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

[neverlandsky]

Had G+ for MK, EP, DHS, and ILL$ for all parks. The heat was rough w/ the high humidity. Especially at EP & AK. EP was walking on the surface of the sun. AK was a constant sauna. Went to each park with a frozen water bottle & gaterade. Our frozen water bottle was completely thawed out in less than 2 hours. Nights at MK & DHS were very crowded. MK we left at 9pm. DHS we stayed past closing. We tapped out of EP by 1pm & AK by noon. Our resort was pretty quiet staying Wednesday - Monday. However, on Sunday a lot were checking in and it was tough to find resort parking.

Crowds did build each day we were there. So a lot of people getting in last minute summer travel before school starts in a couple of weeks and some are in mid summer break still.

 

[J-Dog]

Almost all of your points imply that this is something unique to Disney but that is not born out by the data. Wait times are down at Universal as well, which means it's a broader trend, rather than the result of any specific decisions made my Disney parks management.

Related to this discussion

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/23/comcast-cmcsa-earnings-q2-2024.html

Comcast posts mixed results, weighed down by film studio, theme parks

Published Tue, Jul 23 2024 - 6:30 AM EDT
by Lillian Rizzo@Lilliannnn

Meanwhile, theme park revenue dropped nearly 11% to $1.98 billion as attendance normalized compared to record-setting 2023.
Last quarter the theme park segment began its cool down from the hot post-Covid lockdown attendance surge in 2023.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240722277817/en/?Fds-Load-Behavior=force-external

It seems to me that these data would conclude either:

1) Disney's price hikes have soured people on theme parks in general, so less people to going to all theme parks because of it (I think that this is unlikely)

OR

2) The "trendy" idea of people being mad at Disney due to poor value/price hikes is actually a myth. Because theme park attendance is decreasing across the board for much more reasons than just the cost of Disney.

 

[toontoy]

I think one reason attendance is lower but crowds are high is basically Disney understaffing the parks still. Many attractions aren't running at capacity, they have more breakdowns and some things are still closed.

 

[123SA]

I think one reason attendance is lower but crowds are high is basically Disney understaffing the parks still. Many attractions aren't running at capacity, they have more breakdowns and some things are still closed.

I think restaurant bookings are low too? This puts more people back into the parks. I'm spending less on restaurants. That money went to Genie+.

Understaffing really irritates me. It drives me bonkers when I'm waiting in a 30 minute line at Big Thunder because they are only running one side.

 

[Minnie1222]

I think restaurant bookings are low too? This puts more people back into the parks. I'm spending less on restaurants. That money went to Genie+.

I'm going to give my unpopular observation again. While I agree ADRs have been easy to get since 2022, I still don't see a decline in visitors from the same restaurants I've been going. Obviously, what I saw was just a slice in time, but it's the same slice over and over following the same pattern years after years. If a restaurant had a certain occupancy at a certain time pre-Genie+, then it would make more sense if that occupancy is noticeably less nowadays due to "money going to Genie+". But I still don't see that change.

 

[lowlight]

Or we're just returning to the normal pattern following the big combination of post-Covid revenge travels and 50th/100th celebrations.

That’s likely part of it, as well as what the person you responded to posted, as well people just being broker than usual due to inflation. It doesn’t have to be a binary reason, right?

 

[neverlandsky]

I think one reason attendance is lower but crowds are high is basically Disney understaffing the parks still. Many attractions aren't running at capacity, they have more breakdowns and some things are still closed.

Definitely some truth to this. Each park had rides down multiple times during the day not due to storms. We were surprised how much rides went down.

 

[joedplumber]

Wonder if the decline in US birth rates since 2007 plays into this at all?

 

[RivShore]

Can we all acknowledge that crowds are not lower this year after yesterdays earnings report showed level attendance with last year? Hotel occupancy was also the same as last year. There has been no drastic decrease-NONE, all the anecdotal evidence and all the analysts were wrong! So can we move on with a new thread - "why crowds are lower this Fall so far?"

That said, this thread subject will probably be right at some point in the next year or so - company after company this earnings season said they see a travel slowdown coming so you all will be right some day!

 

[Minnie1222]

There has been no drastic decrease-NONE, all the anecdotal evidence and all the analysts were wrong! So can we move on with a new thread - "why crowds are lower this Fall so far?"

Oki, I'm going to take some credits here. Who has been saying all along that the crowds look the same? Me! Yes, M.E.