WDW attendance calculations?

[Pepper's Ghost]

Does anyone know definitively how the parks attendance is calculated? I searched both this forum and the google machine and couldn't find anything substantive. Just curious. Is a park hopper pass 1 person for the day for the entire resort, or if I visit all 4 parks in a day, am I four people in the attendance count? I'm assuming it's how many bodies go through the gates, not who they are, so I'm guessing when I park hop I'm more than one person. Stats I found state that WDW had attendance of nearly 59M in all 4 parks in 2019. Let's assume that's accurate. If I have a park hopper and attend all 4 parks each day on a seven day vacation, does that make me 28 people of that 59M in 2019?

The reason I ask is because I'm wondering how many people are on property at any given time contributing to the congestion. Does Disney look at bodies through the gates, or people on property? I was breaking down the numbers and trying to understand how many people visit a park in a day on average. MK had 21M in 2019 which comes out to an average of ~57k per day. I understand busy and slow times as well as some people are there for the first half of the day, or the second half so it's not 57k at any single time during the day, but breaking down the stats for all 4 parks makes it 161k per day. I'm wondering if it's 161k separate people on those properties in a day, or is there overlap?

If anyone's curious, here are the stats I found for 2019. I'm not claiming them to be correct, so need to argue these numbers. It's just what I found:
MK 20,963,000
AK 13,888,000
Epc 12,444,000
HS 11,483,000
Tot 57,778,000

 

[Chef Mickey]

This has been argued before but I think people through the gate count as “visitors” not necessarily unique. So yes, hopping would count you twice for a visitor to the respective park.

 

[HongKongFooy]

Counting hoppers 2 to 6 times flagrantly misleads.........an act so egregious that it should be a criminal act; I'm thinking a low level misdomenor when cited.


.....OK not a crime but such an illogical approach to understanding attendance that it should be laughed off stage and pelted with rotten fruits and vegetables.

 

[HongKongFooy]

Do conjoined twins who hold separate identities get in with one ticket or does each have to have his/her own?

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

This has been argued before but I think people through the gate count as “visitors” not necessarily unique. So yes, hopping would count you twice for a visitor to the respective park.

I guessing this is how they count attendance, but agree completely with @HongKongFooy that it's a ridiculous way to count attendance. It just makes no sense. So it's not 161k guests on property that day, it's probably 120k or whatever since so many people will spend the day at a park, go chill at the hotel for a while, and then head over to Epcot for dinner. So dumb and misleading. So that means instead of 58M guests in a year, it's really probably around 40M. Pure guess, but just making a point. Doesn't that close the attendance gap between Universal and WDW? I'm assuming so.

 

[Chef Mickey]

I guessing this is how they count attendance, but agree completely with @HongKongFooy that it's a ridiculous way to count attendance. It just makes no sense. So it's not 161k guests on property that day, it's probably 120k or whatever since so many people will spend the day at a park, go chill at the hotel for a while, and then head over to Epcot for dinner. So dumb and misleading. So that means instead of 58M guests in a year, it's really probably around 40M. Pure guess, but just making a point. Doesn't that close the attendance gap between Universal and WDW? I'm assuming so.

I actually know they track both and am unsure if Disney actually reports these attendance figures or if they are guesses.

 

[HongKongFooy]

Doesn't that close the attendance gap between Universal and WDW? I'm assuming so.

But perhaps Uni is doing it, too........



There should be 'rules'(common sense qualifiers) to these kinds of exercises......I mean when the USA attempts to understand its demography by collecting household data you don't get to be counted in one home and then pack up and go sleep on your neighbor's couch and be counted a second time......just ain't right!

 

[ParentsOf4]

Disney has not publically reported actual theme park attendance since the mid 1980s. Instead, they only report percent change.

Therefore, it's irrelevant to the general public how they count attendance, as long as they count it consistently for their reported percent change numbers.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Counting hoppers 2 to 6 times flagrantly misleads.........an act so egregious that it should be a criminal act; I'm thinking a low level misdomenor when cited.


.....OK not a crime but such an illogical approach to understanding attendance that it should be laughed off stage and pelted with rotten fruits and vegetables.

It is legit when hopping. If you visited MK in the morning and hopped over to Epcot in the afternoon you would be counted as a guest in both parks separately. The only time it would get thrown off would be if you then returned to MK. However, I really don't think that happens all that much. A little, yes, but not significantly. So it is a true count when breaking it down to each park. If you take and add all four parks up to get a total count including all four of them, then the count would be a lot less than accurate.

My question would be, do they really add up all for a day and call that a daily head count? I don' t know. If they do than I would have to figure in how important that number is at best. From what you folks have been saying, park hopping is not a huge percentage of the public, so it probably isn't all that far off anyway. But, if it was, what does it matter. Does anyone look at the numbers and say, wow, I gotta go there. Look how many people are there. We don't want to be left out. Head count means a lot, but is far and away exceeded by how much is hitting the bank on a daily basis. There is no way to deny those amounts.

If the census is 57,778,00 at an average of $90.00 per head then the revenue from just park entrances should be around a cool $5,200,020,000 per year just for that alone.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Do conjoined twins who hold separate identities get in with one ticket or does each have to have his/her own?

Hmmmm. I'd say a conjoined twin is walking in on one pair of feet and count as one guest. They take up one seat on an attraction so again ... one guest. However when they dine they can/ could order separate meals which would be two plates so they would be considered as two diners.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Attendance I believe would be counted as bodies. It doesnt matter whether the same person enters multiple parks in a same days period. Each entrance would be counted as one entrance of one person, even if one leaves and comes back or goes off to another park. The count would be taken as one goes through the gate which counts a number and not a specific person.

 

[Chef Mickey]

The people with the pitchforks need to relax.

It's not unlike views on YouTube or even seeing a movie multiple times. A view is a view, a visitor is a visitor. You pay for the Park Hopper option, so Disney makes something when you choose to park hop. It's also very easy to argue that "unique" visitors should be an entirely different metric, which they obviously track as well.

I think counting bodies through the gate, unique or not, is correct.

And lastly, these numbers don't come from Disney, so take it up with the park analysts that put this crap together.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

Hmmmm. I'd say a conjoined twin is walking in on one pair of feet and count as one guest. They take up one seat on an attraction so again ... one guest. However when they dine they can/ could order separate meals which would be two plates so they would be considered as two diners.

Interesting side topic. On the meal plan, do they have to purchase two separate meal plans, or just one? Do they go by number of mouths, or number of stomachs? If they have one stomach, it's unfair to charge double because they're still only eating enough for one. I don't think Disney is going to start charging based on appetites though because they'd have to charge me twice as much. Back on the side topic though... I mean, they do call them conjoined "twins" which I believe assumes two people, but why should they be charged double. What if one wants to go to WDW, but the other doesn't and has to go for obvious reasons. It'd be unfair to charge for two.

I pre-apologize to our Conjoined Americans. Although I'm speaking in jest, it is an interesting question. By sheer odds, this subject has to be broached at some point when some families plan trips.

 

[HongKongFooy]

So if conjoined twins are two legal/formal people.....which I believe they are since there are two names, two personalities, two thinking persons each with his own head and separate identity this has me pondering:



Say twin #1 plots and executes a murder of a third party(via hiring a hitman) while fully concealing the entire plot from his twin#2 and it's proven in court that twin#1 committed the crime. He doesn't go to prison, right? Because you can't send a non convicted person like twin#2 who had nothing to do with the crime to prison........that would be unconstitutional

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

So if conjoined twins are two legal/formal people.....which I believe they are since there are two names, two personalities, two thinking persons each with his own head and separate identity this has me pondering:



Say twin #1 plots and executes a murder of a third party(via hiring a hitman) while fully concealing the entire plot from his twin#2 and it's proven in court that twin#1 committed the crime. He doesn't go to prison, right? Because you can't send a non convicted person like twin#2 who had nothing to do with the crime to prison........that would be unconstitutional

MIND BLOWN!!

 

[HongKongFooy]

You can never go wrong playing the Kramer card(or invoking any Seinfeld for that matter).......a winner every time!


Anyways back to Disney attendance:
You don't get to pull a George Costanza--- no double dipping

 

[JIMINYCR]

Interesting side topic. On the meal plan, do they have to purchase two separate meal plans, or just one? Do they go by number of mouths, or number of stomachs? If they have one stomach, it's unfair to charge double because they're still only eating enough for one. I don't think Disney is going to start charging based on appetites though because they'd have to charge me twice as much. Back on the side topic though... I mean, they do call them conjoined "twins" which I believe assumes two people, but why should they be charged double. What if one wants to go to WDW, but the other doesn't and has to go for obvious reasons. It'd be unfair to charge for two.

I pre-apologize to our Conjoined Americans. Although I'm speaking in jest, it is an interesting question. By sheer odds, this subject has to be broached at some point when some families plan trips.

No they dont have to order one meal. But if they do and share the plate thats one Dining meal paid for. Some places ( Not sure Disneys policy ???) charge a plate fee if diners share a meal. If they order one meal for each mouth, thats two plates and two meals served and two meals eaten irregardless that the meals end up in the one stomach.
If one wants to go to WDW and the other doesnt then they have to come to an understanding that ones wishes wins out and the other has to accept it. Again, its one set of feet carrying one body into the park ( even though theres 2 personalities), one seat taken up on an attraction so theres only a charge for one ticket and one entrance.

 

[JIMINYCR]

So if conjoined twins are two legal/formal people.....which I believe they are since there are two names, two personalities, two thinking persons each with his own head and separate identity this has me pondering:
Say twin #1 plots and executes a murder of a third party(via hiring a hitman) while fully concealing the entire plot from his twin#2 and it's proven in court that twin#1 committed the crime. He doesn't go to prison, right? Because you can't send a non convicted person like twin#2 who had nothing to do with the crime to prison........that would be unconstitutional

Very interesting.... I found this and a few others like it.
www.bustle.com/articles/44313-how-are-conjoined...

Most likely as you say the innocent twin wouldnt have to be punished for the wrongdoing of the other and couldnt be executed or jailed so even the guilty one would get out of being punished.

 

[NelleBelle]

I can see how Disney would count heads through the turnstiles of whatever park someone is attending/hopping to purely for internal planning purposes of how to staff the parks appropriately. Other than that, maybe they count how many tickets they sell (and estimate the under 3 count since they get free)?

 

[danlb_2000]

Does anyone know definitively how the parks attendance is calculated? I searched both this forum and the google machine and couldn't find anything substantive. Just curious. Is a park hopper pass 1 person for the day for the entire resort, or if I visit all 4 parks in a day, am I four people in the attendance count? I'm assuming it's how many bodies go through the gates, not who they are, so I'm guessing when I park hop I'm more than one person. Stats I found state that WDW had attendance of nearly 59M in all 4 parks in 2019. Let's assume that's accurate. If I have a park hopper and attend all 4 parks each day on a seven day vacation, does that make me 28 people of that 59M in 2019?

The reason I ask is because I'm wondering how many people are on property at any given time contributing to the congestion. Does Disney look at bodies through the gates, or people on property? I was breaking down the numbers and trying to understand how many people visit a park in a day on average. MK had 21M in 2019 which comes out to an average of ~57k per day. I understand busy and slow times as well as some people are there for the first half of the day, or the second half so it's not 57k at any single time during the day, but breaking down the stats for all 4 parks makes it 161k per day. I'm wondering if it's 161k separate people on those properties in a day, or is there overlap?

If anyone's curious, here are the stats I found for 2019. I'm not claiming them to be correct, so need to argue these numbers. It's just what I found:
MK 20,963,000
AK 13,888,000
Epc 12,444,000
HS 11,483,000
Tot 57,778,000

Depends what numbers you are looking at. Disney probably counts in every possible way for their internal purposes. Those numbers are probably from the AECOM/TEA report. Disney does not provide numbers for those reports so they are using other methods to estimate and aren't actually counting people.