Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Splash4eva]

But it’ll save us money!

I never understood the dining plan debate… it literally comes down to simple math my 9 y/o can figure out. Especially for people who do so down dinners…. We can discuss all we want that prices may or may not go up because of whatever reason but fact is those will be the prices. If getting the dining plan is worth it. Buy it. If its not. Skip. Its literally that cut and dry.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Went with a Cast friend over to Tusker House tonight for dinner.
I had booked us a 5:20 slot, and expected it to be prime time busy.
Nope.

Place was deserted…I was stunned.
I have never in all the years I have dined here seen it THIS empty.
Wow…even my friend noticed this immediately.

It was…unsettling…but also terrific as we were getting major love from all the roaming characters.
They were so wanting to interact with somebody!

After about a half hour more guests joined us, but it was still nothing like before as far as crowds go.
Nice surprise…but they have to be hurting without the business.

When asked, my friend noted most the of crowds at Tusker House are now primarily in the morning for the breakfast buffet.
Times have changed, as I recall not that long ago that dinner was very popular and the place was typically packed.
Not this time.

Found this….interesting.
Wanted to share.
I’ve only been here two days and as far as table service goes, restaurants I have been to thus far have been sparse attendance wise.
Great time to hit all the ‘hot spots’ and enjoy some elbow room.

Parks have felt typical for this time of year.
Have not really noticed lighter crowds…seems the norm there.
DAK today seemed to thin out later in the day, which in the past I find typically happens with the earlier closings.

-

There is no draw to being at AK later and people trained to get there early to rope drop the Pandora stuff and do the Safari early when animals are more active

People either finish the park or hop to another park so after 2pm it starts getting lighter

We were there last week and saw 40+ minute waits early for Pandora attractions and Safari and then by like 3 or 4 Safari was a walk on, Navi was a walk on, and Flight of Passage was like 25 minutes.

Didn't think about impact to Tusker House but make sense - not a lot of people are staying through dinner there

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But it’ll save us money!

…7 $56 buffets for your 9 year old

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yep. We went from 5 nights at AKL to 5 nights at SSR in the same category room for the same price. Difference was we just got $1,000 of dining on Disney. Some might view it as a resort downgrade but I view it as maximizing the promotions to our benefit since we don’t care what resort we are in as long as we have the space we need.

…Saratoga is fine now

It just sucked for the first 10 years

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I never understood the dining plan debate… it literally comes down to simple math my 9 y/o can figure out. Especially for people who do so down dinners…. We can discuss all we want that prices may or may not go up because of whatever reason but fact is those will be the prices. If getting the dining plan is worth it. Buy it. If its not. Skip. Its literally that cut and dry.

The reason why it’s always been a debate is right to left ordering and excess on the backside of the trip

Sure you can eat up to it…but would you?

Large numbers would not/do not and that’s part of the price/design

Advantage: Disney

 

[JD80]

The new Disney Dining Plan is geared towards younger children. It's $30 for kids under 10. The more kids under 10 you have, the more cost effective it becomes. I would have gotten it last December for my 4, 7 and 9 year old. I would have saved money for they way we dined.

But now my 9 year old is a 10 year old and that adult price is no beuno.

My family goes from $290 a day to $360 a day.

 

[Splash4eva]

The reason why it’s always been a debate is right to left ordering and excess on the backside of the trip

Sure you can eat up to it…but would you?

Large numbers would not/do not and that’s part of the price/design

Advantage: Disney

My point is this & ive stated it plenty. It saved me a decent amount of money and No i dont change how we eat. We have always done character breakfast/dinner on basically every day of our trip so the DDP worked out great for me. Yes i know i may be minority but i cant see how families go down and completely change how they eat. You either have sit down or qs which Disney provided options for along with the DDP which is now no longer available probably because that one they were “losing” out on.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The new Disney Dining Plan is geared towards younger children. It's $30 for kids under 10. The more kids under 10 you have, the more cost effective it becomes. I would have gotten it last December for my 4, 7 and 9 year old. I would have saved money for they way we dined.

But now my 9 year old is a 10 year old and that adult price is no beuno.

My family goes from $290 a day to $360 a day.

That actually is a good change…because kid prices are ridiculous.

But they whack the adults…a week for 2A, 2C would be like $2000

The ugly truth of the dining plan is that 80% of the people can and likely would spend less out of pocket

 

[Donald Razorduck]

There is no draw to being at AK later and people trained to get there early to rope drop the Pandora stuff and do the Safari early when animals are more active

People either finish the park or hop to another park so after 2pm it starts getting lighter

We were there last week and saw 40+ minute waits early for Pandora attractions and Safari and then by like 3 or 4 Safari was a walk on, Navi was a walk on, and Flight of Passage was like 25 minutes.

Didn't think about impact to Tusker House but make sense - not a lot of people are staying through dinner there

The sad part is that Animal Kingdom is incredible in the dark.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My point is this & ive stated it plenty. It saved me a decent amount of money and No i dont change how we eat. We have always done character breakfast/dinner on basically every day of our trip so the DDP worked out great for me. Yes i know i may be minority but i cant see how families go down and completely change how they eat. You either have sit down or qs which Disney provided options for along with the DDP which is now no longer available probably because that one they were “losing” out on.

As always: you do what’s best for you. I’m not gonna argue “savings” in that context

However you not getting ripped off is 100% better for me…and everyone

I’m positive of that

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There is no draw to being at AK later and people trained to get there early to rope drop the Pandora stuff and do the Safari early when animals are more active

People either finish the park or hop to another park so after 2pm it starts getting lighter

We were there last week and saw 40+ minute waits early for Pandora attractions and Safari and then by like 3 or 4 Safari was a walk on, Navi was a walk on, and Flight of Passage was like 25 minutes.

Didn't think about impact to Tusker House but make sense - not a lot of people are staying through dinner there

It’s not in the park…

It’s the the way it is because bookings and traffic from off property are way the hell down

Because of price.

That’s why it is what it is.

Don’t expect anyone in a nametag To go on squawk box and admit it…
…but the truth would pay that no mind anyway

 

[Thepuma]

There is no draw to being at AK later and people trained to get there early to rope drop the Pandora stuff and do the Safari early when animals are more active

People either finish the park or hop to another park so after 2pm it starts getting lighter

We were there last week and saw 40+ minute waits early for Pandora attractions and Safari and then by like 3 or 4 Safari was a walk on, Navi was a walk on, and Flight of Passage was like 25 minutes.

Didn't think about impact to Tusker House but make sense - not a lot of people are staying through dinner there

We always rope drop AK and have done everything by 1pm, then park hop to another park.

 

[Thepuma]

Been in the parks for 8 days now non stop, and I haven't witnessed any drop in attendance and wait times. To be honest, a lot of the time I've noticed it busier than previous years at the same time of year.

Not sure where anyone is getting the parks are quieter. I'd probably say it's Disney spouting that to get more people coming as they are led to believe it will be quiet.

 

[Jrb1979]

Been in the parks for 8 days now non stop, and I haven't witnessed any drop in attendance and wait times. To be honest, a lot of the time I've noticed it busier than previous years at the same time of year.

Not sure where anyone is getting the parks are quieter. I'd probably say it's Disney spouting that to get more people coming as they are led to believe it will be quiet.

WDW is more than just parks though. They need resorts to be full too. I would bet the majority of guests right now are staying off property

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Realistically. Other than the MK are any of the other 3 full day parks?

Epcot absolutely was when the customers were less spoiled with more brains

Dak never was…but could be

Mgm?
Nope…then or now
I’d argue it was closer in 1999

 

[seabreezept813]

Well, finally got on Rise (opened at 8.50).. got through to the Prisoner holding section and its gone down again, haven't moved in 15 minutes..experiencing technical delays!!

I mean come on Disney!!! - we did Rise last Friday and 3 big parts of the ride were not working!..now this.

Just close the ride for 2 or 3 days and get this ride working!!

Same thing happened to us. We pivoted to Millenium Falcon, but at park opening Rise, Slinky and RocknRoller were down. Our last trip Mickey was down at opening. So ridiculous. And what I truly don't understand is if Rise isn't open yet tell people at the front of the park not when they've already raced over to Galaxy's Edge.

 

[seabreezept813]

WDW is more than just parks though. They need resorts to be full too. I would bet the majority of guests right now are staying off property

Definitely. When we stayed in August we got our room request at Pop. Had minimal waits for Mobile Order. We also sat in the splash pad area multiple times where we had the whole gated splash pad to ourselves. We loved that!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Same thing happened to us. We pivoted to Millenium Falcon, but at park opening Rise, Slinky and RocknRoller were down. Our last trip Mickey was down at opening. So ridiculous. And what I truly don't understand is if Rise isn't open yet tell people at the front of the park not when they've already raced over to Galaxy's Edge.

Would you want to create mobs/crowds at the 3 remains chokepoints and deal with grumpies?

TWDC has de-emphasized customer service and frankly they never paid that well

 

[GhostHost1000]

…7 $56 buffets for your 9 year old

but don’t forget alcohol is included for them so that calms them down when they meet Mickey lol

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

but don’t forget alcohol is included for them so that calm them down when they meet Mickey lol

Isn’t it one drink?

That’s not even gonna scratch the shields