Attendance Tracker

[JoeCamel]

Ah yes... and thus we have Bio’s presence.

Did you spot Bio at HHN the other night Joe? He was taking and posting pictures at the same time as you during the event.

I have met him but not last night. I do find it amusing that we cross paths so often

 

[JoeCamel]

"Dueling Photogs" ? .......and on the serious side, Touring Plans announced that "Disney handed out pink slips in it's consumer products and interactive media segment".

Wrong thread but it seems the union is going to pay a price for their $15 per hour. No one thought DIS was going to absorb that did they?

 

[Mad Dog]

Wrong thread but it seems the union is going to pay a price for their $15 per hour. No one thought DIS was going to absorb that did they?

also...this is the end of Disney's fiscal year..... also....and the theories on some cost cutting due to Fox acquisition costs may be coming to fruition.....Interesting to see what else may come down the pike. .

 

[bob albert]

Wrong thread but it seems the union is going to pay a price for their $15 per hour. No one thought DIS was going to absorb that did they?

Good thing there is something called "demand" that exists which still necessitates spending.

 

[JoeCamel]

Good thing there is something called "demand" that exists which still necessitates spending.

The are advertising for bus drivers, housekeeping and grounds at a "fair" this weekend. Don't seem to see equity actors on the list though...

 

[OrlLover]

I wonder if we will see any hotel projects being put on indefinite hold. Star Wars and the Universal parking lot hotel come to mind.

That Epcot entrance hotel was already cancelled according to an insider on WDWMagic.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Wrong thread but it seems the union is going to pay a price for their $15 per hour. No one thought DIS was going to absorb that did they?

These jobs would have been cut if they were paying minimum wages $15 an hour, or $25 an hour. Plus $15 was to be phased in not like they got it over night.

 

[Disneyhead]

 

[Mad Dog]

That really sums it up. ...and now it's getting worse, never thought that was possible, with the new multi day ticket pricing.

 

[Mad Dog]

Looking at Touring Plans 'observed' stand by wait times, it's looking like that September attendance slump has continued into October for both WDW and Universal parks. Some really low wait times for attractions. Kind of what it was like before 2014 in Sept./Oct.... A return to the old? (Note: Line times are only an 'indicator' of attendance, not actual attendance figures. But they're probably the best tool we have until the company's quarterly reports come out, if they even choose to announce plus or minus then. )

 

[OrlLover]

Looking at Touring Plans 'observed' stand by wait times, it's looking like that September attendance slump has continued into October for both WDW and Universal parks. Some really low wait times for attractions. Kind of what it was like before 2014 in Sept./Oct.... A return to the old? (Note: Line times are only an 'indicator' of attendance, not actual attendance figures. But they're probably the best tool we have until the company's quarterly reports come out, if they even choose to announce plus or minus then. )

According to an admin on WDWMagic October is looking up for Disney at least.

 

[twebber55]

I think the idea that SWGE will be a silver bullet for everything that woes WDW is a bit of wishful thinking. SW will be big. Huge even. But I think it just shifts people back to DHS that left it for DAK, and then siphons off more people from EPCOT and DAK.

i disagree completely
obviously the big reason for the drop in Attendance is people are waiting for SWGE to open
similarly to what happened to Universal in its huge drop numbers wise prior to HP in 2010
i would expect to see big growth after the opening of SWGE that the resort hasn't seen in quite some time
No way will it be about people just moving around from a different park
heck it wasn't even like that for Pandora and we all know how much bigger SWGE will be

 

[JungleSkip]

obviously the big reason for the drop in Attendance is people are waiting for SWGE to open

Yea I don't think that's obvious at all.

heck it wasn't even like that for Pandora and we all know how much bigger SWGE will be

Except that's exactly what it was according to TP and other people following the park crowd flows?

 

[twebber55]

Yea I don't think that's obvious at all.



Except that's exactly what it was according to TP and other people following the park crowd flows?

Orlando Sentinel....
Attendance at Disney’s domestic theme parks and resorts jumped 6 percent in the first quarter that ended in December as the division exceeded analysts’ expectations by generating $5.2 billion in revenue — an all-time quarterly high for the division, the company said. Analysts predicted revenue at about $4.87 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

“The parks had such a strong quarter,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said during a call with investors.

Pandora — the World of Avatar helped bring record attendance at Animal Kingdom and Walt Disney World as a whole, McCarthy said.

 

[JungleSkip]

Yea, I'll take what TP is saying over the company.

 

[twebber55]

Yea, I'll take what TP is saying over the company.

sounds good
ill go with official records

 

[Scott W.]

I've been talking to a lot of people who are regular visitors to Orlando who visited this summer and they're all saying the same thing about Disney. The prices have got ridiculous and this year will probably be the last for a good while. Add that it's nearly impossible to book a FP for any ride they wanted unless they were staying on site, same with dining reservations and a crappy exchange rate, the outlook for Disney is bleak when it comes to British tourism.

This was all before all the price increases over the past few days and a ton of budget cuts. Disney can add all the new and great rides but if people know that it will be impossible to get a FP for them and they're not prepared to wait hours in queues, they don't have a good reason to visit, especially when they've already seen everything else.

Universal got a lot of praise, especially from people who were staying on site for the first time.

Personally, if I return to Orlando in 2020, I don't know if I'll even bother wasting my time going to Disney. The big thing I'd want to see in Disney is Star Wars but I'm going to California next year and I'll see it there instead where I'll be able to have 3 days at a leisurely pace over two parks and almost half the price.

Universal and SeaWorld make a good combo and after my brief chat with @UK-Trigg before I left, he made a great point about him having a lot more fun outside of the parks recently and that's really stuck with me. The idea of meeting up with people and relaxing is far more appealing now especailly since I came back from this trip feeling exhausted. Disney was tiresome with having to stay to a strict plan, Universal is still go go go but I choose the pace and I really enjoyed being able to see a different side of Universal this trip without having to wait in queues for so long.

 

[Mad Dog]

I've been talking to a lot of people who are regular visitors to Orlando who visited this summer and they're all saying the same thing about Disney. The prices have got ridiculous and this year will probably be the last for a good while. Add that it's nearly impossible to book a FP for any ride they wanted unless they were staying on site, same with dining reservations and a crappy exchange rate, the outlook for Disney is bleak when it comes to British tourism.

This was all before all the price increases over the past few days and a ton of budget cuts. Disney can add all the new and great rides but if people know that it will be impossible to get a FP for them and they're not prepared to wait hours in queues, they don't have a good reason to visit, especially when they've already seen everything else.

Universal got a lot of praise, especially from people who were staying on site for the first time.

Personally, if I return to Orlando in 2020, I don't know if I'll even bother wasting my time going to Disney. The big thing I'd want to see in Disney is Star Wars but I'm going to California next year and I'll see it there instead where I'll be able to have 3 days at a leisurely pace over two parks and almost half the price.

Universal and SeaWorld make a good combo and after my brief chat with @UK-Trigg before I left, he made a great point about him having a lot more fun outside of the parks recently and that's really stuck with me. The idea of meeting up with people and relaxing is far more appealing now especailly since I came back from this trip feeling exhausted. Disney was tiresome with having to stay to a strict plan, Universal is still go go go but I choose the pace and I really enjoyed being able to see a different side of Universal this trip without having to wait in queues for so long.

Staying on site in the 'Universal bubble', especially with Express Pass (even in slow season) changes the entire equation, and experience. My unscheduled trip to Orlando, and staying at the downtown Marriott, reinforced my belief in the 'Universal bubble'. That's the second time I've visited the Universal parks without staying onsite, in this decade. There's a big difference. The onsite experience is 'far' superior than having to drive, or bus, in to Universal from another venue. WDW, on the other hand, doesn't rally matter much whether you're on site or off site (except for 60 day fastpass). That long travel to the 4 parks is the same no matter where you stay. And, don't even get me started on the WDW pre planning BS...The parks are pretty much equal (except for DHS at this stage). It's the totality of the experience, if you stay on site, that gives Universal the big relaxation & leisure advantage.

 

[Scott W.]

Staying on site in the 'Universal bubble', especially with Express Pass (even in slow season) changes the entire equation, and experience. My unscheduled trip to Orlando, and staying at the downtown Marriott, reinforced my belief in the 'Universal bubble'. That's the second time I've visited the Universal parks without staying onsite, in this decade. There's a big difference. The onsite experience is 'far' superior than having to drive, or bus, in to Universal from another venue. WDW, on the other hand, doesn't rally matter much whether you're on site or off site (except for 60 day fastpass). That long travel to the 4 parks is the same no matter where you stay. And, don't even get me started on the WDW pre planning BS...The parks are pretty much equal (except for DHS at this stage). It's the totality of the experience, if you stay on site, that gives Universal the big relaxation & leisure advantage.

I did enjoy staying at Disney, it's a far better experience than staying off site, the buses are usually far quicker than driving and being able to drink in the parks is a nice bonus. The FP and ADR is a nice bonus too and I fear that it's now essential when visiting WDW to stay on site because of that but my biggest gripe besides the crazy pricing is just the size of WDW. It's great having all that space but it's overkill. That's why I started to feel trapped within Disney even though I could easily leave.

The best example I can think of is if you're in the MK and you leave at the end of the night and you're hungry. You don't have a lot of cheap options for food nor do you have the ability to get good food because the places within MK are all fully booked. So you go Disney Springs on a bus which can take 30mins or an hour depending on how busy it is and then you have the same issues all over again plus you have get a bus back to hotel.

Compare this to Universal where you leave the park and you're straight into CityWalk with a great selection of dining at reasonable prices plus all the quick service places on top of it. DL has the same set up and might actually be better because in 5mins you're out the bubble completely.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I can’t help but wonder if Disney cares about a potential attendance decrease.

It seems like Disney is slowly trying to shift their core clientele. Instead of going after middle class families, they’re going after upper-middle-class families with more disposable income.

That group of people is smaller, but they’ll pay more. Attendance will go down, revenue will go up. Since there’s less people in the park, the parks can be staffed less which means less expenses.

If that’s true, I don’t know what that would mean for Disney long term.