Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Weather_Lady]

…Rochester is lovely

I’m a loyal wegmans shopper…but they have really cheapened their store and charged astronomical prices out of Covid.

It looks very budget and that’s not their lane.

Reminds me of wdw merch shops in many ways

True.

And whether it's a superlative grocery store or a superlative theme park, when the "best" gets a little too full of itself and starts charging way more for way less, many of their more discerning consumers will start to drift elsewhere... in my family's case, that's meant fewer and shorter trips to WDW over the past few years (with no others planned for the future), with more jaunts to Universal Orlando, luxury VRBOs in the Adirondacks, and weekends in Niagara Falls, Boston or NYC... to stretch the metaphor to its breaking point, those destinations are now the Aldis and Walmart Supercenters of our vacation life.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Sure.

It’s living the dream…

But a word of caution: if you go too much, after they leave that 5 year window - they’re gonna want to go back and you’ll need a loan.

Interest rates are high

 

[networkpro]

For $1299+ tax a year

but the latest one is Sparkly and at 570-740 per 5 day park hopper, it doesnt take much of a vacation to reach that number.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

but the latest one is Sparkly and at 570-740 per 5 day park hopper, it doesnt take much of a vacation to rach that number.

$750 for a hopper…that is just nonsense math

 

[JD80]

Double the price of 5 years ago isn’t “free anything”

Hate to pop your balloon there

You don't actually read anything you reply to do you?

 

[networkpro]

$750 for a hopper…that is just nonsense math

I actually had to do a doubletake when I passed in front of one of the Epcot ticket booths in front of Epcot OTW to the tapstyles when they showed the current prices, it sunk in right then and there that we were doing ok based on the way we do Disney trips.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You don't actually read anything you reply to do you?

You mean when you went all in depth on how “great” the math was and 1000 casually pointed out it only applies to a small segment of the customers and the rest get the full Monty treatment?

You’re right…I totally missed the gist

 

[JD80]

You mean when you went all in depth on how “great” the math was and 1000 casually pointed out it only applies to a small segment of the customers and the rest get the full Monty treatment?

You’re right…I totally missed the gist

Ok, so you didn't read it then.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Ok, so you didn't read it then.

Oh but I did…

You gotta multitask…

But I know: “what a tremendous deal!!! MORE MAGIC!!!”

 

[GhostHost1000]

Oh but I did…

You gotta multitask…

But I know: “what a tremendous deal!!! MORE MAGIC!!!”

FREE DINING IS BACK!... oh wait

 

[JD80]

FREE DINING IS BACK!... oh wait

It's basically free dining from a cost perspective for families with kids under 10.

 

[Touchdown]

For $1299+ tax a year

$825 for a 15 month renewal of Universals top of the line 3 park pass. Signed up for that right away, WDW is going away in March for me.

 

[fgmnt]

What’s the biggest lever?

I would say very obvious moves in ticketing. Selling the Florida APs outside of Florida/DVC would be pretty big imo. lowering the deltas on additional days and upgrades on tickets. Eschewing/diluting annual increases.

 

[Lilofan]

FREE DINING IS BACK!... oh wait

I love free dining especially when someone else is paying for the check.

 

[muddyrivers]

Magic Kingdom was PACKED today, which I'm guessing is due to Fall Break and/or early Columbus Day Weekend? Was not expecting it and wait times for rides were inflated due to TRON and several other heavy hitters being down for a little while this morning. When I left the parks about 1.5 hours ago, even rides like Under the Sea and It's a Small World were at a 60 minute wait :O

 

[HauntedPirate]

I would say very obvious moves in ticketing. Selling the Florida APs outside of Florida/DVC would be pretty big imo. lowering the deltas on additional days and upgrades on tickets. Eschewing/diluting annual increases.

It's fine, they just raised food prices so they can afford to let the plebs in on (slightly) cheaper tickets.

 

[Andrew25]

Magic Kingdom was PACKED today, which I'm guessing is due to Fall Break and/or early Columbus Day Weekend? Was not expecting it and wait times for rides were inflated due to TRON and several other heavy hitters being down for a little while this morning. When I left the parks about 1.5 hours ago, even rides like Under the Sea and It's a Small World were at a 60 minute wait :O

It's artificial. It's October now, so there are only 3 nights a week for fireworks while the other nights MK closes early at 6.

So basically packing an entire week worth's of guests into 3 days (roughly - don't take the math seriously lol)

 

[Grimley1968]

Magic Kingdom was PACKED today, which I'm guessing is due to Fall Break and/or early Columbus Day Weekend? Was not expecting it and wait times for rides were inflated due to TRON and several other heavy hitters being down for a little while this morning. When I left the parks about 1.5 hours ago, even rides like Under the Sea and It's a Small World were at a 60 minute wait :O

It is at least partially due to Fall Break probably. I know a ton of school systems locally have theirs this week and next. But in my experience going this time of year in the past, it didn't get really packed until the second weekend of Fall Break, which coincides with Columbus Day weekend. Generally it seems that the school systems that have Fall Break do not observe Columbus Day, but those with no Fall Break do observe Columbus Day. So this coming weekend will often combine both types of school schedules having time off.

 

[flynnibus]

Have they ever lowered the ticket prices? It seems like the move is to just offer discounts or promotions off of existing prices/rack rates.

I also feel the flurry of promotions and limited availability with some of them create a confusing and frustrating impediment to people booking these trips.

Only to the pros who are trying to optimize... to the general audience it looks like any other kind of Sale promotion. "Get 50% off..." hooks them in and then they look at the fine print of when and on what.

This is the kind of stuff they can run in Media ads, etc and drive interest.

Promos are always the better way to handle negative price pressure as they are easily modified and short term... plus people think they are getting a deal.

Plus in Disney terms - "lowering prices" just means slow or delay a price increase. Same effect... just less marketable.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It's artificial. It's October now, so there are only 3 nights a week for fireworks while the other nights MK closes early at 6.

So basically packing an entire week worth's of guests into 3 days (roughly - don't take the math seriously lol)

It is at least partially due to Fall Break probably. I know a ton of school systems locally have theirs this week and next. But in my experience going this time of year in the past, it didn't get really packed until the second weekend of Fall Break, which coincides with Columbus Day weekend. Generally it seems that the school systems that have Fall Break do not observe Columbus Day, but those with no Fall Break do observe Columbus Day. So this coming weekend will often combine both types of school schedules having time off.

I think it is a combination of these - I do know a lot of people on fall break that have traveled to Florida so I think overall attendance is up a bit, BUT the fact MK feel packed is due to the limited nights to see the fireworks - I saw some photos of EPCOT today and it looked rather empty (as a counter point)