News Park attendance showing significant softness heading into the Fall 2018

jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh said:
This is like a “fairy unicorn” post or something?

What does “looking at new e tickets mean”?
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There are pretty strong rumors that expansion beyond SWL is being discussed for DHS and DAK. Right here on these magical boards which are the must cutting edge of all boards. So there is that.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
jt04 said:
There are pretty strong rumors that expansion beyond SWL is being discussed for DHS and DAK. Right here on these magical boards which are the must cutting edge of all boards. So there is that.
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That doesn’t mean much of anything (cutting it to the bone)

But that’s not the issue.

I’ll meet you with my shovel right now to break ground on these new “further expansions”...and the soonest they’d be ready is 2024. Which makes this whole thing moot. That is how these are built now.

Further expansion of star wars is really foolhardy as well. They cloned it to save on costs and balance appeal/draw. The Disneyland version is shoehorned in the armpit of the exit ramp on the 5. Realistically further expansion of mgm is gonna be another IP.

Or are we talking “phase: me” and “phase: more”??
 
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MickeyMinnieMom

MickeyMinnieMom

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
HEA doesn't have lots of outside vendors operating resturants depending on your main evening draw... (while half the park closes before the dinner rush even finishes).

Fireworks in the castle park not being nightly is a thing.. and was more common in the past, and is still common in Disneyland. It's not a far fetch for MK to try it...
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I'm not disagreeing that anything is a possibility, and that there are additional reasons why cutting Illuminations is probably even less likely. I'm sure "they" "talk about" doing all sorts of things, most of which never materialize -- that's normal.

I think that it is extraordinarily unlikely that they would drop HEA below 7 days/week unless something MAJOR happens (at WDW or in the wider economy). Again, they didn't even do this during the Great Recession. I plan my trips in Excel, and a quick look showed MK fireworks 7 days/week during the 23 trips we've taken since 2006.

In addition, with party fireworks over the next several months, I don't see them cutting more HEA performances than what those are already taking out.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh said:
That doesn’t mean much of anything (cutting it to the bone)

But that’s not the issue.

I’ll meet you with my shovel right now to break ground on these new “further expansions”...and the soonest they’d be ready is 2024. Which makes this whole thing mute. That is how these are built now.

Further expansion of star wars is really foolhardy as well. They cloned it to save on costs and balance appeal/draw. The Disneyland version is shoehorned in the armpit of the exit ramp on the 5. Realistically further expansion of mgm is gonna be another IP.

Or are we talking “phase: me” and “phase: more”??
Click to expand...

I said further expansion beyond SWL, not of SWL.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
jt04 said:
I said further expansion beyond SWL, not of SWL.
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Good...because I don’t see a legitimate angle for more Star Wars.

There was this silly idea in 2017 that mgm expansion was “already budgeted”...which is nonsense. That is like talking about Santa clause...

So since that bold day in July...we’ve seen grounds breakings...now followed by a fresh round of closures and reductions.

The empire always strikes back.
 
tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
MickeyMinnieMom said:
Those things have been factors for years though.
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It takes years for poor word-of-mouth to finally affect attendance. Numbers don’t lie, and this has become an increasing Guest complaint, even among people who are repeat Guests. The hassle of planning has finally caught up with the resort’s reputation.

On the other hand, this has been a great development for travel planners who can guarantee customers that they’ll personally handle the headaches involved in Disney trip planning.

But if people want to visit WDW, they will. IMHO, at the end of the day, attendance is soft because of Star Wars.
 
MickeyMinnieMom

MickeyMinnieMom

Well-Known Member
@tirian, Many things are possible. Without seeing the aggregate survey data myself, and given how complex the inputs ---> attendance picture is, I won't take any declarative statements about cause -- effect as gospel.

I have no insider info. To me, delayed trips due to SWGE and many other offerings coming on line seem like they'd have to be a big factor. The cumulative impact of having to uber plan a WDW trip taking this long and all of a sudden hitting like a ton of bricks seems less plausible to me. Perhaps a bit of both plus a ton of other things... probably more likely.

I'd still guess that this is temporary and we'll see attendance go up heading into SWGE and other new offerings, through the anniversary, and some beyond -- barring any major economic downturn or earthquake at WDC.
 
matt9112

matt9112

Well-Known Member
Disstevefan1 said:
I cant speak for the computer rationing system, the twitter post shows the actual posted standby, 180 minute stand by at 10AM in the morning on a Wednesday. There are actual guests waiting in this queue. If there was a "significant softness in park attendance ", you would think the standby line for any attraction to be less than 180 minutes on any given Wednesday at 10 AM .

Lets say the number is 100 percent off, 90 minutes is still ridiculous for a Wednesday IF they are trying to claim a significant softness in park attendance.

Think of this, there is a 180 minute stand by at 10AM in the morning on a Wednesday that did not exist 16 months ago, at the same time there is a whole new Toy Story Land in DHS, I am sure Slinky has a long queue at the same time.

The parks are still mobbed. A "significant softness in park attendance is an excuse to cut cast members hours..
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could operate with less theaters too to cut down on payroll costs. same with soarin or anything with multiple ride systems to some degree. space mountain and thunder can both be one side only as well....easy way to cut costs.
 

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