shorter park hours

[smiten]

I haven't been to wdw since summer 0f '98', going back in 3 weeks..Was wondering why the parks hours are so much shorter than when I was there in 1998? For instance My animal Kingdom Park guide for week of June 8--14. 1998 list 7am till 8pm as the park hours now its 9am till 5pm hardly the best of hours to see animals. World Showcase was open 9am till 9pm.,Future world 9am till 9pm, and MK was open till 11pm..Is it the weak economy, sparse attendance or what?

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

The hours dropped right after September 11th because people stopped going for awhile. I stress awhile because even though they are claiming a weak economy and having to cutback on hours, employees and other things, I failed to see a weakened sense of economy when we were there June 20 - 26. It doesn't seem as though WDW was hurting for tourism. The resorts were close to or at 100% occupancy. The theme parks were very very busy.

With the Fairytale Package that runs through November 30th I would expect that WDW will be continuing to do a great deal of business.

 

[jordanyosh]

While the parks may be busy right now, during Disney's 2nd quarter revenues for theme parks were down 44%. They needed to do something to rectify the situation, quickly.

However since the parks have been busier, they have extended park hours and shows. They were actually lower before.

Crowds are still lower than pre 9/11. So until crowds are consistently huge, park hours will be lower.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by jordanyosh
Crowds are still lower than pre 9/11. So until crowds are consistently huge, park hours will be lower.

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Always interests me when people use this scenario to justify everything and anything that Disney does or doesn't do.. I was there the day before 9/11 - and I was there for the two weeks following 9/11.. I think Disney has gotten about as much "mileage" out of 9/11 as they possibly can and it's extremely irritating that they continue to blame such a horrific event for their poor business management that was already in place well prior to 9/11..

 

[DMRick]

I agree with CAnn. We were there the entire week before 9/11 and stayed at the All Stars for $49. It was very quiet (read: devoid of people!)and we walked on everything with no lines. Airfare via Southwest was $39 each way. Disney was already in trouble..and although 9/11 certainly didn't help, we already noticed short lines, short hours, and short staffed! We heard lots of complaints about impending layoffs, etc the week we were there.

 

[jordanyosh]

FYI--I was just using 9/11 as a point of reference. Attendance was already dropping at the beginning of 2001.

Hopefully with the addition of Jay Rasulo, we will begin to see things change. Many new projects have been greenlighted. That said, even with a new head....shops closing early in the theme parks????

So in summary to answer the OP questions:

poor management+9/11+sluggish economy=lower attendance=lower park hours

But like I said I think Disney has turned a corner....

Welcome to you Smiten to the DIS boards!!!!! Hope you like it here. I am new to the site as well. I hope you have a thick skin.

 

[splashfamily]

We began visiting WDW the last week in August since 2000. The parks were closing early then. The parks are not crowded the last week. Most schools are back in session by the 4th week. However, we did notice last August that the quality of "magic" disappeared quite a bit. We still go back every year though.

 

[CarolA]

I don't entirely blame Disney as C.Ann seems to want to. The economy had started going soft PRIOR to 9/11 which was already leading travel and tourism related industries to indicate that things were not looking good. 9/11 was horrible blow to tourism and travel. (I went to Disney about 2 weeks later and I have NEVER seen it so empty and I normally go in slow seasons!) It is not just Disney at this point. All the airlines are suffering, I have seen a lot of other tourism related destinations show lower then normal attendance in the past few summers.

Disney has committed to putting money in the parks. They are adding a major ride at Epcot, committing to a major ride/expansion at AK and increasing the size of Typhoon Lagoon. In addition, they gave an unprecedented discount with the FTP.

They can't afford to run the long hours if they don't have CROWDS. And by crowds I mean capacity crowds. That requires not only the Disney hotels, but the other hotels in the theme park area.

 

[grinningghost]

I've posted this before, but I'll say it again for those who didn't read it. I e-mailed Disney about the very disappointing short hours in August. A CM called me to discuss it. She told me to keep watching the official website for extensions of hours, which she was SURE would happen. Well, I've been watching daily since then, and there hasn't been anything extended. I've been wondering if there have been any last minute extensions that aren't posted on the website. Anyone???

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by CarolA
I don't entirely blame Disney as C.Ann seems to want to. The economy had started going soft PRIOR to 9/11 which was already leading travel and tourism related industries to indicate that things were not looking good. 9/11 was horrible blow to tourism and travel. (I went to Disney about 2 weeks later and I have NEVER seen it so empty and I normally go in slow seasons!) It is not just Disney at this point. All the airlines are suffering, I have seen a lot of other tourism related destinations show lower then normal attendance in the past few summers.

Disney has committed to putting money in the parks. They are adding a major ride at Epcot, committing to a major ride/expansion at AK and increasing the size of Typhoon Lagoon. In addition, they gave an unprecedented discount with the FTP.

They can't afford to run the long hours if they don't have CROWDS. And by crowds I mean capacity crowds. That requires not only the Disney hotels, but the other hotels in the theme park area.

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I don't think I stated anywhere in my post that I blamed Disney "entirely" for the current situation.. I simply pointed out that when anyone questions anything they have done - either directly or indirectly - they always play the 9/11 card and I find that extremely irritating.. Their problems began long, LONG before 9/11 (I'm talking years - not months) and rather than own up to the fact that it's been due to poor managment and greed, they whip out the 9/11 issue and claim that everything was just wonderful prior to that.. Whenever any type of interview takes place regarding Disney World it never fails that the official spokesperson will start off with, "Well, since 9/11......"

That's not me making the statement - it's them....

 

[cindyfan]

Smiten.....
First and most important here.......WELCOME to the DIS boards!!!
We all love these boards and you will see how much fantastic information you will gather. Since 1999 I have learned so much and feel this site is my best friend at times!

Now, with the other responses.............
Do you feel maybe you opened a "can of worms" with your question??
That has been debated over and over again for the past couple years.
IMHO.....there is no real answer! It is a combination of everything. But WDW is a business and they need to make adjustment to everything from payroll to hours.
The good thing is.....they do listen and make adjustment daily! The whole hours thing seems to be like an accordian! Lengthen, shorten, lengthen, shorten.....on and on.
Just keep checking then boards to stay updated.

ps.....hope you have a GREAT time!!!!