Will 2025 Be The Year of Heavy Theme Park Discounting?
As the 2025 theme park season rapidly approaches, we are seeing signs the industry is already undergoing preparation for a wave of heavy discounting, with major players like Disney, Universal, and Six Flags making strategic moves to drive attendance amid economic uncertainty. It is anticipated that this trend will continue throughout the year, with both destination parks and regional parks offering aggressive pricing strategies to attract visitors. I also believe that audibles will be called constantly during the 2025 season due to the current uncertainty the USA economy is experiencing.
Disneyland has wasted no time in rolling out enticing offers to mark its milestone 70th anniversary. In a surprising move, Disneyland announced special summer discount tickets, offering one-day, one-park passes for as low as $100. The special anniversary ticket offer, which goes on sale March 11 and can be redeemed for visits between May 16 through August 14, reflects Disney's proactive approach to keeping turnstiles moving during a time when consumer spending remains cautious, and when the season’s outcome has no measurement at this time.
Source: Disney Parks
The summer discounts are not only a celebration of the park's historic anniversary, but also a strategic response to broader economic conditions. With families facing rising costs in many areas of their lives, theme parks must balance premium experiences with accessible pricing. For the past two years, Disney has faced negative public reactions towards its level of expense for a family of 4 to visit. The $100 ticket program at Disneyland is a clear signal that Disney is willing to address guests’ pricing anxieties in order to maintain strong attendance figures. It is also an early salvo to counterbalance the economic uncertainty.
The 2025 hype is not limited to just Disneyland’s 70th. Universal is gearing up for a landmark moment of its own with the highly anticipated opening of Universal Epic Universe (UEU) on May 22. This new park is set to revolutionize the theme park landscape with cutting-edge technology and immersive lands based on blockbuster intellectual properties, such as:
How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk
Super Nintendo World
Dark Universe
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic
Celestial Park
Source: @bioreconstruct
Adding to the UEU attraction appeal, Universal is introducing three new on-property hotels to enhance the guest experience and keep guests on property. My description of Universal Epic Universe is an “extraordinary venture” driven by innovative technologies and well-known I/P’s, promising to draw massive crowds (click here to read my recent observation on Epic Universe). We at ITPS believe, based on the incredible IP’s and technological experiences being offered, that UEU will break the 6 million attendance mark, and possibly an 8 million threshold based on an annualized 12-month basis, May 2025 – May 2026.
However, there is a crucial unknown wrinkle which has to be considered — the state of the economy. While Epic Universe is positioned for a blockbuster debut, the broader economic landscape could affect industry attendance and spending. I compare this to slowing down a barge on a river. Either slowing or speeding up the economy during correctional times is like turning off the engines on a barge. Even when you turn off the engine, it still takes five miles before the barge stops or corrects itself. Simply, it takes time to see results. This current economic situation is different from the Covid attendance rebound in 2021 when the industry saw a pent-up demand strongly rebound from the 2020 park lockdowns.
The leisure and tourism industries are often slow to feel the immediate impact of economic policy transformations, and with the U.S. election changes having taken place in late 2024 and just being implemented Q1 2025, it could take 6-8 months before the industry sees noticeable improvement in consumer confidence and spending, and in proposed savings. Unfortunately, too early to project impact at this point.
Faced with economic uncertainties, I foresee that both destination parks like Disney and Universal and, in general, regional park operators both large and small, will lean heavily into discounting strategies this season as ways to keep foot traffic flowing to the gates. Disneyland’s early summer discount offering $100 one-day passes creates an entry point for families who might otherwise hesitate to spend on full-priced tickets. This tactic drives foot traffic, boosts in-park spending on food, merchandise, and add-ons, and generates excitement around Disneyland’s 70th anniversary. It’s a smart early traffic boosting move.
Source: United Parks
Now with the opening of Epic Universe, Universal can bundle multi-day passes with hotel stays, enticing guests to extend their vacations. This strategy increases per-guest revenue while still offering a good sense of value. Based on their early signs of marketing at UEU, Universal will likely adjust their discounting to maximize attendance in Florida, especially in the early period of introduction of the new park.
There are always pitfalls associated with over-discounting risks. If parks lean too early and too heavily on discounts, they risk devaluing their brand. Frequent, deep discounts can train guests to wait for sales, making it harder for parks to return to full pricing. This has actually been a problem in the park industry for over 50 years. Local market attendees, if not already a season pass holder (our smartest attendee), are smart themselves and watch and wait for local discounts, which they inevitably know will be forthcoming. Be mindful from the beginning of the industry, it has always been a “mark-it-up, mark-it-down” business. Discounted tickets may drive attendance, but if guests cut back on spending once inside the park — avoiding expensive meals or skipping souvenirs — the anticipated revenue boost might not match the projected increase in crowd size, thus throwing the attendance/revenue satellite out of orbit! My position has been, “I will accept the dilution, if we receive the offsetting volume.”
Source: Six Flags
I would like to emphasize that pricing/discounting timing will be critical in ensuring the success of the 2025 season. Parks need to carefully balance discounting efforts with strategic marketing, and their investments in new attractions and seasonal events for the guests’ experiences. While the economic shakeout from the election may create short-term turbulence, the near-term outlook appears good, especially for a new park introduction like Universal Epic Universe (Universal’s first major theme park opening since Islands of Adventure’s opening in 1999, 26 years ago).
Ultimately, 2025 is shaping up to be a year where theme parks walk a fine line of maintaining their brand prestige (such as the Cedar /Six merger), and all park operators (large and small) adapting to the economic realities their guests face as a result of the governmental adaptations currently underway. Heavy discounting may be the season’s opening act, but the real challenge will be transitioning back to a full-priced, high-value experience as consumer confidence and spending gradually rebound. The theme park industry’s ability to navigate these balancing acts will define the season outcome — and possibly set the tone for growth during the next several years. Hang on, it’s going to be an interesting ride!
Contact ITPS
International Theme Park Services, Inc.
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itps@interthemepark.com