Has Disney’s Strategies To It’s Loyal Customers Finally Caught Up With It?

[RivShore]

I can't speak for everyone, but as far as me and many people I know are concerned, we went to the parks a lot the last few years while we waited for normalcy to return to other places. We finally got to go to Aulani and are going on a cruise, both postponed due to Covid. I've seen three friends go on Alaskan cruises just in the past two weeks, and lots making national park road trips. We have a parks trip booked for next year and I'm looking forward to going back, but it's been nice to see some new places.

I said something similar here - Orlando was the go to vacation for many for all of Covid times, now that the rest of the world is open, people will opt for all the vacations they missed out on for the last 3 years. Once they get that out of their system over the next year or two, we will settle back into pre-covid vacation patterns.

 

[Smugpugmug]

We did Universal 6/21-6/23 and WDW 6/26-7/2 and neither park was as busy as they usually are for this week in June.

The heat is crazy hot too. Last year was very hot, but this year was something else as we were preparing to leave, our last 2 park days were miserable hot. I'm so glad we didn't have a park day yesterday as originally planned.

Wait times for Rise were pretty low the last few days, 15 to 45 minutes at various points in the week.

The only ride that was hard to get on was Slinky since it either wasn't running or at half capacity. CM said the heat impacts the ride's functionality.

Yeah I was at Universal last month and it really wasn't that crowded.

I think the new crowded times will be when Orlando weather isn't comparable to the pits of hell.

I will be at Volcano Bay on Saturday and expect it to be insane given the heat.

I said something similar here - Orlando was the go to vacation for many for all of Covid times, now that the rest of the world is open, people will opt for all the vacations they missed out on for the last 3 years. Once they get that out of their system over the next year or two, we will settle back into pre-covid vacation patterns.

Definitely agree with this. From what I see on social media, the big destinations right now are Europe and Japan. Everyone and their mother are planning trips to those places.

 

[focusondisney]

Sorry, we’re here now. We were here Easter weekend but have never been for 4th of July before. Don’t know what wait times you’re seeing, but the parks are pretty crowded. We think it’s busier than Easter. Maybe people are paying for genie +? Or they aren’t, so stand by is moving quicker?

Edit to add: I have seen more characters out & about lining up for pictures, so maybe that’s helping a bit.

 

[jsergent]

Those are two completely different experiences though, aren't they? Beach vs. theme park and condo vs. deluxe resort?

You could also save a boatload on a WDW vacation by staying offsite - heck, you could get a 2 bed 2 bath Cottage at Margarettaville Resort, which is a stones throw away from AK, for much less than half a Disney deluxe resort. That comparison might be closer to your beach condo option.

I suppose it all hinges on perspective. Money is money, depends how you want to spend it.

We like staying on property and we like deluxe, typically 1-bed DVC villas.

For us, no difference. We have a certain amount of funds for vacation and have certain expectations on what vacation should be. Right now, Disney isn't making the cut with park cost.

We just stayed at a 1-bed villa at Riviera and loved it. No parks, had a great time. We could have stayed at OKW and bought one day of tickets for $600. No way I was spending that much for a single day. Riviera went on sale and so we upgraded our resort. Still spent the $600, but it was a much better value for us to be at Riviera for 3 nights vs OKW and a day at Hollywood Studios.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Still spent the $600, but it was a much better value for us to be at Riviera for 3 nights vs OKW and a day at Hollywood Studios.

Those two words are the key. Everybody needs to do what makes sense "for us". We stay deluxe as well and budget accordingly. In same scenario we would have taken the OKW and one day at the parks, but would have hopped to include Epcot as we typically visit for F&W and love an evening at Epcot.

 

[jsergent]

Those two words are the key. Everybody needs to do what makes sense "for us". We stay deluxe as well and budget accordingly. In same scenario we would have taken the OKW and one day at the parks, but would have hopped to include Epcot as we typically visit for F&W and love an evening at Epcot.

I would have liked to spent the day at Hollywood Studios and then hopped to Epcot for the evening. For the time we were there, one day of tickets with park hopper would have been $900!

I'll spend plenty of money on vacation and don't mind it if we feel it provides value. $600 - $900 for a single day for a family of 4- the parks are good but they aren't that good.

 

[I Run Long]

Could it be partly due to AP block out dates? That, combined with the heat index - no suprise to see lower crowds.

 

[soniam]

How can you live there with such horrible weather?

I hate cold weather. It’s not common here. Just like people in the north stay indoors in the winter, people in warm climates stay indoors in the summer. The cost of living here is much cheaper than most of the other places we could be for our industry, semiconductor design. California is way expensive and too cold for me. I have also be in Texas or Oklahoma my whole life, so I’m use to the heat.

 

[Abbie135]

Went to Magic Kingdom last week, and every darn ride we wanted to ride, went down, starting with jungle Cruise, then went to big thunder Mountain… Down, seven dwarfs down,… Peter Pan down,… Space Mountain down. Only ride we rode was the people mover……at least it was operational. Never have we ever encountered so many rides being down. I am guessing they don’t do routine maintenance on anything anymore. I don’t ever remember things being like this. Disney genie plus is a joke. We ended up going out to eat at Hash House a Go Go….great food and awesome staff!

 

[focusondisney]

Went to Magic Kingdom last week, and every darn ride we wanted to ride, went down, starting with jungle Cruise, then went to big thunder Mountain… Down, seven dwarfs down,… Peter Pan down,… Space Mountain down. Only ride we rode was the people mover……at least it was operational. Never have we ever encountered so many rides being down. I am guessing they don’t do routine maintenance on anything anymore. I don’t ever remember things being like this. Disney genie plus is a joke. We ended up going out to eat at Hash House a Go Go….great food and awesome staff!

I agree, maintenance isn’t what it used to be. But I think the heat & humidity affect the mechanics of the rides too.

 

[Minnie1222]

It has been extremely hot here so any random pavement photos would not show the true crowd size. People are hiding inside the gift shops or at the resorts. Even park enthusiasts like my family hide in the room for an entire day, forfeiting our ticket privilege.

But don't take my words. Instead look at the picture posted below. This was taken in 100 Fahrenheit heat a few days ago.

 

[pinkxray]

We went to Universal last week Wed-Sat. It seemed plenty busy to me. The heat was intense so we usually left by 12/1. Had a great time but didn’t get as much park time as we usually do.

We also did Legoland Mon-Tues and that was pretty empty. Kind of wished we had another day there.

We have been to WDW and Universal multiple times since Covid. I put off anything else much further. I just added on more dvc points and love Disney but we are finally taking a break for probably two years. Heading to Hawaii/Aulani this fall, NCL to Alaska next summer and then Disney Fantasy fall 2024. Yes, Disney still gets a lot of my money but one less family at Disney those time periods we would normally be there.

One thing I really disliked at WDW when I took DD18 in May was I was constantly on my phone making lightening lanes and modifying them. I was constantly using my portable charger. At Universal I never had my phone out unless I was taking pics or maybe a mobile dining order. Charged it and night and didn’t need to recharge that day.

Disney prices also added up quick in May. Too quick. Genie +, individual lightening lanes was close to $100 plus the high tickets prices. Food is expensive everywhere so can’t just say that about Disney. Universal prices were just as high. It’s been awhile since we’ve had butter beer since we usually get it at the Orlando Informer events but DS8 tried it for the first time. I couldn’t believe I paid $9 for a drink the kids barely drank.

 

[Sue M]

Seeing incredibly low wait times and empty restaurants etc on Facebook.

As things stand at this minute, major attractions on 4 July have 25 min wait times. Even ROTR is only 45 minutes.

What is happening, and has Disney upset so many visitors, is it losing the repeat visitor it previously relied upon, particularly with the economy as it is?

Or is this just Disney’s much trumpeted crowd reduction plan in action and this is what they want?

I’d like to know what booking numbers are looking like with Dreams, I know Pete has mentioned these before recently on his YouTube shows

I think they managed to drive away their once loyal visitors with making it so miserable to plan with park reservations, no more FP, reduction of services/perks while prices have gone thru the roof. Paying more and getting less has gotten old.
I used to be a passholder, coming from west coast we did 2 trips a year ranging from 10-14 days a trip.
When AP pretty much doubled in price, and wdw AP for out of state visitors only choice is to get the most expensive pass. Why Disney? And room rates got ridiculous I stopped going. Not to mention food costs. Going from 4weeks/yr to only the occasional visit for us. Other parks get my vacay dollars now.

I miss the WDW that was. With paper FP‘s and only reservations you needed was dining. And middle class families could afford a wdw vacay.

 

[Minnie1222]

I live here and it's too hot for me to be at a theme park

I don't remember it ever being this hot for the first week of July. Felt like being soaked in very hot water. Well, it's supposed to "cool" down to the mid 90's for the rest of the week.

 

[RivShore]

Why Disney?

Because they had so much demand for their product that one could argue they had to raise prices to get crowd levels down. For a while there, every day was like spring break in MK, with shoulder to shoulder crowds everywhere, it was miserable. The natural free market reaction to demand that begins to impact your ability to service your customers calls for increased prices and decresed services, it's really as simple as that, we don;t have to like it but the free market is what it is.

 

[Lisann]

I live here. And yes, it's extremely hot lately. Honestly, too hot for the parks.

I've been to the parks for two days over the holiday. It was crazy crowded, and long wait times (mostly, not always). So, I'm not sure how some of you define "not crowded".

I can see why some stay away. You pay for a ticket, then have to pay for a "daily Genie", then possibly LL, etc., etc. It's one thing to love your guests, but to violate them is another.

Crowds or not, when Fastpass was around, and you could get your three for the day...it was so much less stressful and relaxing to visit, it didn't matter if the parks were crowded.

 

[wkrainey]

I don't think so. I think part of it is the return to normal post Covid Revenge travel. Yes, the cost is slightly prohibitive right now, but for example my wife and I are planning on going. However, we also have a 3yr old and would rather wait another year or so to go to WDW so our child can enjoy more rides etc. Also, personally I'm hoping Disney works out the kinks to Genie+. To add we weren't even considering a vacation to WDW until park reservations went away. I don't like having to plan my meals out 60 days, I'm definitely not going to limit myself to certain parks without the option to change them on the fly.

 

[bsmcneil]

My major caveat: I am absolutely not comparing the experience of the two.

Last weekend, a number of variables led to my taking my kids to the local (Indiana) theme park (which I assumed - because it was a holiday weekend and prices had increased over both general weekdays and weekends before/after - would be significantly busy). It was a ghost town. The kids noticed it and I noticed it; even staff talked about it. It was not especially hot nor did we have especially bad weather (a storm rolled in at 7:30p and the place closed at 9 but not with the "if you're in line by 9" Disney rule). It really did make me wonder what was going on (were the threat of crowds keeping people away - but every year there are crowds).

 

[North of Mouse]

I think they managed to drive away their once loyal visitors with making it so miserable to plan with park reservations, no more FP, reduction of services/perks while prices have gone thru the roof. Paying more and getting less has gotten old.
I used to be a passholder, coming from west coast we did 2 trips a year ranging from 10-14 days a trip.
When AP pretty much doubled in price, and wdw AP for out of state visitors only choice is to get the most expensive pass. Why Disney? And room rates got ridiculous I stopped going. Not to mention food costs. Going from 4weeks/yr to only the occasional visit for us. Other parks get my vacay dollars now.

I miss the WDW that was. With paper FP‘s and only reservations you needed was dining. And middle class families could afford a wdw vacay.

Yes, that's us!! We've had many, many good vacations being passholders at Disney mainly between (approximately) the years 1972-2005 - started slowly 'slipping' about that time, and 'slipping' fast the last few years in many ways - our opinions, of course. Haven't been back since 2019. Enjoyed the times we had. Have traveled, and enjoyed, many other places since.

 

[tgropp]

I can’t speak for others but Disneys prices/practices have kept me away. If it wasn’t for my DVC which I enjoy, we would be away from Disney for expended periods of time. We are going in Dec for a week but it’s MVMCP for one day and Epcot for Candlelight Processional for another with meals off site for most days. That’s how much they’ve pi$$ed me off.