Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Splash4eva]

Yes, but normal adult thinking includes "ok, you can't get what you REALLY wanted.. so what else should we consider?"

I mean, I wanted a 911 turbo s... My wife baulked... I didn't just NOT buy a car because I couldn't get what I wanted... I went to option 2, etc.

It's kinda pointless to highlight "do what you want"... obviously, no one picks a vacation by starting with where they don't want to be. Adulting includes considering more than one factor and more than one choice. The vast majority of the population are not in the situation where they can pick solely on 'what they want'

Point im trying to make and not looking to argue with you is this… when choosing a vacation there should be plenty of realistic places one can consider in a price range not a “value” range. And if that means going for say a day or 2 less or staying at maybe a lesser hotel or whatever that should be all that matters.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Ya know what else is nice about a cruise, little to ZERO stress compared to a WDW vacay

unless you are an uber planner like me (I have spreadsheets for when I need to travel to the kitchen) - it took me 3 days before I figured out how to relax and was super stressed .... but once I did adjust it was lovely

 

[flynnibus]

Point im trying to make and not looking to argue with you is this… when choosing a vacation there should be plenty of realistic places one can consider in a price range not a “value” range. And if that means going for say a day or 2 less or staying at maybe a lesser hotel or whatever that should be all that matters.

Sure.. but I think the other poster was highlighting that eventually the cons or tradeoffs exceed the pros and someone just opts out. They don't see "the value" anymore. Be it simple cost/gain or gain/pain.. or anything inbetween. It's not really a question of "want".

I mean... I've been a lifelong fan of the parks. But I have zero motivation to try to book a trip to visit right now. I mean.. I could decide on a whim to buy 2 weeks of club level access at GF and just go... I could do it without breaking a sweat... but I won't. I won't even consider the absurd prices they want to charge for those hotels period. I think the prices they are charging vs what they are offering is insulting. I've watched the product decline while prices soar. I'm at the point in my life where I want to be catered TO when vacationing, not put through a gauntlet of steps and tasks just to reach my goal of being entertained. And then be told to pay more on top of all that? Heck no. All that is completely BACKWARDS to me.

The vacation kingdom is dead. It's now just "Disney's Collection of Theme Parks and Restaurants".

The spontaneity is dead. The industry differentiators are dead. The service is no longer memorable. It's no longer stand out and I'm not going to be gouged every step of the way for just average stuff.

People change.. perspectives expand.. so it's not just all the product. But I don't find Disney doing the right things these days to try to convince me of change.

Next trip will maybe be DLR if I can convince the wife to go back... just because DLR has the theme park experience so nailed. WDW as a vacation spot is a big waste. I've enjoyed my quick visits when in the area of late, but less inclined to base a full vacation around it.

 

[Nubs70]

According to someone I know who just came back from 2 weeks in Europe, I hear it requires a buggy ride and about 50 Euro.

You can walk, go by shuttle, or buggy. Buggy is 12€ pp, 8€ up/4€ down. Guess you get a discount for gravity.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

And once they do, now knowing what is out there and what else is available to see and do, Disney may not become the easy answer for the family vacations year after year. I'm not saying people wont ever go back to Disney, but it may be a once in a while trip in between other options. Marie

In our case we often combine Disney with our real world trips, on our next trip we’re doing Norway via DCL and spending a day or 2 at DLP while in France, etc.

It’s disappointing they closed the Disney stores because we used to enjoy searching them out and getting country or city specific souvenirs on our travels.

We spend less time at DL and WDW but we find it’s pretty easy to still get our Disney fix even outside the parks.

 

[LSLS]

If they wanted the parks full, they could drop the price tomorrow. That's not what they want.

It's not about having the parks be full... it's about maximizing the amount they get from each guest.

It seems like ancient history now, but these comments were coming at a time that they were ripping out trees and planters and widening walkways at Disneyland, in order to make room for the suspected 200k+ onslaught of guests coming for Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. Guests that were, paying the bare minimum to get in via annual passes. Guests that were causing the lines to swell and become unbearable and lower the satisfaction rating of the people who were paying the most.

Doing what you can to make the people willing to pay the most, happier, is capitalism at work.

If that was the case they would lower the attendance caps too. If you think the goal of disney was for me to show up at DHS after we ate lunch, ride every single ride, and get out before its time for dinner on the 4th of July, I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree on what Disney wants out of their parks.

 

[JD80]

Universal now has a "Buy 2 days, get 3 free" ticket deal. Just sayin'.

This is how WDW gets me to book.

 

[bjlc57]

well here is the BIG DEAL.. the DISNEY CONTROLLER STATED : we are going to raise the prices to get the crowds to come down.. this is documented.. well guess what SOME ONE GOT THEIR WISH.. Wishes do come true at WDW.. and now I hope that they are all happy..

 

[bjlc57]

Harrison Ford salary for #5 was $25M. He's laughing all the way to the bank, not a bad payday for 80 year old actor.

if you think that this is big.. wait until the Disney /Marvel staff calls Robert Downey jr and says.. SAVE THE WORLD SAVE THE FRANCHISE.. Please be IRON MAN AGAIN for close to $250 Million in cold hard cash.. and he will take their second offer.. which probably means giving him half of epcot.. ( LOL that last part is a joke kids..)

 

[wannabeBelle]

 

[JoeCamel]

This is how WDW gets me to book.

By having Universal offer free days?

 

[Lilofan]

if you think that this is big.. wait until the Disney /Marvel staff calls Robert Downey jr and says.. SAVE THE WORLD SAVE THE FRANCHISE.. Please be IRON MAN AGAIN for close to $250 Million in cold hard cash.. and he will take their second offer.. which probably means giving him half of epcot.. ( LOL that last part is a joke kids..)

RDJr already earned $435M from the Marvel Franchise playing Iron Man. Not bad for the Disney Legend former jail bird/ drug addict whose go-to meal every time after being released from prison is In-N-Out.

 

[Piebald]

Anywho, there's also this

 

[GhostHost1000]

Anywho, there's also this View attachment 728724

No shock there. Trends aren’t good

 

[JD80]

By having Universal offer free days?

If WDW ever had a deal like that, I'd book a WDW trip. The main cost prohibitor for my family of 5 is park tickets.

I just did some spreadsheeting for tickets. I'm comparing Nov 15th 2023 tickets to some pricing in August 2019. I picked random days and found whatever number I could quickly find for 2019.

Inflation

1.19​

Family of

4​

2023 vs 2019

Days

2023

Savings

Cost per Trip

Cost per Family

2019

Savings

Cost per Trip

Cost per Family

Cost Per Day

Per Trip

Cost Per Family

1​

$144​

$144​

$576​

$130​

$130​

$519​

$14​

$14​

$57​

2​

$147​

-$3​

$294​

$1,176​

$127​

$2​

$255​

$1,019​

$20​

$39​

$157​

3​

$147​

$0​

$441​

$1,764​

$124​

$4​

$371​

$1,485​

$23​

$70​

$279​

4​

$146​

$1​

$584​

$2,336​

$120​

$4​

$481​

$1,923​

$26​

$103​

$413​

5​

$132​

$14​

$660​

$2,640​

$99​

$21​

$494​

$1,975​

$33​

$166​

$665​

6​

$116​

$16​

$696​

$2,784​

$83​

$15​

$500​

$1,999​

$33​

$196​

$785​

7​

$104​

$12​

$728​

$2,912​

$73​

$11​

$508​

$2,033​

$31​

$220​

$879​

8​

$95​

$9​

$760​

$3,040​

$67​

$6​

$533​

$2,132​

$28​

$227​

$908​

9​

$86​

$9​

$774​

$3,096​

$61​

$6​

$546​

$2,185​

$25​

$228​

$911​

10​

$79​

$7​

$790​

$3,160​

$56​

$5​

$559​

$2,237​

$23​

$231​

$923​

 

[networkpro]

RDJr already earned $435M from the Marvel Franchise playing Iron Man. Not bad for the Disney Legend former jail bird/ drug addict whose go-to meal every time after being released from prison is In-N-Out.

Former is the operative word. He's had his struggles and helped his son, Indio, overcome the same addictive behavior as well. Now if someone could help Disney overcome its immediate profit gratification problems they could hopefully recover from the spiral they are in.

 

[eliza61nyc]

We have talked for decades on these boards about a breaking point; prices getting too high for everything at WDW. Maybe they are starting to feel this?

Another reason could be folks are holding off their visit to central FL until EPIC Universe is open?

I wish I had a dollar for every time we've predicted Disney's implosion.

 

[JD80]

Just for fun:

How to read: Buying a ticket at 2023 prices and get 1-9 free compared to full price ticket package in 2019

So buy 4 tickets get 1 free today would cost $584, in 2019 5 tickets cost $494 which means you're spending $90 MORE TODAY with that deal than you would have in 2019 with no deal

 

[Thepuma]

Just for fun:
View attachment 728729

How to read: Buying a ticket at 2023 prices and get 1-9 free compared to full price ticket package in 2019

So buy 4 tickets get 1 free today would cost $584, in 2019 5 tickets cost $494 which means you're spending $90 MORE TODAY with that deal than you would have in 2019 with no deal

That's classic Disney tho isn't it. Make you believe you're getting a deal but cloak and dagger actually blatantly ripping the customer off.

Like G+....Make out its an amazing new thing and therefore charge $15....Then once everyone has suckered dit up and got used to that rip off (numb to the con)...THEN raise it to $30 .....People then almost get numb to that and they then advertise they are slashing the price of G+ to $17 if you only go to AK or EP !!!! When the reality is...youre charging everyone $2 more to only be able to use the G+ in AK....if you park hop like most do, the price has doubled!!! Yet the (not so) clever people at Disney Market it as a huge price decrease. You just couldn't make it up.

The G+ Park hopper doubling of price is the final straw for me....they just think they can push ripping people off further and further and unfortunately, in my instance, I refuse to go to Orlando again after my September holiday.

I've had some amazing times for sure, buy enoughs enough..I need to look elsewhere for holidays from January...Tokyo is first and then touring the theme parks of Europe.

 

[monothingie]

Anywho, there's also this View attachment 728724

No shock there. Trends aren’t good

Pull the lever Josh!

It's going to be hilarious when Josh gets scapegoated for the Disney Parks disaster. Of course, he's not entirely blameless so I'm not upset.