Thoughts on why crowds are lower this summer so far??

[lovin'fl]

Use the reservation finders(tp and mouse dining), they've always come through for me but you do need to be fast as soon as you get the email/text. Sometimes you won't be fast enough so just keep trying eventually you'll get something.

TP quit doing dining resie finder.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

A good vacation elsewhere, and there are many out there, is a lost customer for Disney and that customer is very hard to get back....

 

[J-Dog]

As we talked about alternatives to WDW in this thread, this list has a few that came up (and no, WDW did not make the list!):

The ‘most disappointing’ tourist attraction nationwide is in Florida. Do you agree?​

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...-tourist-attraction-nationwide-is-in-florida/

Rank	Attraction	Percentage of “disappointed” 1-3 star reviews
1	Kennedy Space Center	20.19%
2	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	19.61%
3	Mammoth Cave National Park	19.38%
4	Biltmore	18.20%
5	USS Arizona Memorial	17.48%
6	National WWII Museum	15.74%
7	Art Institute of Chicago	14.89%
8	White House	14.75%
9	Country Music Hall of Fame	14.10%
10	Graceland	13.64%
11	Mount Rushmore	13.46%
12	Grand Canyon South Rim	12.71%
13	Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens	12.06%
14	Space Needle	11.76%
15	The Alamo	11.71%
16	Old Faithful	11.36%
17	The Breakers	11.35%
18	Alcatraz Island	11.09%
19	Hollywood Walk of Fame	10.71%
20	Fountains of Bellagio	9.71%

Not sure how accurate this is, considering that the last one of a similar type of list had Rockefeller Center in NYC as the "most disappointing", and it didn't even make this list.

 

[J-Dog]

If nothing is ever going to be as good as Disney in your mind no matter what that's obviously going to play into how you view other places from the monetary cost to the desire to go in the first place some reasons you mention may make Disney your go to place because you've gotten down how it will work. You (general you) don't need to feel like you're being forced to consider other places but your (general your) preference will play into how you discuss other places with other people, same goes if you're not only ever going to visit Disney plays into that as well.

I mentioned pages back about our hotel costs in Europe (and gave examples) that were less than Disney but better than Disney. But I assure you while I was there I was not thinking "oh this is better than Disney" because it wasn't something I was even thinking about other than to jokingly discuss the amount of walking in context to what I'd do at a Disney park. Japan is a weird example so don't take it to heart but we're staying at places from Tokyo to Kyoto to Kanazawa to Hakone, etc that are about $50-$65 per night some are more for sure but not that much more and here in the U.S. those would not be places you'd even dream of staying in. Now their hotel rooms are usually fairly small but they usually offer more in the room than you'd find in a Value at Disney. Park tickets for Tokyo also hover around $50-70. But again getting to Japan ain't easy or cheap.

I think the hospitality world has really struggled since the pandemic, most often you're not getting the level of attention and detail to the room (not in design necessarily but care and attention) as you used to.

There are a multitude of other places out there many domestic places if you're not able to do international but if you're always going to be comparing it to your Disney trips that's probably not going to be a great place to start from. I had just as much fun boating at the Lake as I did at Disney as a kid different types of trips different memories but the same amount of fun

I guess I'm not understanding your point. No offense, but you seem to have typed a lot of words to not say much.

You are trying to point out that people posting on a DISNEY-topic-based website are biased toward, and compare other vacations to Disney? How is that news?

Would you go to a Dodge Ram truck forum and try to tell people that they shouldn't be comparing the towing power of a Mazda Miata to their Ram?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I guess I'm not understanding your point. No offense, but you seem to have typed a lot of words to not say much.

You are trying to point out that people posting on a DISNEY-topic-based website are biased toward, and compare other vacations to Disney? How is that news?

Would you go to a Dodge Ram truck forum and try to tell people that they shouldn't be comparing the towing power of a Mazda Miata to their Ram?

I think I'll save my breath on a response to you based on your previous interactions with posters but you're welcome to continue pondering over my words if it helps you out or just scroll on by. Whatever floats your boat there

 

[Jack Kerouac]

Not sure how accurate this is, considering that the last one of a similar type of list had Rockefeller Center in NYC as the "most disappointing", and it didn't even make this list.

There is a campground near our home that is the #1 recreational destination according to their sign. It has a swimming pool, a beach, a very old nine hole mini-golf course and spots for RVs. Maybe once a year they bring in some donkeys for the children to ride on.

Sorry Disney, but you got got by an old, underwhelming RV campground.

 

[DebbieB]

This was the same story last summer and even before that. I think more people are going in the fall or other times. Why go in the brutal heat? School schedules have changed, remote working. I read Disney was pretty quiet on July 4, read the same thing about Universal.

 

[RivShore]

Not sure how accurate this is, considering that the last one of a similar type of list had Rockefeller Center in NYC as the "most disappointing", and it didn't even make this list.

Are you saying that that click bait was better than this click bait? LOLLOL

It just kills me that legit news sites pick this stuff up like its real news...

 

[DCLMP]

I swear I had it in my reply, but I don't see it. We had an assessment fall off sometime in the last few years - it was a 15 year thing and we moved here in 2008, and I can't recall how many years into it we were when we bought. So, maybe that helps?

They do the escrow analysis each year, never money back or anything just a "your payment is adjusting going forward, or you can pay the shortage in full".



My payment went down, which is what I said in my first post. Which is why I have more money in my pockets again. I will take it for whatever reason I did not dive into if it was property taxes, insurance, etc. before I said anything cuz I really do not care That is a weeks worth of groceries back in my wallet.

I get it, but you made it sound like your property taxes down which would be odd.

 

[DCLMP]

I disagree that it's more interesting. It the same as all the others. But thanks for the lesson on how to work this new-fangled internet thing.

If it’s not interesting then why are you here?

 

[Minnie1222]

In 2017 I couldn't for the life of me get a BOG reservation, it just never was available. But the increases in price adjustment in how meals are paid (like not being a la carte) and overall consensus that the food just isn't good certainly not worth the price and I saw BOG available so much in 2022, day of multiple time slots available. Unfortunately it's crossed off the list because of all the changes but the interest in BOG seems to have really taken a dive since it opened.⁰0⁰ That's just one example.

The best decision BOG ever made was to drop the obnoxiously busy and loud quick service. It’s one of the best places to chill in the entire WDW. There are spots available because it's hard to completely fill a cavernous ballroom along with two dining rooms.

 

[katyjeka]

As we talked about alternatives to WDW in this thread, this list has a few that came up (and no, WDW did not make the list!):

The ‘most disappointing’ tourist attraction nationwide is in Florida. Do you agree?​

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...-tourist-attraction-nationwide-is-in-florida/

Rank	Attraction	Percentage of “disappointed” 1-3 star reviews
1	Kennedy Space Center	20.19%
2	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	19.61%
3	Mammoth Cave National Park	19.38%
4	Biltmore	18.20%
5	USS Arizona Memorial	17.48%
6	National WWII Museum	15.74%
7	Art Institute of Chicago	14.89%
8	White House	14.75%
9	Country Music Hall of Fame	14.10%
10	Graceland	13.64%
11	Mount Rushmore	13.46%
12	Grand Canyon South Rim	12.71%
13	Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens	12.06%
14	Space Needle	11.76%
15	The Alamo	11.71%
16	Old Faithful	11.36%
17	The Breakers	11.35%
18	Alcatraz Island	11.09%
19	Hollywood Walk of Fame	10.71%
20	Fountains of Bellagio	9.71%

We loved Alcatraz and Old Faithful.

 

[Flagge]

Revenge vacationing has ended and people are waiting for the recession shoe to drop if it hasn't already hit them. I went to DL and WDW for my major vacations the last two year and this year I'm paying off debt and waiting to see what comes from Epic Universe or the DL changes being done to the west side of the park to figure out my next major vacation.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Revenge vacationing has ended

I think revenge travel has ebbed at least but I'm still seeing people travel a lot, like a lot more than they did pre-pandemic. This is speaking personally from us, to family, to friends, to coworkers.

Rather than travel being as a result of pent up stay at home orders/people kept at home it's been more like changing how people view their lives for those we know and for the people I know most of their viewpoints are about going to varied locations as opposed to places they repeated in the past.

 

[disneyseniors]

So it didn't really go down you had just been overpaying.

This is a really good point. People are shifting their priorities within travel, as prices increase. It used to be you had a "free ride" to the hotel, now it costs us about $70. That $70 used to buy us breakfast. Now, to maintain a budget, we will spend the $70 on the shuttle, and use our QSDP snack for breakfast. I am anticipatory about the prices for the new iteration of LL - will that be the straw for most people? Will Disney get rid of a bunch of TS places if nobody is going? This will be my first trip sober, and we used to budget 1000/week/minimum for alcohol. I can find lots of uses at WDW for 1000 these days. Like 3 ice cream bars



Definitely a difference between the cities and almost anywhere else. I am jealous of where you live as far as location - up there is my favorite Maybe you are near Gordy's? Lucky! Someday.........





They did an escrow analysis and they determined that we were putting in too much each month (to escrow) and that we had a surplus so our monthly payment went down 91.29/month. My house value went up ("taxable market value") from 2023 - 2024 by almost 17k. Insurance stayed the exact same, to the penny. So, my assumption is that taxes went down, or stayed constant enough that my escrow decreased? IDK, I don't get paid to figure that all out. I just adjust the budget.

No, not near Gordy's, LOL. I have never even heard of Gordy's. We are way up North, way up PM me and I will tell you.

 

[maxiesmom]

When I first went to WDW almost 30 years ago the free shuttle didn't exist then either. It is not some new, horrible thing. It was available less than 20 years. If you all only remember the free ride, you were fortunate.

 

[godfather927]

TP quit doing dining resie finder.

Really? That's a shame. Even for their paid subs?

 

[Gentry2004]

The best decision BOG ever made was to drop the obnoxiously busy and loud quick service. It’s one of the best places to chill in the entire WDW. There are spots available because it's hard to completely fill a cavernous ballroom along with two dining rooms.

I'm SO glad it was quick service when my kids were small and loved the inside of the castle and the rose. We must have eaten there 15 or 20 times. Since you can't set foot inside now without an overpriced price fixe reservation, I doubt we'll ever go back.

 

[SL6827]

I'm SO glad it was quick service when my kids were small and loved the inside of the castle and the rose. We must have eaten there 15 or 20 times. Since you can't set foot inside now without an overpriced price fixe reservation, I doubt we'll ever go back.

Yes, never will go back either.

 

[DeeBee3]

Just watched a vlog from PCDev about his day at Hollywood Studios. He's been a negative Nelly for a while, but since I was just there over July 4 I could agree with many of his points. It did look empty at the time he shot the video. He mainly commented upon the line cutting that interrupted the flow of lines (have experienced that personally every trip in recent years) and the noticeable trash in queues and walkways. I have also noticed this.

My first adult trip to Disney was in 2016 and I was so impressed with the cleanliness. I never noticed an overflowing trashcan or a speck of food on the floor. I always saw the CMs in white wandering around. I really was impressed. The last few trips I have noticed trash all in the ride lines. Mainly speaks to the disrespect by people, but the CMs are definitely not keeping up with the trash.

The line cutting has happened for quite some time and it is annoying when it's large groups. I can understand a little kid needing the bathroom (I have littles). These are mainly 5,6,7 people weaving through the lines to reach their family. That's too many people in my opinion. I believe you can ask CMs to use the lightning lane to meet your party if you get separated (like in the bathroom situation).

People get annoyed and angry and it just causes a scene.

He also mentioned the overinflated wait times, which I also experienced.

Disney needs to get back to basics and implementing their standard level of customer service as well as guidelines for guests. They probably need to hire more CMs.