Outraged Disneyland fans slammed the Mouse House for jacking up ticket prices again — with some posting memes portraying CEO Bob Chapek as various Hollywood villains including Dr. Evil, Hannibal Lecter and the murderous doll from the “Chucky” horror franchise.
Disneyland and neighboring California Adventure Park in Anaheim, Calif., on Tuesday raised single-day ticket prices by as much as 10%. That means the price of entry on “high demand” days like weekends and holidays will now cost $179 versus $164. Two-day passes, previously priced at $255, jumped 12% to $285.
The Los Angeles-area resort — which didn’t announce the increases, leaving it to customers to discover them on the company’s website early Tuesday — also raised the price of preferred parking to to a whopping $50 a day from $45.
In response, one user retweeted a thread that superimposed Chapek’s face onto Kathy Bates’ ax-wielding character in “Misery.” Another showed Chapek as the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz,” saying “I’ll get you my pretty…”
Other images included the CEO as Hannibal Lecter from “The Silence of the Lambs,” The Joker, Dr. Evil, Dracula and Ivan Drago, the Soviet boxer from “Rocky.”
Disney’s website also revealed that the cost for the new Genie+ service, which allows customers to skip long lines on some of the most popular rides, rose to $25 from $20. Disney World in Orlando, Fla. also increased its Genie+ pass to $22 from $15 but did not change its ticket prices.
“Our tiered ticketing structure offers guests different options to experience that magic throughout the year, including our lowest price point — which hasn’t changed since 2019,” a Disneyland rep said referring to daily ticket prices on “low demand” days, currently at $104.
The price hikes come a year after Disneyland raised daily ticket prices as much as 8% and increased daily parking rates by 20%. It also follows a 16% hike in annual passes just two months ago.
Disney CEO Chapek has hinted on earnings calls that if demand continues to surge, price hikes are likely to follow. The news didn’t sit well with cash-strapped fans who took to Twitter to gripe.
“We get it Disney! You’re gonna keep raising prices, keeping the regular folks out. Maybe if people just stopped giving in and going, they will lower their prices,” a fan tweeted.
“Bob Chapek: Worst CEO EVER,” tweeted another fan.
“I refuse to buy this…. it’s the principle of it all. I don’t like the direction Disney is going, and I will continue to show with my $,” added another.
Chapek has faced blowback this year for price increases at both Disneyland and Disney World following the pandemic, which had shuttered the company’s theme parks. Fans have also griped about the quality of food, portion sizes and the overall experience at the parks while Chapek has reeled in compensation of $32.5 million, earning him the moniker “Bob Paycheck.”
Journalist Scott Gustin broke down all the price increases via Twitter with charts, denoting increases that range from 6%for single day tickets to 30% for valet parking.