Kevin Yee- Parks close one day a week?

[tirian]

You just reminded me what a horrible writer JH is. Didn't he ever learn how to complete a sentence?

 

[crxbrett]

Disney experienced a very bad attendance period in the early, mid 1990's and cut all of their park hours. They never did go back (MK us to be open until Midnight every night in summer and EPCOT, both Future World and World Showcase, was open til 10 every night in summer....miss those days a lot still). Now I know the EMH kind of offsets this, but hours were cut a while back and never really did come back the same way. In regards to a park closing once a week? Gas prices are up and the economy is doing poorly. But there are still a lot of people who make lots of money that go on vacations and spend money. It would take a huge nationwide disaster to make Disney alter their operating procedures. Gas prices aren't going to change make them close a park. And as somebody already mentioned, 9/11 really hit attendance hard and they never practiced this. If anything, they would lower prices and offer deals to create interest and entice people to visit.

 

[Goofnut1980]

and what is Kevin Yee smoking??? :hammer:

 

[fosse76]

Disney experienced a very bad attendance period in the early, mid 1990's and cut all of their park hours. They never did go back (MK us to be open until Midnight every night in summer and EPCOT, both Future World and World Showcase, was open til 10 every night in summer....miss those days a lot still). Now I know the EMH kind of offsets this, but hours were cut a while back and never really did come back the same way. In regards to a park closing once a week? Gas prices are up and the economy is doing poorly. But there are still a lot of people who make lots of money that go on vacations and spend money. It would take a huge nationwide disaster to make Disney alter their operating procedures. Gas prices aren't going to change make them close a park. And as somebody already mentioned, 9/11 really hit attendance hard and they never practiced this. If anything, they would lower prices and offer deals to create interest and entice people to visit.

Disney didn't cut back after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 because that was a temporary lull in attendance that had nowhere to go but up. The economy, on the otherhand, is in serious trouble. The fact that the Canadian dollar is now equalt to the U.S. dollar is telling (something that has never before happened). Most likely we would see resorts close first. Just because Disney might not be anywhere close to implementing plans like this doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[DougK]

This stuff is posted by Kevin Yee or Jim Hill (in 2003 as the OP said!) just to make it seem like they are "in the know". They don't know anything I could not have guessed. Of course Disney has contingency plans for disasters and/or major economic slowdowns. They would be foolish NOT to. But for us to even think about them right now makes no sense. Let's say worst case scenario gas goes up to $15 per gallon but somehow you are still able to take your Disney vacation. If you know in advance that DHS is closed on Tuesdays, is that going to stop you from coming? I doubt it. You will simply plan around it.

I'm not saying that closing a park one day a week is a good thing, I'm just sayng that if Disney does this in response to some disaster, war or economic crisis I will be more concerned about that disaster, war or economic crisis than I will be about DHS's operating hours.

Come on, Kevin Yee, stop trying to impress us! It does not work!

 

[DisneyJoe]

Disney didn't cut back after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 because that was a temporary lull in attendance that had nowhere to go but up.

Disney DID cut back after 9/11....

- reduced park hours, including restructure of Epcot World Showcase/Futureworld hours
- elimination of early morning hours, instead sending Character Caravan to resorts (only lasted about 12 months, if that)
- completely closed of one of the Port Orleans Resorts for "remodel"
- stopped construction of Pop Century, didn't resume until mid-2003, opened in December 2003, and only 1/2 of construction was completed.
- some resorts closed many buildings, I know All-Star Music had 5 of its 10 buildings closed when I was there.

I believe Disney felt a "temporary lull" from 9/11/2001 until at least fall 2004 as the discounts and promotional offerings were very deep and plentiful during that time, include $45 value rooms, as well as 7 nights for the price of 4 and 7 nights for the price of 5 package promotions - even discounts to neighboring states, such as Georgia...

Its my opinion that any lull in attendance would need to be longer than 2-3 years or much deeper than what happened during and after 9/11 to consider closing any parks - even for 1 day a week. I would expect to see deep discounts first.

 

[crxbrett]

Walt Disney World actually cut the park hours way before 9/11 ever happened. EPCOT's hours (specifically Future World's, were changed back in the mid 1990's...I think it was either 1994 or 1995 when Future World started closing at 7) and World Showcase always opened after Future World. The only park that I can't actually remember when they changed hours was the MK (they use to be open until Midnight every night in Summer and now it's 11).

 

[askmike1]

I'm sorry, but WDW attendance has been increasing every year. Epcot finally hit the double digits again, Magic Kingdom is the most visited park in the world and both Animal Kingdom & Studios saw big increases this year (and I'm sure with Pixar Place opening, the Studios will get an even larger increase this year). So yes, the article is unfounded and just wrong.

 

[bgraham34]

The only way I can ever see this happening is the attendance drops way way down. They are not just going to close a park if people expect to be getting top dollar for their vacation.

 

[GrumpyFan]

WOW! A lot of negativity on Kevin Yee's article regarding the supposed contigency plans that Disney exec's are ONLY considering, should travel and bookings go into a nose-dive. I think the gist of this article, and his earlier one were that Disney officials are worried about the current economic situation and the unknown impact of the continually rising gas prices. I don't think he said anywhere that any of this was definitely going to happen, just that they were some of the ideas being thrown around.

As for the numbers, it's estimated that WDW hit more than 40 million visitors in 1999, the first full year that AK was open. In 2001, the estimated number of visitors dropped to 39 million, and then 36 million in 2002. It wasn't until 2004, that the numbers hit over 40 million again. Last year, they only grew by about 3% to 46 million which is down from other growth years where it was 4 to 7%. I'm sure they're watching the gates and room bookings very closely for the daily counts to see what's happening. If you're interested in seeing more, I have compiled a spreadsheet of the estimates I've been able to find for the last 10 years, you can see it here: Estimated Attendance levels. If you know of any changes needed, please contact me offline.

As for some of the ideas supposedly being considered, I think a central hub for busses makes a lot of sense, from an economical standpoint, but I would miss the direct busses. Also, IF things get really bad, I could see them closing one park a day if nothing else just one day a week, closing a park and rotating thru the 4 on a weekly basis. Face it folks, Disney is a business, and they have to think about these kinds of things, and be prepared just in case.

 

[Frank Stallone]

Kevin Yee does not sleep...he waits.

When the boogieman goes to sleep, he checks under his bed for Kevin Yee

Wilt Chamberlain claims to have slept with over 20,000 women. Kevin Yee considers that a slow Tuesday.

There is no theory of evolution. Only a selection of animals in which Kevin Yee allowed to live.