As Disney Parks enjoy the benefits of record-breaking attendance at parks around the world, they are also facing the challenge that comes along with so many visitors.
One way the parks are considering balancing attendance on popular days (like Saturdays and holidays) would be to adopt surge pricing, similar to how hotels and airlines set prices, reports the Wall Street Journal.
In 2014, Disney Parks had more than 134 million visitors at its various parks. That's up from about 112 million in 2006.
This week, Disney will begin surveying previous visitors on their opinion of an on-demand pricing structure. Anyone who has visited one of the parks on a popular day knows how busy the parks can get. That experience is one that park officials want to fix. After all, the "happiest place on Earth" is unlikely to be somewhere that has two hour lines for a teacup ride.
Monorail is closed at Disneyland. What's new is this line for monorail while closed.... pic.twitter.com/N4KVpKXZDi— Showcase of Wishes (@ShowcaseWishes) September 12, 2015
The news comes as the park raises prices on all tiers of its annual passes.
The Disney Signature Plus pass, which allows entrance any day during the year, is now $1,049; the Disney Signature pass, which has 15 blackout dates, is $849; and a limited Deluxe pass, which has more blackout dates at popular times of the year, has increased to $599.
I feel like Disneyland is super gassed. Theres like 3 good rides and the lines are a mile long— Cesar (@C_Rene909) October 5, 2015
One-day tickets for Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California, are $99 for anyone over 10 years old; for an extra $56, visitors can hop between the two parks. For visitors going to the park more than one day, the additional cost of the park hopper ticket is $40 a day.
“We have to look at ways to spread out our attendance throughout the year so we can accommodate demand and avoid bursting at the seams,” Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Bob Chapek said in a statement.
Editor's note: The add-on cost of the Park Hopper ticket has been corrected to reflect one-day costs as well as multi-day costs.