Is it my imagination....

[godfather927]

We had an extremely similar discussion last year on a thread called "Thoughts on why crowds are lower this summer so far??". That thread also began in June, and abruptly ended in August after the earning reports showed that attendance was about the same as the year before.

Yep, exactly. Every year I get excited at the prospect of lower crowds because "people are fed up with Disney and their agenda" and every year it doesn't match reality when I walk through the gates on our first park day and watch the wait times balloon by noon like they always do.

 

[scrappinginontario]

What surprised me about the international travel being down so significantly was that the dollar is the weakest it has been in 40 years to foreign currency would make their US trip less expensive

Not sure which currency you are referring to as a foreign currency but it is not true for Canada.

In 2007 our dollar was on par with the US dollar.

In March of this year when I exchanged money I paid $1.50CDN for every $1.00US!!

I am one of very few of my friends who are visiting the US this year.

 

[CaroM8]

Not sure which currency you are referring to as a foreign currency but it is not true for Canada.

In 2007 our dollar was on par with the US dollar.

In March of this year when I exchanged money I paid $1.50CDN for every $1.00US!!

I am one of very few of my friends who are visiting the US this year.

Same! Going in September with my daughter but most people I know are vacationing in Canada this year. I get it. But at the same time, you go Toronto and decent hotels are over $500CAD a night, same for Montreal or Quebec City. Everything is expensive. At least with my $200USD (or less!) Disney hotel room I feel like I get way more value. This is my math logic and I'm sticking to it

 

[kylenne]

I thought prices were lower in the summer in Disney?

They aren’t. Summer is at the high end for rack room and ticket rates.

Yep, exactly. Every year I get excited at the prospect of lower crowds because "people are fed up with Disney and their agenda" and every year it doesn't match reality when I walk through the gates on our first park day and watch the wait times balloon by noon like they always do.

I have been at MK since EE today. Multiple rides were a walk on at noon. Not “filler” attractions either, I’m talking things like Pirates. Waits did not really begin to peak until about 2pm and even then they have been far cry from normal midday peaks, which is why I didn’t dip out for my usual break. Tron has been less than 60 for a large chunk of the day. I had zero issues finding a table at Casey’s during peak lunch hours.

Summer has had demonstrably lower crowds every year for the last few, excepting the revenge travel bubble. The data doesn’t lie; even Iger mentioned softer than expected Fourth of July attendance last year. There’s a very good reason they’re pulling all these levers this summer and we saw some of the best discounts since 2019.

 

[tom1944]

Not sure which currency you are referring to as a foreign currency but it is not true for Canada.

In 2007 our dollar was on par with the US dollar.

In March of this year when I exchanged money I paid $1.50CDN for every $1.00US!!

I am one of very few of my friends who are visiting the US this year.

Actually, I never looked at any particular country. I had just read stories about the dollar being weaker than it has been for years.

Here is what I read- Over the past six months, the dollar has declined more than 10% compared with a basket of currencies from the U.S.’ major trading partners — something it has not done since 1973. Today, it sits at a three-year low.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Actually, I never looked at any particular country. I had just read stories about the dollar being weaker than it has been for years.

Here is what I read- Over the past six months, the dollar has declined more than 10% compared with a basket of currencies from the U.S.’ major trading partners — something it has not done since 1973. Today, it sits at a three-year low.

Not sure about other countries but Canada is not in that basket!

 

[elvispursley]

I monitor the waist times periodically as my Aug/Sep trip is fast approaching and I am kinda shocked at the wait times lately. Today I checked out the times around noonish, EST and I don't think I've seen jungle cruise at a 20 minute standby in a long time! Especially for a holiday weekend (I get that the 4th of July has not been as crowded as years ago, but still)! Looked like wait times across all the parks were significantly down today.