Poll for DVC Members who have been in longer then 5 years....

[keishashadow]

we were slacking, exploring DL & taking more cruises but the PAP offer has convinced us to add an extra WDW trip this year.

 

[JoEllen]

We've been owners for 15 years and kids don't really care about going with us to Disney anymore so park attendance is down for us.

I guess we'll have to wait to take the grandkids when they come along!

 

[Granny]

With our "empty nested" situation that didn't exist 5 years ago, we definitely spend less time in the parks than we used to.

So much so that we are wondering if we even want to get an AP in the future. We tend to go twice a year and depending on ticket prices, we may not buy AP's in the future. That would definitely affect our park attendance since with the AP there are often times we go into a park just for a meal or to do one thing. That would definitely stop without an AP.

 

[kirstenb1]

We've been members since 1993. Spicey Cat, those were the days, eh? Free tix for everyone in the party.

We're now a family of 4. AP's don't work for us, since we only go once a year. And we have Busch Gardens Platinum Passes back home here in Va. So we get free admission to BG Tampa, Sea World and Aquatica. Guess where we go?

My crystal ball must have been cloudy when we purchased, because I never would have guessed ticket prices would have jumped so much. Back home, there are multiple deals for $$ off ticket prices at BG and Kings Dominion.

 

[Goofy DVC]

I selected that we attend the parks less from the perspective of amount of time in the parks not necessarily numbers of days.

 

[SamSam]

We're empty nesters and definitely spend less time in the parks BUT we still go to all the parks, we just spend less time per day. We may run over to MK just to ride Splash Mountain, or to HS to do a couple of rides and dine at Brown Derby. Even when we take grandkids, we now take a more laid back approach than when we brought our own kids. A few hours at a park, then back to our villa for some down time.

So even though we are going to parks every day, we spend less time in parks...but way more in fine dining. LOL

 

[alldiz]

I go to the parks more because I go to WDW more frequently.
BUT I stay in the parks less time.

For instance last year Easter time went to MK....it was crazy busy. We went on 1 ride and left.

I won't wait more than 20 min....I just keep moving and see what I see in any particular day.
Kerri

 

[mikron]

IMO has not changed as you could notice. We know it has for the last 5 years been tougher to get a reservation even 11 months out.

 

[beer dave]

Due to the wording in your poll, I replied with the same-- however, my trips of once every couple years have increased to three times a year--If you are looking for since owning DVC, my park attendance has remained the same. I don't really care which attractions I see, but we still spend a lot of time in the parks.

 

[DVC Dude]

The beauty of DVC is that we can plan trips to Disney and enjoy other things besides the theme parks as they all are awesome resorts in and of themselves.

 

[mrsR123]

I still want to be in the parks A LOT whenever I'm on property. I am softening to a few sleeping in mornings, though. DH would miss nighttime shows in a heartbeat, but I still want fireworks and MSEP every trip.

 

[bakerworld]

I voted we attend more - we've owned 5 years - we bought because we started going twice a year - we continued doing that and then we realized we had the points to stay longer so now we still go 2 or 3 times a year (Mainly twice) but we've extended the length of stay and we very occasionally will go park-less.

We do more of the extras now that we never felt we had the 'time' to do and if we miss a park or 2 on a visit it's not a big deal.

 

[tjkraz]

In a few weeks, Disney will report its financial results for the most recent quarter. Theme park attendance will be addressed--admittedly in somewhat vague terms--and answer the question to some degree.

Regarding the previous quarter which ended June 29, Disney had this to say:

The company said both Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., recorded their highest-ever attendance for the fiscal third quarter. Combined domestic attendance rose 3 percent from a year ago.

Quotes came from the Orlando Sentinel report on the 3rd quarter earnings call.

Personally I doubt that attendance experienced a steep drop-off immediately following.

I was at Hollywood Studios on July 5, 2011...just a few weeks after the new Star Tours reopened. Between that and the July 4 holiday, I was expecting the worst. In reality, I was able to ride ST three times in a row, running from exit to entrance and back on the ride without any wait.

Personal observations and expectations tend to be flawed. Even if attendance proves to be down in 4Q compared the prior year, it's not going to be by any significant percent which would normally be recognizable to a park guest.

 

[JimC]

Bought in 2002. We do more varied things and relax more, but our park visits have remained similar to our pre DVC visits.

When we moved to Orlando in 2006 we thought we might sell DVC. Ended up buying more points. Very much enjoy two different experiences - relaxing on-site stays at various resorts and frequent day trips for special events, concerts and the like.

The parks have been quite busy all year.