Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[PREMiERdrum]

Attendance down, per-guest spending dipping, high profit spending segments dropping faster than average PG, and hotel bookings super soft and trending even softer.

Nobody in the c-suite is happy with WDW's performance. They're arguing over what to do about it.

 

[JoeCamel]

Attendance down, per-guest spending dipping, high profit spending segments dropping faster than average PG, and hotel bookings super soft and trending even softer.

Nobody in the c-suite is happy with WDW's performance. They're arguing over what to do about it.

You mean it's not all a plan to reduce attendance in order to enhance the guest experience? But Disney is so masterful of managing their demand.....

 

[celluloid]

You mean it's not all a plan to reduce attendance in order to enhance the guest experience? But Disney is so masterful of managing their demand.....

Yes, I hear there are also plans to raise the Disney Plus Price to weed out those who would not keep the subscription as long and save on bandwidth operation!

 

[el_super]

Attendance down, per-guest spending dipping, high profit spending segments dropping faster than average PG, and hotel bookings super soft and trending even softer.

How much did per guest spending drop? What's the comparison to 2019 numbers?

The parks are making bank right now. More than they ever have in any point in history. Where does the lower guest spending line come from?

 

[GhostHost1000]

Attendance down, per-guest spending dipping, high profit spending segments dropping faster than average PG, and hotel bookings super soft and trending even softer.

Nobody in the c-suite is happy with WDW's performance. They're arguing over what to do about it.

I’d be curious what ideas are floating around to try to fix it from those in charge

 

[celluloid]

The parks are making bank right now. More than they ever have in any point in history. Where does the lower guest spending line come from?

Due to extreme efforts the parks are conserving more money. They are charging more and offering less. This is fact that has been admitted and obvious from the company. I know in a business sense, that is all they care about but it is immediate and desperation.

Guest awareness of this change in patterns have become optics, hence why some things are changing, just slowly.

Per guest spending is the reason for this desperation. If they were just making bank in selling what they have, the changes would not be necessary.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Where does the lower guest spending line come from?

As segmented by margin.

Fewer paying for ultra-high margin "experience upgrades", and attendance dips absolutely kneecapping nighttime spending on alcohol.

 

[el_super]

Fewer paying for ultra-high margin "experience upgrades", and attendance dips absolutely kneecapping nighttime spending on alcohol.

Where is this called out in the financial reporting?

Maybe the reduced spending on nighttime alcohol is a good sign the guest experience HAS gotten better?

 

[el_super]

Per guest spending is the reason for this desperation. If they were just making bank in selling what they have, the changes would not be necessary.

What real change have they made in the last 3 months? 6 months? 12 months? Some seasonal discounting? Is that it?

The changes have been relatively minor since Genie+ went live in what.. 2021?

 

[celluloid]

What real change have they made in the last 3 months? 6 months? 12 months? Some seasonal discounting? Is that it?

The changes have been relatively minor since Genie+ went live in what.. 2021?

Really slow... changes. Think slower.

The things that actually effect guess experience.

Yes seasonal discounting.
Parking Trams returning suddenly
Free Parking at onsite hotels back
Genie Plus having to fail a bit and lower pricing for a thee day holiday weekend.

 

[el_super]

Really slow... changes. Think slower.

The things that actually effect guess experience.

Yes seasonal discounting.
Parking Trams returning suddenly
Free Parking at onsite hotels back
Genie Plus having to fail a bit and lower pricing for a thee day holiday weekend.

How slow do they need to go? Will we not see a turn in the next quarterly results? Or the one after that?

The doom and gloom has been predicted for getting close to a year now... and still the parks are doing amazing business. No signs of layoffs, no cancelled projects, no reduced operating hours for the parks. It feels like business as usual. So how much longer do we have to wait to actually see bad results start appearing?

Genie+ was always supposed to be tied to demand. It makes sense that it would be cheaper when demand is softer. All part of the plan.

 

[celluloid]

How slow do they need to go? Will we not see a turn in the next quarterly results? Or the one after that?

The doom and gloom has been predicted for getting close to a year now... and still the parks are doing amazing business. No signs of layoffs, no cancelled projects, no reduced operating hours for the parks. It feels like business as usual. So how much longer do we have to wait to actually see bad results start appearing?

Genie+ was always supposed to be tied to demand. It makes sense that it would be cheaper when demand is softer. All part of the plan.

Hubris takes time to wake up from.

Your last point is foolishly weird. Demand should never be softer on Labor Day Weekend compared to off season weekday.

Was shutting down Starcruiser after its short stint in operation part of the plan too?

 

[Tha Realest]

How slow do they need to go? Will we not see a turn in the next quarterly results? Or the one after that?

The doom and gloom has been predicted for getting close to a year now... and still the parks are doing amazing business. No signs of layoffs, no cancelled projects, no reduced operating hours for the parks. It feels like business as usual. So how much longer do we have to wait to actually see bad results start appearing?

Genie+ was always supposed to be tied to demand. It makes sense that it would be cheaper when demand is softer. All part of the plan.

Ah good to hear. Planning a trip to EPCOT next year and I’m excited to check out the refurbished SSE, the Play! Pavilion, and the new Mary Poppins attraction

 

[el_super]

Hubris takes time to wake up from.

So when?

Your last point is foolishly weird. Demand should never be softer on Labor Day Weekend compared to off season.

The off season has changed. Summer is now the off season. Peak season is fall-christmas.

Was shutting down Starcruiser after its short stint in operation part of the plan too?

Probably not. But shutting it down is going to save them a lot more money next quarter.

 

[el_super]

Ah good to hear. Planning a trip to EPCOT next year and I’m excited to check out the refurbished SSE, the Play! Pavilion, and the new Mary Poppins attraction

Has anything been cancelled recently?

 

[celluloid]

Probably not. But shutting it down is going to save them a lot more money next quarter.

So what was the reason to start parking trams back? How does that directly save them money as part of the plan?

 

[celluloid]

Has anything been cancelled recently?

Now we are onto weird qualifiers. Play Pavilion being canceled and Poppins completely stopped is not recent enough?

We won't know for sure what is canceled now until DIsney decides not to build it, but Coco and Encanto land are a safe bet.

 

[celluloid]

The off season has changed. Summer is now the off season. Peak season is fall-christmas.

This is such bullcrap. The numbers in attendance are the same if you just switch the times around. Low annual attendance is low annual attendance. You know who goes more in the fall? Locals. Locals make up more of a DNA than in the summer. UK holiday and locals are the heavy crowds. You know who does not spend as much? Christmas has always been a peak season, it is just condensed to mainly two and a half weeks.

The parks offer more events and spend more money because it is the off season.

Also note that MNSSCHP are selling less than before.

 

[Thepuma]

Not sure about parks being quieter....me and the wife have probably been to the parks in Orlando around 100 times over the last 5 years and id say this is the busiest we have ever witnessed.

I mean, we are in Epcot now...I think I have only ever walked straight on to Spaceship earth, 5 minutes max....we are now waiting in a 15 minute queue for it.

Universal the last few days has been the busiest I've ever witnessed. And HHN was a huge waste of time and money as we only manged to get into 3 houses.

I've also never found it so hard to get Virtual queues for GotG.

So I don't know...maybe we just got unlucky.

 

[el_super]

So what was the reason to start parking trams back? How does that directly save them money as part of the plan?

They were always planning to bring them back.

Now we are onto weird qualifiers. Play Pavilion being canceled and Poppins completely stopped is not recent enough?

We won't know for sure what is canceled now until DIsney decides not to build it, but Coco and Encanto land are a safe bet.

Yes, because I am asking for recently evidence that the situation is degrading. There doesn't seem to be any.

Since those projects were cancelled, they've continually posted positive results for the parks. If the situation were still getting worse, there would be signs of it: there are none.