What is going on with Disney parks?

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Is attendance still down at the parks. Were here now and I can tell ya, the crowds are nothing like they have been in previous years. We come every year during xmas so I'm no stranger to the xmas crowds but this year is definitely different and in a big way. We just did ROR and it was little crowded getting in at the gate at park opening but once we got in it wasn't bad at all. At GE we had plenty of walking room, no lines in the shops, mobile order food at dock bay 7 in 2min and had plenty of tables to sit, no lines at bathrooms, we had rsvp at Oga's but canceled cause we were able to get rite in. I just noticed that Disney has extended there special ticket prices through Sept of 2020 also. Maybe were just getting lucky this year and missing the crowds but this would be a first in 10yr, not sure if actual attendance is down but I know for fact the xmas crowd is not even close to what it has been in previous years.


Rain will do that to crowds no matter what.
 
Have to agree with Alynw. We are here now too. We havent been at Christmas for many years.We have been here since the 18th . I have not found the parks super crowded. We have been able to do and see a lot with and without fast passes. I was concerned about our choice for a MVMVP on the 19th because had read so much about overcrowding. We did not find it so. Road lots of rides, did a couple of meet and greets saw first parade and fireworks. Granted between last PM and today it's been raining. We shall see what happens over the next few days before Christmas.
 


Ah. You made it sound like today.

My bad.

Yea, sorry...I should've specified the day. Let alone the normal xmas crowd, I figured
even with the ROR the crowd was going to be insane but it wasn't, I was pleasantly surprised. At Droid Depot, we were in line, chose droid, paid, picked up parts, assembled and out door in 20min. Idk, maybe we just got lucky but I was really expecting shoulder to shoulder, bumping into people and people pushing normal type xmas crowd and it was just the opposite, more like an early October crowd. Either way, been our most pleasant xmas trip so far.
 
Here now and I agree with the crowds being low. We were here same time last year and it was insane. We arrived Thursday dec 19th and did DS. Not crowded. Friday dec 20th we had a non park day and did winter wonderland golf, resort hopped to look at decorations, ate Chef Mickey’s then decided last minute to monorail Epcot. Rode TT, Soarin’ and figment. Not crowded anywhere. We got up early to get our boarding pass for ROR on Saturday dec 21st and it was crowded getting in but after getting our boarding pass (28) we went to Docking bay 7 and stood in line for food and it was not bad at all. Got a table inside with no wait. Rode Smugglers Run with a posted 60 min wait but actually took 45. HS was very manageable and we did everything we wanted. Yesterday (Sunday dec 22) we did MK and it had low crowds but I blame it on a party day and rain. It was light rain off and on till we left at 5 but I’ll take it any day! We are here till the 30th so I’ll report back. I expect it to get crazy as the week goes on. Weather looks good so we will see what happens.
 


Were heading off to epcot today, AK tmrw and MK 26th. I'll find out today if the other days were just a fluke. To the official start of xmas week at Disney, good luck to all the brave souls that decided to sail these dangerous waters. Lol
 
I cannot believe what I just saw while going through security at Epcot. The guy directly in front of us had a backpack and in his pack he had snacks in a ziplock bag, the security guard took out his ziplock bag of cheetos and opened up the ziplock bag with his bare hands, very disgusting and inappropriate. The guy looked at the guard and said well, go ahead and throw that away now, I will not eat that. The guard tried to leave it in his pack and the guy said, hey I'm serious, u touched my food with ur bare hands, now take it out and keep it, the guard still left it in bag so guy took it out and left it on the table. The guy handled that way better than I would've so props to him for staying calm. I'm all for security and safety for everyone but that was completely uncalled for and just down rite disgusting. You already go through metal detectors, there is no need to literally open a clear bag of cheetos. Guy said he was reporting this to Disney.
 
I'm curious if our own definitions of "crowded" have changed over the years to allow for lower expectations. I.e. what we now perceived as "not crowded" was "very crowded" 10-20 years ago or whatever amount of time ago you think it was better.

I think this is definitely going on. The last several years with the attempts to entice people to come during formerly slow times have conditioned us to expect longer waits for nearly everything, heavier crowds in the walkways, bigger crowds to get into the parks, etc. When it's not unbearable people tend to see it as "not crowded", when that may have been described as moderate crowds in years past.
 
There’s definitely objective data though to show that the ride wait times are way down year over year. Touringplans bases their crowd number systems solely based on ride wait times.

Yesterday (The Sunday before Christmas Wednesday): Crowd level across the parks was a 4/10. Last year the Sunday before Christmas Tuesday was a 9/10. Saturday crowd levels across the park were 6/10. Last year? 9/10. You can make this comparison for a lot of normally crowded times through the year and the result is nearly always the same. Year over year the average aggregate wait times for rides across disney world are down.
 
Were heading off to epcot today, AK tmrw and MK 26th. I'll find out today if the other days were just a fluke. To the official start of xmas week at Disney, good luck to all the brave souls that decided to sail these dangerous waters. Lol
We did Epcot today also. Did Akershus breakfast, walked on FEA. Did TT then MS with FP+, did a lot of shopping then Figment before our Le Cellier lunch. Left Epcot around 3:30. Besides rain headed to the park, rain as we left the park, it was easy going as far as crowds go.
 
Word of mouth damages their brand in some ways as much as the ticket price increases. Disney now has a reputation for being wall to wall people all the time and ridiculously expensive. Paradoxically the reputation for being just so ridiculously crowded is probably helping to drive down the crowds.
 
Well I guess this is why they were emailing out pin codes for $150 a night a couple of months ago for the week leading up to Christmas.

It would be nice if people voted with their wallets and Disney realized the rack rates for the hotels, especially during peak times, are absolutely out of control. Almost $1000 for the cheapest regular room at the GF. Makes a standard room at POR look like a bargain at about $400 a night.
 
It would be nice if people voted with their wallets and Disney realized the rack rates for the hotels, especially during peak times, are absolutely out of control. Almost $1000 for the cheapest regular room at the GF. Makes a standard room at POR look like a bargain at about $400 a night.
I don’t think they’re having trouble selling out their hotels though. Those do seem to fully book. It’s the parks they’re not selling out.
 
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