Crowds are down? Curious about the claims . . .

[JassiSidhu2000]

1) No new investment in attractions for nigh on a decade is catching up with Disney.

2) Poor value for money. Hollywood Studios, still charging full price for a park that is a disgrace - even if you include it in the 4 park deal.

3) South American, in particular Brazilian tourists are down.

4) UK tourists with a plummeting pound is also going to fall.

 

[mguimond1990]

I think they've finally increased prices high enough to make ppl really consider the value they are getting in return for the high costs. I'm not sure sure how much higher they (and universal) can go with ticket prices. We know they won't ever lower the price, but it'd be cool if they did something like "no ticket price increase for 3 years" kind of thing.

 

[ToTBellHop]

In addition to the other reasons mentioned, Central Florida also had a rough June between the nightclub massacre and the alligator attack. Many forces have aligned to make for historically-light summer crowds. On the other hand, if you are a summer traveler, this is a nice year to visit. Just bring your own toilet seat cover.

 

[danlb_2000]

Article here seems legit but I just don't know. Not after the last year and announcements around traffic and revenue.

Just curious and not looking to start an argument We're going after Labor Day anyway so no big thing to me.

During the last quarterly meeting they did say profits were up, but they also said attendance was down.

 

[DisneyCane]

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

A little over dramatic? Lower attendance at higher prices is better for profitability. If you raise your prices 10% and sell 5% less tickets you end up with a 4.5% increase in revenue. You also can lower your payroll because less employees are required to service the 5% smaller crowd. Plus the 95% of people that still go will have a better experience.

The goal is not to pack as many people as possible into the parks. The goal is to make the maximum amount of profit. If you cut prices 25% and drove up attendance the experience would be so miserable that people would stop going. No, the solution isn't to build more rides because then you have additional financing costs and staffing costs.

Optimally, they would double prices and reduce attendance by 40% or something like that. That would allow for significantly reduced payroll while increasing revenue by 20%. Unfortunately for Disney and fortunately for us, that kind of price hike would cross a threshold that would reduce attendance to well below half therefore costing revenue.

 

[glvsav37]

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.

I was initially bummed when I realized that I booked our summer trip right during the summer Olympics. I generally enjoy watching the games.

Then, I realized they were being held in Rio and I began a series of Gold Metal level fist pumps.

 

[SeanWM48]

i don't disagree with much said in the thread here about why the crowds are down. another factor i was wondering about was -
do you think the crowds at this time of year are lower because of the growth in the fall?

it might contribute a bit. the halloween party atmosphere is great and seems to have gotten a lot bigger the last 4-5 years. the weather is better, you have dining offers and food/wine as well. maybe more people are just waiting for october?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Lower attendance no longer has to mean proportionally lighter crowds. By essentially forcing people to pre-plan most aspects of their visit Disney can staff to those numbers to ensure maximum labor efficiency by keeping everything at survey acceptable crowd levels.

 

[Rider]

1) No new investment in attractions for nigh on a decade is catching up with Disney.

April 2, 2007 Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
February 22, 2012 Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
June 15, 2012 Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station
December 6, 2012 Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
December 6, 2012 Enchanted Tales with Belle
March 9, 2014 Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
May 28, 2014 Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

November 27, 2006 The Seas with Nemo & Friends
April 2, 2007 Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
October 14, 2009 Sum of All Thrills (in Innoventions East)
June 23, 2012 Agent P's World Showcase Adventure
December 6, 2012 New Test Track
June 17, 2016 New Soarin'
June 21, 2016 Frozen Ever After

October 9, 2007 Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple
May 31, 2008 Toy Story Midway Mania!
March 27, 2011 Disney Junior - Live on Stage!
July 4, 2014 Star Wars: Path of the Jedi
July 5, 2014 For the First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
December 1, 2015 Star Wars Launch Bay
June 17, 2016 Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular

April 7, 2006 Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
January 24, 2007 Finding Nemo - The Musical
May 27, 2016 Sunset Safari
May 27, 2016 Harambe Wildlife Parti
May 27, 2016 Discovery Island Carnivale
May 27, 2016 Harambe Village Acrobats
May 28, 2016 The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic


Not to mention all the millions of dollars being invested in new attractions currently under construction.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Lower attendance at higher prices is better for profitability. If you raise your prices 10% and sell 5% less tickets you end up with a 4.5% increase in revenue. You also can lower your payroll because less employees are required to service the 5% smaller crowd. Plus the 95% of people that still go will have a better experience.

The goal is not to pack as many people as possible into the parks. The goal is to make the maximum amount of profit. If you cut prices 25% and drove up attendance the experience would be so miserable that people would stop going. No, the solution isn't to build more rides because then you have additional financing costs and staffing costs.

Optimally, they would double prices and reduce attendance by 40% or something like that. That would allow for significantly reduced payroll while increasing revenue by 20%. Unfortunately for Disney and fortunately for us, that kind of price hike would cross a threshold that would reduce attendance to well below half therefore costing revenue.

Precisely.

I've seen numerous posts here speculating on raising prices just to lower crowd levels - why does it surprise people when that is what they do?

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I agree that "recent events" may be having an effect right now but I do think that this was Disney's plan from the get-go and it's working now. The plan was to purposefully get the AP's to think everything was too expensive, they get mad and then decide to cancel and then when enough AP's are not being bought that's when Disney sweeps in and says they now have a GOOD REASON TO CANCEL THE ANNUAL PASSHOLDER PROGRAM BECAUSE OF LOW SALES. Then the crowds will possibly be at a more manageable level because let's face it: the AP program was a MAJOR PART OF THE PROBLEM. Too many of them caused the long waits in line and the "not being able to get a reservation at a restaurant"--remember that fee for not showing up? That was because of THEM doing that. The program should have never been introduced and that's all there is to it. Disney created a monster and probably just started realizing it. They unfortunately knew though that the "TOURISTS" were going to have to suffer in this debacle but in the long run that it might be worth it in the end. You only have to read about how some AP's have NOT RENEWED THEIR PASSES THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE PRICE HIKE.

So yeah let's say they cancel the program: then that means tickets would go down to a more manageable level and everything might be back to a more glorious time--I'm thinking from when the park opened till sometime in the 90's. See where I'm going with this?

It never made sense to me how they could jack up prices the way they did, especially with the success of the Pixar, Marvel and now The Force Awakens films. So I do believe that this was all a scheme to get rid of the Annual Passholder program eventually and then things will pick up and get back to better times. The AP's (majority of them) started treating the place like it was their own little backyard adventure with NO RESPECT FOR THE RESORT ITSELF OR THE TOURISTS THAT "PAID" MAJORLY FOR A "VACATION." Cast members know this stuff--I've read their complaints on the 'net about how they can tell a tourist from an AP holder. The entitlement attitude is off the chart. So this may have very well been part of the plan to get rid of the "packed crowds." Either that or does Disney want to go out of business? I'm betting on the former.

Now also you have this to think about? Just what if the Brazilian tour groups aren't ALLOWED IN THIS YEAR? Remember--Zika virus?

Just my two cents.

You are kidding, aren't you? We've been AP holders forever, and we actually paid less this year. Granted, there are a few blackout dates, but we never go during those times anyways, so it was a nice bonus. You really need to research a bit before posting such nonsense.

Treat the park with respect? Are you nuts?? The TOURISTS are the ones that trash the park. We pick up trash that people are throwing on the ground because we actually care what the park looks like. You would not believe how many times we see people just drop trash on the ground only a few feet from a trash can.

Do you honestly believe that ticket prices are going down???? What the heck are you smoking??? Companies do NOT lower prices after raising them. Get real.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

April 2, 2007 Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
February 22, 2012 Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
June 15, 2012 Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station
December 6, 2012 Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
December 6, 2012 Enchanted Tales with Belle
March 9, 2014 Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
May 28, 2014 Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

November 27, 2006 The Seas with Nemo & Friends
April 2, 2007 Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
October 14, 2009 Sum of All Thrills (in Innoventions East)
June 23, 2012 Agent P's World Showcase Adventure
December 6, 2012 New Test Track
June 17, 2016 New Soarin'
June 21, 2016 Frozen Ever After

October 9, 2007 Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple
May 31, 2008 Toy Story Midway Mania!
March 27, 2011 Disney Junior - Live on Stage!
July 4, 2014 Star Wars: Path of the Jedi
July 5, 2014 For the First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
December 1, 2015 Star Wars Launch Bay
June 17, 2016 Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular

April 7, 2006 Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
January 24, 2007 Finding Nemo - The Musical
May 27, 2016 Sunset Safari
May 27, 2016 Harambe Wildlife Parti
May 27, 2016 Discovery Island Carnivale
May 27, 2016 Harambe Village Acrobats
May 28, 2016 The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic


Not to mention all the millions of dollars being invested in new attractions currently under construction.

Now, now. You can't bring reality into this discussion. Certain peoples heads will explode as they type on their keyboards about just how wrong you are, dontcha know.

 

[tirian]

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

No offense, but this seems a bit melodramatic. Please explain why you think this.

 

[Speedy71]

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.

Let's be honest here we have yet to get the DL treatment.

 

[Rider]

No offense, but this seems a bit melodramatic. Please explain why you think this, because I know you keep track of the financials.

Seriously... Disney has the top three grossing movies in the world this year with Dory likely to be up there too. Not to mention Star Wars which made its money in Disney's current financial year and oh yeah another Marvel movie, another Pixar movie and another Star Wars still to come.

 

[wm49rs]

1) No new investment in attractions for nigh on a decade is catching up with Disney.

2) Poor value for money. Hollywood Studios, still charging full price for a park that is a disgrace - even if you include it in the 4 park deal.

3) South American, in particular Brazilian tourists are down.

4) UK tourists with a plummeting pound is also going to fall.

Keep banging your drum, Jordan....

 

[wm49rs]

I agree that "recent events" may be having an effect right now but I do think that this was Disney's plan from the get-go and it's working now. The plan was to purposefully get the AP's to think everything was too expensive, they get mad and then decide to cancel and then when enough AP's are not being bought that's when Disney sweeps in and says they now have a GOOD REASON TO CANCEL THE ANNUAL PASSHOLDER PROGRAM BECAUSE OF LOW SALES. Then the crowds will possibly be at a more manageable level because let's face it: the AP program was a MAJOR PART OF THE PROBLEM. Too many of them caused the long waits in line and the "not being able to get a reservation at a restaurant"--remember that fee for not showing up? That was because of THEM doing that. The program should have never been introduced and that's all there is to it. Disney created a monster and probably just started realizing it. They unfortunately knew though that the "TOURISTS" were going to have to suffer in this debacle but in the long run that it might be worth it in the end. You only have to read about how some AP's have NOT RENEWED THEIR PASSES THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE PRICE HIKE.

So yeah let's say they cancel the program: then that means tickets would go down to a more manageable level and everything might be back to a more glorious time--I'm thinking from when the park opened till sometime in the 90's. See where I'm going with this?

It never made sense to me how they could jack up prices the way they did, especially with the success of the Pixar, Marvel and now The Force Awakens films. So I do believe that this was all a scheme to get rid of the Annual Passholder program eventually and then things will pick up and get back to better times. The AP's (majority of them) started treating the place like it was their own little backyard adventure with NO RESPECT FOR THE RESORT ITSELF OR THE TOURISTS THAT "PAID" MAJORLY FOR A "VACATION." Cast members know this stuff--I've read their complaints on the 'net about how they can tell a tourist from an AP holder. The entitlement attitude is off the chart. So this may have very well been part of the plan to get rid of the "packed crowds." Either that or does Disney want to go out of business? I'm betting on the former.

Now also you have this to think about? Just what if the Brazilian tour groups aren't ALLOWED IN THIS YEAR? Remember--Zika virus?

Just my two cents.

Apparently, two cents doesn't go as far as it used to....

 

[Dead2009]

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

It would take a monumental collapse for Disney to go out of business and auction off the parks, if it that ever happened I honestly doubt it would be in our lifetime.

 

[King Panda 77]

maybe it seems quite everywhere because everyone is here ...

 

[King Panda 77]

Apparently, two cents doesn't go as far as it used to....

Goes further in the UK now though