In Travel News for November 15th, 2022 we talk about French Polynesia, an increase in Walt Disney World ticket pricing, and we take a look at the cost of visiting Las Vegas.
Walt Disney World to be More Expensive this Holiday Season
Visiting Walt Disney World is about to become more expensive this holiday season. Starting on December 8th, Disney will be raising prices on its one-day, one-park ticket option. All four parks will use a variable pricing model that will determine the ticket price based on the day, the park, and current demand. A one-day, one-park price previously toped out at $159 dollars. Under the new model the range of pricing will differ for each park: Disneys Animal Kingdom will range from $109 dollars to $159 dollars; EPCOT will range from $114 dollars to $117 dollars; Disneys Hollywood Studios will range form $124 dollars to $179 dollars; and Magic Kingdom will range from $124 dollars to $189 dollars.
High Demand is Causing High Room Prices in Vegas
It’s not just your imagination, Las Vegas has been more expensive recently. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has recently released data showing that the average room rate in September this year was the highest on record topping out at $187.18. This beats the previous high set in April of this year when the city hosted the NFL Draft. That doesn’t mean that a Vegas vacation has to be expensive, if you are flexible on travel dates its possible to find days that don’t have a lot going on. If your not flexible then be prepared to pay more. As an example, when F1 racing comes to Vegas in November 2023 rooms at the Bellagio will be going for over $1,700 a night and Resorts World is selling rooms for almost $1,200 dollars a night; by comparison for the same nights this year at Resorts World the price for the same hotel room is about $220 dollars a night.
French Polynesia to Cap Visitors
French Polynesia is working on changing to a boutique destination that leads the industry in Slow Travel. Slow travel is a different approach to travel that emphasis cultural and culinary immersion over a longer, more relaxing period of time. The territory is hoping to achieve this goal by capping the number of travelers allowed to visit the islands to 280,000 each year. This applies to all the islands including Bora Bora, Tahiti, as well as the smaller island. Given the higher expense to travel to the islands officials believe that they are perfectly positioned to embrace slow travel by offering a boutique island experience.