Current Crowd Levels & Visitor Origins

[Chef Mickey]

15-20 years ago I thought I was in the track and field team again. At rope drop when the park opened it’s the early bird that gets the work. Running full speed to snag to the 3 fast pass locations to get FP for Toy Story , RnR and Tower of Terror. FP was free back in the day , you just had to earn it !

I destroyed people at getting there first too. Good times.

 

[Chef Mickey]

That was a very painful transition and the moment when constantly being on your phone became a major part of a Disney vacation.

People are on their phones constantly regardless, which sucks.

The WORST is watching fireworks now. I literally stopped because I can't take all the phones and iPads out. It's insane.

 

[Baloo124]

Ah yes! And let's not forget the days of the new and improved FP - FP PLUS!! Fond memories indeed

View attachment 856248

The lady in black and white stripes has the most appropriate facial expression to this:
"Dear Lord, what have they done!?"

 

[Lilofan]

People are on their phones constantly regardless, which sucks.

The WORST is watching fireworks now. I literally stopped because I can't take all the phones and iPads out. It's insane.

One cool part of seeing the Magic of Disney is for many who will never be able to visit for personal reasons is that they can view the parades, fireworks , shows attractions , performers on Tik Tok You Tube etc etc and live the Disney Magic wherever they are in the world. Thank you for the YouTubers of the world to share the Magic of Disney to the world. We are lucky to go in person however many in this world will never get that chance.

 

[Raineman]

I think some of you here are severely underestimating the resolve of a good percentage of Canadians when it comes to not vacationing in the US now. Canadians who have owned vacation homes in Florida, for example, are selling them. For the most part, there will be no "they'll be back soon when they cool off" or "they'll be back if attractive offers are made". The effect is already being felt in tourist areas in the northern half of the US, with cancellations from Canadians, and it's gonna get worse as the year progresses. People are scared of possibly losing their small businesses, scared that they are going to lose their jobs. It's been estimated that it will be a $6 billion loss in tourism revenue for the US in 2025 based on a 30% drop in Canadian tourist spending. The impact of this should not be underestimated.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think some of you here are severely underestimating the resolve of a good percentage of Canadians when it comes to not vacationing in the US now. Canadians who have owned vacation homes in Florida, for example, are selling them. For the most part, there will be no "they'll be back soon when they cool off" or "they'll be back if attractive offers are made". The effect is already being felt in tourist areas in the northern half of the US, with cancellations from Canadians, and it's gonna get worse as the year progresses. People are scared of possibly losing their small businesses, scared that they are going to lose their jobs. It's been estimated that it will be a $6 billion loss in tourism revenue for the US in 2025 based on a 30% drop in Canadian tourist spending. The impact of this should not be underestimated.

Time will tell, lets see what happens.

Aside from the obvious reasons, WDW will be under construction 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 so its a good time to skip WDW anyway.

If folks never return, its also understandable and folks were choosing not to return before this for reasons other than todays obvious reasons.

 

[Ayla]

I think some of you here are severely underestimating the resolve of a good percentage of Canadians when it comes to not vacationing in the US now. Canadians who have owned vacation homes in Florida, for example, are selling them. For the most part, there will be no "they'll be back soon when they cool off" or "they'll be back if attractive offers are made". The effect is already being felt in tourist areas in the northern half of the US, with cancellations from Canadians, and it's gonna get worse as the year progresses. People are scared of possibly losing their small businesses, scared that they are going to lose their jobs. It's been estimated that it will be a $6 billion loss in tourism revenue for the US in 2025 based on a 30% drop in Canadian tourist spending. The impact of this should not be underestimated.

I completely agree with you.

 

[Lilofan]

Time will tell, lets see what happens.

Aside from the obvious reasons, WDW will be under construction 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 so its a good time to skip WDW anyway.

If folks never return, its also understandable and folks were choosing not to return before this for reasons other than todays obvious reasons.

Hopefully construction which employs many from the USA and outside of our own country has acceptable staffing levels to make the construction projects happen. It can be all a GO but without staff it will be a challenge to happen to meet deadlines as an example.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Hopefully construction which employs many from the USA and outside of our own country has acceptable staffing levels to make the construction projects happen. It can be all a GO but without staff it will be a challenge to happen to meet deadlines as an example.

One thing we have seen first hand (EPCOT) Disney likes to drag projects over many, many quarters, so for real or fake reasons, I fully expect all these projects will take longer than expected and the beautiful part for Disney they have built in excuses for the delays that everyone will believe.

 

[Lilofan]

One thing we have seen first hand (EPCOT) Disney likes to drag projects over many, many quarters, so for real or fake reasons, I fully expect all these projects will take longer than expected and the beautiful part for Disney they have built in excuses for the delays that everyone will believe.

Iger knows how to smooze the feathers of Wall Street during the quarterly's company public earnings call with the Wall Street analysts.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I think some of you here are severely underestimating the resolve of a good percentage of Canadians when it comes to not vacationing in the US now. Canadians who have owned vacation homes in Florida, for example, are selling them. For the most part, there will be no "they'll be back soon when they cool off" or "they'll be back if attractive offers are made". The effect is already being felt in tourist areas in the northern half of the US, with cancellations from Canadians, and it's gonna get worse as the year progresses. People are scared of possibly losing their small businesses, scared that they are going to lose their jobs. It's been estimated that it will be a $6 billion loss in tourism revenue for the US in 2025 based on a 30% drop in Canadian tourist spending. The impact of this should not be underestimated.

Yeah, there's quite a bit of denial at this being a temporary blip that will see a quick resolution. We're still in the period where people have pre-existing trips booked. Who knows what the total impact will be long term.

I don't think it will be business as usual as quickly as some people think.

It's highly arrogant to think that the repercussions of being a huge bully, to put it mildly, will be short lived.

 

[nickys]

Nothing is ever “Free”. How much you think a 7 year old is gonna put away on a daily basis while they are capped by the child’s menu?

And to qualify for that you need to stay on property and purchase a certain type of package and the entire party also needs to purchase a dining plan at whatever rate/promotion qualifies.

Hard pass for me. But to the uninitiated - might seem like a good deal.

The free kids dining plan is just that. It applies to anyone staying at an onsite hotel, even DVC owners staying on points.

It is true that the whole party needs to have the dining plan. But there is no obligation to book a package, park tickets etc. Totally unlike the usual kind of dining plan offer.

 

[Raineman]

Yeah, there's quite a bit of denial at this being a temporary blip that will see a quick resolution. We're still in the period where people have pre-existing trips booked. Who knows what the total impact will be long term.

I don't think it will be business as usual as quickly as some people think.

It's highly arrogant to think that the repercussions of being a huge bully, to put it mildly, will be short lived.

For WDW/Florida, or any other southern US destination, winter is when most Canadians visit, so the effect in those areas may not be felt completely until the fall, but alot of the northern US tourist destinations have already had alot of cancellations for this summer, especially the beach towns/border towns in the northeastern Atlantic states.

 

[lazyboy97o]

For WDW/Florida, or any other southern US destination, winter is when most Canadians visit, so the effect in those areas may not be felt completely until the fall, but alot of the northern US tourist destinations have already had alot of cancellations for this summer, especially the beach towns/border towns in the northeastern Atlantic states.

Booking.com also reported that Canadian cancellations on US have been replaced with travel to other destinations, notably Mexico. This demonstrates that people pulling back on spending is not a major factor in cancellations.

 

[Raineman]

Booking.com also reported that Canadian cancellations on US have been replaced with travel to other destinations, notably Mexico. This demonstrates that people pulling back on spending is not a major factor in cancellations.

Even if you narrow the focus to just Disney theme parks, anyone outside the US has other options for that too-Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong-so non-American Disney park addicts can get their fix elsewhere, even though the travel time, cost and language barrier may make it more cumbersome than visiting WDW or DL.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Even if you narrow the focus to just Disney theme parks, anyone outside the US has other options for that too-Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong-so non-American Disney park addicts can get their fix elsewhere, even though the travel time, cost and language barrier may make it more cumbersome than visiting WDW or DL.

However, AFAIK the language barrier isn’t as noticeable at Paris and Hong Kong.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Even if you narrow the focus to just Disney theme parks, anyone outside the US has other options for that too-Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong-so non-American Disney park addicts can get their fix elsewhere, even though the travel time, cost and language barrier may make it more cumbersome than visiting WDW or DL.

People can also book Disney cruises that don't sail out of US ports

However, AFAIK the language barrier isn’t as noticeable at Paris and Hong Kong.

Finding English speaking CMs and information was not an issue for me at either resort

 

[Raineman]

People can also book Disney cruises that don't sail out of US ports



Finding English speaking CMs and information was not an issue for me at either resort

I wonder, is it a requirement at the foreign parks for all CMs who work with guests to be fairly fluent in English?

 

[Andrew C]

I wonder, is it a requirement at the foreign parks for all CMs who work with guests to be fairly fluent in English?

Not in Japan...at least not for all positions.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I wonder, is it a requirement at the foreign parks for all CMs who work with guests to be fairly fluent in English?

I believe you have to speak at least 2 languages to work at DLP, but English doesn't have to be one of them