Disney Will Raise Prices in 2023. Here's When To Be Ready.

It comes as no surprise that Disney World price increases are a regular thing. On Dec. 8th, 2022, NEW price increases for Disney World tickets went into effect.

MagicBand Park Scanner ©Disney

Now, we’re digging into the data about WHEN Disney price increases have happened in the past, to help you get the lowest cost possible for your vacation planning in 2023.

When to Book a Disney World Vacation to Avoid Price Increases

So, first things first: WHEN you plan your Disney World vacation can matter when it comes to the price you’ll pay. Once you have selected your vacation package — your dates, hotel room and tickets, you’ll be asked to pay a $200 deposit toward your vacation. Once that deposit is paid, if Disney increases ticket prices, you are locked in at the rate you reserved.

Disney World

That is, MOST of the time. If you need to make changes to your reservation after the fact, that can make you susceptible to price increases. That said, let’s take a look at WHEN Disney World has historically increased its ticket prices, using data from our friends at All Ears.

As you can see from the graph above, the most Disney World ticket price increases have come in the months of February and June, with March and December in the 3rd and 4th spots.

That means if you’re thinking about booking a 2023 Disney World vacation and you haven’t done it yet, you may want to book in January! If you’re not ready to plan yet, we recommend getting that trip booked in the spring — before June hits.

Animal Kingdom

Now, we know what you’re thinking: What if Disney World offers discounts, and I book too early to get them? Here are a couple of ways to still get the discount, if you are eligible, even after you have booked your trip:

If you have used a travel agent to book your trip (and we highly recommend this route because it costs you nothing!), they should be on top of this and get you any new discount that comes out and is available for your reservation.
If you booked the Disney World vacation package yourself, you can log into your account on My Disney Experience and modify your reservation. Keep in mind that discount codes are typically released with limited availability, so time is of the essence to snag the deal.
If you booked your vacation yourself and you cannot modify it, you could book your vacation a second time with the discount, and then — only AFTER you have confirmed that reservation — cancel your full-price vacation. (Now you only want to do this if your trip is more than 30 days out so that you can get your deposit back. And keep in mind that you will be out two deposits until the one for the cancelled reservation is returned to your account — that may take a few days!)

Whatever method you use, remember that revising your reservation could make any ticket price increases that happened since you booked apply to your reservation, so be sure the discount saves you more money than your package price might increase. Again, a travel agent can handle that tricky math for you if you use one!

Need to Book a Disney World Trip? Get a Quote from Small World Vacations Here.

When to Go to Disney World to Avoid Price Increases

While you can lock in your hotel and ticket prices by booking a reservation before the next Disney World price increase, there are some price increases you can only avoid by choosing the right time of year to actually go on your vacation. Namely, food — which is a HUGE expense for most vacationers.

Mickey Premium Bar

In 2022, we have seen two HUGE batches of food price increases — in January and October. Now, we will note here that historically, we have seen across-the-board food price increases in October. They did not happen in a sweeping way in 2020 or 2021, as Disney World was in the midst of its phased re-opening, and that’s why we think we saw two waves on price increases this year.

We expect the trend of sweeping food price increases to continue in early October in 2023. Are these increases major? Not usually when taken individually. But adding 50 cents or $1 onto every food item you buy to feed a family of four for 7 days can require a substantial increase in your budget for what is already an expensive vacation. For that reason, we recommend traveling to Disney World BEFORE October to avoid the next round of food price increases, if it makes sense for you!

EPCOT

We have lots more advice to offer you for saving money on your next Disney World vacation! Here are some tips:

Start with a rational, reasonable budget. Check out this post on budgeting for a reasonable starting point.
Look for discounts. We’ll tell you about every discount we find – food, flights, hotel, tickets, etc. – through our newsletter. It’s free, and you can sign up here.
Plan ahead, and learn the system. Our BEST tip for sticking with your budget at Disney World will forever be to plan ahead. When you buy our DFB Guide to Dining at Walt Disney World, you’ll get immediate access to our downloadable worksheets for planning your trip, as well as sample one-day dining itineraries. And as a DFB reader, you’re entitled to a discount! Use code WDW2023 for 25% off your purchase.

So, those are our predictions for when Disney World will increase prices in 2023. Remember, these are just our best guesses, and we cannot guarantee what Disney World will do from year to year.