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

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But everything is expensive. I think everyone else realized that if people pay Disney prices at WDW, they will pay Disney prices everywhere.

This is really so overly used, I get many of us could point to so many examples of places where we've paid the same or much more but does that actually even address the complaints people are making? It doesn't. If you want to talk about how much concerts have increased in recent years (especially since the pandemic) that is going to address your complaint there about the cost increasing. If you want to talk about how much the food has increased at your local zoo in recent years that is going to address your complaint there about costs increasing. I've only been here for almost 9 years and people have been saying "everything is expensive" when someone discusses increases at Disney from the food, tickets, after hours, hard ticket events and more.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

This is really so overly used, I get many of us could point to so many examples of places where we've paid the same or much more but does that actually even address the complaints people are making? It doesn't. If you want to talk about how much concerts have increased in recent years (especially since the pandemic) that is going to address your complaint there about the cost increasing. If you want to talk about how much the food has increased at your local zoo in recent years that is going to address your complaint there about costs increasing. I've only been here for almost 9 years and people have been saying "everything is expensive" when someone discusses increases at Disney from the food, tickets, after hours, hard ticket events and more.

Yes, it is overused. But if you can point to many other areas of entertainment and tourism and see price increases throughout, it's not necessarily wrong. And it is widely known that the cost of a WDW vacation has outpaced inflation since it opened, so I will admit that part.

But what do we do about that now?

Either suck it up buttercup or go somewhere else, right?

Here's my rationale for WDW going forward:

Is it realistic to expect Disney to actually lower prices when everyone else is raising them? WDW allows for a ton of planning solutions to match various budgets. However, I'm not saying that means some potential visitors won't have to make sacrifices (fewer park days, QS rather than TS, off-property versus on, etc.) or delay their vacation. But again, a vacation, especially a WDW vacation, is a privilege. For example, when I grew up in the late 80s and early 90s, going to WDW meant staying off-property, my bed was two chairs pushed together, and we did one day at MK. So, I can't even look at that time as being better than what my boys are experiencing today when they visit WDW.

If I don't like something, I choose not to do it. My solution with the Dells was a simple one after seeing how expensive it was. I won't go there anymore.

My oldest son once told me he wished WDW was free so everyone could go. I told him if that was the case, no one would go because the experience would be terrible. We all want low crowds, great food, new and really fun attractions, and the best accommodations. But we complain about the cost. I don't know how to reconcile those things where you get all of that with lower prices than say, a hotel off I-94 near Six Flags: Great America.

All I know is that experiencing rides like FoP and RotR and being immersed in Pandora and Galaxy's Edge remind me that my very expensive visit allows me to experience something I can't anywhere else.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, it is overused. But if you can point to many other areas of entertainment and tourism and see price increases throughout, it's not necessarily wrong. And it is widely known that the cost of a WDW vacation has outpaced inflation since it opened, so I will admit that part.

But what do we do about that now?

Either suck it up buttercup or go somewhere else, right?

Here's my rationale for WDW going forward:

Is it realistic to expect Disney to actually lower prices when everyone else is raising them? WDW allows for a ton of planning solutions to match various budgets. However, I'm not saying that means some potential visitors won't have to make sacrifices (fewer park days, QS rather than TS, off-property versus on, etc.) or delay their vacation. But again, a vacation, especially a WDW vacation, is a privilege. For example, when I grew up in the late 80s and early 90s, going to WDW meant staying off-property, my bed was two chairs pushed together, and we did one day at MK. So, I can't even look at that time as being better than what my boys are experiencing today when they visit WDW.

If I don't like something, I choose not to do it. My solution with the Dells was a simple one after seeing how expensive it was. I won't go there anymore.

My oldest son once told me he wished WDW was free so everyone could go. I told him if that was the case, no one would go because the experience would be terrible. We all want low crowds, great food, new and really fun attractions, and the best accommodations. But we complain about the cost. I don't know how to reconcile those things where you get all of that with lower prices than say, a hotel off I-94 near Six Flags: Great America.

All I know is that experiencing rides like FoP and RotR and being immersed in Pandora and Galaxy's Edge remind me that my very expensive visit allows me to experience something I can't anywhere else.

I think you have to consider it from someone's frame of mind. If you're always going to go to Disney no matter what of course you're going to side step people's experiences and costs with Disney because you've already come to that conclusion that you're going to continue going no matter what (IIRC you have DVC too which is a high investment in Disney mostly the Parks as that's where their resorts are mostly at but this point is meant generally).

You say suck it up but that's what I'm actually touching on. You'll suck it up because you'll keep going regardless. For some they either reduce the frequency or stop going entirely. Personally I see myself going to Disney for a long time however I am not like many posters on this Board because it's never been something we've done every year, every other year and most especially not several times a year.

Mostly I'm trying to say that it ends up being dismissive and used as a distractor to say "everything is expensive" because that's not addressing what people are often pointing to with discussing increasing in costs at Disney especially if they are looking at how were their past trips.

As far as your last point I love Disney, I love Universal, however I think we collectively have to keep in mind there's probably a lot less unique about the places we love than we think. Technology also isn't exclusive in many cases. I'll give one point though to Universal, we found that the queue in Gringott's Bank was more themed that the actual set in London; they added a bit more to the interior at Universal Orlando. In any case it's also part of your personal frame of mind interacting with your tolerance level. You're willing to go to Disney to get what you view as not available elsewhere no matter what. That's totally okay! But it also doesn't mean that saying everything is expensive really gets to what people are often discussing.

 

[Minnesota!]

I think people are taking their TS budget and applying it to G+. I know that’s what we did last trip and plan on doing next trip.

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

Oh, I see why you have better pricing. We live in N. Mn. in a smaller town so that must be why? We live in the resort/national forest area with lots of tourists. It's really awful how much prices have gone up here, but am glad you are having it better with the prices. It's odd that two cities in the same state have such different pricing.

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.........

You must be the only on in all of the USA. i have never heard of property taxes going down multiple years in a row unless the town did some kind of major revaluation of properties. And auto/homeowners insurance is up everywhere, saw a stat this week that had auto insurance up 24%, on average nationwide, in the last year alone. We need an introduction to your insurance agent! LOL

How do your property taxes go down unless the value of your house goes down? Were fixed at 0.64% and ours still goes up We are extremely fortunate in that regard. Regardless it still goes up a little every year because the value of our home goes up. Their town must have lowered rates. Good for them.

I have a job where I talk to hundreds of different people a month. I'm even inside their homes. I've I think I've only heard one person say he didn't notice inflation, but he lived alone and his opinions were more derived from politics than reality.

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.

 

[godfather927]

I'm glad other people have had success with Beaches and Cream, we can't get anything for a party more than 2 on the date we want since the 60 day mark.

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.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

I think you have to consider it from someone's frame of mind. If you're always going to go to Disney no matter what of course you're going to side step people's experiences and costs with Disney because you've already come to that conclusion that you're going to continue going no matter what (IIRC you have DVC too which is a high investment in Disney mostly the Parks as that's where their resorts are mostly at but this point is meant generally).

You say suck it up but that's what I'm actually touching on. You'll suck it up because you'll keep going regardless. For some they either reduce the frequency or stop going entirely. Personally I see myself going to Disney for a long time however I am not like many posters on this Board because it's never been something we've done every year, every other year and most especially not several times a year.

Mostly I'm trying to say that it ends up being dismissive and used as a distractor to say "everything is expensive" because that's not addressing what people are often pointing to with discussing increasing in costs at Disney especially if they are looking at how were their past trips.

As far as your last point I love Disney, I love Universal, however I think we collectively have to keep in mind there's probably a lot less unique about the places we love than we think. Technology also isn't exclusive in many cases. I'll give one point though to Universal, we found that the queue in Gringott's Bank was more themed that the actual set in London; they added a bit more to the interior at Universal Orlando. In any case it's also part of your personal frame of mind interacting with your tolerance level. You're willing to go to Disney to get what you view as not available elsewhere no matter what. That's totally okay! But it also doesn't mean that saying everything is expensive really gets to what people are often discussing.

I respect everything you're saying, and I mostly agree. We do have DVC and we are currently buying more points, because we see a value in visiting WDW at least once per year. So yeah, our WDW accommodations are about $0.20 on the dollar relative to rack rates, which means the other areas of our vacations can be a bit nicer. It's a huge help and something we are very privileged to be able to afford. I just hope my boys understand that part of it someday soon. However, we are planning to scale back our 2025 vacation to fewer days in the parks, as the boys have said they want to swim more and not go, go, go.

Additionally, our oldest has always been eligible for DAS, so we don't get that feeling of being nickel and dimed with G+. We have a near perfect track record of having wonderful service from CMs, which is not the case at any restaurant or entertainment establishment around us, so that is always a value-add for us.

Part of me just wonders, what else can we do, where else can we go? We had a hotel room (2 queen beds) booked for Door County, WI and it was around $300 per night. Having been there before, I know it's not any nicer than the value accommodations at WDW.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Will Disney get rid of a bunch of TS places if nobody is going?

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. That's just one example.

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.

Every year we get an escrow shortage bill or escrow surplus check, it's almost always a shortage because property taxes and previously was property taxes and home insurance increasing. Although we've been able to switch insurance companies every so often that has brought the escrow back down a bit. Does yours do this yearly?

It is possible for your value to go up but your tax bill lower that is usually due to a mill levy reduction if that's how your area does it, a bond removal if that's how your area does it or something else or a combo of those. But many people's overall tax bill tends to increase per year often because something else has increased or been added on even if something has been reduced.

I think mill levies and all that can be confusing but I would think your tax bill would help clear out some of the differences. Ours tells us line by line the difference in dollars and percentage increase year over year although the online version only shows the mill levy amounts and the dollar amounts.

 

[clarker99]

Yes, it is overused. But if you can point to many other areas of entertainment and tourism and see price increases throughout, it's not necessarily wrong. And it is widely known that the cost of a WDW vacation has outpaced inflation since it opened, so I will admit that part.

But what do we do about that now?

Either suck it up buttercup or go somewhere else, right?

Here's my rationale for WDW going forward:

Is it realistic to expect Disney to actually lower prices when everyone else is raising them? WDW allows for a ton of planning solutions to match various budgets. However, I'm not saying that means some potential visitors won't have to make sacrifices (fewer park days, QS rather than TS, off-property versus on, etc.) or delay their vacation. But again, a vacation, especially a WDW vacation, is a privilege. For example, when I grew up in the late 80s and early 90s, going to WDW meant staying off-property, my bed was two chairs pushed together, and we did one day at MK. So, I can't even look at that time as being better than what my boys are experiencing today when they visit WDW.

If I don't like something, I choose not to do it. My solution with the Dells was a simple one after seeing how expensive it was. I won't go there anymore.

My oldest son once told me he wished WDW was free so everyone could go. I told him if that was the case, no one would go because the experience would be terrible. We all want low crowds, great food, new and really fun attractions, and the best accommodations. But we complain about the cost. I don't know how to reconcile those things where you get all of that with lower prices than say, a hotel off I-94 near Six Flags: Great America.

All I know is that experiencing rides like FoP and RotR and being immersed in Pandora and Galaxy's Edge remind me that my very expensive visit allows me to experience something I can't anywhere else.

Everything my family does, I look at the opportunity cost vs. spending that money at WDW or DLR. I can't help it. Lol. I have been there on being upset we didn't just spend the money on Disney.

 

[DCLMP]

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.

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

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Part of me just wonders, what else can we do, where else can we go? We had a hotel room (2 queen beds) booked for Door County, WI and it was around $300 per night. Having been there before, I know it's not any nicer than the value accommodations at WDW.

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

 

[RivShore]

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.

Escrow really confuses things on a year over year basis. You would really need to compare the actual tax and insurance bills from 4 years before to this year's bills to see the true change. Not that I want to give you homework, we are supposed to be discussing vacations on here!

 

[clarker99]

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

Honestly, this isn't even about money. I only have so many holidays I can take in year. I want my time off to be fun and enjoyable. We know Disney will be great for us so that is where I do the comparison. It is not about money. We have done Europe and many other things less expensive. Some were worth taking the time off and some were not. It is like going to your favorite restaurant, ordering something different than your favorite dish and being disappointed. I do believe people should see and do different things but opportunity cost is real. It might be WDW for me but for others the opportunity cost is a cruise or all-inclusive mexican resort or Hawaii or Paris or a condo in Palm Springs for 3 months in winter. Everyone has something they compare things to.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Honestly, this isn't even about money. I only have so many holidays I can take in year. I want my time off to be fun and enjoyable. We know Disney will be great for us so that is where I do the comparison. It is not about money. We have done Europe and many other things less expensive. Some were worth taking the time off and some were not. It is like going to your favorite restaurant, ordering something different than your favorite dish and being disappointed. I do believe people should see and do different things but opportunity cost is real. It might be WDW for me but for others the opportunity cost is a cruise or all-inclusive mexican resort or Hawaii or Paris or a condo in Palm Springs for 3 months in winter. Everyone has something they compare things to.

Completely understand but the conversation was about money, and the side conversation about everything is expensive when discussing what has increased at Disney (which is what a pp had talked about many pages ago but was quoted today by a different poster).

It's also not about comparing vacations and looking at what you would want to do with what money you have and what vacation time you have. It was about comparing all your other trips or costs when you are going out of town or even in town (not even just for vacation either), what costs for other activities are always in relation to what Disney is. It's like people who really truly only like Disney and try out Universal and just can't help comparing everything to Disney while they are there at Disney, typically those types of people often find it hard to enjoy Universal because of that.

If you find your enjoyable place is Disney that's not what I'm talking about. It's if you're saying like the PP "this place is $300 but I know I can get better at Disney" "everywhere is expensive so might as well just spend it at Disney" that's just a different frame of mind and would make a conversation about costs at Disney increasing or the experiences to be had at Disney for X price almost a non-starter to begin with. I know that Disney, for example, increases their food costs several times a year across the wide array of the restaurants they have, just because X NFL stadium charges Y for a pretzel does not mean a point can't be discussed about how much that pretzel has increased or changed (especially in size or taste) at Disney or that someone can say that pretzel just isn't worth it there even though it has a Mickey with it.

 

[bdrex28]

One thing to consider is most people posting on disboards are different than the typical guest that goes to Disney.

Our first trip as a family, we had ZERO idea. I had gone as a kid in the 70s and 80s to both DL and WDW. WDW pre-Epcot.

Our kids were 17/11/5 and we had NO Idea what we were doing. I booked rack rate for a 1 BR Villa at VGF, got the deluxe dining plan and spent about 3x the money I should have. But it was Disney and my kids were pumped. Due to their ages, we thought it was worth it and didn't know what the future would hold to get all three together again and having fun. that was in 2015. Now we're DVC owners, Annual pass holders as well. We also learned after trip #1 we could rent reservations and save money so we did that before buying into DVC. We didn't KNOW how to save money for WDW. We do now.

So that all being said, Disney is expensive. Crowds are worse than 10 or 15 or 25 yrs ago.

Also, things are just more expensive around the country. All of that factors in.

 

[Minnesota!]

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. That's just one example.

Every year we get an escrow shortage bill or escrow surplus check, it's almost always a shortage because property taxes and previously was property taxes and home insurance increasing. Although we've been able to switch insurance companies every so often that has brought the escrow back down a bit. Does yours do this yearly?

It is possible for your value to go up but your tax bill lower that is usually due to a mill levy reduction if that's how your area does it, a bond removal if that's how your area does it or something else or a combo of those. But many people's overall tax bill tends to increase per year often because something else has increased or been added on even if something has been reduced.

I think mill levies and all that can be confusing but I would think your tax bill would help clear out some of the differences. Ours tells us line by line the difference in dollars and percentage increase year over year although the online version only shows the mill levy amounts and the dollar amounts.

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".

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

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.

 

[Minnesota!]

Anyway - I am curious to see how the crowds are in the next few weeks with the new LL rollout, etc. Hoping for some "live reporting"

Anyone follow anyone on TikTok that does daily updates? Would love to get them on my FYP

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

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".

We had the same thing, a special assessment (special to our neighborhood) for 15 years although we only paid 3 years because it was 15 years from the date the neighborhood started not when a house was built. It was $250 per year but when it dropped off for us in particular the school bond popped on so it was still an increase. We have the same thing about the shortage we just choose to pay the shortage as a lump sum or if we get a surplus we put it in a special bank account to be used for future shortages. That helps keep the monthly bill more consistent.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Anyway - I am curious to see how the crowds are in the next few weeks with the new LL rollout, etc. Hoping for some "live reporting"

I know there's the other thread for that but I also wonder how the interim time period will be with the new product but before the Halloween parties start up and then Food and Wine since those tend to bring in the crowds.

 

[Anthony1971]

OK so yes costs are high..... and to go anywhere... and all of life is more expensive we are no exception from water to house, car insurance everything went at least 12% except property tax that was only 8% and this year alone.... the mail was a running a joke starting in mid Jan. Of course this has effects vacations.
Part of this is offset for some is from high interest rates money in savings=extra income. The stock market, 401K this can at best make a person feel ok or have some anxiety for the future as it is just not a gain until you actually convert it to cash or a cash account (which most if not all 401K have this option)
A lot of people are having a tough time however and maybe they cut Dining at Disney, The number of days, The hotel or? and those who skip it all together.
The bigger reason there may be lower crowds is COVID credits for airlines, park tickets and in some cases even hotels had to be used as of last year. In the end you had a group of people who had the cost of the Hotel and food to go to Disney or other places for that fact.

The bigger issue is and well known to Disney as people start doing other things for vacation Disney becomes a once in X years or maybe 10 years later... hey lets try Disney again or maybe never again. 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.... They better adjust the prices and the attitudes to keep as many customers as possible or 5 years from now you may see the return of 2000s crowd levels.

 

[Minnie1222]

Honestly, this isn't even about money. I only have so many holidays I can take in year. I want my time off to be fun and enjoyable. We know Disney will be great for us so that is where I do the comparison. It is not about money. We have done Europe and many other things less expensive. Some were worth taking the time off and some were not. It is like going to your favorite restaurant, ordering something different than your favorite dish and being disappointed. I do believe people should see and do different things but opportunity cost is real. It might be WDW for me but for others the opportunity cost is a cruise or all-inclusive mexican resort or Hawaii or Paris or a condo in Palm Springs for 3 months in winter. Everyone has something they compare things to.

Yup! And that's why some people pay millions for a seat to go to outer space.