Tell it like it used to be...

[MelissathePooh]

Every year since 1973, many multiple times a year, and I can say without a doubt that most everything used to have a line. BUT for 11 years there was only 1 park and then it was two, then 3 and so on... As the crowds grew they spread out to some extent. Depending on when you went the crowd was vastly different as well. It went from always busy just about to really dependent on when you went.

Disney didn't start promoting the off season really hard until 7 or so years ago. There was a preschool promotion in September geared towards families with young children and then came the Pirate and Princess Parties - then came dining and constant marathons, Flower & Garden started somewhere in the last 15 years as well as Food & Wine. They used to close entire resorts down due to low crowds until some of this stuff. Don't forget the push to market to foreign groups.

I have October pictures from the mid 80's showing a packed MK and Epcot and ones from 1998 showing an EMPTY MK and Epcot. Now we're back to crazy crowded Octobers all over.

Of all the gimicks Disney has ever done, I miss E-Nights the most.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Of all the gimicks Disney has ever done, I miss E-Nights the most.

E-Ride nights was THE BEST. Soooooooo much better than evening EMH.

 

[Planogirl]

E-Ride nights was THE BEST. Soooooooo much better than evening EMH.

We loved e-nights. They were reasonably priced and definitely less crowded.

 

[MelissathePooh]

E-Ride nights was THE BEST. Soooooooo much better than evening EMH.

Remember how they replaced it with the Great Character Caravan Debaubcle?!

That's when it all started to go downhill - the Character Caravans!

 

[Disneychick75]

I remember 90 minute waits for 20,000 Leagues under the Sea in the 70's.

 

[MelissathePooh]

We loved e-nights. They were reasonably priced and definitely less crowded.

There was a limit of 5000 tickets.

 

[Brian Noble]

They already do that. A Single day MK is $5 more and the hotels have been doing dynamic pricing (aka Seasons) for as long as I can remember.

A fixed-price increase for MK is not dynamic; it is the same every day. And, yes, the hotels do use dynamic pricing, but the hotels are not the question here. The theme parks are.

 

[si-am]

WDW was less crowded back in "the old days" because there were only 2 hotels (plus Fort Wilderness) and Orlando wasn't yet the tourist mecca that it is now. There were lines, of course, but it never seemed as crowded as it does today.

I also think that because WDW was smaller, and there was less to do, that people weren't trying to cram as much in to their vacations as they do now. You could spend 4 nights there and, even with lines, still manage to see and do everything without being stressed.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

They aren't going to lower capacity to make the fewer people happier. If they can get 40,000 people in a park, they are going to do it. It's more profit.