-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Crowds are down? Curious about the claims . . .
- Thread starter KeithVH
- Start date
bstiles
Active Member
I was there last weekend and can tell you it felt empty for summer. 15 minutes before the electrical parade there were open spots all over frontierland and Liberty square. Wait times were overly exaggerated also. 30 minute wait was really like 15. Epcot felt really empty excluding frozen. 30 minute waits for soarin and test track.
TarzanRocked99-
Well-Known Member
Was at MK last night and it was noticibly slow. This summer seems lighter crowd wise in general.
WDW_Emily
Well-Known Member
Was also there last week, June 21st-26th. We had a very similar experience Epcot was completely empty besides frozen. We didn't go to dhs but out of the other three parks our longest wait time was to meet Winnie the Pooh and Tigger (which was an hour). We continuously said this does not feel like end of June crowds. I would relate it to February crowds in my opinion.
The picture of the castle was taken June 22 around 10am. Epcot picture was taken on June 23rd around 6pm
The picture of the castle was taken June 22 around 10am. Epcot picture was taken on June 23rd around 6pm
Epcot today. Crowd was lighter than expected, and agree with it feeling like February. Lunch at Le Cellier (on Canada day) - by 1:30 est 60% full. FP for Soarin, no wait. Living with the Land was never above 15 minutes and we walked on. Nemo 5 minutes. World Showcase; thin, easy to move in stores. Frozen had 60-90 minute wait around 2:30 (broke down after being in line 60 minutes, never did ride). 3:30-4:00 rain started up and lasted for a good amount of time, longer than a normal summer shower.
As a local AP I didn't mind the crowd at all but do have to think with the price hikes, etc they have gone beyond optimal price.
As a local AP I didn't mind the crowd at all but do have to think with the price hikes, etc they have gone beyond optimal price.
IanDLBZF
Well-Known Member
And add on to that, Universal and SeaWorld saw a dip in attendance over the first quarter of the year as well.
IanDLBZF
Well-Known Member
And here's my 2 cents on the matter - Disney & Universal have BOTH raised admission prices to unmanageable levels (ask someone who is unhappy with the matter on either end about it), and eventually it may get very well to the point where, if neither Disney and/or Universal takes no action other than to continue to jack up prices, they will go out of business or auction off the parks
Yes, they have lost attendance during the first quarter, #blametheSouthAmericanEconomy.
tirian
Well-Known Member
Can I get an Amen?
tirian
Well-Known Member
My trip in May was the first time I consciously felt like Disney had almost no value for the money. Portion sizes were small at every restaurant from Captain Cooke's at my hotel (the Poly) to the Cali Grill. Custodial cutbacks were apparent in restrooms: at the MK, Studios, and Epcot, I saw literal crap on the floors. At DAK, the poop was smeared on a wall. Attractions kept breaking down. Units were missing from parades. Monorail and bus transportation were the worst I've ever encountered. And many CMs were outright rude.
At the same time, I KNOW Disney is finally investing in WDW again. I had a hard time reconciling the mediocrity I witnessed with the plans I knew about. Somehow, daily operations are deteriorating while good things are waiting in the wings. It's just a mess right now.
IanDLBZF
Well-Known Member
People just need to understand that Disney IS investing in WDW, and they are trying as hard as they can. It's not about "can we make this go along any faster", it's more about "can we actually make this work". They are improving, its only taken baby steps so far.
Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
But it's not just about building (or replacing existing attractions with) new rides and lands. They need to restore the old policies from the 1950s - mid 1990s in terms of service, cleanliness, constantly cleaning and making sure everything (from light bulbs to audio animatronics and special effects) are working perfectly all the time, etc. they need to improve the quality of the food, hire good talented people, and get the resort looking and feeling fresh again.
There needs to be a top down revamp of operations not merely building Star Wars land and some new rides (which themselves have some people concerned they are just going to be bare bones with lots of video screens) it's just not going to cut it anymore.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Honey, they are NOT trying as hard as they can.
DManRightHere
Well-Known Member
I feel like this thread is going downhill really fast. I do not agree with much of this.
First off I think Disney does want a slight drop in attendance. I mean like 0-3%. They know their parks are dang crowded in the summer. They want the slight drop with increased revenue.
Secondly, I think the extra push of less crowds is kind of a scared economy. It seems like a good many of the heavy tourist areas are getting it and Disney should feel it a little bit more as they've been named personally in a couple.
Thirdly, I have not really thought about it, but the Rio Olympics does make a lot of sense to stay over there and make some good money instead of vacationing here. I have no idea how their tourism works or if it was an oversight on Disney (seems pretty bad if that were true), but ot does make sense.
Now, slow attendance is a good thing to get the company to spend more money on their park, they'll want their competitors guests/customers. If all of the competitors are having similar attendance, I don't think that is really a good thing..
I'm sure there are coutless other scenarios, that's just how I feel at the moment.
First off I think Disney does want a slight drop in attendance. I mean like 0-3%. They know their parks are dang crowded in the summer. They want the slight drop with increased revenue.
Secondly, I think the extra push of less crowds is kind of a scared economy. It seems like a good many of the heavy tourist areas are getting it and Disney should feel it a little bit more as they've been named personally in a couple.
Thirdly, I have not really thought about it, but the Rio Olympics does make a lot of sense to stay over there and make some good money instead of vacationing here. I have no idea how their tourism works or if it was an oversight on Disney (seems pretty bad if that were true), but ot does make sense.
Now, slow attendance is a good thing to get the company to spend more money on their park, they'll want their competitors guests/customers. If all of the competitors are having similar attendance, I don't think that is really a good thing..
I'm sure there are coutless other scenarios, that's just how I feel at the moment.
Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
Ahh so its part of a cunning plan. Top work Disney.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
The Disney Corp we know is dying it just does not know its dead yet. The only thing sustaining it is the stock price next big dip in price and analysts are going to be like white on rice analyzing Disneys businesses and they will not like what they find. Then the vultures like Karl Icahn, KKR, Bain Capital will arrive to dismember the corpse.
Right now NONE of the units are doing well the one bright spot the Studios are turning out flops at an increasing pace, ESPN well it's all been said before and now Disney wants to buy MLB's streaming operation as a shiny object to distract attention from the rest of the Disasters including the Shanghai money sinkhole
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Disneys not going to spend they are going to cut some more so the margins look good for the next quarter it's just gonna be one damned ugly feedback loop that's looking more and more like a death spiral