Any rumors on parades returning soon? Or do we think they'll wait until 10/1?

[TiggerBouncy]

Unless I'm mistake, parades cost money. As far as proof- no one has access to Disney's data and just because we don't, doesn't mean we can't use common sense. They have enough CM's to ramp up the opening of resorts and restaurants and every money maker you can think of. Parades don't produce income. They are low priority. Fireworks cost a fortune, but they knew they had to put out something big to bring guests in so it was a good investment. It certainly worked on us, it's why we're going at all right now, even though I'm beginning to regret that decision. Tell me 3 weeks ago what I know today and my decision would be much different.

And my issue is, regardless of the real reason, stop with the bs of it being for safety reasons. It's infuriating.

Disney (to my knowledge) has not made a statement that they are not doing parades due to safety concern. Show me that press release. To the contrary, they have been hyping calvacades as a better future and more to their vision of how access to characters should be.

Parades cost a little money, but not as much as you think. Some of the floats are the same that are used in the calvacades. The rest are largely in the maintenance shed behind SM, and are mostly protected from the weather. They need some upkeep, sure. You also need the CM's to staff the parade. So it's MOSTLY a labor expenditure along with some replacing of lights and motorpool upkeep. That labor however is largely provided by DCP which is cheap labor comparatively.

On the other hand you are completely wrong that they do not produce income. They produce a LOT of income.
* increased snack revenue - yeah, those kids all want popcorn and they are sitting around for an hour doing not much but snacking.
* increased drink revenue - it's hot out there. People do not buy popcorn, pretzels and drinks when running from ride to ride.
* increased store revenue. ESPECIALLY along the parade route. What do you do while you wait for the parade? One parent holds the area while the other takes the kids inside the store for some AC and buys a couple of trading pins.
* increased arcade revenue (see above line item)
* increased merchandising revenue - this is the time when you purchase those misting fans and such. Not when you are running between rides

Oh and lets not forget....
* local bands and cheerleading groups are invited to WDW. Sometimes they even stay in the area. So that brings in Hotel revenue
* those bands bring in money. They buy food and merch on their own.
* Their parents or family come - more revenue.

That's a LOT of potential revenue which is brought in by parades.

No one other than Disney can tell us which is higher - the labor cost of running a parade, or the increased revenue brought in by a parade. I SUSPECT that the revenue increases exceed the labor costs. I have nothing to back that up other than parades have been popular additions to WDW and other theme parks for a long time, and that's not justified solely by the need to keep crowd levels from declining (that is to say in a HEALTHY theme park, there is little evidence that says that the crowd level drops more than the cost of maintaining the parade). So there must be other driving factors -- namely that parades increase revenue. I suspect if you were to look into the day to day financials of parades, you would find that they actually generate revenue.

it is almost certainly related to CM staffing levels without the DCP and potentially Disney not liking how parades affected guest experience compared to the calvacades. Plus, there is no reason whatsoever 3 weeks ago to believe they were bringing back parades. Don't blame them for your decision because you made that decision knowing what you know now.