What is the mix of Disney / non-Disney Guests?

[HopperFan]

Number of offsite lodging have no bearing, only park capacity. It will change on any given day based on crowds but based on capacity minus 30,000 Disney rooms with average of 3 guests each ... I would say at busy times Disney hotel guests are 30% give or take for variables.

 

[CAS239]

Or do what we do and pay $120/night for a 3br townhome w/private pool offsite! I'm not a big fan of hotels, basic or luxury, because I don't want to be in one room with everyone, even a big nice room. We tried AoA suites once but they are still small, and pricey for what you get.

Yea I've done that as well when we would be with a group of people. Split the cost and it comes out super cheap with tons of room. There's some great places to rent for good prices.

My Disney trips though are usually just wife and I so it's rare when we get enough people for a house

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

Number of offsite lodging have no bearing, only park capacity. It will change on any given day based on crowds but based on capacity minus 30,000 Disney rooms with average of 3 guests each ... I would say at busy times Disney hotel guests are 30% give or take for variables.

And just to tweak this a bit...
The number of rooms is less than 30,000. Closer to 27,000. And it is rare to see 100% occupancy. 80%-85% is considered to be great in the hospitality industry, though Disney usually hits that mark. Sometimes even a bit more. 87%-92% is often achieved. So the number of Disney guests is even a hair lower than the quoted estimate. As noted earlier, 75,000 on site guests is a good estimate.

But not all of those people are in the parks. Some are just arriving for the day, using up a room for the night without going to a park. And the people who checked out of that room might have headed to the airport or driven home without going to a park that day. Other guests are attending conferences. Others are at Universal. Others are taking a "rest day" at the resort. So even if Disney resorts are accommodating 75,000 people per night, maybe 60-65,000 of them are going to parks. Now put 45,000 people in the MK, 40,000 in Epcot, 35,000 in DHS and another 35,000 in AK and you get 65,000 out of 155,000 as on site guests. And as park attendance rises beyond these levels the on site percentage goes down as the added attendance has to come from off site if we have assumed 90+% occupancy of Disney hotels. So on a really crowded day it might be 65,000 out of 200,000.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

All around Disney, there are entire communities of rental houses, plus tons of hotels. I would say there are a LOT more rooms outside of Disney property than there are on property. I'm going to agree with the posters who have suggested that perhaps 20% to 30% of park guests are staying on site. Just look at the size of the parking lot at TTC, then consider that there are lots at EPCOT, AK, DHS, both water parks, and Disney Springs, which are mostly used by offsite guests.

Pretty much this.

 

[Klayfish]

Then why are we getting up at 7am when our window opens and jumping on the computer lol Well we did get FOP... Sorry Klayfish, not trying to be a smart mouth, we had the advantage of 60 days so you did very well with your picks

No kidding. And yes...we do jump on at 7am. Why? Well...I'm long awake anyway, as I get up at 4am. FEA, 7DMT will disappear if you don't jump fairly quickly at the 30 day mark, but they can still be had. The other rides won't...I'm still messing around with some of our Test Track, RnR and other plans...and they're just 6-9 days out.

Or do what we do and pay $120/night for a 3br townhome w/private pool offsite! I'm not a big fan of hotels, basic or luxury, because I don't want to be in one room with everyone, even a big nice room. We tried AoA suites once but they are still small, and pricey for what you get.

Yep. We don't even pay that much. We're paying about $65/night for our upcoming trip. 3br/2bath..with a screened in porch and backyard, 10 minutes from the front gate. With a family of 5, having that room is invaluable.

 

[HopperFan]

Number of offsite lodging have no bearing, only park capacity. It will change on any given day based on crowds but based on capacity minus 30,000 Disney rooms with average of 3 guests each ... I would say at busy times Disney hotel guests are 30% give or take for variables.

And just to tweak this a bit...
The number of rooms is less than 30,000. Closer to 27,000. And it is rare to see 100% occupancy. 80%-85% is considered to be great in the hospitality industry, though Disney usually hits that mark. Sometimes even a bit more. 87%-92% is often achieved. So the number of Disney guests is even a hair lower than the quoted estimate. As noted earlier, 75,000 on site guests is a good estimate.

But not all of those people are in the parks. Some are just arriving for the day, using up a room for the night without going to a park. And the people who checked out of that room might have headed to the airport or driven home without going to a park that day. Other guests are attending conferences. Others are at Universal. Others are taking a "rest day" at the resort. So even if Disney resorts are accommodating 75,000 people per night, maybe 60-65,000 of them are going to parks. Now put 45,000 people in the MK, 40,000 in Epcot, 35,000 in DHS and another 35,000 in AK and you get 65,000 out of 155,000 as on site guests. And as park attendance rises beyond these levels the on site percentage goes down as the added attendance has to come from off site if we have assumed 90+% occupancy of Disney hotels. So on a really crowded day it might be 65,000 out of 200,000.

Disagree with your number of rooms and crowded parks numbers ... but no matter for all the math (which would be the variables) ..... it still came down to 32.5% .... so give or take. And if you want to reduce the WDW Hotel Occupancy that number will go down.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

Disagree with your number of rooms and crowded parks numbers ... but no matter for all the math (which would be the variables) ..... it still came down to 32.5% .... so give or take. And if you want to reduce the WDW Hotel Occupancy that number will go down.

Because our conclusions are so close, I called what I did "tweaks". The number of Disney owned hotel rooms is 27,770. I rounded down. Probably should have said 28,000. But the larger point is that some people simply take the number of rooms and multiply that by some constant (average # of people in a room) to get to an on-site number of guests in the parks. My point was simply that additional variables (such as occupancy percentage and yield of guests who actually go to the parks each day) needs to be factored in. Either way, we are coming out in the same ballpark.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

In my experience, the percentage varies significantly at different times of year, and from year to year.

1. Really, it has to do with the kind of prices people get.
2. Don't forget business travelers. they don't go to the parks, but may stay onsite for an event.
3. Don't forget large events like cheer competitions.


A long time ago, September was a slow month, but WDW offered free dining- so a high percentage of guests were onsite.

Conversely, weeks like Christmas were crazy high onsite, and onsite capacity is limited.

now that onsite prices are rather high. expect more offsite.

 

[Srbright]

There are a few of the higher end hotels on I Drive that can be had for $50

Which ones? And does the $50 include taxes and resort fees?

Stacy

 

[Marshel]

Anyone who's paying current ticket/passholder prices should be considered a Disney guest (found the post title wording somewhat humorous).

 

[randumb0]

Which ones? And does the $50 include taxes and resort fees?

Stacy

Doesn't include resort fees. Many hotels include free breakfast which makes it worth it.

 

[Juliet0778]

Which ones? And does the $50 include taxes and resort fees?

Stacy

Right? My parents run a nice hotel in a tiny rural area adjacent to one larger town. They have nothing special barring summer concerts and sports tournaments and they're even charging 150 a night during the summer. You can't even get a Motel 6 in a bad location for 50 bucks around my hometown. I have a hard time believing tons of quality stuff is available at prices like that.

 

[randumb0]

Right? My parents run a nice hotel in a tiny rural area adjacent to one larger town. They have nothing special barring summer concerts and sports tournaments and they're even charging 150 a night during the summer. You can't even get a Motel 6 in a bad location for 50 bucks around my hometown. I have a hard time believing tons of quality stuff is available at prices like that.

You have to use Hotwire or Priceline. There are websites that will tell you the most likely name of the hotel based on amenities

 

[cdnusagurl]

I'm gonna agree that it's less than 20%. When I went to Disney as a child we didn't stay on site because my parents found a timeshare that was half the price of a Disney hotel. Even now my sister never stays on site when she visits with her family. They are on one income and don't want to spend the money to be in the Disney bubble when they can spend that money on souvenirs, a second trip somewhere else later in the year, or even just food.

 

[mamamelody2]

This thread is very interesting. I definitely assumed the percentage of onsite guests to be higher!

 

[kathy884]

I'm not saying this is in anyway shape of form accurate, but I one time tried to estimate on vs. off percentages of guests at parks looking at WDW attendance numbers (published by theme park trade organizations), number of hotel rooms (condos, etc. onsite), made some assumptions about average party size, and looked at overall occupancy rates. Anyway with my assumptions (guesses on some things and older web number statistic published) I came up with a guesstimate that a staggering 37% of theme park guests were staying onsite with 63% offsite. It was pretty amazing to me too how many hotel rooms Disney has too. They are big time in the hotel business at WDW for sure.

As an offsite visitor that thinks Disney Magic is good marketing vs. something real I was really and truly surprised at the high percentage onsite guest estimate. (But please note that I have a bean counter personality, so when onsite tend to cringe at expensive food offerings vs. enjoying the experience even when I have a generous budget that covers it all. And that's not fun. I feel that the Disney hotel prices even with discounts are high (see lots of great bargains offsite). And my initial thoughts are to think that I am the typical traveler with a huge percentage of people being like me in value choices -- bad assumption usually I'm finding) This too is not meant to be a criticism of those who choose to stay onsite, prefer it, feel that Disney Magic, see the value -- Everyone is different in what they like, value, and experience.

 

[bryanb]

Disney keeps its hotels at high occupancy rates all year round. They have the marketing power, and run frequent promotions as necessary to shore up quieter periods.

During peak season, I would expect that off-site hotels will benefit from overflow of guests who are driven away by Disney's skyrocketing on-site prices and lack of availability.

During the slower season, I would not be surprised if the percent of on-site guests is higher. This is also when you see off-site hotels having to discount much more sharply than Disney does, which suggests their occupancy rates are weaker during that time.

 

[vinotinto]

I would assume the proportion of onsite and offsite guests depends on the time of the year. Disney pretty much stays at 80%+ occupancy all year round. Which means the number of guests staying at Disney resorts does not fluctuate that much. Those times when Disney would be slower, they will pull in promotions or offer lower rates to entice guests. Think Free Dining, Eat, Play, Dine, "value" season, etc. But the parks are not equally crowded year around. Christmas, New Year, Easter will always pull in more visitors - many international. So, I would guess the number of onsite guests at Christmas, New Year's, Easter, etc., is much smaller compared to the proportion during, for example, August, September, early February, early December.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I'm not saying this is in anyway shape of form accurate, but I one time tried to estimate on vs. off percentages of guests at parks looking at WDW attendance numbers (published by theme park trade organizations), number of hotel rooms (condos, etc. onsite), made some assumptions about average party size, and looked at overall occupancy rates. Anyway with my assumptions (guesses on some things and older web number statistic published) I came up with a guesstimate that a staggering 37% of theme park guests were staying onsite with 63% offsite. It was pretty amazing to me too how many hotel rooms Disney has too. They are big time in the hotel business at WDW for sure.

As an offsite visitor that thinks Disney Magic is good marketing vs. something real I was really and truly surprised at the high percentage onsite guest estimate. (But please note that I have a bean counter personality, so when onsite tend to cringe at expensive food offerings vs. enjoying the experience even when I have a generous budget that covers it all. And that's not fun. I feel that the Disney hotel prices even with discounts are high (see lots of great bargains offsite). And my initial thoughts are to think that I am the typical traveler with a huge percentage of people being like me in value choices -- bad assumption usually I'm finding) This too is not meant to be a criticism of those who choose to stay onsite, prefer it, feel that Disney Magic, see the value -- Everyone is different in what they like, value, and experience.

Price point really depends on your situation. If you can drive, or you have a large family, it's DEFINITELY cheaper off property. But as a solo traveller, I did the math and found that anything in walking distance was the same price or more than staying on property. I could rent a car and stay further way, but between resort fees and car rental it's a wash unless I find a hotel for less than $50 a night, and I haven't managed that yet.

(Nice hotel, I mean. There are hotels for less, but the reviews are a bit worrisome)

 

[kathy884]

Price point really depends on your situation. If you can drive, or you have a large family, it's DEFINITELY cheaper off property. But as a solo traveller, I did the math and found that anything in walking distance was the same price or more than staying on property. I could rent a car and stay further way, but between resort fees and car rental it's a wash unless I find a hotel for less than $50 a night, and I haven't managed that yet.

(Nice hotel, I mean. There are hotels for less, but the reviews are a bit worrisome)

Yeah -- With the large group the offsite condo or house saves so much, and there are really nice choices (huge dollar savings). When you only need one room I agree with what you are saying. You really can't beat the convenience of onsite Disney with the shuttles if you are planning on doing Disney the whole time and don't want to get a car. It really is a wash financially too. I'd say that the Disney Springs places would be possibilities too if you like the feel of those better than the Disney values and are willing to sacrifice the EMH and go with slightly less frequent shuttles.

Now if you are doing other Orlando stuff besides Disney that has a big play in what you might decide to do with just one or two people also -- putting offsite more in the running. Was just helping DS 21 plan a mini budget trip (he and his significant other) in Sept. Being under 25 they are skipping the rental car (Rental car companies don't consider you to be an adult or want to rent to you till you're 25 lol -- actually statistically just think you are too high a driving risk). They will be using Uber, Lyft, shuttles (if available). Anyway for their dates (something going on at Disney perhaps -- the values were running $136 a night -- least expensive options are sold out at the two values DS looked at with me), they are only doing Disney for one of their three days: plans are SeaWorld one day, Titanic attraction - pool time -- visiting cousin who lives in Orlando one day, and the Magic Kingdom one day. What appealed to DS most at the price point he was looking at and what he booked was a studio at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at SeaWorld -- price of $98 per night (special rate with no resort fee). They can walk to SeaWorld for their SeaWorld day from here too. There were some walk to SeaWorld hotel rooms around the same price too that could have even included breakfast (a $92 a night place and a $108 a night place with breakfast - that second was choice number two). Disney values, hotels/motels walking distance to SeaWorld, and this condo walking distance to SeaWorld were the finalists. For DS the condo studio place just had the nicest vibe and the most upscale feel of these choices and is what he went with. It looks like it even has a balcony. Anyway I thought he really made a good choice and am delighted that he's really excited about where he is staying. DH and I are forking over some of the money for DS's mini trip as a birthday present. (September is a low cost time -- school still in session, still hot and humid in Orlando, etc.) Wouldn't be my pick of a time to go, but both crowds and prices are really good I have to say (looks like Sept. week days have some of the lowest crowds all year at Disney and that's kind of nice).