TEA Global Attendance Index is out

[monothingie]

I’m getting some mixed messages here….

Come now, Bob would never say anything that’s convenient for people to hear what they want to hear.

If anyone thinks that this is something that Disney should be proud of, then by all means go buy your $30 cupcakes and $50 popcorn buckets to celebrate. Meanwhile, you have under performing hotels, restaurants, and parks.

 

[Stripes]

“In our zeal to grow profits, we may have been a little bit too aggressive about some of our pricing,” Iger said. “I think there’s a way to continue to grow that business, but be smarter about how we price so that we maintain that brand value of accessibility.” - Bob Iger

Will the real Bob Iger please stand up.

I’m getting some mixed messages here….

Funny how his statements aren’t at all contradictory when you look at how the company implemented their pricing strategy — decrease attendance during period of high demand by significantly increasing prices while refraining from significant price increases during periods of weaker demand.

 

[HauntedPirate]

November 2022:

"Bob Iger, who returned as Disney’s CEO in a surprise move last week, said prices at the Mouse House’s theme parks have become too steep — and that his predecessor Bob Chapek was “killing the soul of the company,” according to a report.

Iger blasted numerous decisions made by ex-CEO Bob Chapek, including his moves to hike prices at theme parks including Disney World and Disneyland in order to make up for losses during the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources."

 

[monothingie]

Funny how his statements aren’t at all contradictory when you look at how the company implemented their pricing strategy — decrease attendance during period of high demand by increasing prices while refraining from significant price increases during periods of weaker demand.

My Stripy friend, I really do Hope you realize how unsustainable that strategy is. At some point you’ll reach a level where you’re extracting as much as you can from your guest base and all the while doing irreparable harm to your brand. I’m pretty sure we’ve passed that point already. But please by all means enjoy your less crowded parks. The Disney adults and social media influencers, and shills will definitely make up the difference.

 

[Stripes]

My Stripy friend, I really do Hope you realize how unsustainable that strategy is. At some point you’ll reach a level where you’re extracting as much as you can from your guest base and all the while doing irreparable harm to your brand. I’m pretty sure we’ve passed that point already. But please by all means enjoy your less crowded parks.

Given the fact that attendance is still increasing YoY (albeit from a lower level than 2019), I think people still find a lot of value in Disney vacations. However, you’ll be happy (jk! ) to know that they’re building capacity expanding attractions as we speak to drive future attendance while improving guest satisfaction.

So, what’s the plan over the next 10 years? Less crowded parks, increased attendance, slower ticket inflation, and more attractions. Win. Win. Win. Win.

 

[Stripes]

November 2022:

"Bob Iger, who returned as Disney’s CEO in a surprise move last week, said prices at the Mouse House’s theme parks have become too steep — and that his predecessor Bob Chapek was “killing the soul of the company,” according to a report.

Iger blasted numerous decisions made by ex-CEO Bob Chapek, including his moves to hike prices at theme parks including Disney World and Disneyland in order to make up for losses during the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources."

Removing barriers for those looking to save on costs is what Iger has done since he returned: increasing the number of the lowest priced days, returning free parking for resort guests, even including digital downloads of ride photos with Genie+. So, again, there’s nothing contradictory about Iger’s position here.

 

[Nubs70]

WDW is only empty(ish) in the daytime in parks that close early for a hard ticket event.

So, consider hard ticket events as another park day then divide total attendance by (calender days + hard ticket events) to calculate an average park day attendance. Dividing by 425 instead of 365 will make a noticeable difference.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

So, consider hard ticket events as another park day then divide total attendance by (calender days + hard ticket events) to calculate an average park day attendance. Dividing by 425 instead of 365 will make a noticeable difference.

It's not another park day because its purposefully restricted more than an actual park day and frequently sells out, things that are not applicable to a park day??

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

No one…ever…said it was empty

RIF

No one ever huh

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Until someone comes forth with valid info as to how park hoppers are measured and/or included in these numbers, they (and Disney’s claims around attendance) are going to be taken with large grains of salt.

How about 200 after hours events a year?

If block pricing counts…moreys pier in wildwood, nj musta had like a trillion visitors in 1999

 

[HauntedPirate]

Removing barriers for those looking to save on costs is what Iger has done since he returned: increasing the number of the lowest priced days, returning free parking for resort guests, even including digital downloads of ride photos with Genie+. So, again, there’s nothing contradictory about Iger’s position here.

You mean the 21 weekdays between August and September that start at $119/person (only at AK, and up from $109 in 2024) this year? Your statement is not true, but don't take my word for it. From Disney Tourist Blog:

"Based on what I’m seeing, there actually has not been a reduction of the cheapest dates, with 20+ over the last 5 or so years. Most weekdays in late August through September 2024 are still priced at the lowest level, which has been the case for a while, it’s just $10 more expensive."

Remind us when resort parking fees were implemented? Oh, that's right - 2018.

What about park hopping? $50 in 2018. How much is it these days? Well, I just happened to look at a one-day ticket next August, during one of those "lowest priced days". Adding Park Hopping will cost you... $197/ticket.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No one ever huhView attachment 889179

Is that from Twitter? I was talking about here, special friend

And more specifically…there are many here with enough experience to ACTUALLY have an opinion on what crowd levels look like in the parks to have a reasonable level of confidence begin it…

Quote one of them, please

 

[HauntedPirate]

No one ever huhView attachment 889179

Let me draw it out in crayon:

NO

ONE

EVER

Said - "The parks are empty" like you breathlessly claim. You really aren't good at context clues.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Yeah I agree here…

The “revenge travel” ended in 2022…what’s flattened it since is that they have been badly managed

That’s what’s weird to me though, apparently it didn’t. There’s no post 2022 dip or drop off in numbers, unless I’m missing something. I’m not doubting the data, just saying based on anecdotal observation that is not at all what I would have predicted.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

That’s what’s weird to me though, apparently it didn’t. There’s no post 2022 dip or drop off in numbers, unless I’m missing something. I’m not doubting the data, just saying based on anecdotal observation that is not at all what I would have predicted.

They dropped over 5 million a year since 2019 that never came back…

You know hard that is to do in LBV, Florida?
The place has been managed by “not the brightest people” since the mid 90’s…and has grown with disposable cash nonetheless

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Come now, Bob would never say anything that’s convenient for people to hear what they want to hear.

If anyone thinks that this is something that Disney should be proud of, then by all means go buy your $30 cupcakes and $50 popcorn buckets to celebrate. Meanwhile, you have under performing hotels, restaurants, and parks.

You’re wrong about Bob…he’s the ONE corporate head in the history of public stock trading who is actually telling his board and Wall Street investors behind closed doors that the goal is less customers/revenue/profits/investor return…

Totally reasonable…I saw it on a Sesame Street with the count and cookie

 

[BrianLo]

Are people remembering that these are numbers for 2024, not 2025?

Based on quarterlies expect more of the same next year. WDW is statistically flat, IOA/USF will slightly decline further and all the new attendance is Orlando will manifest in Epic’s haul - which will break into the bottom 25 worldwide.

 

[BrianLo]

Although they are about the same, it’s surprising to me that IOA had lower attendance than USF last year.

USF essentially runs an entire additional operational month with Halloween Horror nights. IOA is still more popular on a given day, but that discrepancy (really driven by Hagrids and Velocicoaster) is lessening.

MK isn’t really the most attended park anymore for that reason too. It runs “14 months” of the year with its parties.

I never would have guessed that EPCOT would have the best post-COVID recovery...or that AK would be that much lower

But that explains why Tropical Americas is the first to open of these new additions

I’d make a strong argument Epcot is a better park in 2024 than 2019 and DAK is the inverse. Beyond Epcots project cycle being a let down. DAK night show, park hours and FoP no longer being the top one (or even three) rope drop priorities is showing its hand.

I think attendance ultimately reflects recent investment, which is a good thing in some ways. Many of those parks *deserve* to have lowered attendance patterns based on their recency of investment.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Walt Disney World over the last 20 years
View attachment 889070

Universal Orlando Last 20 years. (same scale as WDW chart for relative change)
View attachment 889071


Combined totals of Dry parks at WDW and Universal Orlando. It is interesting to see the year over year declining trend of Universal parks leading into the launch of Epic in 2025
View attachment 889072

I'm still refreshing some of the other market share trend charts I have.

I have an answer with the combined total decline. From the WDW Side, Animal Kingdom never recovered from Covid. Animal Kingdom not recovering from Covid is partly caused by Park hours. There also also a number of other things with Disney that caused its 2019 numbers to decline.

Universal's declining number for 2023 and 2024 shouldn't be interesting because it is easy to explain. People saved money for Epic Universe. Universal has a youtube channel and they used in 2024 for promoting their new lands in Epic Universe. Also this year's numbers for Epic Universe shouldn't be read into either when they become available in 2026.

The problem for Epic this year is Universal has limited guests and Epic Universe didn't official open till around Memorial Day weekend. Epic's first full year next year is the test to see where Epic Universe really is. The only info Universal's 2025 numbers could bring is from the IOA and USF side of things.

 

[BrianLo]

The most dramatic takeaway from that entire report is Universal Hollywood. It should not be releasing its entire Super Nintendo gains (and then some) the subsequent year of its release.

Other than it seems to have been successful in Osaka and now Orlando (in much more complete versions), there has got to be some executives questioning that investments performance.

I think we’ll be getting more coasters out of that operation.

This years (2025) biggest stories will be Epic and HKDL. Shanghai meanwhile is proving ready for its second gate.