Shadowing Practice: The Real Reason Disney Is So Expensive - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
This Mickey ice cream bar would have cost $2.75 at Disney World in 2009.
2
With inflation, that bar would cost $4.22 today.
3
But the price has more than doubled to $6.50.
4
And it's not just the price of ice cream.
5
Basic Mickey ears are up 67%.
6
And the Mickey pretzel is up 118%.
7
It's also gotten more expensive to get inside the parks.
8
From 2015 to 2025, Disney World's top-tier annual pass nearly doubled from $829 to $1,629.
9
That's a 44% increase after inflation.
10
Every year I think to myself, well, what's my breaking point?
11
When will I say, oh, this is too much for an annual pass?
12
Disney attributes these price hikes to inflation, rising labor costs, and the billions it invests to offer more experiences.
13
But changes in how Disney sets park prices and its volatile entertainment division could also be to blame.
14
Now I feel like every time I blink, something new is getting more expensive in the parks.
15
So what's making a visit to Disney theme parks so expensive?
16
And is there a limit to what fans will pay to experience the happiest place on Earth?
17
Before Disney, America's earliest amusement parks weren't exactly designed with children in mind.
18
Many were loud, dirty, and geared towards adults, featuring thrill rides and spectacles like human cannonballs.
19
The state of the amusement park industry was pretty sad because these parks had been around for a long, long time.
20
A lot of them were in disrepair.
21
Tony Island, fire strikes again, destroying half a famous Luna Park.
22
Walt Disney saw this untapped market as an opportunity.
23
On July 17, 1955, his vision became a reality, a sunny theme park in Anaheim, California.
24
Walt Disney's creation of Disneyland was like a refreshing change for the attractions industry
25
because it was a new kind of amusement park that was much cleaner, much safer and newer.
26
Disneyland wasn't just built for families, it was priced for them too.
27
On opening day, the admission cost was 50 cents for children and a dollar for adults.
28
Adjusted for inflation, that's about $6 and $12.
29
Rides were separate, costing somewhere between $10 and $0.35, or about $1.20 to $4.20 today.
30
And when ABC aired a live Dateline Disneyland special for Disneyland's grand opening,
31
People and eyes around the world are focused on these 160 acres here in Anaheim, California.
32
It became a national event.
33
90 million American households tuned in.
34
By the time they did the televised version from the park on opening day, everybody in the country wanted to go to Disneyland.
35
And that was a tremendous marketing strategy.
36
A strategy that worked.
37
In its first 10 weeks of operation, 1 million people visited Disneyland.
38
By 1960, some 5 million people were visiting California's Disneyland Park every year.
39
Within its first five years of operation, Disneyland helped drive Walt Disney Productions' gross income from $27 million to roughly $70 million.
40
Walt Disney was poised to grow the empire.
41
He knew there were a lot of people around the United
42
States who were never going to make it to the West
43
Coast to be able to see this beautiful theme park that he had created.
44
And so he got it in his head
45
that he would like to do something similar on the east coast of the United States.
46
Walt Disney World opened on October 1st, 1971, near Orlando, Florida.
47
Tickets cost $3.50, or about $28 in 2026.
48
The opening was also marked by another star-studded TV special on NBC.
49
One of the things that Walt Disney said was, Disneyland will never be finished.
50
It will continue to evolve and grow and develop.
51
And that is still the case.
52
But expansion came at a price.
53
Take Epcot, for example.
54
Ladies and gentlemen, Epcot Center, the opening celebration.
55
When the new park opened at Disney World in 1982,
56
it reportedly cost the Disney company between $800 million and $1.2 billion to build.
57
That same year, the company's ticketing system changed to a flat rate for entry and rides.
58
This chart tracks the price of a one-day, one-park ticket at Walt Disney World from Epcot's opening in 1982.
59
When it opened, a one-day ticket to Disney World cost $15, equivalent to $50 in today's money.
60
Throughout the rest of the 1980s and 90s, that price climbed steadily as Disney World expanded with new lands, lands like MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom.
61
After 2000, no new Disney World parks opened, but there were new attractions, and park prices rose even faster.
62
But two years in the 2010s would change how the parks were priced for good.
63
In 2016, under the leadership of CEO Bob Iger, Disney introduced seasonal ticket pricing.
64
This model created tiered ticket prices based on seasonal demand, with days categorized as value, regular, or peak.
65
As a result, one-day ticket prices climbed above $100.
66
And in its first quarter earnings the following year, Disney said higher average ticket prices helped push parks and resorts revenues up 6%.
67
Two years later, Disney World switched to a date-based pricing model, where ticket prices vary by date.
68
So everybody wants to come during summer vacation and Christmas when their kids are out of school.
69
And the trouble is that if you've spent billions of dollars really to build these attraction facilities, they're open 365 days a year.
70
It's just not efficient to have them filled to the brim for four, five, six weeks out of the year and then not so much the rest of the time.
71
It's Robert Niles, the founder and editor of the trade publication Theme Park Insider.
72
Business Insider talked to him in 2018 at the height of Disney's pricing changes.
73
They really want to use all of their pricing and promotions to try and equalize the crowds throughout the year.
74
This approach is an example of dynamic pricing, where prices change based on demand, timing, competition or customer behavior.
75
most people are already familiar with from airline fares or rideshare apps, which charge more during rush hour or when the weather's bad.
76
Disney is not the only theme park company to use this approach.
77
In 2016, Universal Studios Hollywood,
78
Disney's biggest competitor, introduced demand-based tiered pricing, raising single-day tickets to $115.
79
Disneyland's lowest-priced ticket for its slower season is $104, the same price it's been since 2019.
80
In 2024, Disneyland Paris went a step further, adopting an airline-style model where prices can fluctuate until the ticket is purchased.
81
And it's not just tickets.
82
Prices inside the parks have climbed, too.
83
We visited Disneyland ourselves to see just how much prices for food and merchandise have increased.
84
We started by making a list of items sold in the past that are still sold today, and how much they used to cost.
85
Then we went to the park to check out the new prices for everything on our list.
86
The price of every item we checked has increased faster than inflation over the past 17 years.
87
Now even die-hard fans are having to make hard choices about investing in the happiest place on earth.
88
How long have you been a fan of Disney and how long have you been going to Disney parks?
89
The womb, potentially.
90
I was a Disney child, to a Disney teenager, to a Disney adult.
91
I've never really lost that love of magic.
92
Now that I have adult money, I can start buying and collecting things I really like.
93
And I love Disney art.
94
I purchased this piece, which is Notre Dame.
95
Hunchback of Notre Dame is my favorite Disney film of all time, and it's not appreciated nearly enough.
96
This is something from my mom.
97
It's a set of limited edition stamps.
98
I have a huge Disney pin collection.
99
So I have a pretty wide-ranking collection of ears.
100
So these are my favorite pair.
101
They're modeled after Thanos' gauntlet.
102
I have these in Scarlet Witch ones.
103
This denim hat with the ears built in.
104
These probably are my actual favorite.
105
Like, it's all, like, very, like, candy-inspired, Ariel-inspired.
106
Look like the old-school character hats from the 90s.
107
Like, character headbands.
108
But this is just a small amount of my collection.
109
Even super fans like Sarah are struggling to contend with the high prices at the parks.
110
To me, Disney World has always been one of the few companies and one of the few places that truly, truly cared about its fan base.
111
My relationship with Disney has changed partly because Disney has gotten very expensive over the years.
112
In a 2025 Wall Street Journal survey, 74% of people said experiences like cruises,
113
amusement parks, and trips to Disney resorts had become financially out of reach.
114
It's expensive to operate Disney, and so I do understand some of the price increases,
115
but I do think they are starting to price out your average middle class family into that once-in-a-lifetime trip.
116
Disney is offering a summer promotion starting in May 2026, a $50 one-day Park Hopper Pass for kids ages 3 to 9.
117
Over the past decade, Disney has also layered new premium experiences on top of its core offerings.
118
Take FastPass, for example.
119
Check this out!
120
Roll up to the FastPass Reons, throw your ticket in, and boom!
121
Until 2021, this service allowed park visitors to skip long lines for free.
122
Today its successor, the Lightning Lane Premier Pass, is a tiered and pricey add-on,
123
costing up to $449 depending on the park and time of year.
124
There are other services Disney once offered for free that no longer exist,
125
like Magical Express, a complimentary shuttle that transported travelers between Orlando International Airport and resort hotels.
126
After Disney discontinued the shuttle in 2022, it gave guests the option to choose between services like Mirs Connect, about $32 round trip for adults,
127
or its more premium minivan service, which can cost roughly $400 round trip for adults.
128
There are also luxury lodging options.
129
For example, when Walt Disney World's Bora Bora Bungalows opened in 2015,
130
One Night at the Bungalows cost upward of $2,100, or $2,876, adjusted for inflation.
131
Now a one night stay at these deluxe bungalows can cost guests a minimum of $3,500 or over $6,800 depending on the season.
132
Disney understands the demographic changes that are happening in the United States at this point.
133
They understand what's happening with income and economic inequality.
134
They know that the money is in the upper level, the top 10%, the top 1%.
135
We've created a wide variety of new products to try
136
and frankly extract more money out of the people who have money to spare.
137
Now the downside with that is if you're one of those remaining middle class people in America, you can get squeezed here.
138
I do firmly believe there are still ways to do Disney in an affordable way, but it is becoming harder.
139
And that's tough, and I feel that too, and I understand it.
140
But at the same time, if Disney's going to grow, it's got to go where the money is.
141
And the parks are perhaps more important for Disney's overall business than ever.
142
Disney is made up of three main segments.
143
And entertainment led the way for decades.
144
TV is sort of a big fuel of Disney's other businesses.
145
Then came the cord cutters.
146
Well, online streaming is rapidly killing cable, Meg.
147
Does this portend the death of TV?
148
In 2019, when Disney Plus first launched, Netflix already had roughly 140 million subscribers.
149
Disney committed an enormous amount of money to catch up with Netflix.
150
It committed tens of billions of dollars, at one point spending more than double what Netflix was spending.
151
As time went on, the cost of building the streaming service began to weigh on Disney.
152
At one point, it was running losses of $11 billion on a streaming service.
153
Disney CEO Bob Iger would later admit he thought the company invested too heavily in streaming.
154
But at the same time, Disney parks rebounded quickly from pandemic shutdowns.
155
Since 2022, Experiences, the division of Disney that controls theme parks and cruises, has become the company's biggest moneymaker,
156
making up about 70% of operating income.
157
So Iger made a choice.
158
invest in what's working.
159
In September 2023, Disney said it planned to invest $60 billion in the parks division over the next decade.
160
And in 2025 alone, it increased spending from $5 billion to a whopping $8 billion.
161
In 2024, at a conference for Disney's official fan club, Disney announced four new cruise ships and 14 new attractions.
162
As the company invests more money in new rides, cruise ships, resorts, and themed lands, the parks are what it's relying on to fund its future.
163
But will shiny new attractions be enough to keep Disney fans returning?
164
Some families are even seeking out help to budget their trips.
165
There's a whole industry built around planning a Disney vacation.
166
Search online and you'll find countless groups, some even directly affiliated with Disney, who navigate this increasingly complex world of trip packages,
167
vacation rentals, line-skipping passes and more.
168
From a planning perspective for families, you then have to think about how are we getting there, where are we going to stay, how long do we want to stay, how much can we spend,
169
all of those things become factors.
170
And Disney is still raising prices.
171
In October 2025, it raised the price of the Lightning Lane Premier Pass.
172
If prices keep rising, yeah, we're probably going to have to cut back on how often we go.
173
But I also think that, yes, Disney fans will find a way.
174
And sadly, that is just to go into debt to go on these trips, which is the larger problem.
175
A lot of times people will complain when the prices rise, but they do still go.
176
And I'm an example of someone who's still going even though the prices will rise.
177
This year I didn't even blink an eye.
178
I just gave my credit card and I renewed the pass.
179
So someday I might get to that point where I'm like, really?
180
I don't know.
181
But I haven't reached that point.
182
I don't think I'll reach that point for a couple of years.
183
Yeah.
📺 Same Channel
B22
Why Japan Can't Keep Up With America's Matcha Obsession | So Expensive | Business Insider
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2The Rise And Fall Of The Mall
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B25
Why Jasmine Oil Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
Why This Watch Costs Over $450,000
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B27
Sneaky Ways Fast Food Restaurants Get You To Spend Money
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
Why Rolls-Royce Cars Are More Expensive Than Ever (with Supercar Blondie) | Well Spent
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B25
Why FIFA Spends Millions On World Cup Grass
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
The Rise And Fall Of Forever 21 | Rise And Fall | Business Insider
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
Tony Robbins One-On-One Coaching Session
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B22
Can Bamboo Replace Paper And Plastic? And Should It? | World Wide Waste | Business Insider
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C19
Why Single-Origin Coffee Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B22
Why Steinway Grand Pianos Are So Expensive | So Expensive
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
How Toxic Green Mussels Feed Millions In Indonesia's Biggest City
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B26
Why Stockfish Is So Expensive | So Expensive Food | Business Insider
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
How Ultra-Processed Foods Took Over America And Can Even Pass For Healthy | Business Insider
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
This is how much it would cost to follow Argentina through to the finals at the #2026WorldCup. #FIFA
Travel EnglishWorking Adults
B22
The Hidden Process Behind Every FIFA-Certified Football | Big Business
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B14
How To Make Small Talk
Business EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B27
Why Mangosteen, The Viral TikTok Fruit, Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
Why Owning Nothing Is So Expensive
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
✨ Recommend Video
B2144 sentences
Disney Just Admitted the Problem
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
44 sentences
Is Renting Better Than Buying In The U.S.?
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
187 sentences
Why Airport Food Is So Expensive
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
283 sentences
The Gaming Market is Starting to Break.
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
45 sentences
How Money Is Created and How This Makes Some Rich and Some Poor
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
146 sentences
【English Podcast】Is a College Degree Still Worth It? — 4 Things to Consider
Business EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B21
354 sentences
Inside IKEA: The Brilliant Trick That Makes You Buy More
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
100 sentences
He Wanted $1 MILLION for This Funko Pop! | Pawn Stars
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
51 sentences
Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Yosemite Permits, Italy Superbonus, Salary Caps (Vol. 22)
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B129 sentences
The American Dream Is Getting Expensive
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
26 sentences
Walt Disney
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B24
18 sentences
Why are weddings so damn expensive?
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 183 sentences and 2307 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:53. The speaker talks at a steady 137 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| invest verb | /ɪnˈvɛst/ | To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in. |
| inflation noun | /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/ | An act, instance of, or state of expansion or increase in size, especially by injection of a gas or liquid. |
| attraction noun | /əˈtɹækʃn̩/ | The tendency to attract. |
| resort noun | /ɹɪˈzɔɹt/ | A place where people go for recreation, especially one with facilities such as lodgings, entertainment, and a relaxing environment. |
| cruise noun | /kɹuz/ | A sea or lake voyage, especially one taken for pleasure. |
| tier noun | /ˈtɪɚ/ | A row or range, especially one at a higher or lower level than another. |
| amusement noun | /əˈmjuzmənt/ | Entertainment. |
| ear noun | /ˈɪə̯/ | The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea. |
| vacation noun | /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ | An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure. |
| roughly adverb | /ˈɹʌf.li/ | In a rough manner; without kindness, softness, or gentleness. |
| climb verb | /ˈklaɪ̯m/ | To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending). |
| promotion noun | /pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/ | An advancement in rank or position. |
| commit verb | /kəˈmɪt/ | To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto. |
| premium noun | /ˈpɹiː.miː.əm/ | A prize or award. |
| skip verb | /skɪp/ | To move by hopping on alternate feet. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 17 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: inflation /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/, attraction /əˈtɹækʃn̩/, vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, promotion /pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/, shuttle /ˈʃʌtəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: publication /ˌpʌblɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, celebration /ˌsɛl.ɪˈbɹeɪ.ʃən/, affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/, reportedly /ɹɪˈpɔːtɪdli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like invest, inflation, attraction.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've spent · have climbed · have increased |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | wasn't just built · are focused · was poised |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | piece, which is · service, which can · people who have |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.