Is it just me or has attendance been down?

[Mrs.AMC]

We're about a month out from our trip and I was surprised to find reservations available, as of yesterday, for Savi's lightsabers (multiple choices, on both of our HS days), build a droid (again, on both of our days), the MK fireworks dessert party (the one where you sit, didn't check the others), and Capture Your Moment photo sessions at all four parks.

That's actually normal. 30 days is when many alter and finalize plans. They'll have multiple reservations on some things or decide to drop things totally.
It's always good to check at 30 days and again at 5 days and again 24 hours out. You can almost always find even the hardest to get reservations that way. 60 days is actually the worse time to look

 

[Smugpugmug]

Well attendance definitely hasn't gone down seeing as Rise of the Resistance currently has an over 5 hour wait right now.

The rest of the park is pretty packed as well judging by wait times.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Well attendance definitely hasn't gone down seeing as Rise of the Resistance currently has an over 5 hour wait right now.View attachment 687165

The rest of the park is pretty packed as well judging by wait times.

Its a Saturday even in slow times Saturday is always so much busier.

 

[randumb0]

Well attendance definitely hasn't gone down seeing as Rise of the Resistance currently has an over 5 hour wait right now.View attachment 687165

The rest of the park is pretty packed as well judging by wait times.

It's been down a lot today. I wouldn't read too much into the time.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Its a Saturday even in slow times Saturday is always so much busier.

True but if you look at HS wait times this week on Thrill data, they're similar to what they are now. Minus Rise since it went down though it has been averaging a 2-3 hour wait. I think a lot of people are avoiding going due to the heat since theme parks in July are awful but others are still going because their kids are out of school.

 

[MinnieMSue]

When I looked at wait times this morning I thought they were excellent at all parks except studios.

 

[Smugpugmug]

When I looked at wait times this morning I thought they were excellent at all parks except studios.

I agree. Every other park doesn't look too bad. I think HS has a very bad capacity problem. It's a small park with not a lot of rides (and the rides they have are low capacity ones) so the wait times become insane very quickly.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We hit MK this morning for a few hours and both remarked at how uncrowded it was for a Saturday in July. At 11am, I could have done a cartwheel in the walkway in front of Peter Pan and not hit anyone. We waited 0-10 minutes for every ride we rode (we have a toddler so nothing too exciting!) and snagged a shady spot for the Noon parade at 11:57.

HS struggles, but if we hit it ~2 hours before closing we can ride just about all our top rides with little to no wait (the wait times are never correct by that time of day).

 

[Disney Bobby]

It's hard to tell how crowded parks really are. Understaffing can make a park with less attendance seem busier than it really is based on the raw number of occupants.

 

[randumb0]

It's hard to tell how crowded parks really are. Understaffing can make a park with less attendance seem busier than it really is based on the raw number of occupants.

That's why I've been making note of the parking lots which have been less crowded than normal

 

[middlechild]

Count the tires, and divide by 4? LOL

 

[Upatnoon]

Seemed plenty busy in June. I think Florida residents stay away in the summer, leading to less-crowded parking lots.

The busses to our resort/parks were always pretty full.

I also think summer isn't the "peak time" it used to be. People know it's hot and have a lot more flexibility when visiting.

Peak time now is February-April and when the holiday decorations go up. Even January is busy.

 

[Nabas]

Seemed plenty busy in June. I think Florida residents stay away in the summer, leading to less-crowded parking lots.

The busses to our resort/parks were always pretty full.

I also think summer isn't the "peak time" it used to be. People know it's hot and have a lot more flexibility when visiting.

Peak time now is February-April and when the holiday decorations go up. Even January is busy.

We also encountered crowded theme parks in June but there are a couple signs crowds are down slightly in July.

First, there have been some really good Annual Pass discounts for WDW hotels, even at Value Resorts on weekends. Historically, WDW hotels are full on weekends, with no AP discounts offered for Value Resorts on weekends.

Second, Touring Plans reports historical data. Per their data, the first half of June averaged a crowd level of 6.67 (out of 10), while the first half of July averaged 6.0.

As you suggest, I don't think summer is the peak time it used to be. Prior to COVID, we think that spring break has become the most-crowded extended time of the year.

 

[Disney Bobby]

That's why I've been making note of the parking lots which have been less crowded than normal

That probably is, at least, a partially valid indicator.

 

[MissDisney21]

We hit MK this morning for a few hours and both remarked at how uncrowded it was for a Saturday in July. At 11am, I could have done a cartwheel in the walkway in front of Peter Pan and not hit anyone. We waited 0-10 minutes for every ride we rode (we have a toddler so nothing too exciting!) and snagged a shady spot for the Noon parade at 11:57.

HS struggles, but if we hit it ~2 hours before closing we can ride just about all our top rides with little to no wait (the wait times are never correct by that time of day).

Off topic - where is a shady spot for the parade? Going in September and would love to watch from a shady spot : )

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

We we’re in MK last night and it was very crowded.

 

[wfjny]

Taking kids out of school, or not taking them out, is removed from the hands of parents in some school systems. It had nothing to do with who was willing, nor not willing.
At least around here.
Well, unless you want to jump through some serious hoops.
At least it was pre-pandemic. If there's a change in policy now I'm not sure but before you got 4 absences per semester. Excused or Unexcused treated the same. If you exceeded the 4 you could present the why to the school (doc note, etc) and they could accept it, or not. A trip to Disney, vacation was not going to be accepted. So, if you wanted to gamble that your child would miss no other days that semester and go on a trip then good. Go. Take the risk. Otherwise, you could risk your child failing the semester.
Of course they like to claim it was for the good of the child's education but we all know it's because they get paid for avg number of hinny's in classrooms. So they want you child's hinny in their seat not out on vacation.
With remote learning that may have changed things

Yeah, and like I said, I do not want to ignite the religious war on this.

Some districts are very tough, some are very easy. Obviously the Pandemic brought about remote learning and many others that had not done it before also switched to home schooling.

My concern with the limiting the amount of absences, is what if your child is sick (legitimately)? Does the district really want me to send my child to school? Sadly, over the years I know two children that have died from the flu. We did not learn the first time honestly, as it happened again. Now covid comes along, and is deadlier than the flu. Yet people are still insisting that people come into school, or come into work. "We are short handed". I think we learned nothing...

 

[Upatnoon]

Yeah, and like I said, I do not want to ignite the religious war on this.

Some districts are very tough, some are very easy. Obviously the Pandemic brought about remote learning and many others that had not done it before also switched to home schooling.

My concern with the limiting the amount of absences, is what if your child is sick (legitimately)? Does the district really want me to send my child to school? Sadly, over the years I know two children that have died from the flu. We did not learn the first time honestly, as it happened again. Now covid comes along, and is deadlier than the flu. Yet people are still insisting that people come into school, or come into work. "We are short handed". I think we learned nothing...

The days of all kids being on the same summer vacation schedule are long gone. This was the case before the pandemic as well.

Are more kids in school during the fall and winter? Sure.

But a good number of kids are in non-traditional programs, from homeschooling, virtual, magnet, private, religious and charter programs with schedules and flexibility for parents and kids to travel during non-traditional times.

 

[LYSE]

We we’re in MK last night and it was very crowded.

We were at epcot and it wasn't very crowded, frozen 60 mins, test track 65 when not down, soarin 20 minutes...guardians was of course hard to get per usual.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I agree. Every other park doesn't look too bad. I think HS has a very bad capacity problem. It's a small park with not a lot of rides (and the rides they have are low capacity ones) so the wait times become insane very quickly.

I really thought that the absence of shows at HS for so long was causing congestion, but that clearly is not the case. Now I'm starting to believe it's the poor layout (RNR, and TOT on an island by themselves, a lot of dead space near MMRARR) paired with a lot of people wanting to do the "new lands" ie star wars, and toy story