Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

el_super

Well-Known Member
I survived the brutal layoffs only to get added workload without increase in pay ...

Yep. Same thing happened to me.

That’s my entire point! My god. I never should have engaged.

Then why did you conflate the two different points?

The changes to the experience that you are sure people notice, don't have as much of an impact on attendance as external factors like the economy. Disney isn't discounting because people can't figure out how to get an Uber or are suddenly bored with Haunted Mansion. Their core experience is pretty much the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago.
 

Drdcm

Well-Known Member
Yep. Same thing happened to me.



Then why did you conflate the two different points?

The changes to the experience that you are sure people notice, don't have as much of an impact on attendance as external factors like the economy. Disney isn't discounting because people can't figure out how to get an Uber or are suddenly bored with Haunted Mansion. Their core experience is pretty much the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago.
Nope I’m done. I tried really hard to be nice and to see your point of view.
 

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
Decline in Guest Satisfaction? So what reputable source are you using to come to that conclusion?

Do you think everyone is/was happy with:

Park Reservations
No park hopping until after 2
No sale of annual passes for awhile
No dining plan
Removal of magical express
Removal of free fastpass
No free magic bands for onsite guests
Paying and using Genie+
Paying for ILLs
7am G+, ILL, VQ lottery games
Removal of parades in all 4 theme parks except for 1
Removal of the night show at AK
Removal of extra magic hours for all
No expansions announced/in the works
Massive price increase trends
Decline in food quality/menu choices
Decline in show quality/upkeep/etc
Decline in ride maintenance/uptime
Etc…

I could keep going but I’d be here all night. Others feel free to add what I’ve missed
 
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el_super

Well-Known Member
Do you think everyone is/was happy with:

I don't think most of that matters all that much when people plan a vacation there.

How many of these things have been around for years and people are still booking trips and having fun?

Here we are ... some two years into reservations and Genie+ and yeah... they're sticking around.

They do need to get to announcing new attractions soon though.
 

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
I don't think most of that matters all that much when people plan a vacation there.

How many of these things have been around for years and people are still booking trips and having fun?

Here we are ... some two years into reservations and Genie+ and yeah... they're sticking around.

They do need to get to announcing new attractions soon though.
Of course…it doesn’t matter 🤦🏼‍♂️

and if you think G+ and park reservations are still around because guests are enjoying it you’re more blinded than I thought.
 

el_super

Well-Known Member
and if you think G+ and park reservations are still around because guests are enjoying it you’re more blinded than I thought.

You know there are options between enjoying something and hating something right?
Most people probably don't care at all. They do not think about the particulars of booking a trip and planning it out. They just want to go and have fun.

Did you find that article that detailed how the guest satisfaction numbers were declining? I'd love to see it.
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
Do you think everyone is/was happy with:

Park Reservations
No park hopping until after 2
No sale of annual passes for awhile
No dining plan
Removal of magical express
Removal of free fastpass
No free magic bands for onsite guests
Paying and using Genie+
Paying for ILLs
7am G+, ILL, VQ lottery games
Removal of parades in all 4 theme parks except for 1
Removal of the night show at AK
Removal of extra magic hours for all
No expansions announced/in the works
Massive price increase trends
Decline in food quality/menu choices
Decline in show quality/upkeep/etc
Decline in ride maintenance/uptime
Etc…

I could keep going but I’d be here all night. Others feel free to add what I’ve missed
I probably agree with your overall sentiment, but this list feels like it kind of intentionally misrepresents the situation. It’s a mixture of legitimate cuts, temporary pandemic-era restrictions (some of which hung around far too long), replacements for existing systems, perks that were modified in some way instead of being thrown out entirely, etc.
 

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
You know there are options between enjoying something and hating something right?
Most people probably don't care at all. They do not think about the particulars of booking a trip and planning it out. They just want to go and have fun.

Did you find that article that detailed how the guest satisfaction numbers were declining? I'd love to see it.
If you think most people don’t care at all about any of that stuff I don’t know what else to tell you.

…and I don’t need an article. I’ve been. A lot. Many many years. As have others on here. We are not blind.
 

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
I probably agree with your overall sentiment, but this list feels like it kind of intentionally misrepresents the situation. It’s a mixture of legitimate cuts, temporary pandemic-era restrictions (some of which hung around far too long), replacements for existing systems, perks that were modified in some way instead of being thrown out entirely, etc.
None of those changes had to be done because of the pandemic.

They just used it as an excuse to.
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
Ok so remove 3 of them that fall into that category of back or coming back. None of that had to be done because of the pandemic either. They just used it as an excuse to.
You also have things like “no EMH for all” in there without the context of what replaced it. It’s more limited in terms of access, but for those with it, the current experience is probably leagues better. It was for me, anyway.

Also, it is silly to claim that some of the pandemic cuts were unnecessary when they are still desperate to fill some roles.
 

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
You also have things like “no EMH for all” in there without the context of what replaced it. It’s more limited in terms of access, but for those with it, the current experience is probably leagues better. It was for me, anyway.

Also, it is silly to claim that some of the pandemic cuts were unnecessary when they are still desperate to fill some roles.
Just curious, what pandemic cuts do you think were necessary.
 

Dranth

Well-Known Member
Do you think everyone is/was happy with:
Park Reservations - Gone for almost everyone in a few months and I would bet eventually for AP as well.
No park hopping until after 2 - Gone soon.
No sale of annual passes for awhile - No longer an issue.
No dining plan - Is a good thing, dinning plan = lower quality food and less choices in my opinion. I do know a lot of people like it though so hopefully they bring it back in a way where it doesn't impact those of us who don't use it.
Removal of magical express - Stinks they got rid of it and they should bring this back.
Removal of free fastpass - I was all for FP+ but it really created a mess of unhappy people who didn't go regularly.
No free magic bands for onsite guests - They should go back to offering the basic colors at least.
Genie+ - Is better than FP+ for me and the way I do the parks but I get why people don't like it. Hopefully upcoming changes improve it for everyone.
ILLs - Stink and should be removed
Removal of parades in all 4 theme parks except for 1 - Needs to be addressed.
Removal of the night show at AK - What was there wasn't great but agreed, they need something here. Bring on the drone show!
Removal of extra magic hours for all - Doesn't bother me but I get why people miss it. I do wish they would switch the 1/2 hour to 1 hour if they keep what they are doing.
No expansions announced/in the works - They are in the works, just not announced. That was the whole reason to bring Bruce back.
Massive price increase trends - Stinks but is not wildly out of line with other theme parks in the area.
Decline in food quality - It has been getting better but still has a ways to go.
Decline in show quality/upkeep/etc - Has marginally improved but has a way to go.
Decline in ride maintenance/uptime - They need to do better.

I could keep going but I’d be here all night. Others feel free to add what I’ve missed
I know we all wish they would adjust quicker but if you compare today to a year ago there has been some improvements and progress. That trend needs to continue and we should call them out when they don't address issues but we should also acknowledge when they fix something as well.
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
Just curious, what pandemic cuts do you think were necessary.
They had to decide where to allocate resources and had to ensure that park attendance was appropriately limited to meet distancing standards. I suppose in isolation they could have chosen to more fully staff one area over another, so no specific cut was strictly necessary; still, you didn’t have the staff to operate everything as normal.

And again, I generally agree with you, I just think that in the sense that you were responding to questions of guest satisfaction, it’s easy to see why some of the decisions wouldn’t have impacted GSAT as much as they might have normally (or at all, really) because they happened at a time when the excuse was broadly accepted and people were just happy to get back.
 

Grimley1968

Well-Known Member
Do you think everyone is/was happy with:

Park Reservations
No park hopping until after 2
No sale of annual passes for awhile
No dining plan
Removal of magical express
Removal of free fastpass
No free magic bands for onsite guests
Paying and using Genie+
Paying for ILLs
7am G+, ILL, VQ lottery games
Removal of parades in all 4 theme parks except for 1
Removal of the night show at AK
Removal of extra magic hours for all
No expansions announced/in the works
Massive price increase trends
Decline in food quality/menu choices
Decline in show quality/upkeep/etc
Decline in ride maintenance/uptime
Etc…

I could keep going but I’d be here all night. Others feel free to add what I’ve missed

So this would be a list of “experience detractors”, right? :)

I have a couple to add, plus one “experience addition”:

- Removal of parking lot trams. Not having them 2 years post pandemic for 2 of the parks was inexcusable
- Removal of complimentary resort parking for a while. I bet the reprieve in charging for that is temporary

The “experience addition”, IMO, is the Skyliner. As much as I heap scorn on WDW these days, the Skyliner was a home run. It doesn’t come close to tipping the scales in a positive direction for the overall experience, but it’s a nice touch.
 

el_super

Well-Known Member
If you think most people don’t care at all about any of that stuff I don’t know what else to tell you.

So how long have the reservations been around for? 1 year? 2 years? You really think there are people out there today still booking a trip that don't know about the park reservations?

And what percentage of guests do you think this was really impacting anyway? Starting in January, people booking trips where the dates are known, won't need to click on the extra screen to make a reservation because it will be built into their ticket. You think there is a large collection of people who still have unused tickets in their closet shoe box that are put off that they have to pick a reservation date in order to go?

Who is this still impacting?
 

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Fair enough. Some restaurants have gone downhill IMO (cough cough California grill). But some of the Disney springs places are awesome. I like the new bbq place in Epcot. And the place in pandora at AK. I suppose I have spots I legitimately enjoy at all parks, so I might not be noticing decline elsewhere.
Some don’t know that the fast food at WDW used to be terrible in the 1970s and 1980s. They took steps to improve it, and then it slipped a bit, but WDW fast food today is still better than the early days.

As you suggest, the Pandora and BBQ Quick Service restaurants today are as good as any Quick Service restaurant in the past.
 

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
So how long have the reservations been around for? 1 year? 2 years? You really think there are people out there today still booking a trip that don't know about the park reservations?

And what percentage of guests do you think this was really impacting anyway? Starting in January, people booking trips where the dates are known, won't need to click on the extra screen to make a reservation because it will be built into their ticket. You think there is a large collection of people who still have unused tickets in their closet shoe box that are put off that they have to pick a reservation date in order to go?

Who is this still impacting?
You still don’t get it…but that’s ok. Iger needs cheerleaders when he’s behind on the scoreboard.
 

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