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How Disney turned Halloween into a money-making machine

Published: 12:03 BST, 4 October 2023 | Updated: 13:39 BST, 4 October 2023

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For 充てるd Disney fans, there´s often no better 扱う／治療する than spending Halloween at its 主題 parks - and more 特に, at its after-hours parties, where 訪問者s can trick-or-扱う／治療する through Walt Disney´s Enchanted Tiki Room and watch a Halloween-排除的 parade, の中で other experiences.

But tickets are neither cheap nor 平易な to acquire. The parties are held on 多重の nights throughout the season, and the 見解／翻訳／版 at Disney´s California 訴える手段／行楽地, the "Oogie Boogie Bash," is so popular that the 2023 event sold out the first day tickets went on sale. Fans 報告（する）／憶測d trouble with 事実上の列s and website 衝突，墜落s.

Florida´s 見解／翻訳／版 is Mickey´s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and it´s so in 需要・要求する that the first night of the 38-night 2023 party was held on Aug. 11. That date is closer to July Fourth than to Halloween.

Tickets to Disneyland´s California party went for as much as $189, while tickets to the Florida 見解／翻訳／版 at Walt Disney World can cost about $210 on some nights.

持つ／拘留するing a party ticket doesn´t even 伸び（る）接近 to the parks in the morning. Since party tickets only 許す入ること／参加（者） as 早期に as 中央の-afternoon, a separate 主題 park ticket (which typically costs over $100) is necessary for those who want to spend the whole day inside the parks.

For cost-conscious Disney 訪問者s, the real fright is how prices have crept up every year since these parties began.

花火s 開始する，打ち上げる over Cinderella 城 at the 魔法 Kingdom at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Sept. 30, 2021. For Disney fans, Halloween is の中で the most 望ましい (and expensive) times to visit its 主題 parks. That's 大部分は予定 to the after-hours parties: the Oogie Boogie Bash in California and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Florida. Disney Halloween parties are held on select nights starting as 早期に as August and can cost up to about $210 per person. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel 経由で AP, とじ込み／提出する)

DISNEY´S HALLOWEEN PARTY HISTORY

Disney started with small-規模 Halloween festivities. In 1959, Disneyland had a pumpkin-carving contest. In 1979, Walt Disney World hosted a party featuring musical 業績／成果s by popular artists, which was ticketed 分かれて from 伝統的な主題 park 入ること／参加（者）.

But things didn´t take off until 1995, when Walt Disney World´s 魔法 Kingdom 主題 park hosted a Halloween night party, which has since morphed into the 年次の tradition that today is a sold-out, multimonth palooza.

Tickets for 1995´s after-hours event were $16.95 (about $34 in today´s dollars), によれば historian Jim Hill. By 2005, the event´s run had grown to 15 nights, with ticket prices 二塁打ing to $37, によれば Disney fan 場所／位置 AllEars - but that´s still just $57 in today´s dollars.

When adjusted for インフレーション, tickets for today´s Halloween party at Disney World are 469% more expensive than 2005´s prices.

HALLOWEEN IS A HUGE HOLIDAY FOR DISNEY

Halloween likely is a big 歳入発生させる人（物） for Disney, によれば outside 計算／見積りs. Len Testa, 大統領，／社長 of Disney vacation planning website TouringPlans, 見積（る）s that Disney´s Halloween party in Florida alone 生成するs about $3.3 million in 歳入 for the company per night (and about $125 million across the season). And because the parties are held after-hours, Disney also is able to sell 主題 park 入ること／参加（者） tickets.

"This after-hours party is Disney´s way of selling admission to the same park, on the same day, twice," he says.

Even if 旅行者s don´t 支払う／賃金 extra for the after-hours party, Disney makes 付加歳入 on 主題d 商品／売買する and food in the parks during the day. There´s a paid pumpkin scavenger 追跡（する） at California´s Downtown Disney 地区 and 限られた／立憲的な-time food, like Mickey-形態／調整d pumpkin cheesecake and ghost pepper nachos.

Disney´s ornate Halloween popcorn buckets are so popular that Disney 限界s sales for 確かな des igns to two per person. 加える, fans clamoring for Halloween 商品／売買する might even 選ぶ them up on the resale market. Popcorn buckets that 小売 for about $30 (含むing popcorn) in the parks can いつかs sell for more than $100 on resale websites - and that´s not 含むing the popcorn.

COMPETITORS FOLLOW SUIT

Nearby tourist attractions have carved out their own 適切な時期s to cash in on Halloween. For example, 著作権侵害者s Dinner Adventure runs a "Vampirates" show in Orlando, Florida. Both SeaWorld in Orlando and San Diego host two Halloween-主題d events: the family-friendly SeaWorld Spooktacular and the 故意に terrifying Howl-O-叫び声をあげる nighttime event. Orlando even brands itself the "Halloween Vacation 資本／首都."

But competitors 一般に don´t 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 as much as Disney - nor do their tickets sell out as quickly. Halloween Horror Nights at 全世界の／万国共通の Studios Hollywood operates 類似して to Disney, where 訪問者s 購入（する） a separate party ticket to the event, and it still has plenty of tickets 利用できる. 全世界の／万国共通の tickets cost far いっそう少なく, with 頂点（に達する） nights 命令（する）ing $114, which is about 40% cheaper than Disneyland´s priciest ticket. Tickets run as low as $74 on some nights.

WHY HALLOWEEN HITS DISNEY´S SWEET SPOT

For fans of Disney´s after-hours Halloween parties, the main draw isn´t usually the rides (though shorter wait times can be alluring).Instead, many 訪問者s come for trick-or-扱う／治療するing, party-排除的 parades and unique photo-ops.

The 衣装d characters are wildly popular, too. That 含むs 会合 Mickey Mouse dressed up in Halloween garb, 加える rare or new characters. The Oogie Boogie Bash has an entire section 充てるd to rarely-seen villains, 含むing Madam Mim from "The Sword in the 石／投石する." によれば TouringPlans.com, wait times to 会合，会う Jack and Sally from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" have 越えるd four hours.

For trick-or-扱う／治療するing, Testa says there´s no better 位置／汚点／見つけ出す than Disney. 訪問者s are given trick-or-扱う／治療する捕らえる、獲得するs that he says can 持つ／拘留する four 続けざまに猛撃するs of candy.

"They 手渡す out candy with garden trowels," he says. "You´re getting fistfuls of chocolate at each stop."

The fact that the parties run during shoulder season is also 潜在的に advantageous, 申し込む／申し出ing 旅行者s lower hotel and flight prices, 加える cooler 天候 versus the summer.

"There are low （人が）群がるs this time of year," Testa says. "You get the special Halloween party one night, and shorter waits for rides during the day. It´s a 説得力のある value proposition."

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This article was 供給するd to The Associated 圧力（をかける） by the personal 財政／金融 website NerdWallet. Sally French is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: sfrench@nerdwallet.com.