Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Tha Realest]

I feel like this deluge of articles is all based on a single report from @lentesta about 4th of July crowds in particular. I haven't really seen anything else beyond that single data point that keeps getting recycled over and over again.

I dunno. How about the aggressive discounting of rooms and tickets that are well beyond the norm and trend of the last 3+ years?

 

[ohioguy]

The post-Covid travel explosion has cooled off. And since people are spending more of their incomes on essentials, vacations are taking a backburner. Student loan repayments, which is up to 5% of the economy, are about to begin again, taking disposable income with them.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The post-Covid travel explosion has cooled off. And since people are spending more of their incomes on essentials, vacations are taking a backburner. Student loan repayments, which is up to 5% of the economy, are about to begin again, taking disposable income with them.

Cruises, air travel, and "normal" hotels are still booming.

 

[flynnibus]

I dunno. How about the aggressive discounting of rooms and tickets that are well beyond the norm and trend of the last 3+ years?

Eh? The offers out there are not that radical or abnormal. What was abnormal was the demand/supply imbalance coming out of the pandemic. That inbalance negating any need for discounts during the recovery

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Generally we're looking at summer occupancy in the low 80% range, with some projections for fall/winter that range from troubling to terrifying.

 

[JD80]

interesting chart

View attachment 729867

This is only interesting in the conversation where you are curious about attendance at a theme park on July 4th. Not about the overall attendance levels at the park historically over time.

Using a single a day, a holiday at that, to measure whether the WHOLE property is up or down is terrible way to do so. You need a broader data set. Scott Gustin's tweet, and I even put out some charts a week ago or so that shows that attendance IS down vs the last few years (COVID years not withstanding) but it's not "empty" or that WDW is "in trouble".

I think this is evident in the level up discounts they are offering (they aren't offering anything out of the ordinary). They aren't any where near post 9/11 panic yet. We'll see how that stands up in the coming quarters.

 

[monykalyn]

Cruises, air travel, and "normal" hotels are still

I book cruises a couple years out. Cruises were still pretty cheap at that time-our cruise this august was booked year and half ago.
Drury Inn in Disney springs had rates ~$154/night for august (and no resort fee, free good breakfast and an evening reception on par with club level at theme park resorts).

 

[JD80]

I dunno. How about the aggressive discounting of rooms and tickets that are well beyond the norm and trend of the last 3+ years?

Define aggressive please.

Also show me the discounting this year compared to anything pre-COVID and tell me how it compares.

 

[GhostHost1000]

This is only interesting in the conversation where you are curious about attendance at a theme park on July 4th. Not about the overall attendance levels at the park historically over time.

Using a single a day, a holiday at that, to measure whether the WHOLE property is up or down is terrible way to do so. You need a broader data set. Scott Gustin's tweet, and I even put out some charts a week ago or so that shows that attendance IS down vs the last few years (COVID years not withstanding) but it's not "empty" or that WDW is "in trouble".

I think this is evident in the level up discounts they are offering (they aren't offering anything out of the ordinary). They aren't any where near post 9/11 panic yet. We'll see how that stands up in the coming quarters.

I guess I found it most interesting that every park WDW, DL, Uni was down this year compared to previous years

 

[SamusAranX]

Cruises, air travel, and "normal" hotels are still booming.

Yep. Europe is SLAMMED right now.

People are traveling and spending money, but less of them are spending it on Disney.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yep. Europe is SLAMMED right now.

People are traveling and spending money, but less of them are spending it on Disney.

Despite high airfares, Japan is too. I know so many people planning trips to Japan right now for this year or next year, myself included.

 

[jpeden]

Generally we're looking at summer occupancy in the low 80% range, with some projections for fall/winter that range from troubling to terrifying.

Isn't that getting into post-9/11 numbers when you talk about resort occupancy at 80%?

And out of curiousity - what percentage is troubling, and what percentage is terrifying?

 

[The Colonel]

Just my anecdotal information, but I was there five days over 4th of July as is my habit, and the crowds were very light and the waits were very short. The extreme heat may have played a part in that.

 

[Lilofan]

Despite high airfares, Japan is too. I know so many people planning trips to Japan right now for this year or next year, myself included.

Japan is affordable? Sleeping in those coffin time capsule hotels maybe.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Japan is affordable? Sleeping in those coffin time capsule hotels maybe.

I went in 2019 and outside of the ridiculous airfare, it wasn't really that expensive for hotels or food. I'm looking at hotels now and it isn't too bad. Granted I'm someone who is okay with a standard room and will only be there to shower and sleep.

It's just interesting to me that suddenly so many people I know are planning to go there within the next few years.

 

[Thepuma]

I book cruises a couple years out. Cruises were still pretty cheap at that time-our cruise this august was booked year and half ago.
Drury Inn in Disney springs had rates ~$154/night for august (and no resort fee, free good breakfast and an evening reception on par with club level at theme park resorts).

We are staying there for 16 nights in September. It was the perfect compromise to going full Disney Resort.

Looking forward to the 5.30pm kickback and 3 alcoholic drinks per night.

 

[el_super]

Just my anecdotal information, but I was there five days over 4th of July as is my habit, and the crowds were very light and the waits were very short. The extreme heat may have played a part in that.

Did you have a good time?

 

[el_super]

I guess I found it most interesting that every park WDW, DL, Uni was down this year compared to previous years

Looking at JUST July 4th isn't really useful though. Iger has stated that part of their park strategy going forward is to spread out crowds to make the parks less crowded. It follows that the traditionally busiest day of the year, would then show the most impact from those efforts.

Limited reservations, higher tier pricing, lack of discounted AP admissions and/or CM admissions all play a part in moving the crowds around.

 

[The Colonel]

Did you have a good time?

I did. I spent days by the pool at the Boardwalk for the most part. Did the 3rd at Cali Grill so we watched the fireworks from up there. Did Epcot for the 4th and enjoyed the excellent fireworks tag. We did the Fantasmic dining plan. Met some lovely people. But it was unusually hot.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Despite high airfares, Japan is too. I know so many people planning trips to Japan right now for this year or next year, myself included.

Wonder if that is partly due to the country only pretty recently really opening up for travel. And same with Europe in general (not as extreme/recent)

Does get at a bit of what Iger talked about in his interview with Florence da being a place that opened very early from Covid so it became a hot spot to go for people that wanted to travel anywhere and now kinda got that out of their system and now going different places they can go now

I think it is PR spin to put so much into this vs looking honestly at themselves, but it could definitely be a factor