Attendance Tracker

[UNIrd]

We have this conversation every Summer. Whether it be their dynamic ticket pricing, AP and Florida Resident blackout dates, the heat, etc, Summer may not be peak Disney attendance anymore. This is evident by the fact that you're actually able to get hotel rooms often discounted further in the Summer than you would in previously slower times like Fall and early Winter.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

So.... I was at Disney over Memorial Day weekend and noted how crowded it was and thought it was because of my first real taste of FP+. My wife went last week (Father's Day weekend) and noted that most waits were much lower. This article really confirms what we saw in person. I guess the Pandora/Avatar bump may only be a speed bump?

Is Attendance Slowing Down AGAIN at Walt Disney World? | Theme Park Tourist

So far there has been no Avatar or Pandora bump.

 

[shiekra38]

It looks like Disney is experiencing a pre-Potter opening slump...Not exactly the same, but many delayed their summer Universal vacations for the opening of Hogsmede

 

[Mad Dog]

So far there has been no Avatar or Pandora bump.

Sure doesn't look like a significant bump just watching line times throughout the entire resort, including AK (of course line times are not necessarily true attendance figures, but they are indicators of how crowded the parks feel). This is certainly no Cars Land draw at this point in time. They were talking about this on TouringPlans the other day. TP said that the two largest Travel Agencies that booked Disney vacations, said there was no demand for going on vacation to see Pandora. That speaks volumes.

 

[Scott W.]

There is some really cheap deals to Orlando this summer popping up, I don't know if that's a sign of the times or what.

Some of the deals for 2 weeks flight and hotel are coming in about £200 cheaper than just the flights I'm looking at for LA, so it's giving me some serious thinking to do.

 

[SeventyOne]

We have this conversation every Summer. Whether it be their dynamic ticket pricing, AP and Florida Resident blackout dates, the heat, etc, Summer may not be peak Disney attendance anymore.

All are factors, but I think the more-or-less-contemporaneous one-two punch of dynamic ticket pricing and more affordable parking-included APs with blackout dates did most of this. Also, a general trend nationwide away from the two or even one week vacations toward long weekend getaways (if any vacation at all).

Big test will be if MK goes to any sort of phased closing this 4-day weekend. I doubt it does.

 

[Disneyhead]

WDW is experiencing a comfortably crowded Summer season.

There has been no Avatar bump, but as we got further and further from the 2009 release of the movie, that result became increasingly obvious. It hasn't even achieved it's goal of providing some night relief to MK.

DHS though...:horse:

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Pandora is a FLOP. Better shut down Animal Kingdom to recover the losses!

 

[GadgetGuru]

So far there has been no Avatar or Pandora bump.

Is that resort wide or just that Animal Kingdom hasn't seen any increase in attendance (just the normal people all going to Pandora)?

 

[Disneyhead]

Is that resort wide or just that Animal Kingdom hasn't seen any increase in attendance (just the normal people all going to Pandora)?

WDW Resort has seen no increase because of Pandora. As a matter of fact, resort attendance is soft-ish. Not as bad as last summer, but not over crowded like 2015.

Intra-resort traffic flow has shifted, but not in a helpful way. Not in a bad way, but it hasn't had the desired effect in relieving congestion at the MK after dark. Which was the only thing TDO was hoping for. TDO didn't want the project. And the one bright spot for them was they thought it would suck up some night crowds. Didn't happen.

 

[Mad Dog]

WDW Resort has seen no increase because of Pandora. As a matter of fact, resort attendance is soft-ish. Not as bad as last summer, but not over crowded like 2015.

Intra-resort traffic flow has shifted, but not in a helpful way. Not in a bad way, but it hasn't had the desired effect in relieving congestion at the MK after dark. Which was the only thing TDO was hoping for. TDO didn't want the project. And the one bright spot for them was they thought it would suck up some night crowds. Didn't happen.

They probably shouldn't have debuted Happily Ever After if they wanted to divert the night crowd. Shows like that probably attract more Disneyphiles than new attractions do. Probably should have held off for a year or two or three.

 

[Disneyhead]

They probably shouldn't have debuted Happily Ever After if they wanted to divert the night crowd. Shows like that probably attract more Disneyphiles than new attractions do. Probably should have held off for a year or two or three.

DAK and DHS have the same problem. People rope drop them with a plan to stay through the "night spectacular" only to find themselves at 3pm scratching their heads trying to figure out what else there is to do to entertain themselves for the next 5 hours until it gets dark.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

DAK and DHS have the same problem. People rope drop them with a plan to stay through the "night spectacular" only to find themselves at 3pm scratching their heads trying to figure out what else there is to do to entertain themselves for the next 5 hours until it gets dark.

It's the same issue USF has, why stick for the nighttime show when most of the food places are closed?

 

[JoeCamel]

It's the same issue USF has, why stick for the nighttime show when most of the food places are closed?

Maybe if the night show was more compelling???

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Maybe if the night show was more compelling???

Ok? I mean it still has fireworks which you can sell without seeing the "show". My point is you can't just have a night show of any sort without supporting guests through the day till they see it. It's mighty easy to walk back to the resort or hotel after a dinner at Cowfish, NBC Grill Brew, Antojitos, Vivo, or Margaritaville.

 

[JoeCamel]

Ok? I mean it still has fireworks which you can sell without seeing the "show". My point is you can't just have a night show of any sort without supporting guests through the day till they see it. It's mighty easy to walk back to the resort or hotel after a dinner at Cowfish, NBC Grill Brew, Antojitos, Vivo, or Margaritaville.

You know that is a management move to get the cleanup done and not pay any more than necessary to do it so close them early?
The "show" is very low key and if there is any breeze the screens are hard to see but if there is no breeze it is hot as heck so there is no win. Add to that the show is old with no hook. It is a history lesson you could see on PBS. Time for something new if they want to keep people around.

I think it is cause and effect here, make the show better so people will stick then you can sell more at the stalls and stores but with the upgrade to CW I would rather be there in the AC than in the park after hours.

 

[Yabbadabba Doh]

They probably shouldn't have debuted Happily Ever After if they wanted to divert the night crowd. Shows like that probably attract more Disneyphiles than new attractions do. Probably should have held off for a year or two or three.

I think the bigger issue they have right now is that the fireworks show is the only nighttime event now that the parade is gone.

I went to DHS in the afternoon/early evening in order to stick around for the Galactic fireworks show, but it was sooo underwhelming (and I am a BIG SW fan) that we actually left before it was over. The projections on GMR were OK, but the show dragged way too much.

Illuminations is still, to this day, one of my favorite nighttime shows and one which I will catch on my August trip (we have a dessert party scheduled with our tour group). We also have a patio dinner show scheduled for Fantasmic and that is really the only way I would go and see this show. I think it could use some updates, and maybe if they get a positive reaction from the upgrades at DL, they could add them to DHS at some point.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

When I see people complain about the pacing of the Star Wars fireworks, Universal's Cinematic Spectacular, IllumiNations, etc., all I see is an attention span problem.

 

[Nick]

They probably shouldn't have debuted Happily Ever After if they wanted to divert the night crowd. Shows like that probably attract more Disneyphiles than new attractions do. Probably should have held off for a year or two or three.

They debuted this one now because they have a 50th anniversary show planned for MK. MK did jump the queue, so to speak though. Illuminations was supposed to receive an update before MK got it's new show, now it seems like that may not happen until 2019.

 

[UNIrd]

Spoke with my friend who works at DHS and confirms it's been "dead" the past few weeks. DAK has to be pulling people from DHS. Is this something that could be attributed to Disney's ticketing structure? I know I've seen quite a few promotional offers over the years that limit to 3 parks and force guests to lose one. But not sure if these are FL resident tickets are probably blocked out right anyway.