Park capacity?

[Disstevefan1]

The term "Mobbed" is also arbitrary and a matter of personal interpretation.

A fart by any other name smells just as bad - Shakespeare (with my stink on it)

 

[mikejs78]

I agree. The part I'm not understanding is why, if WDW has reservations, is it taking multiple hours in standby lines? Seems that, if you're limiting the number of people in the park, you can plan and staff sufficiently for maximum guest satisfaction.

Maybe that's not their goal is with the reservations...

I'm not convinced that they aren't. Are they running all sides on rides that have that capability? If so, I think you're right. If that's the case, maybe reducing the number of reservations for the park further would help with the wait times?

I do agree with the problem of capacity. They've ripped out all the crowd-eating stuff at DHS and DAK and replaced them with spectacular but small capacity attractions. That is a big deal that could be handled by the reservation system, IMO.

TouringPlans provides a good measure. Their scale is based on standby wait times, and with all the full capacity days recently, they've never hit a 10. Most days it's around a 7 or 8 with an occasional 9. So they are definitely limiting attendance based on what was previously a CL 10 day.

 

[TikibirdLand]

TouringPlans provides a good measure. Their scale is based on standby wait times, and with all the full capacity days recently, they've never hit a 10. Most days it's around a 7 or 8 with an occasional 9. So they are definitely limiting attendance based on what was previously a CL 10 day.

Is it possible @lentesta is scaling down based on previous huge crowds? Seems that the length of lines and the wait times indicate a larger than "7" or "8" lately. Or, it could be possible, I need to go read the definitions of those numbers.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I agree. The part I'm not understanding is why, if WDW has reservations, is it taking multiple hours in standby lines? Seems that, if you're limiting the number of people in the park, you can plan and staff sufficiently for maximum guest satisfaction.

Maybe that's not their goal is with the reservations...

I think Disney is trying to use the park pass reservation system to try to staff the parks with the absolute minimum staff to run a given park on a given day.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I agree. The part I'm not understanding is why, if WDW has reservations, is it taking multiple hours in standby lines? Seems that, if you're limiting the number of people in the park, you can plan and staff sufficiently for maximum guest satisfaction.

Maybe that's not their goal is with the reservations...

I have been doing more thinking about the park pass reservation system.
For now it's free.
It's only a matter of time Disney will be charging for park pass reservations.
Tiered prices?
Priority reservations at a higher price?
Time will tell..

 

[GimpYancIent]

I have been doing more thinking about the park pass reservation system.
For now it's free.
It's only a matter of time Disney will be charging for park pass reservations.
Tiered prices?
Priority reservations at a higher price?
Time will tell..

There it is! Absolutely B.C. corporate thinking.

 

[drizgirl]

I think Disney is trying to use the park pass reservation system to try to staff the parks with the absolute minimum staff to run a given park on a given day.

I agree.

 

[cranbiz]

I have been doing more thinking about the park pass reservation system.
For now it's free.
It's only a matter of time Disney will be charging for park pass reservations.
Tiered prices?
Priority reservations at a higher price?
Time will tell..

Don't give $lappie any more ideas!

 

[ChrisM]

I have been doing more thinking about the park pass reservation system.
For now it's free.
It's only a matter of time Disney will be charging for park pass reservations.
Tiered prices?
Priority reservations at a higher price?
Time will tell..

Anyone who thinks this won't happen is fooling themselves.

There are a number of levers yet to be pulled in further monetizing access and priority, and what we have now is just the tip of the iceberg.

- Park pass reservations "full"? Depends on when you booked - they can be "opened" for an additional fee.

- Lightning Lane reservations fully booked up? Only for the "standard" Genie+ payers. You can ride now for $50 per person.

Lots of air being expelled and ink being spilled about how Disney is taking a PR hit with guest dissatisfaction with the current Genie+/LL/ILL scheme - and I suspect that's somewhat by design. This is simply the beta version. Disney will respond - but not in the direction most are hoping/angling for. The next version(s) are going to double down on monetization under the guise of responding to guest demand and added convenience. And it will be more convenient and, ultimately, a better guest experience. For a price.

 

[lentesta]

Is it possible @lentesta is scaling down based on previous huge crowds? Seems that the length of lines and the wait times indicate a larger than "7" or "8" lately. Or, it could be possible, I need to go read the definitions of those numbers.

We've not changed the scales. The main reason for that was so people could do year-over-year comparisons.

 

[TikibirdLand]

We've not changed the scales. The main reason for that was so people could do year-over-year comparisons.

OK. Maybe I'm mis-weighing the numbers. I took a look at the calendar and I'm not seeing what my expectation should be at each level. Guess I need to watch the wait times and compare to the crowd level and get my own feel for it.
Thanks for the info, Len!

 

[lentesta]

OK. Maybe I'm mis-weighing the numbers. I took a look at the calendar and I'm not seeing what my expectation should be at each level. Guess I need to watch the wait times and compare to the crowd level and get my own feel for it.
Thanks for the info, Len!

The scale on the right of each attraction's wait times shows you what the average wait time is for each crowd level.

In the graph below, an average posted wait of around 58 minutes is a crowd level 2, while an average posted wait of 100 minutes is around a crowd level 8.

 

[mikejs78]

The scale on the right of each attraction's wait times shows you what the average wait time is for each crowd level.

In the graph below, an average posted wait of around 58 minutes is a crowd level 2, while an average posted wait of 100 minutes is around a crowd level 8.

View attachment 631419

Do you think that this is a result of less people being let in, Genie Plus having less allocation than FP+, thereby making standby lines go faster, or a combo of both? Something else?

 

[TikibirdLand]

The scale on the right of each attraction's wait times shows you what the average wait time is for each crowd level.

In the graph below, an average posted wait of around 58 minutes is a crowd level 2, while an average posted wait of 100 minutes is around a crowd level 8.

View attachment 631419

Thanks for the explanation. My DW normally does all the planning and I do the driving/paying. This is the Way

 

[HauntedPirate]

Anyone who thinks this won't happen is fooling themselves.

There are a number of levers yet to be pulled in further monetizing access and priority, and what we have now is just the tip of the iceberg.

- Park pass reservations "full"? Depends on when you booked - they can be "opened" for an additional fee.

- Lightning Lane reservations fully booked up? Only for the "standard" Genie+ payers. You can ride now for $50 per person.

Lots of air being expelled and ink being spilled about how Disney is taking a PR hit with guest dissatisfaction with the current Genie+/LL/ILL scheme - and I suspect that's somewhat by design. This is simply the beta version. Disney will respond - but not in the direction most are hoping/angling for. The next version(s) are going to double down on monetization under the guise of responding to guest demand and added convenience. And it will be more convenient and, ultimately, a better guest experience. For a price.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Anyone who thinks this won't happen is fooling themselves.

There are a number of levers yet to be pulled in further monetizing access and priority, and what we have now is just the tip of the iceberg.

- Park pass reservations "full"? Depends on when you booked - they can be "opened" for an additional fee.

- Lightning Lane reservations fully booked up? Only for the "standard" Genie+ payers. You can ride now for $50 per person.

Park pass reservations - Why IS this free?
Bob is leaving money on the table. It's obviously a valuable service if you want to get into the parks. It seems like $5/head/day would be reasonable to reserve space for a customer. It would also discourage those who reserve but don't show up. (they could sell it that way).. Wait. They'd sell it like this: "Park reservations is a service which ensures that you get into the park or parks of your choice and have the most magical day possible."

Lightning Lane is dumb to be capped at $20. They've proven that people will wait in line. They need to have demand-based pricing so that when there is more demand then it goes up and when there is less it goes back down to $20 (let's not get crazy and think it should go below $20). This will help them balance out the crowds throughout the day. ... PR: "Lightning Lane demand-based pricing is now available to ensure that you get on the ride of your choice in a magically timely manner. If you're a family on a budget, you can schedule times during off-peak hours to ensure that your family has the most magical day!"

This got me to thinking: We all know there's corporate speak. I have to do it. Others have to do it. I think some do it without knowing because they think that's just how people speak, which they don't. Disney has a sort of PR "corporate speak" to them which is really tailored to make everything magical/glowing/special. It's not hard as you only have to pepper in a few choice words but you still have to give it a bit of thought to match their cadence.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Park pass reservations - Why IS this free?
Bob is leaving money on the table. It's obviously a valuable service if you want to get into the parks. It seems like $5/head/day would be reasonable to reserve space for a customer. It would also discourage those who reserve but don't show up. (they could sell it that way).. Wait. They'd sell it like this: "Park reservations is a service which ensures that you get into the park or parks of your choice and have the most magical day possible."

Lightning Lane is dumb to be capped at $20. They've proven that people will wait in line. They need to have demand-based pricing so that when there is more demand then it goes up and when there is less it goes back down to $20 (let's not get crazy and think it should go below $20). This will help them balance out the crowds throughout the day. ... PR: "Lightning Lane demand-based pricing is now available to ensure that you get on the ride of your choice in a magically timely manner. If you're a family on a budget, you can schedule times during off-peak hours to ensure that your family has the most magical day!"

This got me to thinking: We all know there's corporate speak. I have to do it. Others have to do it. I think some do it without knowing because they think that's just how people speak, which they don't. Disney has a sort of PR "corporate speak" to them which is really tailored to make everything magical/glowing/special. It's not hard as you only have to pepper in a few choice words but you still have to give it a bit of thought to match their cadence.

So pay $130-150/day to get in the park, pay $20+ for certain rides, and then on top of that - charge to get a park reservation? Yeah, I could see Bob giving Josh the green light to do that. Then they can claim, "We haven't increased ticket prices!"

 

[Brad Bishop]

So pay $130-150/day to get in the park, pay $20+ for certain rides, and then on top of that - charge to get a park reservation? Yeah, I could see Bob giving Josh the green light to do that. Then they can claim, "We haven't increased ticket prices!"

Oh, no no no... They'll increase the price of tickets.. and people will line up and pay. This is all on top of the tickets.

How can they go before Wall Street and say, "We didn't increase ticket prices?" What? Are they financial failures? No. They'll increase, maybe even more frequently than before.

They'll just have to specify, "The ticket is your magical passage into the parks but, in order to use it, you'll need to use our convenient reservation system so that you're guaranteed entry to enjoy your magical day."

 

[Disstevefan1]

Oh, no no no... They'll increase the price of tickets.. and people will line up and pay. This is all on top of the tickets.

How can they go before Wall Street and say, "We didn't increase ticket prices?" What? Are they financial failures? No. They'll increase, maybe even more frequently than before.

They'll just have to specify, "The ticket is your magical passage into the parks but, in order to use it, you'll need to use our convenient reservation system so that you're guaranteed entry to enjoy your magical day."

Agreed.

Remember, instead of folding the parking fee into the room rates at WDW, they created a separate parking fee.

This allows them to raise both the room rates and the parking fees independently.

This will be the same for park tickets and (soon to come) park pass reservation fees.

Going forward they can raise these independently.

Bobby can't wait to do this.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Agreed.

Remember, instead of folding the parking fee into the room rates at WDW, they created a separate parking fee.

This allows them to raise both the room rates and the parking fees independently.

You have to word it right:

"This allows the customer to "be green" AND save on parking fees while making their way to the most Magical Place on Earth!"

The customer is saving by not having to pay the parking fee when they don't drive a car. Walt Disney World is constantly striving to ensure that customers stay within their budget during these trying times all while saving the planet! Also, it's magical.