Walt Disney World has announced new character experiences coming this summer and a 50% off kids ticket deal, as part of the “Cool Kid Summer” campaign aimed at attracting WDW’s core demographic of young families. This shares dates & details of what’s launching in Summer 2025, as well as our assessment of this discount and these recreation/entertainment offerings.
This isn’t super surprising, as Walt Disney World is Worried About Its High Prices has been an ongoing topic since bombshell reporting by the Wall Street Journal last month. In fact, we offered a thorough discussion of demographics in Disney’s Response to Rising Costs Criticism. That specifically focuses on why Walt Disney World needs to continue attracting its core audience of families with young children.
As pointed out there, this is not a new concern. The whole reason Disneyland offered its recent $50 kids ticket deal, or that Walt Disney World lowered the price of the Disney Dining Plans for children last year, or any number of other offers targeted at kids, is because fewer families with small children can afford to visit the parks. The initiative we’re seeing now is just the latest in this line, and the same internal concerns that gave rise to the WSJ report probably also are resulting in this. Against that backdrop, let’s dig into the details…
“Cool Kid Summer” will run from May 27 through September 1, 2025, following in the rich traditions of “Hot Girl Summer” and “Short King Spring” and that one that Sarah’s favorite actor, Chet Hanks, did a few years back. (Okay maybe not that last one.) All kids are cool kids and everyone is a kid at Walt Disney World (whether in age or heart), so it’s truly an event for everyone. Except the curmudgeons out there (stay tuned for “Grumpy Guy Winter”).
During Cool Kid Summer at Walt Disney World, families should be on the lookout for limited-time experiences perfect for young kids in the theme parks, including kid zones featuring new activities and fun ways to interact with more Disney characters. There will be pop-up entertainment offerings, games, music, dancing and other adventures to help your little ones make those core Walt Disney World memories.
Over at Magic Kingdom, families can discover kid zones with added fun in Storybook Circus and in Tomorrowland with Stitch. After the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival ends, families with young kids will be able to cool down while enjoying the ultimate game party and play space featuring none other than Goofy as he takes over CommuniCore Hall at EPCOT. Be on the lookout for more details about these zones, coming soon.
Some characters will also be out in the parks earlier than normal for Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests during their daily Early Entry period. What better way to rope drop than saying hello to some of your favorite Disney pals?!
Additionally, this summer guests staying at select resorts – Art of Animation Resort, Pop Century Resort, Caribbean Beach Resort and Wilderness Lodge – will be able to enjoy even more Disney-themed activities designed for families with kids. These activities will include character visits with set appearance times to help you plan your day and an expanded itinerary of things to do with your family throughout your stay at these four resorts.
In this announcement, Walt Disney World also indicates that its “theme parks are often open for longer hours during the summer months, which can help you plan your day around a mid-day pool break or get on more of your favorite attractions.” Unless there’s a change for 2025 due to the launch of Starlight at Magic Kingdom (or beyond), I’m skeptical of this claim. The statement is probably technically correct by including Magic Kingdom’s party-shortened days in the final 4 months of the year, but I’m not sure that’s fair.
Finally, there’s the ticket discount for Cool Kid Summer. Walt Disney World is offering a 50% off discount on 3-day or longer kids (ages 3-9) standard tickets. This admission deal is available for visits beginning May 27 and running through September 20, 2025. This discount will go live along with several other special offers on March 27, 2025.
Our Commentary
Let’s start with the ticket deal. When I first saw this discount, I was reminded of two different special offers. The first is mentioned above, the $50 kids ticket deal at Disneyland that recently ended. The other is last year’s Kids Play & Dine for 50% Off Discount that was released in late 2023 and was valid for dates last year from March through June (minus Easter).
Just in quickly running dates, it seems fairly obvious that this deal won’t be as good as its $50 per day Disneyland counterpart for all 3-4 day durations. For tickets of 5 days, it looks like it’s date-dependent, with the Disneyland deal being better most of the time. For 6+ days, the Walt Disney World 50% off deal usually wins.
Again, all of this is quick math based on Walt Disney World’s brief special offer tease–we might discover something different once full details are released and the deal is bookable. But I’m betting it’s more or less a matter of ‘what you see is what you get.’
The comparison to last year’s Kids Play & Dine for 50% Off Discount is a tad trickier. At first blush, that discount might sound better to many of you. After all, it was not just tickets, it was also the Disney Dining Plan.
However, I’d caution against this perspective, as it required buying the Disney Dining Plan for adults at full price, which is much more expensive (and harder to ‘hack’ these days). Even more critically, it required purchasing a full price room. That meant forgoing a room-only discount, which will likely be another 15-30% off this summer for the general public, depending on dates, duration, and resort tier.
From my perspective, that makes this half-price kids ticket deal much more attractive. One of the through-lines in deal analysis is that I’m a big advocate for flexibility in discounts, and also not purchasing things you really don’t want or need for the sake of bigger ‘bundle’ savings. (It’s not a deal if you don’t want or need it!)
For many–if not most–parties, that’s where the Disney Dining Plan lands these days, especially with the adults having to pay full price for it. I’m sure there are some scenarios (single parent and multiple kids), where the math still pencils out on last spring and summer’s deal that included a half-price kids DDP being better. But that’s simply not going to be the case for most families, especially once factoring in that room-only discount.
Again, full details have not yet been released and these discounts aren’t bookable, but it’s also safe to assume you won’t be able to double-dip on this ticket deal and Free Dining. Walt Disney World special offers that require a vacation package (as is the case with Free Dining) are typically not stackable with standalone offers.
Perhaps that’ll change this go-round, but I’m about 98% sure it will not. That puts Free Dining at a distinct disadvantage with families…which were previously pretty much the lone demographic with whom it “won” over alternative offers. I guess we shall see. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the next wave of Walt Disney World discounts involving a lot of math and comparison shopping–this is precisely why I recommended using a TA!)
Circling back to the ticket deal itself, especially since many guests stay off-site making the comparison irrelevant, anyway, this is huge.
One thing I definitely didn’t fully appreciate until being a parent is just how little of a difference there is between kids and adults pricing. In many cases, it’s a negligible difference, which doesn’t quite seem fair for a 3 year old that can’t do a full day in the park, let alone the many new attractions with height requirements. As the clock is ticking on our daughter hitting that milestone (we still have over a year, but time is flying), I’m becoming more acutely aware of kids pricing, and how baffling the value proposition is. But I digress.
Point being, half off kids tickets is a really big deal that can amount to considerable savings. We’re talking over $200 off standard 4-day tickets, which amounts to major savings for families and makes those higher base prices for small children a bit more palatable. This when paired with the room-only discount will be formidable for families. I’m not quite sure how it works with the 3-Day, 3-Park Magic Ticket given the Magic Kingdom exclusion, since hard ticket events are also tricky with kids given bedtimes and all that. Regardless, this is a great special offer for parents with young children.
As for the other character experiences and so forth, I’m not really sure what to think, quite honestly.
I like the idea of characters being out for Early Entry, cheering me on runDisney style as I power walk at a record-setting pace to be the first guest of the day on OG Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin one last time. I’m only half-joking. That’s a qualitative enhancement that has the potential to brighten days and lighten moods during what can otherwise be stressful as guests worry about making it to their first attraction of the day.
This strikes me as Disneyland-esque, and Walt Disney World fans have wanted this type of thing for a while. It kind of already happens with the Country Bears in Frontierland, and really, what more could you want than some rope drop shenanigans with Big Al?! But average guests might appreciate more familiar faces in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. (Or rare characters!)
I highly doubt anyone is rushing to plan a trip over this type of thing, but that’s precisely the point–Walt Disney World should be making more little enhancements and have “surprise and delight” type offerings even when they don’t move the needle on bookings. (Yeah, this is a marketing campaign, so that’s the goal…but I view this as something tacked-on, with the special offers being the main course that’s outcome determinative.)
Everything else will come down to specifics and execution, which are unknowns at this point.
Having set schedules at the resorts for character appearances might be nice (as opposed to the Character Caravan, which is still a thing but random). On the other hand, it might induce demand that wasn’t there from character hunters and non-resort guests. That one is probably a positive from the perspective of guests who actually care about it being the ones most inclined to utilize it, but it does remove that aforementioned “surprise and delight” element.
Worth noting is that the set schedules for characters is just one example of what’s coming to Art of Animation Resort, Pop Century Resort, Caribbean Beach Resort and Wilderness Lodge for families in Summer 2025. I can’t assess the rest of it because Walt Disney World hasn’t announced it. I can, however, say that I recommend families with small children stay in those 4 specific resorts this summer…because I always recommend families (and everyone else) stay in those four specific resorts.
Check out our Rankings of ALL Resort Hotels at Walt Disney World from Worst to Best. Those are ranked #8, #5, #4 and #1 out of roughly two-dozen hotels. So it’s not really like you’re going out on a limb or taking a leap of faith when booking any of those 4 resorts. They’re great options, regardless. (With that said, if you have your heart set on something else, I also would not switch resorts to one of these–at least, not until we know more about what’s being offered.)
Then there are the kids zones in Storybook Circus and Tomorrowland, as well as Goofy’s takeover of CommuniCore Hall. Worst case scenario with these is we get what’s more or less already there. Stitch on the abandoned stage in Tomorrowland along with Cast Members and hula hoops, and something similar in Storybook Circus.
Best case is probably something resembling what Disneyland has done with the Fantasyland Theater during last year’s Pixar Fest and holiday season. The latter is definitely much better than the former, and something where families could spend 30 minutes or more…but it’s still definitely a little thing in the grand scheme of things, and I doubt many young families are rushing to book Walt Disney World vacations this summer as a result.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
What do you think of this Kids 50% Off Ticket Discount for Spring & Summer 2025? Will you be taking advantage of that ticket deal, or does Free Dining or another discount work out better for you? Thoughts on the new character experiences/encounters at the parks & resorts this summer? Any questions? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
