Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Lilofan]

2022 was the last of the "pent-up demand" for travel. 2023 was the return to the norm, so to speak. Except people started staying away from WDW for some reason...

Rumor has it UOR is going to try and use ticketing options as the way to keep people on-site as long as they can when Epic Universe opens. Whether or not it's successful is, obviously, the billion dollar question.

If Universal goes the route of 3 day minimum ticket and not a 1 day ticket route that is a roll the dice gamble on the Epic opening. I'm betting that it will blow up in their face if Uni goes the minimum 3 day ticket route.

 

[JD80]

Epic is probably very concerned about cannibalizing their other parks.

 

[Nubs70]

Just putting some info of temps over the last 50 years so we can discuss heat with data.

View attachment 799286View attachment 799288View attachment 799289
View attachment 799290View attachment 799291

Where is the weather station located?

 

[JD80]

Where is the weather station located?

Grabbed it from here:

Orlando, FL Weather History | Weather Underground

 

[JoeCamel]

Grabbed it from here:

Orlando, FL Weather History | Weather Underground

1990 was a very strange year

 

[Grimley1968]

1990 was a very strange year

That was the summer that the airport weather station was repeatedly mistaken for the airport fridge’s ice maker mechanism and placed inside the freezer, then quickly removed.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Of course Orlando has always been hot. I think crowd patterns have shifted. January and February are basically slammed compared to before. Apparently people have less issue pulling their kids out of school for a few days than in the past. And of course, unless you’re dead set on swimming which it can occasionally be a bit chilly for, January February are much better weather for the most part.

It’s not so much that it hasn’t always been hot. I think people are just choosing to avoid it more because it’s not easy to have fun when you are dripping in sweat by 9am.

Nothing has been “slammed” for a couple of years going…
It’s an overall decline with slides across the board. Because some are bigger than others doesn’t make any of them “good”

 

[celluloid]

1990 was a very strange year

That cycle was odd in Christmas of 1989. Coldest Christmas week on Record until 2011 very briefly when it got freezing.


It was a lot easier to have fun when it was 90 to 110 degrees and you are dripping sweat, when you can avoid it quicker by getting in an AC queue or enjoying more attractions/venues without the stress that modern and lesser quality WDW provides.

Rainy days used to be a lot more fun too.

 

[spresso81]

The MCO weather station is interesting because how much has MCO grown since the 1970s. I am sure there is a ton more concrete and fewer trees which could actually inflate the temperature readings.

 

[celluloid]

The MCO weather station is interesting because how much has MCO grown since the 1970s. I am sure there is a ton more concrete and fewer trees which could actually inflate the temperature readings.

The tools have also become incredibly more accurate in 50 years. So it is a moot thing to compare directly.

 

[Lilofan]

That cycle was odd in Christmas of 1989. Coldest Christmas week on Record until 2011 very briefly when it got freezing.


It was a lot easier to have fun when it was 90 to 110 degrees and you are dripping sweat, when you can avoid it quicker by getting in an AC queue or enjoying more attractions/venues without the stress that modern and lesser quality WDW provides.

Rainy days used to be a lot more fun too.

At that time Jacksonville FL not NC had a freakish snowfall. Now that's one for the record books. Doubt the salt trucks came out for that one if any existed.

 

[Bullseye1967]

The MCO weather station is interesting because how much has MCO grown since the 1970s. I am sure there is a ton more concrete and fewer trees which could actually inflate the temperature readings.

The MCO weather station is 66 feet off the ground. That is double what the NWS advises. I doubt that heat off the concrete is affecting it and there are no trees in that area.

 

[KDM31091]

Nothing has been “slammed” for a couple of years going…
It’s an overall decline with slides across the board. Because some are bigger than others doesn’t make any of them “good”

Right. But I said slammed compared to before. Jan / Feb crowds have gone up quite a bit.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Right. But I said slammed compared to before. Jan / Feb crowds have gone up quite a bit.

That hasn’t negated losess. Nor is it something new

 

[Nubs70]

The tools have also become incredibly more accurate in 50 years. So it is a moot thing to compare directly.

Precise and accurate?? A miscalibrated instrument can measure very accurately

 

[Dranth]

If Universal goes the route of 3 day minimum ticket and not a 1 day ticket route that is a roll the dice gamble on the Epic opening. I'm betting that it will blow up in their face if Uni goes the minimum 3 day ticket route.

They must really be concerned about people just going to Epic and skipping IoA and US if they do that, but I am sure they will get the die hards to pay for it. However, for a large chunk of potential visitors, it will be a turn off.

We have a trip planned for late next year with a day set aside for EU with a group and if they go the three-day ticket route everyone agreed to just drop it and go sometime later when that restriction is gone.

 

[lentesta]

You know, speaking of crowds, is it suspicious to anyone else that the annual TEA Theme Park Index report is like a month late?

I have no special information about this process. Putting on my tin-foil hat, my first conspiracy theory is that the numbers don't look good for Disney.

 

[DisneyCane]

Just putting some info of temps over the last 50 years so we can discuss heat with data.

View attachment 799286View attachment 799288View attachment 799289
View attachment 799290View attachment 799291

For these to be digestible (at least by me) there really needs to be three charts (one for max, average and min) with the data for each year overlayed on the same chart. That way the max, avg and min can be easily compared for the various years.

 

[DisneyCane]

The MCO weather station is interesting because how much has MCO grown since the 1970s. I am sure there is a ton more concrete and fewer trees which could actually inflate the temperature readings.

I think the ton more concrete and asphalt (which I guess technically are cement concrete and asphalt concrete) and less vegetation contributes significantly to the "heat island" effect. The concrete absorbs more heat than what was there before and the vegetation that existed before development would cool things through evaporation. My personal, somewhat educated, opinion is that the "heat island" effect is a larger contributor to temperature increases than we are led to believe. The reason for this is likely that it is much easier to sell invisible CO2 emission reduction than it is to sell significant curbs on development.

 

[John park hopper]

I live out in the country and our temperature is always lower by 3-5 degrees then the town 30 miles away only difference we have trees they have concrete and asphalt and a whole lot less trees