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Back to the thread topic, Ron DeSantis blames their woke agenda for the drop though, while pointing out again that he won Osceola county, which is basically Orlando (Disney park employees), the first time a Republican has done so in many years.

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I think more Disney cast members live in Orange County than Osceola county, but I could be wrong.

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Plus the summer heat tends to lower park attendance. Who wants to take a 6 year old and pound cement for 8 to 10 hours.

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It's never been an issue before; the summers were always packed in the parks.

who cares where disney employees live? that has nothing to do with the agenda being pushed by those in charge at Disney, who are clearly on Desantis fans.

akm91 said:

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Plus the summer heat tends to lower park attendance. Who wants to take a 6 year old and pound cement for 8 to 10 hours.

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It's never been an issue before; the summers were always packed in the parks.

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Exactly! When people compare June 2022 to June 2023, it takes out the effect of whether it is hot or rainy or whatever that time of year.

akm91 said:

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Plus the summer heat tends to lower park attendance. Who wants to take a 6 year old and pound cement for 8 to 10 hours.

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It's never been an issue before; the summers were always packed in the parks.

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It's Climate Change.

This is the HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD!!!!!

akm91 said:

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Plus the summer heat tends to lower park attendance. Who wants to take a 6 year old and pound cement for 8 to 10 hours.

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It's never been an issue before; the summers were always packed in the parks.

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We had annual passes for years. Yes, July and Aug are miserable but that's not what really made us avoid going during those months. It was the heat and the crowds.

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This is the HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD!!!!!*

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* since 1980

Best time to hit the parks during the summer was after the typical summer storms that clears out the parks. You can hit all the popular rides with drastically reduced wait times

akm91 said:

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Best time to hit the parks during the summer was after the typical summer storms that clears out the parks. You can hit all the popular rides with drastically reduced wait times

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Lol, when my son and I would go without my wife we'd have nothing on us (when my wife would come with us she always insisted we bring a backpack with water bottles, ponchos, etc. Typical mom prepper stuff) and since we knew the parks like the back of our hands we'd blast through there, hitting all the rides at just the right time and shaking our heads at the out of state families stumbling through the park like they were just back from combat.

So maybe a large factor is the economy then. It's sure a lot more expensive to travel now than it was 12 months ago.

TexasAggie73 said:

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So maybe a large factor is the economy then. It's sure a lot more expensive to travel now than it was 12 months ago.

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Sure, and comparison of the magnitude of the drops at Disney and Universal would tell you if that was the whole story. In general, travel is way up over the last couple of years as we come out of Covid, so a drop in travel to Orlando from last year to this year may be unique to the costs of vacationing at the parks. One could probably look at flight passenger numbers from the airport to see if fewer people overall were coming in, or if they were still coming but just deciding not to go to the big parks as much.

Mary Bailey said:

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fka ftc said:

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Mary Bailey said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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So was Universal and hotel tax income was way down. So not just Disney suffering from attendance.

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You have said so many confusing things in your last several posts. Disney is limiting attendance (no) it's the price (no) it's the lack of festivals (no) attendance isn't down (no) etc. Now you're back to admitting attendance is down?

Universal attendance is probably down because less people are coming to Disney. That will change when their new park opens, which they are making great progress on. If Disney doesn't right the ship, Universal will be the primary destination and Disney will be the if-we-have-time destination. Disney is hurting. You can almost find a bad news article about Disney everyday. I know you're a Disney apologist but sometimes you just have to be honest about what's going on.

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Why does one have to be labeled a "Disney apologist" when they simply add in relevant information?

Disney is limiting attendance. This is ell known and discussed. Also, I believe S Florida also had some record heat and I think people spent their 4ths of July in different manners.

I have not dug into the numbers of Disney vs Universal, but if both are down then you have to factor that in. If Universal was up and Disney down, then there may be some fire with the smoke.

There are a multitude of factors at work hurting Disney these days. And for sure several of those factors have to do with their woke BS that really became intolerable with their agenda to push LGBTQIA++ horsekaka onto children and their "Don't Say Gay" bill involvement.

But one doesn't need to be a Disney apologist to say "yes Disney is hurting, but it's not as bad a some make it out to be".

The fact you find many negative articles and that forms part of your support for thinking Disney is in trouble is a pure example that negative propaganda is working.

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Propaganda?? Attendance is verifiably down. There are park reservations open for every day for the rest of the year. That's not Disney limiting attendance. That's people not showing up.

Read his posts about Disney. He's an apologist. And that's fine. I get that may people are very attached to the Disney company. But if one thinks Disney is happy with attendance right now, they aren't being objective.

That will end my engagement with you. I've seen way too many deleted posts with you involved. Have a great day!

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How does one "see" deleted posts, seems like a strange comment to make.

Park reservations are not nearly as strictly required at this time and haven't been for most of the year.

Again, you are free to form your own conclusions, that are just likely to be wrong.

akm91 said:

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Best time to hit the parks during the summer was after the typical summer storms that clears out the parks. You can hit all the popular rides with drastically reduced wait times

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That also usually coincided with the time toddlers begin melting down and parents need to snip some whiskey back at the hotel room.

2pm to 6pm on a hot, humid day with a brief shower was wait time nirvana.

txags92 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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So maybe a large factor is the economy then. It's sure a lot more expensive to travel now than it was 12 months ago.

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Sure, and comparison of the magnitude of the drops at Disney and Universal would tell you if that was the whole story. In general, travel is way up over the last couple of years as we come out of Covid, so a drop in travel to Orlando from last year to this year may be unique to the costs of vacationing at the parks. One could probably look at flight passenger numbers from the airport to see if fewer people overall were coming in, or if they were still coming but just deciding not to go to the big parks as much.

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Jim Geraghty did a thread on twitter about the costs of attendance over the years adjusted for inflation. He makes a case that Disney sees it self as a luxury brand now instead of a middle class destination. Anyway, it is interesting.

Thread on Twitchy

aggiehawg said:

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txags92 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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So maybe a large factor is the economy then. It's sure a lot more expensive to travel now than it was 12 months ago.

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Sure, and comparison of the magnitude of the drops at Disney and Universal would tell you if that was the whole story. In general, travel is way up over the last couple of years as we come out of Covid, so a drop in travel to Orlando from last year to this year may be unique to the costs of vacationing at the parks. One could probably look at flight passenger numbers from the airport to see if fewer people overall were coming in, or if they were still coming but just deciding not to go to the big parks as much.

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Jim Geraghty did a thread on twitter about the costs of attendance over the years adjusted for inflation. He makes a case that Disney sees it self as a luxury brand now instead of a middle class destination. Anyway, it is interesting.

Thread on Twitchy

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"Luxury" people don't like to stand in lines. As long as they raise their prices enough to cover the fewer people it takes to shorten the lines, they will be fine. But from the outside, it looks to me like a risky experiment with the cash cow for their entire business that could backfire badly for them.

Disney is delusional.

Mary Bailey said:

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Disney is delusional.

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No argument from me on that.

You definitely need a park reservation to get into Disney World. Some bad info on this thread.

redcrayon said:

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You definitely need a park reservation to get into Disney World. Some bad info on this thread.

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If you have a park hopper, you can switch parks after 2pm. The 2pm mark was not strictly enforced in my experience.

Already announced it's completely going away January 2024. I suspect it will quietly go away much sooner.

Anybody actually going to Disney for vacation is not coming to TexAgs politics forum for latest detailiest detail on park reservations.

Last October when we visited we frequently changed parks in the days leading up to trip including morning of changes.

Very very few days reach capacity for reservations and stay that way. Ergo, the park reservation part is at worst a nuisance. But it's practically irrelevant and meaningless.

Reservation system was good at the beginning to help with staffing, but I agree that it's time is over. It took a long time to get the college program and international program rolling.

I suspect the only reason it has remained is for staff planning due to continued labor shortages. At least until the US funded Ukraine pavilion is opened and staffed with "refugees".

You 100% need a park reservation to get into WDW parks.

You 100% should not count on park hopping before 2pm.

You 100% should not trust any information posted on this forum that doesn't jive with Disney's official policies.

You 100% should go somewhere in Europe instead.

Went to Universal Islands of Adventure on Sunday. In fairness, my first time there... But lines weren't bad at all. Nothing like previous experiences at Disney. My guess is the WSJ article is accurate and both are down in attendance. They are pricing out the middle class to upper middle class... It was super expensive for one day at the park. Not going back.

And the fast express thing sucks. They are really devaluing the experience for the vast majority of guests who aren't buying that (at Universal it's basically double a ticket price- so an extra $125). Seeing people race ahead of one in line and making the regular line worse just pisses all the rest of the guests off.

Aston04 said:

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Went to Universal Islands of Adventure on Sunday. In fairness, my first time there... But lines weren't bad at all. Nothing like previous experiences at Disney. My guess is the WSJ article is accurate and both are down in attendance. They are pricing out the middle class to upper middle class... It was super expensive for one day at the park. Not going back.

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Inflation is such a killer because it impacts every facet of your vacation...the car rental, the gas, the food, obviously the entertainment, and the hotel costs aren't coming down and if you fly the airfare certainly isn't cheap.

Add it all up and inflation is probably adding at least $1,000 to any similar vacation you were taking 3-4 years ago.

That's been going on since paper fast passes were introduced in 1999. Most if not all theme parks have some form of line skipping system.

redcrayon said:

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You 100% need a park reservation to get into WDW parks.

You 100% should not count on park hopping before 2pm.

You 100% should not trust any information posted on this forum that doesn't jive with Disney's official policies.

You 100% should go somewhere in Europe instead.

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Disneyland Paris?

Universal is best experienced with a private VIP guide. Only way to do it. Doing that at Disney this year as well.

I'll have to make sure we get all our park reservations made and not to park hop before 2pm as you will 100% land in Disney prison.

So it begins. Iger gets a two year extension and immediately announces the TV biz is up for sale.

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CEO Bob Iger opened the door to selling the company's linear TV assets as the business struggles during the media industry's transition to streaming and digital offerings.

Disney is going to be "expansive" in its thinking about the traditional TV business, leaving the door open to a possible sale of the networks. "They may not be core to Disney," Iger said, adding the creativity that has come from those networks has been key for Disney.

Cable TV channel ESPN is in a different bucket, however. On that front, Iger said Disney is open to finding a strategic partner, which could take the form of a joint venture or offloading an ownership stake.

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YouBet said:

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So it begins. Iger gets a two year extension and immediately announces the TV biz is up for sale.

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CEO Bob Iger opened the door to selling the company's linear TV assets as the business struggles during the media industry's transition to streaming and digital offerings.

Disney is going to be "expansive" in its thinking about the traditional TV business, leaving the door open to a possible sale of the networks. "They may not be core to Disney," Iger said, adding the creativity that has come from those networks has been key for Disney.

Cable TV channel ESPN is in a different bucket, however. On that front, Iger said Disney is open to finding a strategic partner, which could take the form of a joint venture or offloading an ownership stake.

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Called it.

aggiehawg said:

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txags92 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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So maybe a large factor is the economy then. It's sure a lot more expensive to travel now than it was 12 months ago.

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Sure, and comparison of the magnitude of the drops at Disney and Universal would tell you if that was the whole story. In general, travel is way up over the last couple of years as we come out of Covid, so a drop in travel to Orlando from last year to this year may be unique to the costs of vacationing at the parks. One could probably look at flight passenger numbers from the airport to see if fewer people overall were coming in, or if they were still coming but just deciding not to go to the big parks as much.

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Jim Geraghty did a thread on twitter about the costs of attendance over the years adjusted for inflation. He makes a case that Disney sees it self as a luxury brand now instead of a middle class destination. Anyway, it is interesting.

Thread on Twitchy

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Their target market was upper middle class and higher and this was over a decade ago.

Looks like Disney is getting close to waving the white flag, this is a significant narrative shift.

NEW: Disney CEO backtracks after @RonDeSantis ENDED their corporate kingdom, says they will no longer “be drawn into any culture wars.”

“I’m not sure that was handled very well,” Iger says about Disney opposing the Parental Rights in Education Law.https://t.co/vHNhbikqvV

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) July 13, 2023

Hey! Iger! Drop that federal lawsuit, then.

Big mistake by Desantis. Huge!

akm91 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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txags92 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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So maybe a large factor is the economy then. It's sure a lot more expensive to travel now than it was 12 months ago.

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Sure, and comparison of the magnitude of the drops at Disney and Universal would tell you if that was the whole story. In general, travel is way up over the last couple of years as we come out of Covid, so a drop in travel to Orlando from last year to this year may be unique to the costs of vacationing at the parks. One could probably look at flight passenger numbers from the airport to see if fewer people overall were coming in, or if they were still coming but just deciding not to go to the big parks as much.

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Jim Geraghty did a thread on twitter about the costs of attendance over the years adjusted for inflation. He makes a case that Disney sees it self as a luxury brand now instead of a middle class destination. Anyway, it is interesting.

Thread on Twitchy

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Their target market was upper middle class and higher and this was over a decade ago.

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Disney might see it's target market as upper middle class, but I think guest are experiencing a much more expensive six flag vacation. End of the day why spend that kind of money when you can just go to the local theme park.