If your Disney vacation budget has been feeling the squeeze, a fresh round of data backs you up. The 2026 HomeToGo Theme Park Index, which evaluated 40 major amusement parks across more than 20 states, ranked Disney properties as the least affordable in the country — with Disneyland Resort occupying the two bottom spots on the list.
To build an apples-to-apples comparison, researchers combined three costs for a single adult visitor during peak summer season: one single-day ticket, one day of standard parking, and one night of nearby lodging based on median local vacation rental rates. Under that formula, a single day at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim works out to roughly $331 per person — a figure that breaks down as a $199 peak-day ticket, $40 for parking, and about $92 for a share of local lodging. For a family of four, that baseline alone clears $1,300 before anyone orders lunch.
Florida fared only slightly better. All four Walt Disney World theme parks landed in the bottom ten of the 40-park ranking. Magic Kingdom came in at 38th place with a daily baseline cost of nearly $297 per visitor, while Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios ranged from roughly $257 to $271 per person per day.
Those figures still undercount the real-world expense, since the index does not include Lightning Lane passes — which can run anywhere from $15 to more than $399 per person per day — or dining, where even quick-service meals average around $15 per person and character dining can exceed $60 per adult. Factor those in, and a peak day at Magic Kingdom can realistically top $400 per person.
Planning resource AllEars highlighted the HomeToGo findings, noting that the data reflects a broader shift in how Disney vacations are perceived — less a standard family outing and more a premium travel commitment requiring careful financial planning. This story was originally reported by Disney Fanatic.
