That is because the first half was Eisner's tired years which had a few big projects left. Mission Space, Everest, Toy Story Mania and then Iger which had nothing of note in E Tickets for a good while until Fantasyland expansion.If we want to degrade the mid-2000's to like 2015, then we can. I agree with that period being pretty awful aside from EE. That includes the early part of the decade I gave, which still ends up looking pretty decent.
Again, let us ask, should the rate of E tickets be less across four theme parks between 3 in 1998?