Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Chi84]

And the combination of the two .... People are willing to join through hoops/work for it if the cost is low/to save money ...

But charge a lot and they want it easy to execute

Also, one of the dumbest decisions I’ve ever seen was to discontinue DME. I don’t care what Disney said their research showed, it hurts families with kids who who are still in car seats. Not to mention losing some of the “bubble” feeling.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

All. Places. Run. Specials.

Stop reading so much into it. I have never paid rack rate for a Disney room except one night after midnight when I was stranded at MCO and decided to take a cab over to the All Stars.

Every year I get 25-35% off depending on the deal. Every year.

 

[Miss Bella]

Well if that’s truly the case, by all means make sure you continue to spend all of your time on a forum devoted to the very place you hate. And while you are there, definitely make sure you start arguments with as many people as you can, and then act the victim when those other folks put you in your proper place.

LOL

 

[Trauma]

All. Places. Run. Specials.

Stop reading so much into it. I have never paid rack rate for a Disney room except one night after midnight when I was stranded at MCO and decided to take a cab over to the All Stars.

Every year I get 25-35% off depending on the deal. Every year.

What I am reading into is lentesta saying he believes attendance is down 15%.

Discounts are just corroborating evidence.

 

[Miss Bella]

When we went to Disneyland in September, we were extremely concerned that we were not going to be able to navigate or handle Genie+. It turned out to be a non issue. It was very user friendly, at least for Disneyland and we did not have one single problem…..unless you consider having to pay $25 each for front of line to Rise of the Resistance. Yeah, that was a problem but it was the only way for us to get on without a four hour wait. Other than that, everything was fine.

I felt like it worked better at Disneyland too. I think it has to do the number of rides crammed into two parks.

 

[JusticeDisney]

LOL

Great response. So predictable.

 

[Miss Bella]

All. Places. Run. Specials.

Stop reading so much into it. I have never paid rack rate for a Disney room except one night after midnight when I was stranded at MCO and decided to take a cab over to the All Stars.

Every year I get 25-35% off depending on the deal. Every year.

2022 was a year with very few discounts. Other than that one year I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t something. We rented points in 2022 there really wasn’t anything close to 35% off.

 

[Miss Bella]

I think the high cost of WDW is definitely costing them attendance. But if I had to pick one thing that people dislike even more than the cost, it’s the complexity.

Our last few visits with Genie+/ILL were a pain to navigate - and we had to pay extra for it. One of the main draws of Disney was its all-inclusive feel and that’s gone now.

It’s not just high costs it’s the economy overall. No one minded the costs when they were getting all those stimulus checks from the government. Credit card debt is at all time high. A lot of people are getting squeezed by inflation. The first thing people cut out is vacations. It’s not going to be WDW that suffers. I’m sure complexity is an issue for people that can still afford to go along with all the other cutbacks you mentioned in your previous post.

 

[Fordlover]

I think the high cost of WDW is definitely costing them attendance. But if I had to pick one thing that people dislike even more than the cost, it’s the complexity.

Our last few visits with Genie+/ILL were a pain to navigate - and we had to pay extra for it. One of the main draws of Disney was its all-inclusive feel and that’s gone now.

Very well said. I think for many it is the value proposition. I don't mind the cost and we are fortunate enough to be able to absorb a near 5 digit vacation to WDW without putting it on a credit card. But I want to feel like the juice is worth the squeeze, and it seems like WDC has gone to great lengths to diminish the experience/value while skyrocketing the price.

As people see the value proposition changes, complaints get louder.

It just so happens I just finished booking our first trip to Orlando that didn't include a WDW park/property. And 3 years ago I would have never believed that to be a reality, and yes, I'm in mourning.

 

[Drdcm]

All. Places. Run. Specials.

Stop reading so much into it. I have never paid rack rate for a Disney room except one night after midnight when I was stranded at MCO and decided to take a cab over to the All Stars.

Every year I get 25-35% off depending on the deal. Every year.

I agree about the discounts. I generally got 30% off rooms pretty much every trip up until around 2018. Mouse savers has a list of historical discounts and it’s not that different from what I can tell.

That being said, it seems like they might have an issue attracting people to the hotels since they are shuttering entire sections of resorts.

They don’t announce this stuff, so who knows…? It’ll be interesting what they have to say during the next earnings call.

 

[Disstevefan1]

All. Places. Run. Specials.

Stop reading so much into it. I have never paid rack rate for a Disney room except one night after midnight when I was stranded at MCO and decided to take a cab over to the All Stars.

Every year I get 25-35% off depending on the deal. Every year.

Agreed, other than the last moment room like this, the only time folks pay rack price is when there is a "free dining" offer. Apparently its coming back?

 

[GhostHost1000]

the history of discounts you can find, but what we don't see is how many more rooms they have allocated for the discounted rates now.

 

[Drdcm]

the history of discounts you can find, but what we don't see is how many more rooms they have allocated for the discounted rates now.

Good point

 

[HauntedPirate]

the history of discounts you can find, but what we don't see is how many more rooms they have allocated for the discounted rates now.

That's kind of the point I was going to make. Room discounts may have been available, but you may have had to be one of the first 50 callers for each resort to get one (I'm not saying that was the case, it's just to make the point). Similar, yes, from the standpoint that there were room discounts available, but hardly a comparable situation to what they are running now.

 

[Drdcm]

It’s interesting… I have a short trip coming up and realized I get a floating holiday. I tried to change my reservation to extend my stay but there are no longer rooms available at PoP, where the rest of my family is staying. If I want to split the stay into two resorts it’s full rack rate… which I’m not going to do.

Their business process makes no sense. I’m not going to pay $380 a night for Port Orleans.

They get nothing extra from me…

 

[wannabeBelle]

It’s interesting… I have a short trip coming up and realized I get a floating holiday. I tried to change my reservation to extend my stay but there are no longer rooms available at PoP, where the rest of my family is staying. If I want to split the stay into two resorts it’s full rack rate… which I’m not going to do.

Their business process makes no sense. I’m not going to pay $380 a night for Port Orleans.

They get nothing extra from me…

I'd check with the guys a little further up on I4 to see what they have. I love several of their higher end value hotels. Marie

 

[Drdcm]

I'd check with the guys a little further up on I4 to see what they have. I love several of their higher end value hotels. Marie

I would, but most of the rides there make me motion sick

 

[Bocabear]

Wow...$380 for Port Orleans.... You can probably get a cheaper room at the Dolphin...I know in the past, I have gotten a better rate at the Dolphin than any of the moderate hotels.... and speaking of Moderate Hotels, how is $380/nt moderate?? I guess it goes with the $279 value resorts...lol YIkes!

 

[wannabeBelle]

I would, but most of the rides there make me motion sick

I understand, it isnt something that affects me but the hotels are still really nice. Check out Sapphire Falls or Aventura, might be worth it to commute. I have done that as well. Marie

 

[Gearbm95]

See everyone complaining about high prices on here, thought I’d give you guys a quick breakdown of the costs for our trip in a couple weeks…

11/16-20 - 7 adults
$1300 ($425/per room)- Lodging - 4BR luxury home in Celebration w/private hot tub (2.4 miles from MK).
$175 - Epcot ticket
$201 - MK Christmas party ticket
$250 - Universal Orlando Informer Meetup ticket (unlimited food/drinks and no ride lines)
$560 ($80/person) - SUV Rental

Visiting Disney as an adult, with an all-adult group makes it muchhhhh more affordable, and probably more relaxing tbh. Each of us will hit three parks (two exclusive parties) and stay in luxury accommodations with a car to get around, all for about $1k a person. Truly that’s not that bad compared to places like Vegas and NYC.