2016 Christmas Week Phase Closing watch

B

Bandini

Well-Known Member
GhostHost1000 said:
I wonder if the big dogs are wondering why crowds are down this holiday season at WDW while others are reporting Uni lines to be huge

I mean cmon Disney has the cabanas and they also make it easier to carry a drink now with no large cups anymore. What else do you need
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I wonder why the phased closings weren't required. Is it the surge pricing, the MK's increased maximum capacity, or no new attractions. We'll never know the reason. I also wonder if the suits are concerned.
 
JWG

JWG

Well-Known Member
I think revenue matters more than actual attendance. If Disney makes more per guest due to surge pricing and crowds were more manageable and guests less cranky then I'm sure all will be fine. Revenue drives stock.
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
TeddyinMO said:
Or perhaps their attempt to spread crowds out over the slower periods through dynamic pricing worked very well.
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I can't imagine that dynamic pricing on one day tickets made much difference. But I do think the resort and food prices during peak season have pushed people to shift into less busy times. I saw lots of reports of very heavy crowds in early December, now people are saying maybe Christmas week doesn't seem as bad as usual. I think peak times have just gotten too expensive for what people get in return and maybe the crowds are shifting to what used to be less busy times.
 
T

toeknee

Member
The suits will say that they have improved guest experience by creating an enhanced environment where phase closures no longer happen and that they did it without negatively impacting annual guest counts or per quest spending.
 
C

CSJORDAN

Member
We checked into AKL yesterday and went to MK for a couple of hours, lines were decent but crowds weren't bad. At Epcot today, lines are all very long, lots of traffic and congestion, but the worst lines seem to be for the Fastpass kiosks. On the bright side, the 90 minute wait for Soarin turned into 60!!
 
Rider

Rider

Well-Known Member
IMG_0263.PNG IMG_0262.PNG IMG_0261.PNG IMG_0260.PNG IMG_0259.PNG Phase closing or not it's busy today.
 
JWG

JWG

Well-Known Member
It's oddly dispersed. Just went to Flame Tree BBQ at 12:05 and waited no more than 10 minitutes and got a table for 5 without effort.
 
MissM

MissM

Well-Known Member
So with Christmas not being as busy as previous years without any phased closing...any speculation on this weekend's NYE crowd levels? I've been sick with bronchitis for a month and have subsequently missed out on just about everything this holiday season - including our traditional Christmas In the Parks day. So we're thinking of heading over on Friday evening. (We have plans on NYE itself.) Wondering what we're in for. We've been on New Year's Eve in the past but never on the 30th and never in a year without phased closings.
 
monothingie

monothingie

Nakatomi Plaza Christmas Eve 1988. Never Forget.
Premium Member
Hasn't this really been the story of 2016, low attendance? This has nothing to do with congestion pricing, it has everything to do with the parks either being half closed, people getting Disney fatigue, too expensive, or people just don't want to be bothered with the hassle of paying top rates to be herded together in the parks. I would tend to discount the latter, because most people know Disney is still busy during the holidays.

Don't think for a second that execs are not concerned about this. The holiday season is an important barometer for how things are going, the fact that there has not been a single phase closing yet, (even during Thanksgiving) should be VERY concerning short term. I think the closest that we got to a capacity closing was the parking lot at EPCOT closed during one of the last days of F+W.

So I guess until SWL and TSL open in a couple of years, which will probably bring more attendance in, expect to see more up-charge events, more parties, more gimmicks and trials to try to appeal to high margin guests. But if you're in the upper income category, are you really going to be a Disney World customer?
 
MotherOfBirds

MotherOfBirds

Well-Known Member
To what extent do any of you think that Star Wars factors into this? I realize a lot of tourists don't even know SWL is being built, but perhaps it's motivating people to push back their next visit
 
wogwog

wogwog

Well-Known Member
Guest relations message today Tuesday.12/27

As of 12:45pm, December 27, all Theme Parks are available to all Guests.

We are not anticipating any parking redirects or phased statuses today.
 
HauntedMansionFLA

HauntedMansionFLA

Well-Known Member
drizgirl said:
I can't imagine that dynamic pricing on one day tickets made much difference. But I do think the resort and food prices during peak season have pushed people to shift into less busy times. I saw lots of reports of very heavy crowds in early December, now people are saying maybe Christmas week doesn't seem as bad as usual. I think peak times have just gotten too expensive for what people get in return and maybe the crowds are shifting to what used to be less busy times.
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We were there December 3 - 9 and the place was packed. We had a good time since it was just the two of us. But the looks on all of the families trying to juggle the parks looked miserable. I heard people say " they said this was the best time to come" a lot during the week. Another thing I noticed was people used up their MagicBand for everything. That's one wasps of busting a budget. It will be interesting to see if they even out revenue spent throughout the year. No slow or busy time.
 

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