I'm just curious, so I'm honestly asking this question, why do you believe MM+ is the cause for attendance declines at WDW?
I think it has several cumulative effects on the resort over that course of time.
1.The money Disney spent to develop my magic plus and magic bands, billions, was not spent developing/opening other attractions, creating other value at the theme parks that would have driven attendance.
2. While Disney was spending billions on this infrastructure, Universal was spending money on more visible and valuable attractions in their parks that drove attendance.
3. The My Magic Plus experience has taken a lot of sponteneity out of the theme park experience, rewarding frequent WDW visitors at the expense of first time visitors, which could result in the alienation of first time visitors rather than hooking them as repeat guests/families/vacationers. Isn't it obvious that first-time guests to the resort who aren't getting fastpasses for their prioritized attractions, or dinner reservations, while having to wait 2-3 hours in line for the newest attraction, won't feel like they are getting the most value out of a trip to walt disney world, and probably be less likely to feel confident spending in money and time there the future? Imagine an extended family on vacation, learning about mm+ the hard way. One or two family members might feel confident in some new competencies regarding the scheduling/reservation system, and feel they can handle reservations for the entire family. However, can we guarantee that the rest of the members of this party will be as eager to return?
Just revisited disneyworld's website, which I don't do often because I'm on the west coast, just to make sure I wasn't missing something. Namely, that everybody is getting ample communication about my magic + and magic bands during the pre-planning process, before arriving, so that everybody benefits/uses the service/ has time to ensure the highest satisfaction from their park experiences. But, that isn't what I found. Homepage, Theme Parks, parks and tickets. Major landing pages in their website have zero mention of either magic bands or mm+. More prominently displayed is the play disney parks app. Only in the bottom of the page, where every section and subsection is listed, is there some links to unspectacular pages for mm+ and magic bands. Based on the low priority these programs are given on their website, people visiting for the first time might think that these services are not important to their success on property. There will obviously be opportunities to buy magic bands at the resort, but the mm+ reservation and dining system will be of little use.
The third is purely my observations, but it should (and probably has been) seriously considered; whether the people helped by My Magic Plus oughtweigh and outspend and revisit more often and at a more positive rate of growth than the people who don't use the service or don't use it well. I would be curious to see a comparison between revisitation rates of first-time guests before mm+ and after, or some segmentation of the market in the present to rule out other variables. How frequently, overall, do wdw guests visit/revisit the resort, as a resort constantly gaining attractions, or as one without new attractions but service like mm+/magic bands. If they aren't increasing the frequency of visits they must not actually be enhancing guest experience.
