Walt Disney World Holiday Season 2024

[Chi84]

Attendance can be down overall throughout the year and still be jam packed at certain portions. Saying Christmas is busier than ever (even if I disagree) doesn’t negate that other weeks are slower than normal.



They certainly do. I’ve gone when they intentionally only had one theater running for FoP because attendance was lower that week. Went a few months later during a busier season and they had all four running. This obviously is only one ride and a unique one due to how it works and the CMs needed at each part of each theater, but it does happen. I doubt they pull a train out of Big Thunder during slower periods, but there are situations where capacity is intentionally lowered on some rides due to lower attendance, seemingly from a desire to sell LL during that time.

How do you know with certainty that they intentionally did it due to lower attendance and for the purpose of selling LLs? As opposed to it being out of service for a different reason?

 

[surfsupdon]

Fireworks at DHS? How nouveaux!

 

[spectromagic04]

The busiest day so far this week.

 

[gerarar]

When was the last time they actually advertised fireworks at DHS on NYE? I know they didn't last year. Could maybe this could be an indicator they want to bring fireworks back to DHS in general or am I reading into it too much?

Pre-covid (basically NYE 2019 and before), DHS would just do the star wars fireworks as their midnight event, so no actual countdown.

"The elaborate nightly themed firework show, Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, will bring in the New Year with a special twist at midnight!"

It wasn't until NYE 2021 and beyond that they did an actual one-time countdown with special projections and stuff.

New Year's Eve 2019 entertainment line-up at Walt Disney World

See the full New Year's Eve entertainment line-up at all four Walt Disney World theme parks for 2019 and into 2020.

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[Squishy]

Pre-covid (basically NYE 2019 and before), DHS would just do the star wars fireworks as their midnight event, so no actual countdown.

"The elaborate nightly themed firework show, Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, will bring in the New Year with a special twist at midnight!"

It wasn't until NYE 2021 and beyond that they did an actual one-time countdown with special projections and stuff.

New Year's Eve 2019 entertainment line-up at Walt Disney World

See the full New Year's Eve entertainment line-up at all four Walt Disney World theme parks for 2019 and into 2020.

www.wdwmagic.com

Looking back at DHS firework shows why does it look like they always had a bigger pyro budget than the other parks?

 

[Starship824]

Pre-covid (basically NYE 2019 and before), DHS would just do the star wars fireworks as their midnight event, so no actual countdown.

"The elaborate nightly themed firework show, Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, will bring in the New Year with a special twist at midnight!"

It wasn't until NYE 2021 and beyond that they did an actual one-time countdown with special projections and stuff.

New Year's Eve 2019 entertainment line-up at Walt Disney World

See the full New Year's Eve entertainment line-up at all four Walt Disney World theme parks for 2019 and into 2020.

www.wdwmagic.com

Do we think they're going to do full fireworks or just in park?

 

[gerarar]

Do we think they're going to do full fireworks or just in park?

Considering NYE 2021 to last year's they did full fireworks including the World Drive launch site, I expect this year to do the same. Especially since this is the first year they formally acknowledged the fireworks unlike in years past.

Looking back at DHS firework shows why does it look like they always had a bigger pyro budget than the other parks?

SWAGS and the previous Frozen fireworks did have a lot of overall pyro, but it was majority low-level pyro. A lot of the shells launched from the World Drive site were simple comets and shells.

So I wouldn't really say they had a larger pyro budget compared to MK and Epcot, but there was a budget for such firework shows back then at DHS. Now?, not so much (sadly). Those previous shows were used to pull in guests later in the day and at night, but I think Disney feels like the new lands (SWGE and TSL) plus Fantasmic! does the same job, more cheaply too.

Hopefully once the new Monsters land opens, there's room to add nightly fireworks again to make it an even complete park. But I would prioritize AK more imo as that park desperately needs a nighttime spectacular.

 

[peter11435]

Now go over how CM are trained to proportion LL and Standby line guests at the merge point.

What? Of course they are… why wouldn’t they be?

 

[Cliff]

I don’t think that’s in question. It’s the intent behind staffing/capacity/estimates being argued — that it’s all intentional to sell more Lightning Lanes.

If I’m running a store and expecting a slow day, I’ll schedule fewer clerks.

Exactly right. The idea that Burbank want's more money on app sales and is doing everything it can to artificially raise the average revenue per user is absurd.

Yes, food and merch costs are higher these days. Cynics say Burbank is doing this to squeeze more money from guests too. The truth is that it's really just simple inflation that is driving this. CocaCola is charging Burbank more to buy soda so, Disney regrettably needs to pass that extra cost to us. They don't want to...but they have too.

The truth is that Burbank doesn't really care about Lightning Lane revenue as much some negative-minded fans think they do.

 

[lentesta]

I looked at WDW and UOR wait times through yesterday - they're trending about the same.

 

[peter11435]

.



They certainly do. I’ve gone when they intentionally only had one theater running for FoP because attendance was lower that week. Went a few months later during a busier season and they had all four running. This obviously is only one ride and a unique one due to how it works and the CMs needed at each part of each theater, but it does happen. I doubt they pull a train out of Big Thunder during slower periods, but there are situations where capacity is intentionally lowered on some rides due to lower attendance, seemingly from a desire to sell LL during that time.

Attraction capacity does fluctuate based on attendance, maintenance, staffing, etc…

For example they will absolutely schedule more drivers and have more safari vehicles running on a busy day than they will on a slow day.

They do not however intentionally lower capacity to boost LL sales. In fact the amount of LL inventory available is directly proportionate to the capacity of the attractions. So if FOP is operating at half capacity due to planned low attendance then they are also distributing roughly half of their total LL inventory.

 

[monothingie]

What? Of course they are… why wouldn’t they be?

Tell me more about how they change the admission ratios between LL and Standby when there is more demand. That certainly would have an effect on standby queue wait times, possibly making it easier to achieve certain set wait times, which would make guests more inclined to purchase LL products.

 

[Chi84]

Tell me more about how they change the admission ratios between LL and Standby when there is more demand. That certainly would have an effect on standby queue wait times, possibly making it easier to achieve certain set wait times, which would make guests more inclined to purchase LL products.

Wait, what do they do exactly?

 

[DisneyFanatic12]

Wait, what do they do exactly?

I don’t really understand it, the ratio between LL and standby at the merge point doesn’t really matter at the end of the day, since the number of LL guests is set by how many guests buy LL in a day (and reserve LL for a given ride), and not how short the LL line is.

Maybe they’re going for the “LL makes standby longer, which makes more people buy LL, which makes standby even longer, which makes more people buy LL…” argument. That argument at least makes sense if they didn’t cap LL reservations, and does make sense during the off season, but they seem to be arguing something else? Maybe they’re arguing they open more LL passes when the standby queue gets “too short”?


And not to ramble, but this argument is also odd to me because the standby lines seem to move faster with LL than they did with Fastpass+ (since there seems to be less reservations). I waited for Space Mountain the other day and the sign holder was in front of speedway. The wait was 55 minutes, which is much better than what the line was with Fastpass in my experience.

 

[peter11435]

Tell me more about how they change the admission ratios between LL and Standby when there is more demand. That certainly would have an effect on standby queue wait times, possibly making it easier to achieve certain set wait times, which would make guests more inclined to purchase LL products.

I’m not even sure what point you’re trying to make. Either you’re intentionally trying to misrepresent lightning lane ratios or you are seriously misinformed. They don’t change LL admission ratios based on park attendance. Regardless of how busy the park is the standard ratio is consistent across all attractions, at all parks, at any attendance level. And the amount of LL they give out is calculated based on the standard ratio.

They do sometimes use other predetermined ratios. However they are not used because the park is busier or slower they are used because LL has gotten backed up usually as a result of downtime or other unusual circumstance. If they are being used it is only because the LL line got unexpectedly long. Yes, it does mean standby will now wait longer but it also means LL guests also waited longer.

 

[monothingie]

I’m not even sure what point you’re trying to make. Either you’re intentionally trying to misrepresent lightning lane ratios or you are seriously misinformed. They don’t change LL admission ratios based on park attendance. Regardless of how busy the park is the standard ratio is consistent across all attractions, at all parks, at any attendance level. And the amount of LL they give out is calculated based on the standard ratio.

No. They do change LL ratios based on demand for the attraction. I never said demand for the park as a whole so stop putting words in my mouth.

I was quite clear in stating that and you being a knowledgeable person know that to be accurate.

When the ratios are adjusted, the standby line will always change.

 

[peter11435]

No. They do change LL ratios based on demand for the attraction. I never said demand for the park as a whole so stop putting words in my mouth.

I was quite clear in stating that and you being a knowledgeable person know that to be accurate.

When the ratios are adjusted, the standby line will always change.

They do not change LL ratios based on demand for the attraction. They increase the ratio only when the LL line gets unusually backed up usually as a result of a downtime. The LL ratio at an attraction is the same when it’s at a 10 minute wait as it is when it’s a 90 minute wait. It only changes if LL gets backed up unexpectedly.

 

[spectromagic04]

No. They do change LL ratios based on demand for the attraction. I never said demand for the park as a whole so stop putting words in my mouth.

I was quite clear in stating that and you being a knowledgeable person know that to be accurate.

When the ratios are adjusted, the standby line will always change.

Ratios are all based off how long the lightning lane line is. If the line is short it’s something like 1 standby to 10 lightning lane. Phase 2 is like 1 standby to 50 lightning lane and if it’s really backed up it’s 1 to 100.

 

[monothingie]

They do not change LL ratios based on demand for the attraction. They increase the ratio only when the LL line gets unusually backed up usually as a result of a downtime. The LL ratio at an attraction is the same when it’s at a 10 minute wait as it is when it’s a 90 minute wait. It only changes if LL gets backed up unexpectedly.

When the LL gets backed up because (downtime, more people redeeming the entitlement at the same time, guests being allowed to redeem their entitlement after their designated window, DAS, etc) the ratio is changed to prioritize LL.

That is an increased demand for the attraction. More people want on via LL = more demand.

 

[peter11435]

When the LL gets backed up because (downtime, more people redeeming the entitlement at the same time, guests being allowed to redeem their entitlement after their designated window, DAS, etc) the ratio is changed to prioritize LL.

That is an increased demand for the attraction. More people want on via LL = more demand.

The ratio always prioritizes LL, as it should. DAS is already accounted for in LL allotment and guests redeeming late or at the same time are still guests that were included in the original LL allotment. That doesn't mean there is more demand for the attraction. But yes, this will temporarily increase the ratio of LL and cause standby lines to temporarily increase. So what’s your point? This has nothing to do with encouraging additional LL sales. And generally the original LL backup decreases the perceived value for those who have purchased it.