Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[LSLS]

Anecdotal…but I had pics sent to me over the 4th week with empty concourses midday

I was there over the Memorial Day weekend (along with a couple other from here) and it reminded me of 2002. I posted a picture of crystal palace at 12:30 on Friday wish all the employees standing in front bored…nobody in the restaurant, on the porch, or even walking by.

It was a wet fish across the face.

Wasn’t just there…there was no one in shops or eateries for 5 days solid

You do the math

Oh by no way am I calling it busy. Just 2023 was shockingly low. I've said it before, but we rode everything at DHS in 4 hours and was recruited to come into Oga's just to get people through the door. I sat at the bar and had nobody next to me the 20 minutes I was there. Longest wait was Slinky at 25 minutes. RotR we walked into the transport room, walked onto Toy Story, walked onto Mickey. It was absolutely insane. NOW, I will state, we never went to MK this time which looked based on wait times to be dead, and while wait times were longer this time, the parks didn't feel crowded. I walked into Oga's again, I could navigate Star Wars Land, walked into dining at the Konas (could have walked into O'Hana), etc. It didn't match with the 80 minute waits they were showing for like RotR. And if the 4th was busier this year, that in no way means the rest of the quarter was, which is why I'm interested to see the investor call.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Oh by no way am I calling it busy. Just 2023 was shockingly low. I've said it before, but we rode everything at DHS in 4 hours and was recruited to come into Oga's just to get people through the door. I sat at the bar and had nobody next to me the 20 minutes I was there. Longest wait was Slinky at 25 minutes. RotR we walked into the transport room, walked onto Toy Story, walked onto Mickey. It was absolutely insane. NOW, I will state, we never went to MK this time which looked based on wait times to be dead, and while wait times were longer this time, the parks didn't feel crowded. I walked into Oga's again, I could navigate Star Wars Land, walked into dining at the Konas (could have walked into O'Hana), etc. It didn't match with the 80 minute waits they were showing for like RotR. And if the 4th was busier this year, that in no way means the rest of the quarter was, which is why I'm interested to see the investor call.

Both years have been completely in the tank
Frankly

I just share my opinions and perceptions here…and leave it at that.

But I have old resources…and though I don’t bother them with things…the tidbits in conversations among friends is the numbers are jaw dropping bad.

The thought of “voodoo accounting” has come to mind

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We have been to the parks very rarely since the world went to cr@p after 2019.

My (now old and wrong) thinking was to STAY AWAY on Memorial Day weekend. Its too bad I missed the super low crowds.

For my own selfishness, I hope I can experience the low crowds for a few visits before WDW goes back to MOBBED, because IT WILL.

The last two years it’s been shockingly empty

 

[LSLS]

Both years have been completely in the tank
Frankly

I just sat my opinions and perceptions here…and leave it at that.

But I have old resources…and though I don’t bother them with things…the tidbits in conversations among friends is the numbers are jaw dropping bad.

The thought of “voodoo accounting” has come to mind

Personally I can't wait til they say something like "Attendance was up this quarter as compared to last year" and people lose their minds about how that means attendance is great and everything is solved. Like dropping from 20 million to 12, and then going up to 12.01 means everything is great again. And that may NOT be the case, just stating that up from last year does not mean they rebounded at all. Would be great to have the AECOM reports right about now to tell us what we are looking at. Probably get them the week AFTER the Q2 report.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Personally I can't wait til they say something like "Attendance was up this quarter as compared to last year" and people lose their minds about how that means attendance is great and everything is solved. Like dropping from 20 million to 12, and then going up to 12.01 means everything is great again. And that may NOT be the case, just stating that up from last year does not mean they rebounded at all. Would be great to have the AECOM reports right about now to tell us what we are looking at. Probably get them the week AFTER the Q2 report.

Comcast posting a significant decline certainly has the antenna up

 

[John park hopper]

Could it be the powers to be a misrepresenting attendance in order to keep Wall Street happy

 

[Jrb1979]

Comcast posting a significant decline certainly has the antenna up

The crazy thing is SeaWorld saw an increase in attendance.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Could it be the powers to be a misrepresenting attendance in order to keep Wall Street happy

They don’t have to give any real specifics on attendance…just can’t say something blatantly false triggering investment moves

Over/understating has always been fair game. Pretty much standard

What they seem to be doing is using the genie money and across the board price increases to throw dirt on customer losses.

If I had to guess

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The crazy thing is SeaWorld saw an increase in attendance.

Not at all…doesn’t require a $10,000 commitment to go there

This is a simple exercise in math

 

[el_super]

Could it be the powers to be a misrepresenting attendance in order to keep Wall Street happy

Attendance doesn't really matter. It's not something the investors are worried about.

 

[Andrew25]

The crazy thing is SeaWorld saw an increase in attendance.

it was only a 1% change spread across 11 parks... that's only +60K guests

 

[Tha Realest]

Attendance doesn't really matter. It's not something the investors are worried about.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

…the iq just dropped in here

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chrystal Palace pricing is beyond belief no wonder it's empty. Many years ago we would eat their before character meals and it was reasonable priced --not any more

Jan 26, 2024 — Breakfast is currently priced at $48 per adult and $30 per child. ...
lets remember a child is 9 and under

Family of 4 -2 adults and 2 kids over 9 just shy of 200 dollars for breakfast --no wonder it's empty

My youngest just turned 10, so all three of my kids are now "Disney adults" .... Which basically take any and all Prefixe dining off the table.

We used to love California Grill but haven't been since they switched to prefixe. I have a trip coming up and w monkey booked a couple of ADRs and none for buffet, etc

 

[Saskdw]

Chrystal Palace pricing is beyond belief no wonder it's empty. Many years ago we would eat their before character meals and it was reasonable priced --not any more

Jan 26, 2024 — Breakfast is currently priced at $48 per adult and $30 per child. ...
lets remember a child is 9 and under

Family of 4 -2 adults and 2 kids over 9 just shy of 200 dollars for breakfast --no wonder it's empty

$48 for a $15 breakfast.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Chrystal Palace pricing is beyond belief no wonder it's empty. Many years ago we would eat their before character meals and it was reasonable priced --not any more

Jan 26, 2024 — Breakfast is currently priced at $48 per adult and $30 per child. ...
lets remember a child is 9 and under

Family of 4 -2 adults and 2 kids over 9 just shy of 200 dollars for breakfast --no wonder it's empty

We went for my sons birthday (nostalgia purposes) on 12/30…8 people

I have the receipt…$658

You gotta laugh

 

[Lilofan]

We went for my sons birthday (nostalgia purposes) on 12/30…8 people

I have the receipt…$658

You gotta laugh

Would like to be that server earning a $100 plus tip on one table.

 

[Dranth]

While this trend starts mid Q3 based on the start date of this thread, I’m quite a bit more curious on Q4.

I’d be surprised if Disney wasn’t down YoY Q3 given how badly Universal was.

Same.

They already told us this quarter wasn't going to be great during the last earnings call but I do wonder if they held up a little better than Comcast if for no other reason than Uni is also losing people that are waiting for Epic next year.

Guess we will get a good idea next week.

 

[LSLS]

Chrystal Palace pricing is beyond belief no wonder it's empty. Many years ago we would eat their before character meals and it was reasonable priced --not any more

Jan 26, 2024 — Breakfast is currently priced at $48 per adult and $30 per child. ...
lets remember a child is 9 and under

Family of 4 -2 adults and 2 kids over 9 just shy of 200 dollars for breakfast --no wonder it's empty

It's not even the craziest to me of the buffets. We looked at some places last time and I was jaw dropped at the prices (guess I'm old and just haven't been enough recently to see the jumps). Akershus was $43 FOR A CHILD. Cinderella Royal Table had day of reservations. $84 for an adult, $49 for a child. Tusker had walkup, I'm sure cause a family of 4 would spend over $200 BEFORE TAX AND TIP.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Cinderella Royal Table had day of reservations. $84 for an adult, $49 for a child.

I really regret not eating there before it was a character meal and it still had the old school WDW charm.