Attendance

[walt-sent-me]

What's the attendance like at the World these days? Has the uneasiness of the US economy played into the picture, or are people still visiting pretty much on par as this time last year? Other than the recent Entertainment layoffs (for whatever reason), have there been layoffs or low hiring for the other areas of the parks and resorts? Are there rumors to this accord? I'm curious to know how things at WDW are being affected what with all of the economic doom and gloom in the news lately.

Most importantly, is America Idol going to open on time....just kidding.

 

[disneytopdog]

I went Sept 6-10. Attendance was the lowest I have ever seen it during the past three free dining promotion years. Wait times: walk on to 20 minutes except for TSM.

 

[RedGear]

my friend said the opposite. she went there last week and she said that it was packed and that she had to wait for everything. She also told me that they were doing a special promotion if you booked before you left to get free dinning again for the same time next year.

 

[walt-sent-me]

what about layoffs - any word on any additional ones?

 

[Philo]

It seems we're forever hearing that attendence is dropping. This is always followed by others saying that it's increasing. I can only assume that it's either stagnent or, as I suspect, slowly creeping up.

Disney have been throwing lot's of TV ads and free dining information at us in the UK. Perhaps it's my short memory but I don't ever recall seeing free dining advertised at all here (at least not to the level we are seeing it now).

Whilst Disney may expect fewer American visitors, they are clearly getting more international tourists in.

 

[bgraham34]

I can't see how attendance is going up that much. I know several people at my work have cancelled vacations for the next year. 1 coworker was to have a grand gathering at the world but they can't get the whole family to go because of how everything has gotten really expensive.

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

I believe that attendance has been pretty strong this year, but Disney is definitely anticipating a drop in attendance for next year. People already had their vacations planned for this year before the economy took a serious downturn, next year people will be much more conservative with their money.

 

[Phonedave]

I just got back. I was there Thurs-Monday

Aside from the Food and Wine lines, it was pretty open.

I was quite suprised.

Test Track - Five minute wait around 4:00 PM on Friday

Soarin' - 40 minute wait at 2:30 PM Saturday and Fastpasses still available

PoC - Walk on to a half empty boat, loader told me "just sit wherever". 1:00 PM on Sunday

Splash - 20 Minute wait, around the same time as Pirates above

BTMRR - 20 Minutes, around the same time as Splash

Space Mountain - Walk on, 10:30 AM Sunday morning

SSE - Walk on all weekend


TSM was posting 60 minute wait times, all day, but it was around 45 in reality.

The Bocuse D'or event at EPCOT F&W was PACKED with standing room only. Maybe F&W sucked a lot of people out of the other parts of WDW.


-dave

 

[ljs1691]

People already had their vacations planned for this year before the economy took a serious downturn, next year people will be much more conservative with their money.

I would have to agree with this. I think once the election is over, it will become more apparent how serious (or not) this economic downturn really is. There is always economy talk in election years, this one is just magnified by the tiny little banking debacle that was uncovered.

I'm just happy with any time of year that the waits are typically under 30-45 minutes. I'd say most of our waits were around 20 minutes a couple weeks ago. We did see a few 40-60 min waits but that was not the norm.

We will really see the effects start to appear at WDW after the holidays as far as attendance. I'm curious to see if it will mean closing each park one day during the week or if they will once again offer discounts like they did several years back when you could save almost more than you spend. Only time will tell.

 

[islesgirl]

I was just there last week Wed-Sun. The parks weren't empty but there weren't big lines or waits for any of the rides. Saturday night at like 10pm i was able to walk on Splash Mountain twice in a row. Pirates was a walk on every time I was in MK. Haunted Mansion never had a wait, walked on Space Mountain at 11am. The Food and Wine was crowded. Future World wasn't terrible. When I was there at 11am Soarin had 45 minutes wait time posted but it was 10 minutes. TSM was the only ride we actually had to wait for and that was probably around 45 minutes.

As for layoffs I am not sure, but I know when a friend of mine applied for some jobs they told him a lot of areas were not hiring or were only hiring seasonal.

 

[JerseySkiddie]

I was there Wednesday-Monday too and experienced the same sort of thing. Friday I walked on to Splash at about 11 and then waited about 10 minutes shortly after and that was while BTMRR was 101. I don't think I waited anymore than 10 minutes for Space any time I headed that way all weekend long. We also stayed on Splash for two rides without getting off on Sunday night. You know its slow when the Soarin' queue is only about 20 minutes!

With extended free dining for Visa holders and other discounts it looks like attendance is down, no?


Happy travels everyone!

 

[happymom52003]

Just an observation (I have no idea if it has anything to do with the economy).....but touringplans.com has their crowd predictions down a bit for the upcoming holidays than in past years.

They are still predicting heavy crowds, however there are fewer 10's during the week before and the week after Christmas Day than there usually are, and Thanksgiving week has mostly 7's and a couple of 8's, when last year it had mostly 9's and 10's.

And looking ahead on the calendar, I also see that President's Day weekend and Easter are also a little bit lower than in past years.

 

[Since1976]

Because attendance may be down, I'm actually looking forward to going to WDW later this year. Our tickets have already been paid for -- they were non-expirations we bought 3 years ago -- and our resort is a timeshare, so we pretty much *have* to go. We're going on one of the historically least busy weeks of the year (perhaps *the* least busy), so with any luck the rides will be mostly walk-ons. We'll be frugal with our food and souvenir expenses, most definitely.

As for our next trip -- yeah, maybe we won't be immediately planning it in these tough times. But for now we're riding a wave that we really can't stop,so we're going to enjoy what we can.

 

[Scooter]

A friend of mine, who is a Disney manager, told me that attendance is really down...almost as low as after 9/11. I was also told a lot of castmembers and Disney managemnet were being laid off and to look for shorter park hours and attraction closings in the future if the economy doesn't improve soon.

People are utilizing the free dining and are spending a lot less in the shops.

There was even a mention of possibly just having early/late magical hours on weekends. I was even told that unless business picks up, the flower power shows next spring may only be on weekends.

I hope none of this comes to happen, but it does seem that the economic crunch is defintely affecting the Disney conmpany.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I think judging by actual attendance and how many people you see in the park isn't the best meter to go by. As others have said, a great percentage of people traveling through the end of the year booked their trips long before these big worries hit the economy.

I think watching the discount offers put out is what you should judge by, since those are created by the people who are seeing the actual numbers on future bookings... Which no one else has.

Obviously future bookings MUST be down noticeably, or they wouldn't be offering additional free dining and other discounts like they are.

If you've got the cash to do it, it seems like the end of 08 and 09 will be the best time to visit WDW as far as crowds in a LONG time.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

A friend of mine, who is a Disney manager, told me that attendance is really down...almost as low as after 9/11. I was also told a lot of castmembers and Disney managemnet were being laid off and to look for shorter park hours and attraction closings in the future if the economy doesn't improve soon.

People are utilizing the free dining and are spending a lot less in the shops.

There was even a mention of possibly just having early/late magical hours on weekends. I was even told that unless business picks up, the flower power shows next spring may only be on weekends.

I hope none of this comes to happen, but it does seem that the economic crunch is defintely affecting the Disney conmpany.

I could see all that happening... And I'd be perfectly fine with all of it. While I hate the idea of less park hours and entertainment, I'm all for them doing it if it keeps the bottom line healthy. I know it sounds bad, and TRUST ME, I follow Lee's statement of "Show before efficiency".

But we need to be careful. If the parks don't keep a good margin, we could see an even worse fate long term. Parks falling apart further than they are already, new attractions not being funded well, possibly even the parks being sold and then who knows what happens.

I'd rather see the bottom line aided by cutting down hours and entertainment than further degrading "show".

Although now that I think about it... They could end up cutting back on both.

 

[WDW-LUVR]

We were there alst week 19th - 27th. My son (6 yrs) favorite saying was " No Line, No Wait, GREAT!!!" towards the end of the trip we notice the increase of people at MK. PeterPan as always was had a long wait time. in the afternoon. and to be expected TSM had a long wait time. But all and all the crowds where low for FREE Dinning. The Bounce Back Promo flyer was not left in my room but I was able to call and give the code(DJX) and recieve it just the same. I didn't mention that I didn't recieve the flyer just told the CM that I want to book the bounce back and gave the code.

 

[Cosmo]

we went Fri-Sun for the food and wine festival. Everything was pretty much walk on. We got a fastpass for soarin' with a return time of only about 60-70 minutes later (got the pass at around noonish). Test track single rider was pretty much walk on.

And the other thing...i'm stressing my brain trying to figure out what TSM is???

 

[WDW-LUVR]

And the other thing...i'm stressing my brain trying to figure out what TSM is???

Toy Story Mainia :lookaroun

 

[YankeeMouse]

Just got back, we were then 9/27 - 9/30. On 09/29, Monday night, we at 8:30 we walked onto Test Track, at 8:45 we walked onto Soarin, and got right back onto Soarin at 8:58. We usually go right before Illuminations, and always go at this same week of the year. We have never had this happen, so judging solely by this, attendance is down. Also at the second MNSSHP parade, we could walk up to any spot on Main St right before the Headless Horseman rode, and sit down anywhere. This also has never happened.