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Attendance drop in the parks... I wonder why
- Thread starter THEMEPARKPIONEER
- Start date
To summarize, people are theoretically not going because of:
1. Price too high.
2. Planning too complex.
3. Planning too unfun/unadventurous/unspontaneous whatever.
4. Quality down.
5. Service down.
6. Crowds maybe too big, maybe not, who knows?
7. Other options better.
8. Other options cheaper.
9. Other options more affordable by comparison and once everything is taken into account even if they actually cost more.
10. Not enough unique attractions to be worthwhile.
11. Not enough rides to make it worthwhile.
12. The magic is gone.
13. Nostalgia factor not enough to keep guests coming.
14. Schools are jerks when it comes to letting kids out for vacations.
15. Europe is cool.
16. No discussion thread can remain friendly.
17. Some people smell bad.
18. People without kids can have amazing vacations that the rest of us are very jealous of.
19. The current TTA narration is a flaccid waste of time, air and attention.
20. After a long day in a tank top, don't raise your arms.
What we don't know, but think, perhaps:
1. Disney is intentionally pricing modest or lower income people out of a Disney vacation in an anti-riffraff campaign.
2. Attendance is sort of down, maybe, but who knows, huh?
3. We're in limbo until Avatarland and Star Wars land open.
4. Turkey legs and Dole Whips are good for you.
I hope this summary is sufficient. Time to call it a day.
1. Price too high.
2. Planning too complex.
3. Planning too unfun/unadventurous/unspontaneous whatever.
4. Quality down.
5. Service down.
6. Crowds maybe too big, maybe not, who knows?
7. Other options better.
8. Other options cheaper.
9. Other options more affordable by comparison and once everything is taken into account even if they actually cost more.
10. Not enough unique attractions to be worthwhile.
11. Not enough rides to make it worthwhile.
12. The magic is gone.
13. Nostalgia factor not enough to keep guests coming.
14. Schools are jerks when it comes to letting kids out for vacations.
15. Europe is cool.
16. No discussion thread can remain friendly.
17. Some people smell bad.
18. People without kids can have amazing vacations that the rest of us are very jealous of.
19. The current TTA narration is a flaccid waste of time, air and attention.
20. After a long day in a tank top, don't raise your arms.
What we don't know, but think, perhaps:
1. Disney is intentionally pricing modest or lower income people out of a Disney vacation in an anti-riffraff campaign.
2. Attendance is sort of down, maybe, but who knows, huh?
3. We're in limbo until Avatarland and Star Wars land open.
4. Turkey legs and Dole Whips are good for you.
I hope this summary is sufficient. Time to call it a day.
Well, now that the IRS has announced they're delaying tax returns by up to four weeks, do you think that'll hurt WDW guests at all?I believe we were discussing possible reasons for a drop in attendance. Among others, the fact that taking other types of trips are actually more affordable when done is specific ways and perhaps that could be part of what is happening. At least to how many Americans might be attending the parks. Man does not live by Disney alone. Or, in other words, no one really knows how much of a drop in attendance that Disney had, they don't really talk about that in detail very much or they have attached it the Presidents Income tax returns and we will never know.
Hmm. Where did you see that? The IRS web site has no such claims.
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
"As part of a law meant to cut down on tax fraud, the IRS will hold refunds for taxpayers claiming the earned income tax credit (EITC) or the additional child tax credit until at least Feb. 15. And because of holidays and weekends, those refunds may not actually land in people’s bank accounts until closer to the end of the month, the IRS estimates."
Not much of a delay...considering many Americans procrastinate on filing anyways...
Laketravis
Well-Known Member
"The IRS is delaying tax refunds for more than 40 million low-income families this year as the agency steps up efforts to fight identity theft and fraud....."
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxe...or-millions-of-low-income-families/ar-BBy7PHn
Looks like a conspiracy to prevent low-income families from being able to pay for a WDW "vaca", huh?
Lucky
Well-Known Member
I'm sure they know they've raised prices enough that it's affecting attendance, and they're not bothered by that. But I don't think they're trying to price out any people in particular.
That is only for a specific set of people, and doesn't say anything about 4 weeks. People need to stop with the FUD around here.https://www.irs.gov/uac/as-holidays-approach-irs-reminds-taxpayers-of-refund-delays-in-2017
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxe...or-millions-of-low-income-families/ar-BBy7PHn
Looks like a conspiracy to prevent low-income families from being able to pay for a WDW "vaca", huh?
Laketravis
Well-Known Member
Only 40 million of them, and until mid-February.
contrariwise
Well-Known Member
You've convinced me.
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
I read 40 million in a news report...but as you said, it is not a big deal.
Laketravis
Well-Known Member
From the link already provided:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxe...or-millions-of-low-income-families/ar-BBy7PHn
Yup, I saw that, and fixed my response. Still, refunds are NOT delayed by 4 weeks as stated before.
Laketravis
Well-Known Member
Okay. You asked where that was seen and I posted a couple of links, one of which said 40 million people were affected and both of them said returns would be delayed until mid-February. No problem.
Grimley1968
Well-Known Member
No one stated "4 weeks." The statement was "up to 4 weeks". It may be semantics, but that is a difference. It may actually be important, for example, to those who cannot file until mid-March or later, and hope to go to WDW over spring break, using a refund to help finance the trip.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Back in the middle ages we always had to wait for a refund, sometimes for months. All refunds were hard checks and it took time to print that many. Taxes were reviewed and approved and then sent to someplace in a basement under the FBI building probably, and eventually a check was cut and snail mailed to your home.
Yup, but stupid me, I can't find the article I'm referring to.
UpAllNight
Well-Known Member
My theory is is that there isn't an infinite amount of people who are prepared to pay the price for a Florida holiday every year, and on top of the well documented Orlando problems last year....
a higher proportion of the 'once every 2 or 3 year' crowd made it over for the opening of Diagon Ally in 2014 and 2015. Don't underestimate the hype of that land...the marketing push was epic. It was in pretty much every paper in the UK, all over social media. It made people want to go.
In my friend base and wider circle of their family/friends I've never known as many people go as went in 2015 from the UK. Possibly related, but also the overwealming feeling was they left surprised by the quality of Universal, and disappointed with aspects of Disney. On a semi related note, DHS gets panned on here but it's many infrequent visitors' favourite Disney park.
a higher proportion of the 'once every 2 or 3 year' crowd made it over for the opening of Diagon Ally in 2014 and 2015. Don't underestimate the hype of that land...the marketing push was epic. It was in pretty much every paper in the UK, all over social media. It made people want to go.
In my friend base and wider circle of their family/friends I've never known as many people go as went in 2015 from the UK. Possibly related, but also the overwealming feeling was they left surprised by the quality of Universal, and disappointed with aspects of Disney. On a semi related note, DHS gets panned on here but it's many infrequent visitors' favourite Disney park.
pax_65
Well-Known Member
I agree. It's a much different vacation than it used to be. While I miss the spontaneity we used to enjoy, the bigger problem for me is that the standby lines don't handle crowds very well anymore since the FP line is so active. So during busier periods, you do your FPs and then you either spend a lot of time in line, do less popular attractions, or go sit by the pool.
My issue is that I look at the price increases for park admission (plus shorter hours and park closed for upsell events), and I look at what I was actually able to enjoy in the parks (much less than in the past) and I realize my ROI is not what it used to be.
It's not all bad, we had a nice trip in 2016 and we will be back. Just not with the frequency we once did.