It appears the recent changes to annual passes are paving the way for demand based pricing to come to domestic Disney Parks.
According to the Wall Street Journal, new Disney Parks Chairman Bob Chapek has been trying to find a way to spread out attendance at the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World in an effort to prevent over-crowding and capacity closures.
He told the Journal, “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.”
While he did not say the form the new pricing structure will take effect or what form it will take, they will start surveying previous guests to get input on the new pricing plans.
Coming during the off-season could include perks such as PhotoPass downloads which were recently rolled out to select annual passes.
Efforts continue to increase the capacity at the parks including Star Wars Land at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Avatar project and Rivers of Light at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and the new Frozen attraction at Epcot.
Recently Disney has expanded capacities by remaking Disney California Adventure, expanding Fantasyland, and launching MyMagic+.
If and when this new form of pricing is implemented, it will mark the biggest change in Disney Parks ticketing since ticket books were replaced in 1982.