Huge Crowds at the Magic Kingdom 3/16

[Duckberg]

SPENDING @ WDW or the lack OF

I had noticed the eerie void of Disney bags in the parks during our trip in Feb. Usually you see people carrying around bags of stuff, not so this year. I noticed this uninfluenced previous discussions, before I had even read hints of an issue on the boards.

Oh, there is a poll on the DIS about break times and this week is as popular as the week preceding Easter and President's Week. So it's not suprising that the parks are crowded.

Disboard Spring Break Poll

Times are TOUGH :lookaroun with he 2009 economy. Costing families enough to get to, get in & stay @ WDW. Park trinket sales are a BIG deal with Disney Mang. & right now those sales are NOT good :brick: Duckberg

 

[SoccerMickey]

I never carry bags I have them sent to he resort. :shrug:

True, but resort guests really only make up a small percentage of WDW park visitors where that option isn't available to a lot of guests.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

True, but resort guests really only make up a small percentage of WDW park visitors where that option isn't available to a lot of guests.

Thats odd because the earlier posts intimated that Disney was loosing out thanks to all those staying on free packages.

So I guess we can expect the parks to close down soon given all the losses its making on tickets, rooms, food and merchandise. I wonder what shareholders think of this financial suicide.

 

[SoccerMickey]

Thats odd because the earlier posts intimated that Disney was loosing out thanks to all those staying on free packages.

So I guess we can expect the parks to close down soon given all the losses its making on tickets, rooms, food and merchandise. I wonder what shareholders think of this financial suicide.

Haahaa...I don't think we're at that point yet. Its just a bad economy and Disney is just going to have to ride this wave out the best they can.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Part of the problem is consumer spending habits, but i also think a bigger problem is the lack of desirable products. There seems to be little to no merchandise for the repeat visitors - go retro, go historic, bring in CD's of old park music, videos with old ride throughs, shirts, posters, hats with old ride names and logos (Epcot) on them.

 

[TP2000]

The MK was open later on average in the 70s, 80s and 90s than it has been this decade.

ALL OF THE PARKS WERE ... this is fact.

As a West Coaster used to Disneyland operating hours where Disneyland is open until Midnight every weekend and during all peak holiday times, I look at the schedules for the Magic Kingdom and am baffled at how they get away with it.

And the Magic Kingdom has a lot fewer rides than Disneyland does, many of them major, high capacity E Tickets that are missing from the Magic Kingdom. I know the walkways are much wider at Magic Kingdom and can handle more people, but wide walkways can only keep folks entertained for so long. Eventually they want to go on rides.

You would think the theme park with fewer rides would have to stay open longer to provide enough carrying capacity, but it's actually the opposite. Disneyland has more rides and stays open later, while Magic Kingdom has fewer rides and closes earlier. How does WDW management get away with that???

 

[DizneyPryncess]

I have gone to WDW for the past 8 years in mid-march, and have never seen the parks as crowded as they were last year and this year. Last year I was there during Easter week, so I chalked it up to that. Every year previous to that though, the spring break crowds were not unbearable, they were fine.

This past week though was one of the most crowded I've ever seen at Disney. 2 and 1/2 hours for Rock n Roller Coaster, 1 and 1/2 for Tower of Terror, an hour for Great Movie Ride, and 2 hours for Toy Story Mania. Fast passes gone super early. All the other attractions were 40 minutes or more. Downtown Disney was just as bad....we could barely move in any stores or even outside of the stores. Every restaurant had crazy waits.

Our time share was sold out - every single room - which has never happened in previous years. I don't know what is going on. We asked around, and were told that Canada has a national Spring Break week, and this year it fell this week. I have no idea if that's true - I'm sure some people around here can confirm or deny that. But seriously - something was different this year. Happy for Disney though, and glad they are busy!

 

[SoccerMickey]

Part of the problem is consumer spending habits, but i also think a bigger problem is the lack of desirable products. There seems to be little to no merchandise for the repeat visitors - go retro, go historic, bring in CD's of old park music, videos with old ride throughs, shirts, posters, hats with old ride names and logos (Epcot) on them.

That's definitely been a problem for the past few years. Especially when specialty shops like Art Of Disney has been selling such bland merchandise for the past few years.

 

[RSoxNo1]

That's definitely been a problem for the past few years. Especially when specialty shops like Art Of Disney has been selling such bland merchandise for the past few years.

I bought attraction posters at the Art of Disney in December, and they don't have all of them available - I'd like to buy a poster of Big Thunder Mountain, but it's not available. I also think the print on demand feature is a no brainer to be online, yet I don't think it is.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I bought attraction posters at the Art of Disney in December, and they don't have all of them available - I'd like to buy a poster of Big Thunder Mountain, but it's not available. I also think the print on demand feature is a no brainer to be online, yet I don't think it is.

The DVDs of the parks are atrocious, and do a great job of totaly negating the magic of the place. for a multi media company Disney just isnt very good at promoting itself beyond generic TV advertising.

I would guess that a print on demand poster at A2 size would cost around $2 to produce, surely worthwhile for Disney to offer.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

The DVDs of the parks are atrocious, and do a great job of totaly negating the magic of the place. for a multi media company Disney just isnt very good at promoting itself beyond generic TV advertising.

I would guess that a print on demand poster at A2 size would cost around $2 to produce, surely worthwhile for Disney to offer.

I agree and I'm actually quite bothered by it. I used to watch them when I was bored or needed a cheer-up, but now I don't even bother. They're so commercial...not exactly for the Disney lover who always needs more.
There's one box set I like (not a free vacation planning one) and it features Walt speaking about MK and it's lands, Epcot and it's purpose, and there's also MGM and AK, but they're not as good as the other two.

They definitely do not show it's magical quality in the videos...very disappointing. If you were to watch the newer ones, you'd think Disney only had their most recent promotion, RnRC, ToT, Everest, and Space Mountain.

Not cool.

 

[Disney5Mom]

We have gone for the past 6 years during this week. (Canadian March break) and were expecting to find slightly smaller crowds this year, but we felt it was quite crowded and the hours were a little shorter than other years. Glad to hear it was not just us who felt that way. We did our best to help Disney, spent more than usual on food and shopping. We were not on the dining plan, we were on the gluttony plan!!:ROFLOL:

 

[WDW1974]

As a West Coaster used to Disneyland operating hours where Disneyland is open until Midnight every weekend and during all peak holiday times, I look at the schedules for the Magic Kingdom and am baffled at how they get away with it.

And the Magic Kingdom has a lot fewer rides than Disneyland does, many of them major, high capacity E Tickets that are missing from the Magic Kingdom. I know the walkways are much wider at Magic Kingdom and can handle more people, but wide walkways can only keep folks entertained for so long. Eventually they want to go on rides.

You would think the theme park with fewer rides would have to stay open longer to provide enough carrying capacity, but it's actually the opposite. Disneyland has more rides and stays open later, while Magic Kingdom has fewer rides and closes earlier. How does WDW management get away with that???

WDW gets away with it because of a very different audience that (largely) doesn't know any better.

When I tell people the parks were open very late (at certain times ... MK also used to have regular 6 p.m. closings somtimes for a month straight like in September or October back in the 70s/80s) it's almost like they think I'm pulling the stats out of my a$$.

I am a night owl. Vacation to me doesn't mean a wake-up call from Mickey at 5:30 a.m. It means getting out of my resort around lunchtime.

Some people like to toss out the night EMHs that are a relatively new deal (they began in either '04 or '05 I believe), but those aren't for ALL guests and they don't begin to make up all the hours that have been cut from regular operating schedules.

I remember (and have the schedules to prove it) as kid when the MK was the only park and would be open until 1 a.m. every night during summer (with 2 a.m. closings on weekends) ... or when EPCOT would have midnight and 11 p.m. closings for the ENTIRE park etc ...

In the mid-90s Disney began conditioning its guests that a breakfast with foamheads at Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace was more a part of a magical WDW vacation that nights in the parks.

~Who goes to bed by 10 on vacation?~

 

[nibblesandbits]

WDW gets away with it because of a very different audience that (largely) doesn't know any better.

When I tell people the parks were open very late (at certain times ... MK also used to have regular 6 p.m. closings somtimes for a month straight like in September or October back in the 70s/80s) it's almost like they think I'm pulling the stats out of my a$$.

I am a night owl. Vacation to me doesn't mean a wake-up call from Mickey at 5:30 a.m. It means getting out of my resort around lunchtime.

Some people like to toss out the night EMHs that are a relatively new deal (they began in either '04 or '05 I believe), but those aren't for ALL guests and they don't begin to make up all the hours that have been cut from regular operating schedules.

I remember (and have the schedules to prove it) as kid when the MK was the only park and would be open until 1 a.m. every night during summer (with 2 a.m. closings on weekends) ... or when EPCOT would have midnight and 11 p.m. closings for the ENTIRE park etc ...

In the mid-90s Disney began conditioning its guests that a breakfast with foamheads at Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace was more a part of a magical WDW vacation that nights in the parks.

~Who goes to bed by 10 on vacation?~

Unfortunately families with kids...

Not everyone who goes to Disney is a family with kids though...I'm with you...I'm a night owl...There's no way I'd get out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to go to a park...I get to the parks around noon just like you...I'm on vacation and I like my sleep...and like to stay late...

 

[Uncle Lupe]

So the EMH just gives an illusion of extended hours two days a week. When they actually cut hours short, then extend them for guests of the resort hotels making an artificial perk. Also saving operating costs and increasing the amount of people staying on property.

 

[TP2000]

I'm a night owl too, especially on vacation.

Disneyland has a "Magic Morning" for its hotel guests or multi-day ticket holders four days per week. For instance, yesterday Disneyland was open from 8:00AM to Midnight, but the Magic Morning for hotel guests and multi-day tickets opened at 7:00AM. (It is a good way to get on Peter Pan, Matterhorn, and Alice In Wonderland without much of a wait).

Then Disneyland in its entirety is open until Midnight, with Main Street USA staying open until 1:00AM for "your shopping convenience". So Disneyland sometimes has only six hours of down time between closing at 1:00AM and reopening at 7:00AM. They do this at least every weekend year round, and often seven days a week during peak holiday weeks, Christmas, Summer, etc.

If Disneyland can do that with a much older park and facilities, then certainly Magic Kingdom could do it too. I just can't figure out how they convince tourists to go back and sit in their hotel rooms at 8:00PM many months out of the year. Yeah, there's DTD or maybe a restaurant or lounge in their hotel, but Anaheim has those options too.

Are they putting something in the water in Lake Buena Vista to get the tourists to be so undemanding after the sun goes down?

 

[marsrunner]

Well, I have a family (me, 37, wife, 35, son, 14 and daughter, 5) and we were up and at the parks at opening every day on our January visit (20-27) at 9am. We were somewhat at a loss of what to do at 7pm or 8pm or 9pm when the parks closed. We prefer to get up early, take a break in the afternoon (between 1 and 3) back at the hotel then go back out for the night. I'd have much preferred the parks or at least A park being open until midnight. There were plenty of people.
When I went to Disneyland in February on a Saturday by myself, the park was open until midnight and yeah, opened at 7 for magic morning. I was there from 7am to 12am. Rode so much stuff I lost count around 50 rides. Of course, it rained all day which helped the crowds! When I went back in March to Disneyland on a Monday and Tuesday the place was still open until 10pm.
I have no idea how they get away with it in FL.

 

[TP2000]

I have no idea how they get away with it in FL.

Hey, that's my line! :lol:

But yeah, the limited operating hours of the WDW parks are totally baffling compared to Disneyland and California Adventure.

And we've really just been talking about Magic Kingdom. When I was in WDW last during the off-season, Animal Kingdom closed at 5:00PM! Heck, even California Adventure doesn't close until 6:00PM on winter weekdays. And California Adventure has more rides and attractions than Animal Kingdom or DHS, so you would think they wouldn't have to keep DCA open as late to allow folks to get enough value for their money.

For the next few weeks for spring break, California Adventure closes at 9:00PM or 10:00PM each day, with Disneyland open until Midnight. But I see Animal Kingdom and DHS closing at 7:00PM or 8:00PM those same weeks.

 

[jt04]

Hey, that's my line! :lol:

But yeah, the limited operating hours of the WDW parks are totally baffling compared to Disneyland and California Adventure.

And we've really just been talking about Magic Kingdom. When I was in WDW last during the off-season, Animal Kingdom closed at 5:00PM! Heck, even California Adventure doesn't close until 6:00PM on winter weekdays. And California Adventure has more rides and attractions than Animal Kingdom or DHS, so you would think they wouldn't have to keep DCA open as late to allow folks to get enough value for their money.

For the next few weeks for spring break, California Adventure closes at 9:00PM or 10:00PM each day, with Disneyland open until Midnight. But I see Animal Kingdom and DHS closing at 7:00PM or 8:00PM those same weeks.

That is because all the live animals at DCA have been acclimated to be awake during the evening hours. It is near hollywood after all. I really enjoy seeing the animals. I wonder if they will ever add a safari ride to DCA during the refurb? :lookaroun

 

[MousDad]

RE: Night Owl vs. Bed by 10:00

WDW is made for the hours of 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The hours of 12:00 - 5:00 pretty much suck 6 months out of the year.

12:00 - 5:00 pretty much rocks almost year round in SoCal.

I ain't sleeping in.