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

[Jrb1979]

That's not true according to this crowd calendar:
View attachment 868592

This was from @lentesta

Magic Kingdom was a crowd level '1' (out of 10, 10=highest) on Memorial Day. I think that's unprecedented.
EPCOT = 8 / 10
DHS = 4
DAK = 5
Disneyland = 8
DCA = 9
Universal Studios Florida = 9
IOA = 5

 

[RivShore]

This was from @lentesta

Magic Kingdom was a crowd level '1' (out of 10, 10=highest) on Memorial Day. I think that's unprecedented.
EPCOT = 8 / 10
DHS = 4
DAK = 5
Disneyland = 8
DCA = 9
Universal Studios Florida = 9
IOA = 5

That just sounds wrong - A 1 at MK while DHS and DAK are 4 and 5 times higher...I think MK must be a misprint or have some bad data in it.

 

[Minnie1222]

This was from @lentesta

Magic Kingdom was a crowd level '1' (out of 10, 10=highest) on Memorial Day. I think that's unprecedented.
EPCOT = 8 / 10
DHS = 4
DAK = 5
Disneyland = 8
DCA = 9
Universal Studios Florida = 9
IOA = 5

I was at Magic Kingdom on Memorial Day. Absolutely no possibility it was a level 1.

If it were a level 1, then some of my previous visits would have been level negative [insert a number].

 

[Minnie1222]

Crowd calendars have not been accurate since WDW introduced the reservation system/Covid as they rely on past years' trends.

This was the first time I looked at these data out of curiosity. I have no intentions of using them for trip plannings.

 

[focusondisney]

I just looked at the Touring Plan site. It does indeed say MK was a 1 on Memorial Day. The thing is, they use ride wait times to determine crowd numbers. If the rides they’re observing happen to be offline during the hours they use in the calculations, that will affect the final crowd number. I often think it feels more crowded than their numbers. But also, their numbers have changed over the years. A 5 from 10 years ago might be a 3 in today’s numbers for example ( I made up that equivalency, but I know they have adjusted the numbers over the years).

 

[tom1944]

You must live near us (Central MD). We are actually going to GW near Charlotte as it's close to our lake house. We are also DVC and spending 10 days in August with whole family in Grand Villa at HHI.

We are in Central NJ

 

[Jrb1979]

I do wonder if lack of streetmosphere, and parades play a part in making it seem busy.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I just looked at the Touring Plan site. It does indeed say MK was a 1 on Memorial Day. The thing is, they use ride wait times to determine crowd numbers. If the rides they’re observing happen to be offline during the hours they use in the calculations, that will affect the final crowd number. I often think it feels more crowded than their numbers. But also, their numbers have changed over the years. A 5 from 10 years ago might be a 3 in today’s numbers for example ( I made up that equivalency, but I know they have adjusted the numbers over the years).

I judge crowds by walkways, lines for the bathroom, lines at places to get food, etc. Using that Memorial day weekend example, I was at Epcot that sunday and walkways were definitely crowded and the big rides (Test Track, Remy, Frozen) had a 2 hour wait at some point in the day. However none of the festival booths had a line. You could walk up to any of them including the popular ones like France and Mexico. The bathrooms had a wait, especially at the more congested areas of the park.

 

[focusondisney]

I judge crowds by walkways, lines for the bathroom, lines at places to get food, etc. Using that Memorial day weekend example, I was at Epcot that sunday and walkways were definitely crowded and the big rides (Test Track, Remy, Frozen) had a 2 hour wait at some point in the day. However none of the festival booths had a line. You could walk up to any of them including the popular ones like France and Mexico. The bathrooms had a wait, especially at the more congested areas of the park.

They actually had Epcot an 8 both Sunday & Monday. Thats the reason I take crowd calendars with a grain of salt. They don’t take into account how crowded the walkways are. When everything feels crowded & it’s had to get around, it sure doesn’t feel like a low crowd.

 

[123SA]

Because of this thread, I checked wait times. Today (Saturday) at 730 pm the wait time listed for 7DMT was 45 minutes. That certainly seems like low crowds to me.

 

[Minnie1222]

I do wonder if lack of streetmosphere, and parades play a part in making it seem busy.

The Festival of Fantasy and Adventure Friends Cavalcade are back. I also saw the Dapper Dans, Jammitors, as well as roaming characters.

 

[iuki]

For us, we used to go every year and stay at the French Quarter. Then we moved to Florida and had annual passes. Before we moved to Hawaii, we stopped buying annual passes for a couple of years because the prices were increasing significantly each year. I can’t imagine how families can afford Disney vacations anymore. There’s no doubt in my mind the higher costs are impacting the number of visitors to WDW.

 

[Lesverts]

My take is this:

I think there has been a rebalance of how people are spending their discretionary income. During the 'dark times' it was on home and life improvements to an extreme and just after the 'dark times' it was on experiences. Now I think people are more behaving in a way that reflects how that money was being spent prior to the 'dark times'.
On top of that, I think 2024 feels 'transitionary' in some ways. Lots of people I know personally are waiting/holding off on making decisions because there is still this uncertainty and unease about 'the state of things'.

Disney specific

I think a lot of people that are doing their research are coming to the conclusion that this is just not a good time to visit. But with the new 'rumors' coming out and the potential for another major classic attraction to be down for an extended amount of time there likely won't be a truly good time to visit WDW in the next 5 years.

 

[fbarker]

For us, we used to go every year and stay at the French Quarter. Then we moved to Florida and had annual passes. Before we moved to Hawaii, we stopped buying annual passes for a couple of years because the prices were increasing significantly each year. I can’t imagine how families can afford Disney vacations anymore. There’s no doubt in my mind the higher costs are impacting the number of visitors to WDW.

Interesting you say how families can't afford to go to Disney yet you move to one of the most expensive places to live in the USA!! *S*

 

[Smugpugmug]

They actually had Epcot an 8 both Sunday & Monday. Thats the reason I take crowd calendars with a grain of salt. They don’t take into account how crowded the walkways are. When everything feels crowded & it’s had to get around, it sure doesn’t feel like a low crowd.

Yeah I saw that about a day or so after that visit to Epcot and I was like, yeah it did feel like an 8 in terms of the walkways. I have no idea what the rating was but last week I was at HS for the evening and it was really quiet. Tower of Terror was a 20 minute wait, walkways were manageable and no lines for the quick service options around the park.

Also this may be typical but I don't usually visit around this time of year but I noticed A LOT of international guests especially at my hotel. I was at the Coronado for a week and outside of the typical UK and people from Spanish speaking countries, I overheard German, French, Chinese and even Korean speakers. I know international tourism is down but it was interesting to me to hear that array of languages. Also heard what I thought was Swedish but not 100% sure.

 

[DeeBee3]

I've been checking wait times this week due to an upcoming trip. Trying to see if times of day have a trend. The last few days in the morning, wait times in MK have been low. Even now when I check (almost 10AM), 7DMT is 45 mins and PP is 35. That is low.

 

[GrumpyCAdad]

How do you think the new Universal Park opening up next year will effect the WDW crowds?

 

[Minnie1222]

How do you think the new Universal Park opening up next year will effect the WDW crowds?

I don't think it will affect Disney as negatively as many people believe. Universal caters to a different demographic. There are very few strollers, wheelchairs, and scooters in their parks. The guests who require this type of mobility assistance can not abruptly abandon their vehicles to join the Universal crowd. People with disposable income most likely won't change their current pattern. People who can't afford Disney right now won't be able to afford Epic either.

Possibly we will see a tiny dip in Disney attendance and a larger dip at UO and IOA.

 

[Smugpugmug]

How do you think the new Universal Park opening up next year will effect the WDW crowds?

I think people may skip AK to add in Epic but overall I don't see WDW attendance decreasing in a drastic way.

 

[greeneyedchick]

How do you think the new Universal Park opening up next year will effect the WDW crowds?

I think it will draw more people to Universal but not necessarily away from Disney. Personally, only 1 of my 3 kids will go to Disney (we live near Orlando). 1 child and DH hate theme parks and 1 likes Universal but not Disney. However, all 3 kids and DH and myself are excited for and plan to go to Epic Universe.