Does Economic Crisis = Smaller Crowds at Disney?

Davidsplanet

Davidsplanet

New Member
Original Poster
I hate crowds and I would like to go to WDW and i'm wondering if crowds have been light lately because of the current economic crisis? Perhaps it's just "wishfull thinking" on my part.
 
chaggy102

chaggy102

Member
Crowds at the beginning of last week were smaller but still up there. Probably wouldn't see an impact on a crowd quite yet as these folks probably had these trips planned a while ago.
 
wdwmomof3

wdwmomof3

Well-Known Member
My sister is there right now and she said that the crowds are about the same as last year.

Like you said, people who are there right now have had this planned and paid for, for a while now. I wonder what the future holds. I am planning a trip for Oct, unless we can swing it in May. :)
 
aaron2525

aaron2525

New Member
i was there last week and crowds were extremely light in the A.M, it got a bit busier during the afternoon. everything was mostly walk on all day. of course this was during the week and not the weekend.
 
raven

raven

Well-Known Member
From the look of it, nothing is going to change too much.

I think the new marketing theme for next year "What will you Celebrate?" kind of lets us know that Disney is aware of the poor economy and is doing a little something for people to help (by letting them in free on their birthday). It's also a great marketing idea because they know that guests normally will not come all the way to WDW for one day. They will most likely stay for more days and buy more tickets.
 
bigorangeandy

bigorangeandy

Well-Known Member
I don't think that the economy will have much of an impact through the end of 2008, but will show a decrease in crowd levels starting in the spring. My thoughts are that many people already have either paid most of the trip for the next few months, so they will come. I would expect to see lots of codes for rooms, and other discounts, for the 2009 bookings. The world economy is also slowing down and the euro has come down 15-20%, so folks may stay closer to home.
 
M

Mick G.

New Member
We got back last Wed Oct 8, and saw some pretty heavy crowds for October. Our second day there, Oct 3, was the only day with light crowds at the MK. And man, it was great. Space Mountain at midday was a 20 min. wait. But that was the only day we saw light crowds. One day, there was a long period of rain, and I expected to see the MK almost deserted. Wrong! It was pretty darn busy, with the exception of the Speedway, which we rode in a light drizzle.

I'm with you, I really prefer light crowds. I'm looking seriously at a short trip in Jan of 2010.

Mick
 
PintoColvig

PintoColvig

Active Member
It was pretty crowded today at the MK. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the Stock Market but after all the money I spent today, I sure do feel poorer.
 
Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
I don't see much changing right now. Maybe a year from now you'll see the impact, if any.

I for one cancelled a trip in December (it wasn't booked), and I live about 2 hours away so I'll just focus on saving gas money and taking day trips every couple of months. It's enough for me.
 
Tinkrbell

Tinkrbell

Active Member
Compared to the past few weeks, the parks do seem much busier than they have been. It is also Columbus Day weekend & some schools get long weekends. I have seen Toy Story mania with a 30 minute wait about a week ago, it was about 2 hours today when I walked past the tip board on my way to work at Fantasmic this afternoon.
 
mommytosweetpea

mommytosweetpea

New Member
We were in the parks the 5th through the 9th and they were PACKED. The wait for Toy Mania never went below an hour, same for Soarin', the Track at EPCOT, and several others. I sat and people watched for a while while my DD napped in the stroller and I watched hundreds of people pass by and I think 10 spoke English without an English accent. Our economy may be suffering but the Europeans were at Disney en masse. The UK, Germany, Ireland, etc were all very well represented at Disney last week.
 
S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
The immediate trips probably won't be affected much because they've been planned and paid for, but trips for 2009 and 2010 could see a drop off due to the economy and such. Also, folks might prefer to take shorter long weekend trips. :rolleyes:

________________________

Next Trip - January 2009

It's like coming home again......
 
hpyhnt 1000

hpyhnt 1000

Well-Known Member
Susan Savia said:
The immediate trips probably won't be affected much because they've been planned and paid for, but trips for 2009 and 2010 could see a drop off due to the economy and such. Also, folks might prefer to take shorter long weekend trips. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

There's an oxymoron if I ever saw one: a shorter long weekend trip. :lol:

At any rate, I agree completely. Expect crowds to be fairly consistent with what we've seen thorugh the holiday season. As we move into 2009 and later, I think we'll see a rather significant drop in attendance,and hopefully some good deals for Florida residents. :lookaroun
 
KC82271

KC82271

Active Member
The crowds this weekend are most likely for the Columbus Day weekend. Some schools had last Thursday for Yom Kippur, and Monday for Columbus day, so I know a few people were just pulling kids out on Friday and making a long weekend away with it.
 

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