Curious what parentsof4 thinks about how the lower gas prices will impact Disney in the coming year.
On one hand I think more disposable income will mean more people paying for Park upgrades ie fireworks dessert bar, Disney character dining and wanting that Magical Disney experience. AFRAID that numbers will be high for park income and be used as reinforcement that current management is doing the right things at Disney parks. With that fear is that increased attendance will increase wear and tear on the parks and expose the condition problems faster and more pronounced which could be GOOD.
I have seen the park numbers increase over the past 10 years in the time that I usually attend, Jan, May, Jun and Oct. I think it has been discussed about the caliber of cliental visiting the Disney resorts and parks, and I am not trying to be an elitist with the following statement: The guest visiting the park are rude, crass, pushy, demanding, and focused on rides at all cost and not the experience. With the US economy seeming to show signs of rebounding, one of my rental buildings houses an upscale restaurant that has witnessed a 15% increase this Christmas season and will top last years sales by at least 10% to the mid 7 figure level. I think the problem that WDW is going to be facing is that the demand will be greater for entertainment that they will be able to accomodate. Not hotels but parks. Magic Kingdom is always busy, EPCOT will have standard festivals and alcohol seeking guests, Animal Kingdom will attempt to move to an evening park but many of the animal experiences are not designed for lights and Avatar is several years still away and then the rework of DHS means the limited park is very thin even with carnival rides coming per earlier rumour on here. To me demand will be pushed to the top two and those parks are already showing signs of the stress. Will those breakdowns and forced refurbs be enough to draw attention to the current problem of limiting maintance while increasing usage?
I may be out in leftfield and completely wrong on all accounts but I am just very curious with economy turning and more people with income to spend if they are going to fall for Disney lite compared to the park of the 70's 80's and even 90's that I knew.
At least something other than beef in tacos to talk about