I've spent the last few weeks wondering if there's also another component at play driving uncertainty in the travel market... as if Covid wasn't enough.
Never in WDW history has there been a time of widespread social unrest. It went mostly unnoticed due to the parks still being closed, but in early June WDW operations were modified by adjusting hours at the just-reopened Springs to respect the Orange county curfew in response to ongoing protests. If the parks had been open, highly visible adjustments in hours probably would have to have been made.
Without making this line of discussion overtly political, I think it's fair to say that we are all currently operating under a very heightened sense of uncertainty with regards too many issues here in America that have yet to be fully resolved. Covid is amplifying and precipitating some of these issues, but even without it there may have been measurable disruption already due to significant events of the past few months. Agree with it or not, one can not consider everything 'perfectly fine' with the American tourism industry - especially its international standing and stability - when key tourist destinations in our nations capital and other well-recognized cities continue to make dramatic international headlines with very graphic pictures involving protests and unrest.
WDW itself can probably itself be considered a well protected bubble from this 'real world' issue, I highly doubt any significant protest would have been allowed to occur on property... but the decisions and discussion regarding Splash and other socially 'awkward' attractions proves that the Walt Disney company considers these issues highly significant. Their motivations in 'doing something' are not only because of key personal ambitions to be on the right side of history, but are also likely driven by very real business motivations in telegraphing that Disney World is not really part of the "America" you're currently seeing in those uncomfortable pictures. As always, they would like to sell it as a safe place, both physically and culturally.
If Covid didn't happen, I believe there still would have been a softening of international travel specifically in response to the protests... and possibly a very rapid pull back in some segments of domestic and business travel as well. As we inch closer to certain key dates in our democratic process, I think there are very real questions on a lot of peoples minds over what exactly could happen, how some of this is going to play out, and possibly how close to home you'd prefer to be when it might. I don't know how this would have translated to summer vacation attendance at the parks, or if it would have made little more than a blip on fall & winter resort bookings... Frankly, it's uncharted territory just as much as Covid is.
