A theory, please be nice.

[Disney Frenhines]

I know that we have seen huge increases in crowd sizes at Disney in recent years despite the ticket price rises, something that at times is puzzling, especially with the number of people, maybe justifiably, complaining about the price hikes for rooms, tickets, food etc. But, I have a theory as to why we see the parks more crowded all year around and that is social media. No surprise really, but, does that beg the question as to what some guests actual motives are for visiting Disney. Is it for a vacation, chilling out, enjoying the rides, attractions, shows and so on. Or is it so they can post on facebook, Instagram, You Tube and get attention.
Now before you diss me, think about this, guests trying to get photos of them in places they shouldn't be, taking endless videos of themselves at Disney. I'm getting fed up of being bombarded with Disney park videos from hundreds of people simply because I subscribe to The Dis. I had to deal with two girls at Be Our Guest on the next table taking endless photos posing with their food (it must have gone cold by the time they ate it) and being a bit of a nuisance. Sure, a lot of us take a photo of a special item like a themed cupcake, but, this was almost a fashion shoot.
I'm all for taking photos and videos for memories, but, this isn't the same as the people, mainly youngsters, who don't see Disney the way Walt intended, but, as a backdrop to their selfies for their social media account and they will behave in all kinds of manners to get that photo they hope will get them a shedload of likes, because that is all that matters.
I just find that sad and you will probably disagree with me, but, as I said, this is just a theory as to the increase in crowds at the parks.

 

[finedice]

Those are expensive "likes".

 

[kylenne]

Ok boomer.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Not so fast - I don't think you'll find much disagreement. I don't think the people taking selfies are over running the parks, but since I started planning my trip, as a goof I have tried watching, or listening to unique content about WDW every day - no repeats. This challenge is RIDICULOUSLY easy! You could do this with just YouTube feed videos alone, let alone blogs and webcasts. I haven't even looked into things like Instagram - there just is no shortage. You know the saying - there is no such thing as bad publicity - and this is ALL publicity, and I have to believe it is keeping the interest up and that certainly leads to higher attendance.

 

[SaintsManiac]

It’s pretty clear that disney is targeting the Instagram crowd. Their snacks are ridiculous looking and don’t always taste great, but hey here’s a photo of me holding it!

 

[corgi_monster]

There's also the much simpler explanation that with the explosion of social media, more people are seeing Disney vacation pics and thinking, "Hey, that looks fun! I want to take my family there, too."

I follow a number of Disney influencers and wannabe influencers on Instagram and I don't think any of them are faking their love for Disney. Quite the opposite, they're using a new, creative way to share their love of the parks with the world.

 

[ucf_knight]

I know that we have seen huge increases in crowd sizes at Disney in recent years despite the ticket price rises, something that at times is puzzling, especially with the number of people, maybe justifiably, complaining about the price hikes for rooms, tickets, food etc. But, I have a theory as to why we see the parks more crowded all year around and that is social media. No surprise really, but, does that beg the question as to what some guests actual motives are for visiting Disney. Is it for a vacation, chilling out, enjoying the rides, attractions, shows and so on. Or is it so they can post on facebook, Instagram, You Tube and get attention.
Now before you diss me, think about this, guests trying to get photos of them in places they shouldn't be, taking endless videos of themselves at Disney. I'm getting fed up of being bombarded with Disney park videos from hundreds of people simply because I subscribe to The Dis. I had to deal with two girls at Be Our Guest on the next table taking endless photos posing with their food (it must have gone cold by the time they ate it) and being a bit of a nuisance. Sure, a lot of us take a photo of a special item like a themed cupcake, but, this was almost a fashion shoot.
I'm all for taking photos and videos for memories, but, this isn't the same as the people, mainly youngsters, who don't see Disney the way Walt intended, but, as a backdrop to their selfies for their social media account and they will behave in all kinds of manners to get that photo they hope will get them a shedload of likes, because that is all that matters.
I just find that sad and you will probably disagree with me, but, as I said, this is just a theory as to the increase in crowds at the parks.

Someone has mentioned this before so I won’t take credit for it but Disney has been cutting back hours in the parks. The parks are not open as long as they used to be. Most parks close between 8-9 now. There was a time where MK would close past midnight routinely during different times of the year. I think a lot of the crowds have to do with park hours, not enough attractions in certain parks and cutting back on ride capacity by limiting the number of cast members on a given attraction.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

I disagree, at least in part. I don't think the desire for selfies is driving Disney attendance. I do think a lot of guests are interested in creating their own content once there. But persons interested in doing that, do it everywhere. In other words, the world of selfies and social media isn't driving guests there, but it does change their behavior once they arrive