of popular rides in Frozen Ever After (2016) and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (2022).

Another area where Disney has upped the price tag is parking. On both coasts, the cost for standard parking at Disney theme parks has increased at double the national rate of inflation, rising by 79% at Disney World parks in Florida and more than doubling (106%) at Disneyland in California.

Universal's Epic Markups

Universal parks, particularly the ones in Orlando, are Disney's biggest competitors in the world of theme parks. Of the five most popular theme parks in North America, Disney holds spots 1, 2, and 4 while Universal claims places 3 and 5. Given the level of competition between the two companies, perhaps it isn't surprising that Universal theme parks are also the only ones where prices have risen at a rate comparable to Disney.

Across the three Universal parks included in this study, the average admission price for a single-day ticket has increased by 49% in the last decade. Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure raised their average prices by 51% in lockstep with one another during that time, while the average ticket price at Universal Studios Hollywood increased by 44%. All of those totals are higher than the national rate of inflation in the same time period.

One area where Universal has exceeded Disney is in parking price increases. Costs to park at Universal Orlando Resort have gone up by 88% since 2015, higher than the 76% price hike down the road at Disney, while Universal Hollywood has exactly mirrored Disneyland's 106% parking price increase.

Parking at the Parks

Even theme parks that have kept admission costs low, or even reduced them, have raised parking prices over the last ten years at a rate faster than inflation. This may be part of a greater strategy to increase profits by keeping ticket prices down to increase visitor numbers and making up the difference by increasing prices on incidentals and secondary parts of the theme park experience, such as food, merch, and parking.

While Disney and Universal have greatly increased parking costs at their parks since 2015, a number of smaller parks have topped them in this regard. Ohio's King's Island leads the way, having increased parking costs by 150%, more than four times the rate of inflation, over the last decade. Three animal-focused parks are tied for the second-highest parking increase, as SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Diego, and Busch Gardens all increased their standard parking costs by 119%.

The distinction of being the theme park with the smallest parking cost increases is shared by three different places. Six Flags Great America, Six Flags Great Adventure, and Canada's Wonderland all upped parking prices by 40% from 2015 to 2025, just a touch more than the national inflation rate.

Detailed results

Bottom Line

• Save in advance for your park tickets and parking. If your trip is planned far enough ahead, saving money in advance can improve your theme park experience. Create a nice vacation fund so you can pay for all of your magical experiences and meals without worry.
• Earn Disney-ready rewards on your purchases. Some credit cards let you earn rewards that can be used for lodging in and traveling to Disney, while other cards offer bonuses for purchases made in the parks. Explore the best credit cards for Disney.
• Earn rewards for dining at the parks. If you manage to snag dining reservations at popular attractions, then come equipped with one of the best credit cards for dining. These cards offer rewards on dining purchases, such as points and cash back.

Methodology

To collect the data shown in the report above, we collected theme park prices from 2025 and 2015 for every park mentioned. All prices represent single-day ticket costs for an adult, and in all years and cases, the lowest available cost to purchase a regular full-day ticket via the theme park's official website was used.

We chose to analyze single-day ticket prices vs. multi-day or annual passes because they are consistently available at all parks. As mentioned, parkgoers may spend less than our averages show by utilizing resident discounts, multi-day passes, annual passes, and other discount opportunities that vary from park to park.

Data was collected for the 20 theme parks in North America with the highest annual attendance according to industry data.

For most theme parks, 2025 prices were collected directly from each park's official website, using the current ticket-price calendars as of June 2025. Daily ticket costs were collected for everyday tickets that are listed as available for purchase in the near future.

2015 prices, with the exception of Disney, were collected from those same websites via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which is an archive of websites as they appeared on historical dates.

Disney prices were collected via dated blogs and news articles from travel and Disney-focused websites. For instance, we collected pricing data from touringplans.com, which we aligned to current prices on Disney's sites. We also verified historical data using contemporaneous articles about prices and price increases from allears.net, wtkr.com, and more.

National inflation rate via the Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI Inflation Calculator.

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