For years, Disney World has been a second home for countless fans who live far beyond Florida’s borders. These visitors booked flights, hotels, and often made multiple trips a year—proud Annual Passholders who built their calendars around Disney vacations.
But with the latest price hike, Disney seems to be drawing a line in the sand. If you’re out of state, your loyalty no longer guarantees your place at the table.
Out-of-Staters Get the Short End of the Stick
The Incredi-Pass—the only Annual Pass available to non-Florida residents—just jumped to $1,629. Meanwhile, Floridians can choose lower-tier passes and pay them off monthly. Out-of-staters have to drop that entire amount at once.
It’s a stark contrast. Locals pay less and get more flexibility. Visitors from out of state pay more and shoulder travel expenses on top of it.
The Real Cost of Being a Fan
Being a Disney fan from afar isn’t cheap. Beyond the pass itself, there’s the cost of flights, hotel stays, meals, transportation, and Lightning Lane purchases. Locals can pop in for a few hours. Visitors have to plan months in advance and spend thousands for each trip.
That used to be part of the commitment—a sacrifice fans made because they loved the experience so much. Now, it’s starting to feel less like commitment and more like punishment.
The Business Play Behind the Magic
Here’s the thing: Disney isn’t raising prices by accident. They know out-of-state passholders spend more when they visit less frequently. By making Annual Passes less attractive to non-locals, Disney encourages those guests to buy multi-day tickets, book longer stays, and spend more per trip.
It’s not personal. It’s business. But that doesn’t make it sting any less.
What Fans Are Saying
Longtime passholders are openly saying what many have been thinking. They’re tired of being priced out. Many say they’re letting their passes expire and shifting their vacation plans elsewhere.
This isn’t just a few angry voices—it’s a growing chorus of fans who feel like the magic they invested in for years is slowly fading.
A Shift That Could Backfire
Disney might think they can replace those lost passholders with new guests. But the kind of loyalty out-of-state fans bring isn’t easily replaced. They’re the ones who stay on property, book dining reservations, and shop like crazy in the gift shops.
If too many of them walk away, Disney could find itself chasing the very audience it pushed out.
The magic hasn’t disappeared. But for out-of-state fans, it’s harder than ever to afford a seat at the table.
Finally, someone else noticed what I did years ago. Disney policy of offering deep discounted tickets based on an address instead of loyalty to the brand has caused overcrowding. Loyal Disney fans have had enough. We are going elsewhere for family vacations. There are other resorts, parks and cruise lines eager to have us at a much lower cost. The new generation doesn’t have loyalty to Disney and are happy to explore new places. We have been a Disney family for over fifty years with many cherished memories. Time for a change to create new ones.
Andrew is right on spot. As a former Floridian, we’d go almost every 4 to to 6 weeks when they first opened WDW. Even after we got transferred out of state, we’d drive down for a long weekend 4 to 5 times a year. But it’s just gotten to the point, if you’re not a Floridian, you either pay the hefty price or lose the perks. It’s not too bad for a couple but when you have 3 kids, that gets to be a bit pricey. Now we just head down a couple of times a year in off peak season. Kinda heartbreaking how Disney is all about the big money spenders now and not much average family anymore.
Disney is making a big mistake this time. We usually go 2 to 3 time a year averaging a week or so each time, sometimes bringing other family members. If I stop going, there will also be about 20-25 people stopping with me. If this happens with other groups and families I believe it can eventually cause a problem for Disney. They are pricing loyal fans out. I don’t know what they think will be accomplished by this action but I don’t see much reason to visit Disney when there are other vacation places that will cost less.