A $1,000 day at Disneyland? New CEO can expect pricing complaints
Your morning catch-up: A new Disney CEO faces high park prices, Bass watered down fire report and more big stories
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The man who ran Disney’s parks and cruise lines ascended to be named chief executive of the storied Burbank-based company this week, a move celebrated by many and greeted sourly by fans who feel they’ve been priced out of Disneyland and other theme parks.
The Happiest Place on Earth still makes plenty of people glow. Witness enormous crowds and ride-wait lines so long they make a TSA checkpoint seem like a trifle. Also note corporate balance sheets that boast theme park and cruise fleet revenue growing in recent years. Much of that expansion came under the direction of Josh D’Amaro, who’s now set to take over from outgoing CEO Robert Iger.
I called Alannah Hall-Smith, a Disney spokesperson, on Wednesday and told her I had read a boatload of complaining online about how ghastly expensive the parks feel to many.
“Under Josh’s leadership there has been a huge focus on value and options for guests,” Hall-Smith assured me. I noted that parking at Disneyland costs $40. She told me that she recently went to a soccer match and had to pay $50 to park in someone’s yard. And, by comparison, that $50 covered a three-hour game, while a family’s Disney adventure (and parking) might go on for 12 hours, she said.
I suspect that sort of logic might not be winning to “Freudian Mom,” one of the people who left a comment on The Times’ story about D’Amaro being named CEO.
“He’s been in charge of the parks for the last six years,” Ms. Mom wrote. “If that’s the example of what he brings Disneyland, nobody except the wealthy will be able to afford. Prices are up, everything is nickel and dimed, trying to get food without having access to the app is impossible and the WiFi to use said app is spotty, ridiculous waits on rides...”
When I went to the calendar on Disneyland’s website, it appeared that the cheapest adult weekend entry for the next two months goes for $169. To shortcut those long lines for rides, you can tack on $34 for a “lightning lane multi-pass.” Then there’s the parking. Bottom line: You can spend $243 before food …and the extra $64.99 for the Haunted Mansion Woven Shirt for men you’ve got to have!
Hall-Smith said California residents get admission to Disneyland or neighboring California Adventure for as little as $50 a day, though those discounted passes are limited. The website also advertises a three-day “park hopper” to both resorts for $249, or $83 a day. A website for Disney fanatics describes other deals.
“Last year we took our grandsons. It cost well over a thousand dollars for one day,” one California woman said in a New York Times comment section. “Reservations had to be made — not to control crowds, but to get the customers’ money early. Lines were as long as 90 minutes — and this with the extra cost “lightning pass” — which did not include the 4-minute ride our boys especially wanted to go on. We will not be back.”
I talked to a former high-ranking Disney exec who agreed that “you can’t achieve growth just by increasing the price all the time. I feel like they got far too aggressive. And they have to deal with that.” The exec asked not to be named to preserve relationships with people still at the company.
Disney fans came to its defense. “Disney is still able to (mostly) deliver on the fun and magic that people seek,” one sympathizer wrote online. “Is it the Disney of old? Of course not, but it still captures the wonder that makes Disney so special to so many.”
Today’s top stories
Mayor Bass and the fires
- Bass wanted key findings in a report about the Los Angeles Fire Department’s shortcomings removed or softened, sources told The Times.
- Mayor Karen Bass was concerned about legal liabilities for failures in combating the Palisades fire, the sources said.
- The most significant changes to the report involved a failure not to fully staff up and pre-deploy all available engines ahead of dangerously high winds.
More on L.A. politics
- Tech entrepreneur Adam Miller has entered the L.A. mayor’s race, becoming the latest to take on Karen Bass.
- L.A. Olympics head Casey Wasserman managed his last scandal. Will he survive the Epstein files?
‘A mass for peace’
- The archbishop of Los Angeles gave an address from the pulpit Wednesday, “praying for immigrants in our country.”
- The remarks coincided with a student walkout and a protest march to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown.
- One in five Trump voters identified as Catholic in the 2024 election, a Pew Research Center study found.
What else is going on
- UCLA fired a DEI leader over Charlie Kirk comments. Did his speech go too far?
- USC named Beong-Soo Kim as its “next generation” president.
- A Metrolink train slammed into a car in Glendale, killing 1 person and hospitalizing 2.
- L.A. Councilmember Curren Price was taken to a hospital after fainting at City Hall.
- The Supreme Court, with no dissents, rejects the GOP challenge to California’s new election map.
- Here’s what we know about Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother, who officials believe was taken against her will from her home outside of Tucson.
Commentary and opinions
- Trump’s desire to nationalize elections is even worse than you think, writes columnist Anita Chabria.
- Jackie Calmes writes that misery has plenty of company in Trump’s second term.
- How do you stand up to lies and brutality? Columnist Steve Lopez says: Maybe you blow a whistle
- The right’s answer to the Super Bowl halftime show is here. Bad Bunny has nothing to worry about, writes news and culture critic Lorraine Ali.
This morning’s must reads
Mexican long-nosed bats have a taste for agave nectar, fueling their migration from Mexico to the U.S. each summer.
Other must reads
- Read Ricky Martin’s tribute to Bad Bunny after his historic Grammy win.
- As Moira Rose, Catherine O’Hara taught me to roll with life’s plot twists.
- How JoySauce is building an Asian American comedy pipeline from the ground up.
For your downtime
Going out
- Restaurants: The chefs of the controversial restaurant Horses have returned with a new pop-up residency tonight
- More restaurants: What happened to all the good dim sum in L.A.? Here’s our guide.
Staying in
- Television: The Muppets are back!!
- Superbowl: Here’s everything you need to know about Sunday’s halftime show.
- Books: This new book about kink might just change the way you see your own ‘deviant desires’
- 🥗 Here’s a recipe for lasagne ai funghi.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
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And finally ... from the archives
On the front page of the Feb. 6, 1887, edition of the Los Angeles Daily Times, we found this reference to an unprecedented snow storm in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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