Bean Counters and shortsightedness

[HokieRaven5]

Disney parks are 100% going to struggle when Universal opens their new gates. If they're not panicking now, they should be.

Unless Universal is building accessible attractions fueled by nostalgia, Disney isn’t going to panic.

EU looks like it could be a great addition to UOR, but what remains to be seen is if it actually takes a significant chunk out of Disney’s attendance, or mostly serves to cannibalize the attendance at USF/IOA.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I said this in another thread but I believe the Disney park that will struggle the most when Epic opens is AK. The majority of people in America don't have a ton of PTO so they'll have to pick and choose which parks to go to. I bet people will drop AK and add in Epic Universe.

In the same vein I feel like USF will struggle too. That park also needs some major help.

I think Disney does a really good job of keeping everyone in their parks, they incentivize you with better ticket prices. Also the hike from WDW to Uni shouldn’t be understated. If you are staying near Disney it’s the better part of an hour to get to Uni, and the convenience of Disney transportation is enough to make most stay. Experienced guests may stray, probably not first timers, essentially the same reason people enjoy all inclusive vacations even though they’re typically not that great

 

[Smugpugmug]

I think Disney does a really good job of keeping everyone in their parks, they incentivize you with better ticket prices. Also the hike from WDW to Uni shouldn’t be understated. If you are staying near Disney it’s the better part of an hour to get to Uni, and the convenience of Disney transportation is enough to make most stay. Experienced guests may stray, probably not first timers, essentially the same reason people enjoy all inclusive vacations even though they’re typically not that great

I stay at Disney but go to Universal often and it does not take an hour to get there. It's about a 25-30 minute drive and that does include traffic.

Attendance in AK has gone down in recent years. If a new expansion is not announced and shovels don't start digging into the ground soon, it will be the park people will opt to skip for other experiences. Same with USF. That park is a massive mess.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I stay at Disney but go to Universal often and it does not take an hour to get there. It's about a 25-30 minute drive and that does include traffic.

Attendance in AK has gone down in recent years. If a new expansion is not announced and shovels don't start digging into the ground soon, it will be the park people will opt to skip for other experiences. Same with USF. That park is a massive mess.

The couple times I went we saw a bunch of traffic so maybe that’s why. Either way convincing people to leave the bubble is going to be tough. Maybe offsite guests would look at it differently

 

[Minnie1222]

Florida in the summer has been hot for a long long time. I don’t believe that people just figured it out, locals would be much better at understanding the differences year over year, over a tourist, who’s going to say “isn’t Florida always hot hot hot in July”

I'm not a stranger to Orlando summer, but after this past trip I'm seriously considering never to return in July or August again. The heat was an entirely new level of hell. Even the air felt thick and suffocating.

 

[john7994]

I'm not a stranger to Orlando summer, but after this past trip I'm seriously considering never to return in July or August again. The heat was an entirely new level of hell. Even the air felt thick and suffocating.

We have said that for the last two years and we are back in three weeks

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

Recently Disney has been dealing with an overcrowding problem, until they weed their way through, i don't think adding things to attract more guests is in their best interest. it sounds more like it would contribute to the problem. Once it's under control, then they can resume IMO

Adding attractions allow them to increase occupancy at the park. Iger has already discussed this during one of the earnings calls I believe. You can spread out park visitors across more rides, so you either reduce the lines at all rides, or can handle more customers without increasing the wait for each ride.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I'm not a stranger to Orlando summer, but after this past trip I'm seriously considering never to return in July or August again. The heat was an entirely new level of hell. Even the air felt thick and suffocating.

i believe it, and i am hip to the summer heat hitting differently down there currently. A majority of guests are first time visitors at WDW, and i don't think they will have that sort of "institutional knowledge" when making a decision

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Adding attractions allow them to increase occupancy at the park. Iger has already discussed this during one of the earnings calls I believe. You can spread out park visitors across more rides, so you either reduce the lines at all rides, or can handle more customers without increasing the wait for each ride.

not trying to be rude, but how's that working out to this point, pre and post pandemic included.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I'm not a stranger to Orlando summer, but after this past trip I'm seriously considering never to return in July or August again. The heat was an entirely new level of hell. Even the air felt thick and suffocating.

I can stop in for 1-2 days but the days of me doing week long trips to WDW in the summer are probably over.

I'm very curious to see how this fall/winter will look crowds wise. Especially since I've noticed that parents are WAY more willing to take their kids out of school for vacation (not judging btw. I would probably do the same.)

 

[john7994]

The couple times I went we saw a bunch of traffic so maybe that’s why. Either way convincing people to leave the bubble is going to be tough. Maybe offsite guests would look at it differently

After staying in the Grand Californian in June at DL - the bubble had me captured. In going to WDW, with everything spread out, you have to take some transportation somewhere. So like the pp said - we matched our SSR stay in January to specifically also include UO on our next trip.

 

[HokieRaven5]

I can stop in for 1-2 days but the days of me doing week long trips to WDW in the summer are probably over.

I'm very curious to see how this fall/winter will look crowds wise. Especially since I've noticed that parents are WAY more willing to take their kids out of school for vacation (not judging btw. I would probably do the same.)

This shift was showing signs of happening pre-pandemic. I think the pandemic accelerated this trend to where we are now.

 

[Smugpugmug]

This shift was showing signs of happening pre-pandemic. I think the pandemic accelerated this trend to where we are now.

It's gotten to a point where I've seen locals refer to summer in Disneyland as the slow season and September + October is peak season.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I can stop in for 1-2 days but the days of me doing week long trips to WDW in the summer are probably over.

I'm very curious to see how this fall/winter will look crowds wise. Especially since I've noticed that parents are WAY more willing to take their kids out of school for vacation (not judging btw. I would probably do the same.)

that part I'm curious about as well, i can't tell if parents didn't care initially because things were so messed up for so long, and now they are transitioning back to a more normal timeline for the school year. Time will definitely tell

 

[HokieRaven5]

It's gotten to a point where I've seen locals refer to summer in Disneyland as the slow season and September + October is peak season.

Yeah I went to Disneyland in the summer of 2019 not long after SWGE opened. I remember a bunch of the blogs talking about how dead Disneyland was over that summer.

 

[john7994]

I can stop in for 1-2 days but the days of me doing week long trips to WDW in the summer are probably over.

I'm very curious to see how this fall/winter will look crowds wise. Especially since I've noticed that parents are WAY more willing to take their kids out of school for vacation (not judging btw. I would probably do the same.)

Our longest stay in any of our visits is in January - while trying to avoid Marathon Weekend - although I will be having my debut in the 5K in 2024! Everything else is a shorter 3-5 day trip

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

One day ppl will realize that the core demographics for both parks are not a circle. That day isn't today.

I think people want to be able to put Disney in its place when they're unhappy. The path of least resistance is Uni will overtake Disneys place, if you really look at the numbers it really isn't close, and EU won't make a dent IMO, if anything foot traffic may go up at Disney because of it

 

[Smugpugmug]

that part I'm curious about as well, i can't tell if parents didn't care initially because things were so messed up for so long, and now they are transitioning back to a more normal timeline for the school year. Time will definitely tell

I saw an article a while back where a family from the UK was fined for taking their kids out of school for a vacation but the fee + flights to Orlando were WAAAY cheaper than flights to Orlando during school break.

I would just pay the fee and go on the trip too TBH. Don't even blame parents for doing it.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

not trying to be rude, but how's that working out to this point, pre and post pandemic included.

Not to be rude, but it’s a basic reality. Whether you (or anyone else) perceives the difference, it does work. There may be many other things influencing how crowded the parks feel. Long lines due to breakdowns, short staffing, inexperienced staff, etc. will drive up the lines. But adding a new ride does allow them to increase park capacity.

If your local theater added another screen, could they have more people go to the movies at any one time? I don’t think anyone would argue this. Might it still feel crowded, especially at the concessions counter?

A fifth gate would allow Disney to increase revenue, but that would take 5-10 years minimum, and a huge investment, which is probably not in the plans now. The $17B Disney has talked about spending would be for expanding the existing parks and adding additional attractions.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yeah I went to Disneyland in the summer of 2019 not long after SWGE opened. I remember a bunch of the blogs talking about how dead Disneyland was over that summer.

I was at Disneyland May 2019, a few weeks before Galaxy's Edge opened and both parks were pretty dead. Never waited more than an hour for anything.