_caleb
Well-Known Member
Yep. I’m not chasing a conspiracy theory here, just trying to decide whether to engage or skip this thread and jump back into any of the 27 COVID threads.
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On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace
- Thread starter pheneix
- Start date
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
The only “backlog” is dvc...
And from what I can tell....there is little desire for them to “get back” either
And from what I can tell....there is little desire for them to “get back” either
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
That is simply not true. When they first announced their reopening, bookings were pretty good toward the winter holidays. Then the quarantine orders with (empty?) monetary threats came in. People are canceling like crazy out of fear. They call up saying they are afraid of getting in trouble or that they can’t quarantine due to work. Most will want to return next year, so IF the situation improves, they should rebound. If there’s no vaccine? Who the hell knows?
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I think we're on the same page, then. This conversation originally started when someone said the quarantine orders were stopping all people from going to Disney.
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tirian
Well-Known Member
As I mentioned to @jt04 in another thread:
“Also, no offense to you, but the talking head promo saying “we found a way to put guests into a cartoon!” was a joke. Disney already did that in two fully formed Toontowns (Cali and Tokyo) plus Roger Rabbit’s cartoon spin. That was in the ‘90s. Painted flats and massive unused spaces do not put guests into the world of cartoons.”
IMHO, the big miss with MRR was Iger’s directive to use only “his” version of Mickey who’s already been discontinued from merch, etc. instead of using the classic version that’s here to stay. It’s a typical example of Iger’s hubris.
But I digress.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I don’t get the impression that’s the case...even if - to their credit - they don’t net nanny like the “competition”
Nothing worse than an angry dentist watching ip addresses on the Santee
pfft. Every thread can be a COVID thread!
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Bookings were good toward Christmas because their assumption was it would be “back to normal”...and opportunists saw an angle toward a time that would have been booked long ago.
But those were more “placeholders”...as they all would bail if things weren’t “perfect”
There was little chance of that from the start.
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TeriofTerror
Well-Known Member
I actually love coasters, but my husband doesn't.
I am a Disney junkie. But for me, it's about the vacation experience. CP is just a trip to a park. I'm still surrounded by real life. WDW is an escape from the day-to-day where people are taking care of me and catering to my whims, instead of me always taking care of everyone else. There's no bubble at Cedar Point where I can disconnect from the outside world.
My daughter generally just comes home on weekends, so her room is often available.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
You have no idea what you're talking about.
The number of people who are 1) willing to deal with masks and risk COVID to go to the Magic Kingdom AND 2) unwilling to deal with masks and risk COVID to fly in an airplane to get to the Magic Kingdom is exactly zero.
Loads of people in the northeast are ready and willing to fly, but the airports are the one place where governors actually can and will enforce the quarantine restrictions. I had a non-Disney trip planned for the end of August that I had to cancel because the lists they're generating at the airports are going to the schools and my kids wouldn't have been able to start in the fall.
It absolutely IS being enforced in the states from which Disney draws most of their guests.
COVID is third on the list.
1. Masks
2. Travel restrictions.
3. Covid (the virus itself, i.e. people being afraid of it)
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Wow, that's actually shocking to me. It's mainly just Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio (as far as I know) that are actually under relatively strict quarantine orders and have large populations that probably visit Disney. That's definitely a hit, but it shouldn't be a huge percentage of their overall visitor base.
Also, I don't think you can definitively blame that on quarantine orders. It's just as likely that people looked at the numbers surging in the US and decided that maybe things weren't going to be perfectly fine and safe to travel in the winter.
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Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
You can have that escape staying at Hotel Breakers. When I go to Cedar Point its where I stay and have just as much fun staying there and being in the Cedar Point bubble then the Disney one. Give me Steel Vengeance over RoTR any day.I actually love coasters, but my husband doesn't.
I am a Disney junkie. But for me, it's about the vacation experience. CP is just a trip to a park. I'm still surrounded by real life. WDW is an escape from the day-to-day where people are taking care of me and catering to my whims, instead of me always taking care of everyone else. There's no bubble at Cedar Point where I can disconnect from the outside world.
My daughter generally just comes home on weekends, so her room is often available.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
That doesn't disprove anything I said. I never said or even insinuated there weren't any people who weren't travelling for that reason. I said it's not the reason WDW attendance is so low, because there are huge numbers of people who go to Disney and could go to Disney right now but are not.
You're acting like 90% of WDW visitors come from the northeast which isn't remotely true. It hurts Disney's attendance, but it's only a piece of a much larger pie. It's not anywhere near being the whole pie, or even the majority of it.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
I never said travel restrictions were the sole factor or even the primary factor. All I said is that they're a non-trivial factor. Nothing is monocausal. It is ONE OF the reasons attendance is so low.
More importantly, it's the one factor that Disney execs. didn't know when they made the decision to reopen. They knew they'd require masks, and they knew some people wouldn't travel because of the virus. They did not know that 90 million people wouldn't be allowed to go.
A majority of "normal" domestic WDW guests are currently under travel restrictions. That is absolutely a fact.
I'll PM you...My daughter generally just comes home on weekends, so her room is often available.
crispy
Well-Known Member
I think there are many reasons why people aren't going to WDW right now including fear of catching the virus, inability to travel including travel bans, not wanting to wear a mask (especially in the Florida heat), not seeing the value in it for what you will pay, dealing with job loss, etc. One of these factors won't keep everyone away, but all of them together creates a perfect storm.
Personally, we have not yet been affected financially, but I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. If things continue to go the way the are, there is a strong possibility that one or both of us could lose our jobs. There is just no way I would spend thousands of dollars right now on a trip to WDW with all of the uncertainty going on. We are savers by nature, but I am hoarding as much cash as I can right now until this plays out. I mentioned earlier that we are season passholders at Dollywood so will be traveling to that area next month. The cost to us is pretty minimal because we can drive there and use travel rewards. I feel like many people are making similar decisions.
People need down time, but they don't need a WDW vacation. I think many people are doing staycations or are sticking close to home right now.
Personally, we have not yet been affected financially, but I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. If things continue to go the way the are, there is a strong possibility that one or both of us could lose our jobs. There is just no way I would spend thousands of dollars right now on a trip to WDW with all of the uncertainty going on. We are savers by nature, but I am hoarding as much cash as I can right now until this plays out. I mentioned earlier that we are season passholders at Dollywood so will be traveling to that area next month. The cost to us is pretty minimal because we can drive there and use travel rewards. I feel like many people are making similar decisions.
People need down time, but they don't need a WDW vacation. I think many people are doing staycations or are sticking close to home right now.
TeriofTerror
Well-Known Member
I've visited Hotel Breakers several times, but I'm not a huge fan. And I'm really surprised to hear of a vacation destination like WDW being compared to a day trip location like CP. I'm a Disney snob, tbh. When I do go to CP, I tend to find myself turning up my nose and pointing out all the ways it falls short of Disney standards.
It does have Melt, though, and Melt is pretty great!
I think first and foremost we need to take care of our health. Being holed up at home some may eat, drink and smoke too much to combat the stress among other things. The obesity epidemic in our country is out of control contributing to the health care costs that continue to rise.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I think that's arguable. Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia alone are 70+ million people and I know all four of those states have huge numbers of WDW visitors. Throw in the rest of the southeast (excluding South Carolina) and it's probably a larger population than the states you listed as currently under quarantine, and that's still ignoring a huge part of the country.
Those states (mainly New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio) are definitely a significant portion of the WDW base, but I doubt they're the majority. Not that it really matters -- I'm actually curious about this now, though, and wonder if there's a breakdown somewhere of visitors by state.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
I'm the opposite, I went to MK a couple years ago and wasn't blown away at all. Most rides felt the same with different scenes. Dark rides don't do anything for me. The last time I enjoyed a dark ride at Disney was when Epcot had Horizons and World of Motion. CP is more then a day trip for me. I live 4 hrs away so for me I am there for many days at a time. I can re-ride the same coasters multiple times and not get bored.