Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Miss Bella]

I do not know about ships, but this sure sounds like cost saving?

I am not defending designers but I can see in my mind the designers presenting perfect designs and the accountants, cutting, cutting, cutting.

However this happens, its not good.

I don't think it's about cost saving. The head Imagineer had apparently never been on a cruise. The cruise is designed to make you feel like you are in a castle and not on a ship. The problem is that most people who like cruising actually like to feel like they are on a ship.

Everything faces inward and there are very few ocean views from anywhere. The shops and bars are scattered throughout the ship and the venues are small. Nothing really flows or makes sense there are a lot of dead ends. The lack of running and walking path is really bizarre. That is a huge complaint among a lot of people. Every ship has a running path. If you are not familiar with ships it's hard to explain, but layout and ease of getting around is very important on a ship. On the cruise forums, the reviews have been hit or miss, but mostly a miss.

I sailed on Odyssey of the Seas this year and knew my way around in a few hours. I was lost for the whole four days on the Wish. There are also no aft elevators on the Wish. Our room was Aft so we had to walk a mile just to get to the stairs/elevator. It's a very strange design.

 

[Miss Bella]

I would consider Cosmic Rewind a success for Disney. The last two years haven't been a complete failure.

 

[Miss Bella]

It's always leaned more toward the upper middle class than middle class. Even if not directly related to price, it still required the ability to take time off and travel, weeks possibly if you were traveling across country in a car. It was a better relationship back then between company and customer. People paid more for the product overall, and were rewarded for it with new attractions.

Then, for awhile, instead of having to save up a year to go, some people are going once a month or even once a week. Some people have turned visiting into a job that actually PAYS them money to go. Some people moved from all over the country just to be closer to a park that they could visit often.

The willingness to pay a fair price for the park experience decreased and the prices didn't scale with demand correctly.

I guess we would fall into to the upper middle class for where we live. 10 years ago a Disney vacation was a reasonably priced vacation for what it was. Honestly, it's cheaper to go to Europe or Japan now. I never thought of WDW as a bucket list vacation, but it's priced like it is.

 

[mkt]

I guess we would fall into to the upper middle class for where we live. 10 years ago a Disney vacation was a reasonably priced vacation for what it was. Honestly, it's cheaper to go to Europe or Japan now. I never thought of WDW as a bucket list vacation, but it's priced like it is.

We're local to the parks, and a week in most Western European cities would still cost us less than a week in WDW.

 

[Splash4eva]

AAA and TSA reporting that this was the busiest travel summer…ever.

…so why aren’t they showing up to their “club level” rooms at yacht club then?

Lake Buena Vista was too hot this summer. Ohhh & Taylor Swift was touring

 

[jpeden]

We ate at Jiko last night and it was probably the best meal we’ve ever had on property. Everything lived up to the hype.

Now, yesterday EPCOT was busy as expected with it being a Saturday and F&W. Busy, but not unmanageable. Hollywood Studios and AK have been easy to navigate and MK has been manageable but today will be the real test since it’s a non-party night. We are doing MK tomorrow morning as well and finishing with EPCOT Forever and another round of F&W tomorrow evening.

As two adults who are here without our kids the 2PM park hopping restriction is killing our touring style. We will be done with AK around 12 and won’t be able to go anywhere else until 2.

We are at WL and regardless of the parks, the resort feels empty.

 

[the_rich]

We ate at Jiko last night and it was probably the best meal we’ve ever had on property. Everything lived up to the hype.

Now, yesterday EPCOT was busy as expected with it being a Saturday and F&W. Busy, but not unmanageable. Hollywood Studios and AK have been easy to navigate and MK has been manageable but today will be the real test since it’s a non-party night. We are doing MK tomorrow morning as well and finishing with EPCOT Forever and another round of F&W tomorrow evening.

As two adults who are here without our kids the 2PM park hopping restriction is killing our touring style. We will be done with AK around 12 and won’t be able to go anywhere else until 2.

We are at WL and regardless of the parks, the resort feels empty.

Jiko is amazing

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We ate at Jiko last night and it was probably the best meal we’ve ever had on property. Everything lived up to the hype.

Now, yesterday EPCOT was busy as expected with it being a Saturday and F&W. Busy, but not unmanageable. Hollywood Studios and AK have been easy to navigate and MK has been manageable but today will be the real test since it’s a non-party night. We are doing MK tomorrow morning as well and finishing with EPCOT Forever and another round of F&W tomorrow evening.

As two adults who are here without our kids the 2PM park hopping restriction is killing our touring style. We will be done with AK around 12 and won’t be able to go anywhere else until 2.

We are at WL and regardless of the parks, the resort feels empty.

Jiko Is consistently good.

I’m glad for you

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We just got back from a week at Walt Disney World - thought I would chime in on crowd levels we saw

This is typically a pretty slow week as much of the country (including Florida) has gone back to school but our area (NY) hasn't yet.

Overall I would say things were pretty in line with what I would expect. Definitely not "empty" but totally manageable. We did come across some longer waits (had 57 mins for Space Mountain, about 40 and 30 minutes for two rides on the Speedway - it is my son's favorite, he rode it 5 times in total), but otherwise everything we did was under 30 mins (rode FoP later in the afternoon with 23 minute wait, rode Rise with 28 mins to first preshow - granted our DHS day was Wednesday when a Hurricane made landfall in Florida and while not a direct hit to WDW, did get a lot of rain and wind at times)

We did not get Genie+ for MK or AK. We did at DHS and EPCOT as we were "sleeping in and stacking" so took it easy in the mornings and didn't get to the parks until later and arrived with a few G+ LL in tow. We did by ILL for Tron and Guardians as well.

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and things seemed a bit slow but didn't notice any parking lots totally empty - some were pretty empty (like less than 2 dozen cars). People were getting on/off at every bus stop

We did the Halloween Party on Tuesday and on Friday, our EPCOT day, we did the Behind the Seeds tour and also were able to do a preview for Journey Of Water

 

[Miss Bella]

We're local to the parks, and a week in most Western European cities would still cost us less than a week in WDW.

When we were in Zurich which is considered one of the most expensive cities in Europe I kept telling my son when he'd look at the restaurant prices to think of it as WDW. If you can afford table service restaurants at WDW nothing is shocking. The food quality was 100 times better in Zurich.

 

[davis_unoxx]

At 3 PM in Orlando…

 

[el_super]

At 3 PM in Orlando…

Not all that weird that Labor Day would be a repeat of Labor Day. Maybe slightly disheartening to see how much people value your product, but otherwise the strategy is working. Maybe a little too well.

 

[Disstevefan1]

View attachment 740895View attachment 740896

At 3 PM in Orlando…

This is fantastic for guests! Enjoy it while it lasts.

My fear is WDW will cut staff and reduce capacity to compensate.

It tasks longer than 5 minutes to get to the loading platform of space mountain so its truly a walk on!!

 

[MadderAdder]

It’s also a party night. ^

 

[Tha Realest]

Not all that weird that Labor Day would be a repeat of Labor Day. Maybe slightly disheartening to see how much people value your product, but otherwise the strategy is working. Maybe a little too well.

The company clearly felt they were leaving money on the table given all the price increases, ILL, and variable pricing they’ve instituted over the last few years. Value requires an assessment by the customer as to the costs involved. Don’t blame the “people” for balking at the ridiculous price increases.

 

[Tha Realest]

Almost a year ago we told some school friends they should yank their kids out of school after Labor Day and do WDW then.

If this holds up they owe me a gift basket

 

[el_super]

The company clearly felt they were leaving money on the table given all the price increases, ILL, and variable pricing they’ve instituted over the last few years. Value requires an assessment by the customer as to the costs involved. Don’t blame the “people” for balking at the ridiculous price increases.

The parks are still making money, even with the lower crowds. That isn't really an issue.

I'm not really blaming people for prioritizing cheaper days. Well maybe a little.

In the past though, major Holidays like Independence Day and Labor Day were busy because those were the days people had off and wanted something to do. Now with the tiered pricing, Disney has basically convinced most of their audience to give up the convenience of going on natural holidays, and go on a day of Disney's choosing. It's really remarkable how much control Disney seems to have on their audience.

 

[the_rich]

The parks are still making money, even with the lower crowds. That isn't really an issue.

I'm not really blaming people for prioritizing cheaper days. Well maybe a little.

In the past though, major Holidays like Independence Day and Labor Day were busy because those were the days people had off and wanted something to do. Now with the tiered pricing, Disney has basically convinced most of their audience to give up the convenience of going on natural holidays, and go on a day of Disney's choosing. It's really remarkable how much control Disney seems to have on their audience.

It's also a party day.

 

[celluloid]

We may do Universal, but 2 nights tops. We aren't big looping coaster people, so that eliminates quite a few rides.

Why on earth does it close so early? Both parks close at 7!

Unlike Disney, their upkeep is pretty good and it is the slow shoulder season. Hours are limited many nights to support for the intense operation and staffing hours of the biggest Halloween event in the world. You will spend all day and get everything done with their efficiency. If you don't like looping coasters that cuts out two rides at IOA and one, if you can count a non-inverting loop as a loop at Studios, to prioritize you some time.

Universal only has two coasters that are truly inverting coasters. The Incredible Hulk Coaster and Velocicoaster. Rip Ride Rockit is three and at Studios and has a non-inverting loop where it travels and turns the outside the entire time so it is more of a constant banked turn. Still plenty to do for you guys even without those.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The parks are still making money, even with the lower crowds. That isn't really an issue.

I'm not really blaming people for prioritizing cheaper days. Well maybe a little.

In the past though, major Holidays like Independence Day and Labor Day were busy because those were the days people had off and wanted something to do. Now with the tiered pricing, Disney has basically convinced most of their audience to give up the convenience of going on natural holidays, and go on a day of Disney's choosing. It's really remarkable how much control Disney seems to have on their audience.

which is by design - they definitely want to spread the crowds more so that they are a little lower on vacation days and a little fuller on non-vacations/non-weekends ... ideally resulting in more total people and definitely more total $, but I do think they felt the most popular days were just too crowded and it was eroding the guest experience/satisfaction

maybe it worked a bit too well as far as these holiday weekends