Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[DisneyCane]

To what point are the wait times estimated? Pre show or ride load? Just curious how close the estimates are. Many times in the non-busy visit on Wed and Thurs, it seemed the waits were significantly lower than posted but then I was thinking that they are more accurate if they are giving the time until you load. FoP is like 10 minutes of pre-show and if you count from the room before the transmission from Rey on RotR, it is a very long time until you actually load.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

To what point are the wait times estimated? Pre show or ride load? Just curious how close the estimates are. Many times in the non-busy visit on Wed and Thurs, it seemed the waits were significantly lower than posted but then I was thinking that they are more accurate if they are giving the time until you load. FoP is like 10 minutes of pre-show and if you count from the room before the transmission from Rey on RotR, it is a very long time until you actually load.

I don't know about Disney's but I entered some times for the Waits app (from Touring Plans) and for those they were very explicit to stop when entering the ride vehicle. So for example, on Rise the Waits app posted wait time would be the time it takes to get to the black droid driven ride vehicle

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No major holiday, and Jersey week is two weeks away. You should have a fun low crowd experience.

“In other news: crowds have been down for 6 months and will continue to be for the foreseeable future as they go “luxury” with no clientele that fits…you dirty pirate hooker

Dumb question but what is Jersey Week?

…the 7th layer

 

[Mark Dunne]

Feel nervous for the mouse?

Hahahahaha

Nope let it burn.

Whatever it takes for Iger to be removed.

Until then let it burn.

Not quite burn no! But I kinda agree with the Bob thing, just thought he would change more 2nd time, but he is responsible for the failure of D+ , no doubt! And we are paying for it now, these parks need a duo of great minds, the best one Walt and Roy, then Eisner/wells , after that it’s been single mined people using it as a toy room for them selves, we need a duo back , one to fire off the other , so not burn, but defo change , and no not Josh!!!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think 2019 makes a good dividing line between their old operating practices and the new "revalued" practices. All things being equal (generally) if their revenue from the new system starts to drop below 2019 measures, I could see them reversing course on some of their recent changes and their investment plans. I've said all along that their post-2019 strategy was an experiment and it probably wouldn't take much to give up on it and revert back to being a discount volume operator again.

But I also think going back to their 2019 playbook would be absolutely disastrous for the parks long term.

…wait a minute….

…is this microphone on?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Ok I’ll stop for a bit after this:

Parks revenue drops below 2019… “This is expected. They just went through a major overhaul and structural reorganization. They had to take a loss up front in order to keep the company healthy in the long-term. These things don’t change overnight”

Reorganization wouldn’t affect parks revenue at all

Drops in foot traffic and sales of high profit Chinese junk in the giftshops

…oops…I think I just gave away the secret

 

[Drdcm]

Reorganization wouldn’t affect parks revenue at all

Drops in foot traffic and sales of high profit Chinese junk in the giftshops

…oops…I think I just gave away the secret

I was predicting another posters response

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I was predicting another posters response

…you totally buzzed the tower, goose

 

[thomas998]

Reorganization wouldn’t affect parks revenue at all

Drops in foot traffic and sales of high profit Chinese junk in the giftshops

…oops…I think I just gave away the secret

I think the drop of high profit Chinese junk is mostly do to them selling the same high priced Chinese junk you can get at a low price in a Walmart. Last time I was in a Target or Walmart I saw very big and wide selection of Disney character clothing which has to be reducing the need for anyone to buy a 35 dollar shirt in WDW when they can get the same damn thing in a Walmart or Target for half the price.

 

[Splash4eva]

I think the drop of high profit Chinese junk is mostly do to them selling the same high priced Chinese junk you can get at a low price in a Walmart. Last time I was in a Target or Walmart I saw very big and wide selection of Disney character clothing which has to be reducing the need for anyone to buy a 35 dollar shirt in WDW when they can get the same damn thing in a Walmart or Target for half the price.

Yes and No. if you are on vacation and your kid wants something/wife/gf its tough to say no in that moment. Want to say the choices have been generic and blah and limited the past say 5 years that i will agree on.

 

[Comped]

I will say that from personal experience, last weekend (Sunday late morning to early afternoon), and today (about the same time), MK was far more packed than DHS was, even if DHS is quite a bit smaller in comparison. But both were still quite healthy attendance wise in my view.

 

[thomas998]

Yes and No. if you are on vacation and your kid wants something/wife/gf its tough to say no in that moment. Want to say the choices have been generic and blah and limited the past say 5 years that i will agree on.

Oh they are very generic... I recall the 70's you had things you would only see in Disney...by the 80's you were getting some lower end stuff but still not complete .... by the 90's it was a mix with more cheap generic garbage... and now it is just crap. I still remember a halloween back around 2010 when out suitcase was lost and we needed to get our daughter a costume quick, the resort had some very nice high quality princess costumes... 10 years later we looked at what the GF had to offer and it was identical to the crap you would find on a Walmart shelf but for 4 times the price. I wouldn't care if my girlfriend/wife/kid saw and begged for it I would spend the hour driving to the walmart outside the park... if I didn't have a car I would call a taxi and still save money.

 

[thomas998]

I will say that from personal experience, last weekend (Sunday late morning to early afternoon), and today (about the same time), MK was far more packed than DHS was, even if DHS is quite a bit smaller in comparison. But both were still quite healthy attendance wise in my view.

I suspect their jacked up ticket prices probably just result in fewer day trippers, get the multi-day tickets and your price drops... but the multi-day park guests aren't going to spend nearly as much on a per visit basis as a day tripper. So revenues will take a hit just from the change in the guest mix even if you had the same number of guests.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Based on Touringplans data, it looks to me like crowds have recovered this fall compared to previous falls (based on crowd levels). I hate to give credit to anything Iger is saying, but he may be on to something with the weather. Climate change has basically made Florida completely unbearable in the summer (especially between the hours of 10 and 4). I think we will continue to see summer crowds diminish, but other times of the year seem fine.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Based on Touringplans data, it looks to me like crowds have recovered this fall compared to previous falls (based on crowd levels). I hate to give credit to anything Iger is saying, but he may be on to something with the weather. Climate change has basically made Florida completely unbearable in the summer (especially between the hours of 10 and 4). I think we will continue to see summer crowds diminish, but other times of the year seem fine.

Summers had slowly been seeing reduced crowds over time and maybe just more exaggerated this year

In the past I feel like the parks were open a lot later (either just regular hours or with the extra magic hours in the evenings for all resort guests) which made it easier to avoid the hottest part of the day - without those makes it harder

Sept -Dec had been growing over time with the holidays and parties, etc ... will be really interesting to see how crowds are once we get to January compared to past years

 

[Splash4eva]

Oh they are very generic... I recall the 70's you had things you would only see in Disney...by the 80's you were getting some lower end stuff but still not complete .... by the 90's it was a mix with more cheap generic garbage... and now it is just crap. I still remember a halloween back around 2010 when out suitcase was lost and we needed to get our daughter a costume quick, the resort had some very nice high quality princess costumes... 10 years later we looked at what the GF had to offer and it was identical to the crap you would find on a Walmart shelf but for 4 times the price. I wouldn't care if my girlfriend/wife/kid saw and begged for it I would spend the hour driving to the walmart outside the park... if I didn't have a car I would call a taxi and still save money.

Agree with all except that last part lol

 

[seabreezept813]

I think the drop of high profit Chinese junk is mostly do to them selling the same high priced Chinese junk you can get at a low price in a Walmart. Last time I was in a Target or Walmart I saw very big and wide selection of Disney character clothing which has to be reducing the need for anyone to buy a 35 dollar shirt in WDW when they can get the same damn thing in a Walmart or Target for half the price.

I bought my 2 year old an adorable Disney100 shirt from JC Penney for 3 dollars after our trip

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I will say that from personal experience, last weekend (Sunday late morning to early afternoon), and today (about the same time), MK was far more packed than DHS was, even if DHS is quite a bit smaller in comparison. But both were still quite healthy attendance wise in my view.

October is one of the busiest months a year now…If not the busiest. They have shifted the calendar successfully and there’s a lot of shiny toys in October.

If it’s not crowded now…and there seems to be some variation even in that - then its defcon 1 in Orlando

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Based on Touringplans data, it looks to me like crowds have recovered this fall compared to previous falls (based on crowd levels). I hate to give credit to anything Iger is saying, but he may be on to something with the weather. Climate change has basically made Florida completely unbearable in the summer (especially between the hours of 10 and 4). I think we will continue to see summer crowds diminish, but other times of the year seem fine.

Crowds have been shifting for years…that still doesn’t explain empty hotel rooms and massive promos/discounts.

And that doesn’t even cover the outside economy…which is a gigantic building problem
For Disney parks.

 

[JD80]

I still don't think there are massive promos and discounts. At most maybe 5% more off hotel rooms? Then the "cheaper" version of free dining next year.

The difference is the promos have more inventory, have been announced earlier and for many more dates.