Will attendence drop much with fewer flights into Orlando?

[Ron from Michigan]

I'm wondering how the flight cuts and price of tickets will affect Disney attendence.

 

[MD DisneyFreaks]

Doubt it, but combined with gas prices, credit woes and the overall slumping economy, I would imagine that Disney will see a bit of a decrease in attendance...but probably not much!

 

[lorax123]

While I bet its possible... I'm still seeing Southwest offering some great deals out of Philadelphia. Right this minute I checked and you can fly round trip, on a web special, for $149 (including taxes). Both direct flights and early morning arrival, late afternoon departure.

Of course this is Southwest. Other carriers I checked while searching for fares for our December trip were horrible. SW, not so bad, considering the time frame we were booking and wanting direct flights.

I think just the general increase in C.O.L. will kill a lot of vacation plans.

 

[Kimberle]

I think people will travel a bit "smarter". Instead of 2 shorter trips, they'll go for 1 longer one. More people will drive. Some will take the train. WDW will always remain that place people will save to go to. I think the other Orlando attractions/hotels will suffer more.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I think they will definitely see a drop in attendance. Not only is the airfare quite a bit more, but so many flights have been cancelled that it's creating a higher demand for the seats. I'm sure they'll still have plenty of people visiting the parks, but it will be people that can drive that may be forced to go for less days...that kind of thing.

 

[concept5123]

i hope there is a drop ....lol means cheaper for me to go

 

[disneyholic family]

there already has been a drop from last year (this May was 3% lower than last May)..

and the fact that WDW is offering incredibly cheap prices for august /september is indicative of a downturn...

 

[bigmoonmullen]

I think they may have real issues next year if the economy stays on its current path for the foreseeable future. I believe if gas stays between $4.00 and $5.00 a gallon that will reduce the number of families currently willing to drive large distances. That combined with fewer and more expensive airfares, I think, will cause a pretty good downturn at WDW in 2009. To try and counter that I think it’s possible that Disney will aggressively discount their rooms and packages next year… maybe it’s only a hope on my part. We all have to remember that a lot of this years booking came before the economy really tanked… and I can’t imagine that anything will change until after this year’s election.

 

[Torontogal]

Nothing can stop me from visiting WDW and I think I speak on behalf of many Disney nutters.
We are driving from Toronto to Florida next month....

 

[bigmoonmullen]

Nothing can stop me from visiting WDW and I think I speak on behalf of many Disney nutters.
We are driving from Toronto to Florida next month....

Hi Torontogal:

I don't think diehard "Disney nutters" will be affected too much. Typically we need our Disney fix. It's the ones on the fence... so to speak... Those are one ones that may say... maybe next year... lets stay close to home this year.

We are still headed to WDW this Novemeber/December and I will certainly consider it again next year... but it will depend on the economy and... possibly WDW discounts.

Have a Great Trip,

Mark

 

[disneyholic family]

Nothing can stop me from visiting WDW and I think I speak on behalf of many Disney nutters.
We are driving from Toronto to Florida next month....

what route are you taking?
east to I-95 or west to I-75 (via detroit)..
which one is faster?

 

[TheBeadPirate]

... It will be intresting to see Disneys response. The stock is already being downgraded, airlines are having fewer flights, etc.

Disney (as well as any company) can have only two choices - draw people at the necessary occupancy levels (through discounts, etc.) to maintain cash flow or trim services / offerings..

What would that look like?

Certainly fewer staff resources, shorter operating hours (maybe an extra magic hour hiatus), closing down parts of the hotels, etc.

I think the easy money (would cause a huge uproar and have long term consequences) is for Disney to get out of the ROFR business on DVC sales... While the savings would be significant for Disney it would put DVC values back on par with the rest of the market... and tank the values of the DVC by an estimated 30%-50%... not good (take it from a DVC owner).. plus the new DVC offerings would suffer (but they probably will anyway from this economy)

I suspect we will see new construction delayed a bit and it seems that Disney is already committed to the outsource path for services (sadly) which always reduces cost and usually reduces quality.

Magical Express would be an obvious service for which a fee could be charged, and certainly they could cut back on transportation frequency (buses, boats, etc) and save some money as well...

If you are committed to going to Orlando at all costs it could be a bonanza for you... I think a room / park admnission price war will be on the horizon for Disney and Universal.

The folks on these boards (I am one of them) have to have the fix but we are the few not the many. The vast majority of people are re-evaluating the vacation concept, travel, etc. It will surely result in decreased visitors...

Rest assured that this is only a cyclical event and in a year or two we will have the course righted and the crowds will be bigger than ever...

You may look back on these times as the good old days!

 

[georgemoe]

Nothing can stop me from visiting WDW and I think I speak on behalf of many Disney nutters.
We are driving from Toronto to Florida next month....

what route are you taking?
east to I-95 or west to I-75 (via detroit)..
which one is faster?

The route that passes by my house in Massachusetts so I can hitch a ride.

 

[davidand3rs]

i was just in the world from jun 21-28 and i have to say the the wait times for some of the major rides seemed much shorter (20 -25 mins) than previous years. anybody notice this? I was with a group of 40 and we had a conversation about this and ultimately decided that it was probably travel costs and other dismal economic factors that attributed to the attendance.

 

[Torontogal]

what route are you taking?
east to I-95 or west to I-75 (via detroit)..
which one is faster?

I will have to get back to you on this. My husband just got a Trip Tik from CAA (AAA) and will ask him.

 

[Stroller Boy]

The route that passes by my house in Massachusetts so I can hitch a ride.

Yeah, can you swing by my house in Connecticut too! DisUnplugged Road Trip!!! LOL

 

[Torontogal]

Yeah, can you swing by my house in Connecticut too! DisUnplugged Road Trip!!! LOL

You guys are too funny!!!!

 

[FireDancer]

I’m thinking there will be a dip but I also think that Orlando in general will try to generate business. Since so much of the economy is reliant on tourism it is in the whole area’s interest to keep the tourist dollars coming, not just Disney or Universals. I think you will start seeing Orlando marketed much as Vegas is now. I also think there will be subsidized flights. If the airport is operated by the city or county they might start discounting runway fees also, but who knows what red tape would be involved there.

Disney might fall back on some of their post 9/11 specials also since the economic situation is somewhat similar even if the fear of travel aspect is missing.

I am hoping that the powers at Disney that all probably have MBAs were paying attention the day they talked about the business cycle and have been thinking about the inevitable (and necessary) recessions that everyone knew would come one day.

But then again some of these people were involved in the purchase of Fox Family so who knows.