The theme park business was decimated in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney laid off 32,000 people in its theme part business. Prior to the spread of the virus, Disneyland got 18 million visitors a year. Disney World’s figure was closer to 50 million. At least one American city is virtually built around theme parks. Orlando, Florida, has Disney and Universal theme parks.
Theme parks have been immensely popular, and there has been a traffic surge this year. Disney has raised prices five times in five years, with a cumulative jump of 28%. But the most expensive theme parks in the USA are SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida. Tickets to each cost $117.99. (For those who enjoy quirkiness, here’s a list of the strangest tourist attraction in every state.)
To identify America’s most expensive amusement park, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on prices at major U.S. attractions provided by coupon distribution platform and website DealA. The site compared the current price of a single adult general admission ticket as of Dec. 23, 2021, with the equivalent ticket price in 2017.
One of the reasons these prices are so high is the parks regularly invest in new attractions. For example, SeaWorld has announced a new ride called Ice Breaker that opens on Feb. 18. It will feature “four airtime filled launches, both backwards and forwards, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida — a 93 feet tall spike with 100 degree angle.”
For people on a tighter budget, at Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire, for instance, tickets will set you back only $35. At Funland in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, they’re $30. Cheapest of all is Children’s Fairyland in Oakland, where tickets are a mere $13. That means that a whole family can have a day out there for less than the price of one ticket in several parks in Florida. (If you prefer nature, you can find many attractions among the largest and smallest national parks in America.)
Click here to see the most expensive amusement parks in the US
Source: Courtesy of Children's Fairyland
17. Children’s Fairyland
> Location: Oakland, CA
> Current ticket price: $13
> 2017 ticket price: $10
> Percent increase in ticket price: 30%
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Source: Courtesy of Funland
16. Funland
> Location: Rehoboth Beach, DL
> Current ticket price: $30
> 2017 ticket price: $15
> Percent increase in ticket price: 100%
15. Canobie Lake Park
> Location: Salem, NH
> Current ticket price: $35
> 2017 ticket price: $29
> Percent increase in ticket price: 20.7%
14. Nickelodeon Universe
> Location: Bloomington, MN
> Current ticket price: $44.99
> 2017 ticket price: $35.99
> Percent increase in ticket price: 25%
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Source: AWelshLad / E+ via Getty Images
13. Cedar Point
> Location: Sandusky, OH
> Current ticket price: $45 (tie)
> 2017 ticket price: $45
> Percent increase in ticket price: None
Source: Courtesy of Kings Island
12. Kings Island
> Location: Mason, OH
> Current ticket price: $45 (tie)
> 2017 ticket price: $44.99
> Percent increase in ticket price: None
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11. Santa’s Village
> Location: Jefferson, NH
> Current ticket price: $48
> 2017 ticket price: $32
> Percent increase in ticket price: 50%
10. Dutch Wonderland
> Location: Lancaster, PA
> Current ticket price: $49.99
> 2017 ticket price: $41.99
> Percent increase in ticket price: 19.1%
9. Silverwood Theme Park
> Location: Athol, ID
> Current ticket price: $50
> 2017 ticket price: $39
> Percent increase in ticket price: 28.2%
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Source: Courtesy of Fun Spot America
8. Fun Spot America
> Location: Kissimmee, FL
> Current ticket price: $54.95
> 2017 ticket price: $40.95
> Percent increase in ticket price: 34.2%
7. Silver Dollar City
> Location: Branson, MO
> Current ticket price: $74
> 2017 ticket price: $62
> Percent increase in ticket price: 19.4%
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Source: Terryfic3D / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
6. Hersheypark
> Location: Hershey, PA
> Current ticket price: $74.95
> 2017 ticket price: $66.95
> Percent increase in ticket price: 11.9%
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5. Dollywood
> Location: Pigeon Forge, TN
> Current ticket price: $84
> 2017 ticket price: $69
> Percent increase in ticket price: 21.7%
4. Sesame Place
> Location: Langhorn, PA
> Current ticket price: $89.99
> 2017 ticket price: $70
> Percent increase in ticket price: 28.6%
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Source: f8grapher / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
3. SeaWorld San Diego
> Location: San Diego, CA
> Current ticket price: $95.99
> 2017 ticket price: $94.99
> Percent increase in ticket price: 1.1%
Source: cveltri / Getty Images
2. Universal Studios FL
> Location: Orlando, FL
> Current ticket price: $109 (tie)
> 2017 ticket price: $105
> Percent increase in ticket price: 3.8%
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Source: jcamilobernal / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
2. Universal Studios Hollywood
> Location: Universal City, CA
> Current ticket price: $109 (tie)
> 2017 ticket price: $105
> Percent increase in ticket price: 3.8%
Source: Courtesy of Universal's Islands of Adventure
2. Universal’s Islands of Adventure
> Location: Orlando, FL
> Current ticket price: $109 (tie)
> 2017 ticket price: $105
> Percent increase in ticket price: 3.8%
Source: jimfeng / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
1. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
> Location: Tampa Bay, FL
> Current ticket price: $117.99 (tie)
> 2017 ticket price: $104.99
> Percent increase in ticket price: 12.4%
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Source: zhuzhu / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
1. SeaWorld Orlando
> Location: Orlando, FL
> Current ticket price: $117.99 (tie)
> 2017 ticket price: $99.99
> Percent increase in ticket price: 18%
Methodology
To identify America’s most expensive amusement parks, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on prices at major U.S. attractions provided by coupon distribution platform and website DealA. The site compared the current price of a single adult general admission ticket as of December 23, 2021 with the equivalent ticket price in 2017, derived from each museum’s 2017 web pages accessed via the Wayback Machine. If online and in-person ticket prices differed, online prices were used. Automatically applied promotional prices were not considered. When ticket prices differed by day, the starting price of a general admission ticket was used.
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