Disney World Hasn’t Felt This Empty in Years

[Luanne]

It's not just Disney that is down in attendance, it's Universal as well. Interesting article.

MSN

 

[gln60]

We did all these places in 2017 (Transatlantic) and 2018 (Italy and Greek Isle), both through cruises and added 5 days to Rome and Venice. It sounds like the crowds have even grown more. Santorini was very picturesque but I didn't care for the steps and height. Our favorite though, was Pompeii.

My son went to St. Johns University in N.Y. and spent a semester studying in Rome.....We decided to visit him in Rome and visited all the attractions in Rome....plus we took a day trip down to the Amalfi coast to see Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii......i believe Pompeii was discovered by accident by a farmer digging a water tunnel......and only 2/3 of Pompeii has been excavated so far....Pompeii was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

[VacationForever]

I forgot to mention that we also added 5 days in Florence/Tuscany and we had a great time there as well. Amalfi coast was pretty for pictures but didn't do alot for me. With Pompeii, every now and again it makes the news with some new discovery while they continue to escavate. The preservation of Pompeii is pretty amazing.

 

[clifffaith]

We did all these places in 2017 (Transatlantic) and 2018 (Italy and Greek Isle), both through cruises and added 5 days to Rome and Venice. It sounds like the crowds have even grown more. Santorini was very picturesque but I didn't care for the steps and height. Our favorite though, was Pompeii.

Cliff’s former brother-in-law was Hawaii-born Chinese. He spoke only English. During a visit to Pompeii Paul met a Chinese man who only spoke a Chinese dialect. They had a marvelous afternoon conversing in Latin!

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Tahoe vacation rentals are soft this summer as well. Still crowded in places and July fully booked, but the crowd is more budget conscious than the crowds during Covid.

 

[1Melanie]

do you think the exorbitant prices might have anything to do with it? My husband and I went to Epcot recently. We got “discounted” tickets at the resort but it was still expensive. I can’t imagine what it would cost a family to do Disney. The prices are ridiculous. Then some of the movies they are trying to foist on the public is turning many parents off. I wouldn’t take my young children someplace where they are promoting issues that would raise too many questions I may not be ready to answer. It’s hard enough answering the age old question when a child asks but nothing compared to answering why Buzz Lightyear is doing what he’s doing lately….

 

[TravelTime]

Bob Iger Isn’t Having Much Fun

Eight months after returning as CEO, he is straining to put out fire after fire, including streaming losses, an activist investor and TV woes.

www.wsj.com

…Since returning, Iger, 72 years old, has strained to put out fire after fire, from accumulating losses in the streaming segment to a steep decline in Disney’s traditional television business. He has clashed with the company’s CFO and an activist shareholder.

The company is in the midst of painful layoffs and budget cuts. Crowds at Disney’s Florida theme parks thinned during summer holidays. Its Pixar animation studio continued a yearslong box office slump. And a legal and political battle with Florida has deepened as its governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, campaigns for president….

…Since returning to the CEO’s office in Burbank, Iger has shown visitors a model of one of his yachts and enthused about the new superyacht he is building. The boat is expected to be 30 feet longer than Iger’s first superyacht, the 180-foot Aquarius, and built by the same Dutch custom shipbuilder Royal Huisman. Superyachts of that size and level of luxury can cost tens of millions of dollars, according to yachting experts and published sales listings….

 

[stmartinfan]

if I recall right, the article said that wait times for some rides were down to 25 minutes—but that was only a decrease from 30 minutes! It didn't sound like the parks were exactly empty to me! We did see the impacts of the surge in European travel when we were in Italy and Paris last fall. Long lines for museums in Italy, which we were able to bypass because our tour had pre scheduled entry times. We hadn't booked in advance for our stop in Paris and crowds for museums were crazy. No more walking up to the ticket booth and getting into the Louvre the same day.

 

[ScoopKona]

the major sights such as Colessium, Parthenon, Vatican, etc

I didn't hear about this. That's quite the engineering feat. ;-)

When hordes of tour buses, filled with selfie-snapping, shrieking tourists, led by guides carrying a flag and a megaphone began invading Europe, that's when we stopped visiting in the summer.

In one part of Florence, it was nothing but wall-to-wall groups with megaphones, all yelling about the city in their various languages. It was the very definition of pandemonium. We couldn't leave fast enough. Now we visit in February.

 

[TUGBrian]

cant think of anything more miserable than standing in line at Disney in the dead of a Florida summer, especially right now with temps over 95degrees nearly every day.

 

[frank808]

I didn't hear about this. That's quite the engineering feat. ;-)

When hordes of tour buses, filled with selfie-snapping, shrieking tourists, led by guides carrying a flag and a megaphone began invading Europe, that's when we stopped visiting in the summer.

In one part of Florence, it was nothing but wall-to-wall groups with megaphones, all yelling about the city in their various languages. It was the very definition of pandemonium. We couldn't leave fast enough. Now we visit in February.

Spell check strikes again.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[sponger76]

cant think of anything more miserable than standing in line at Disney in the dead of a Florida summer, especially right now with temps over 95degrees nearly every day.

Oh, I can, but I still wouldn't want to do the Disney thing during the summer either. I make a point now of only going to theme parks during winter/spring seasons.

 

[RX8]

Related article.

Disney World's crowds shrink as competition — and costs — rise

Some families may be bypassing Disney World because of high costs and more alluring destinations.

www.yahoo.com

 

[ljmiii]

cant think of anything more miserable than standing in line at Disney in the dead of a Florida summer, especially right now with temps over 95degrees nearly every day.

Standing in line at Universal in the dead of a Florida summer?!?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Now that we've moved to SW Florida, we go fewer days to WDW that we did when we lived 800 miles away. We haven't had park admission for three or four years. We go to enjoy the resort and dine at various restaurants. We've sold four of our five DVC contracts and will probably sell the last one in the near future.

 

[JulieAB]

Do you think Iger would honestly admit that picking a fight with around 50% of the US population was part of the problem?

I still go but I have family and friends who have backed out of WDW plans due to the culture war.

Pricing is a big part of it but there are multiple factors involved IMO.

(Getting a little off track but one online article mentioned it's not only the parks... Disney plus has had pull back and their movies have turned into an anchor...

"Disney is facing massive losses, even after a summer full of big releases. According to box office analyst Valliant Renegade, Walt Disney Co. has lost nearly $900 million following its last eight studio releases, including box office flops like LIGHTYEAR and STRANGE WORLD.")

This is us. We made our first trip back to Disney in nearly 3 years in December. The prices were shocking. We only did two table service meals the 5 park days we were there. From the VIP tour cast member with a full beard wearing a plaid skirt with stockings to Clarabell Cow strutting her stuff down the parade route like she was in a drag show to the "Does anyone in your party identify as LGBTQIA+?" question at the end of every disney survey that week, it became clear to me that we do not fit disney's target demographic. It was a sobering trip. I'd sell our DVC if my husband would let me. They still want to go back this year but we'll only be doing 3 days, which is the shortest disney trip we've done in probably 24 years.

 

[altiste1]

Another related article:

America’s Foreign Vacations Tell Us Something About the U.S. Economy

Prices are high, but Americans are opening their wallets for international flights and hotels. It’s the latest evidence of consumer resilience.

www.nytimes.com

 

[DouginSC]

I guess we could also say that companies should not take political positions or this is the risk.

I think that has affected their media division more than anything. Disney's box office and Disney+ is not doing well at all.

 

[DouginSC]

The surge of “vacation revenge” post COVID was a real thing. Especially with the Government kick backs a couple of years ago. People had money to blow but now it's gone. Disney has started charging for so much that was once a “perk” and they have had 2 price increases in 2022 alone. It’s no wonder bookings are down. Us Disney folks have been talking over the years about eventually being “priced out” and that is has now happening. $2,375.64 for a 7 day base ticket for 3 adults the week of Thanksgiving is ridiculous!

I also doubt that Disney has generated repeat customers over the last few years because of the complications & costs involved just to ride an attraction, etc…People are realizing it’s just not worth it.

 

[ljmiii]

The surge of “vacation revenge” post COVID was a real thing....

Somewhere around a dozen of my high school FB 'friends' are vacationing in Europe for the first time this summer instead of their 'usual' holidays on the Jersey Shore, Florida, or elsewhere in the US. People who I would have swore never got a passport now have one and are posting pictures of themselves and their families abroad.

"Vacation revenge" is very, very real. Disney is down, Universal is down, Beach House rentals are down...and the passport office is swamped.

 

[ChiefIlliniwek]

This is us. We made our first trip back to Disney in nearly 3 years in December. The prices were shocking. We only did two table service meals the 5 park days we were there. From the VIP tour cast member with a full beard wearing a plaid skirt with stockings to Clarabell Cow strutting her stuff down the parade route like she was in a drag show to the "Does anyone in your party identify as LGBTQIA+?" question at the end of every disney survey that week, it became clear to me that we do not fit disney's target demographic. It was a sobering trip. I'd sell our DVC if my husband would let me. They still want to go back this year but we'll only be doing 3 days, which is the shortest disney trip we've done in probably 24 years.

That stuff was front and center at the main gift shop at the Contemporary. It's as though Disney were a missionary for some type of religion.

On most of my trips down there I eat lunch at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian and ride the monorail to the other resorts. Sometimes I stand at the entrance to Epcot or the Magic Kingdom and take a photo. None of these places is worth $130 or $140 for a ticket.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

ahhhhhhhhhh, we spent all of last summer in Kyoto and the environs, right after they pseudo-opened but while it was still only us and a few other gaijin and a few Japanese tourists (mostly large school trips but even those were smaller than ususal). $30/night for a nice hotel. Stroll up to ANY of the most famous temples, shrines, etc around Kyoto, hand them the equivalent of a few $US and stroll around for an hour with almost nobody else there. I have heard it is more crowded this summer, but still nothing like the heyday of Kyoto. You want a foreign trip that will shock you at how inexpensive it is and how uncrowded it is? Japan, and esp Kyoto.

 

[ChiefIlliniwek]

Do you think Iger would honestly admit that picking a fight with around 50% of the US population was part of the problem?

I still go but I have family and friends who have backed out of WDW plans due to the culture war.

Pricing is a big part of it but there are multiple factors involved IMO.

(Getting a little off track but one online article mentioned it's not only the parks... Disney plus has had pull back and their movies have turned into an anchor...

"Disney is facing massive losses, even after a summer full of big releases. According to box office analyst Valliant Renegade, Walt Disney Co. has lost nearly $900 million following its last eight studio releases, including box office flops like LIGHTYEAR and STRANGE WORLD.")

I'm sure many of us have fond memories of Disney from years ago. However, it's hard to have any love for the company as it is now.

 

[Cyberc]

Many locals and timesharers (those who carry the sandwiches in coolers - we do that too!) were shut out of the parks for a few years when they stopped selling annual passes. The mentality was to fill the parks with people who actually spend money and maximize the revenue per guest, and do it now. Come on a busy day, pay a lot to get in, then pay a lot to avoid the lines on that busy day, and pay a lot to sleep and eat on property. Who needs those penny-pinching locals and timeshare owners with their cheap passes, who sleep and eat offsite? It worked for a long while, as evidenced by the packed parks, but maybe they're finding out now that those particular high-spending guests are not coming back as often as they did in the past...

I remember learning in business school about the concept of "the lifetime value of a customer". Hopefully they can get back to that...

I wouldn't mind if the attendance is low, then as others has mentioned the wait time is low too. We are going in Oct and we are staying at Copper Creek. For now we haven't gotten any tickets because wife thinks they are too expensive. But if the wait time is low then it might be worth it after all because we can try more rides than we normally would.

Even though I really like WDW, skipping a year or two wouldn't hurt - I still like their resorts.

 

[littlestar]

I wouldn't mind if the attendance is low, then as others has mentioned the wait time is low too. We are going in Oct and we are staying at Copper Creek. For now we haven't gotten any tickets because wife thinks they are too expensive. But if the wait time is low then it might be worth it after all because we can try more rides than we normally would.

Even though I really like WDW, skipping a year or two wouldn't hurt - I still like their resorts.

We still love the DVC resorts, too. Old Key West, Saratoga, and Villas at Wilderness Lodge/Copper Creek are like second homes. We don’t visit the Disney parks much. Our granddaughters are small and still enjoy Magic Kingdom, though. We want to visit the new Minion area at Universal and Epic Universe when it opens.