Originally Posted By MPierce You be the Judge. From The O Sentinel Disney Daily Blog by Matt Palm. <a href="http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/07/is-disney-world-quieter-than-usual-this-summer/" target="_blank">http://thedailydisney.com/blog...-summer/</a> Is Disney World quieter than usual this summer? Featured, Matt Palm, News, Does this scene at Animal Kingdom Lodge mean things are less busy than usual at Disney World? I had dinner at Boma in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge last night and was surprised to see the parking lot being improved with a large portion of it closed off to cars. The improvement work wasn’t surprising — repainting has to happen — but the timing gave me pause. This is supposed to be the height of the summer season, one of the most prolonged busy streaks for the parks. Yet Disney was able to shut down a healthy portion of a major resort parking lot for days — and, guess what? There was still parking readily available. There were empty tables throughout the hours my group spent at Boma. Last week, I had eaten at Biergarten at Epcot’s Germany and there were plenty of empty tables around us that night. “It has been pretty dead in here,” our server told us. Walking out of Epcot as Illuminations began, huge patches of viewing area around the lagoon were completely deserted. We arrived at Magic Kingdom 10 minutes before the Nightastic fireworks started and were able to walk halfway up Main Street U.S.A. with no problem. A cast-member friend shared that Disney is offering them 60-percent off some hotel stays through August. More than half off for cast in the summer? Wow. What gives? Where is everyone? Is it Harry Potter? the economy? Or have I just been in the right place at the right time? Disney World does not release attendance figures as a standard policy, so I’m looking at anecdotal evidence such as this. Has anyone else gotten a sense the parks are quieter than usual?
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer I saw it for myself. It IS quieter. Meanwhile, IoA is packing them in. They'll be packing me in in a week.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper They'll be packing me in twice next week and I'll be buying a season pass.
Originally Posted By dshyates I think it is the perfect storm. Tight economy, energized competition, and a decade of declining quality while raising prices. It also doesn't help that they expected a 2 year old TSMM to duke it out with the boy who lived.
Originally Posted By MPierce I really think people are starting to notice.Besides that free dining all the way up until Chrismas is unprecedented.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Now is the time to really wow us with some new attractions. If they are smart...
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Now is the time to really wow us with some new attractions. << Their counting on crayolaing with the Princesses.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>^^Well, we all know they're not...<<< They can wise up pretty quickly... >>>Their counting on crayolaing with the Princesses.<<< They might be realizing that that isn't a way to go....
Originally Posted By MPierce >> They might be realizing that that isn't a way to go.... << They plan on sitting back, and seeing how things go after Harry has run his course, and the Fantasyland expansion starts kicking in. Remember nobody really knows to what extent that expansion is going to entail, and that includes Disney. Disney may not always do what the fans want, but they still have a lot of very sharp, and savy people in their ranks. Their not going to get ruffled by Harry this early in the game.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper But they also have tons of people who let their egos get in the way of the smarts and savy, MPierce.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 It is WAY too early to make a correlation between WDW's very weak crowds and what is going on at IOA. I think it's more a case of a three-year depression that has hit our country and many others coupled with WDW's price points (prior to discounting) and general staleness. Capacity at IOA isn't all that high (I believe I was told it's 40,000) and as far as I know while the park has generally been 'packed', it also hasn't been turning guests away daily. As to slow crowds making Disney react by spending, I'd caution against that line of thinking. Remember when WDW was literally being used as an ATM by Burbank in the heady mid-late 90s and even in the 2004-2007 period, Disney didn't exactly respond with multi-billion $$$ investments. I really want to see Potter badly, but I'll likely wait until my fall trip. I'll go to Anaheim where there's at least some serious reinvestment taking place first. ~You people are SOOOO negative!~
Originally Posted By MPierce Artistic people all have very stong egos. As well as those in power. They have to.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I think it's more a case of a three-year depression that has hit our country and many others coupled with WDW's price points (prior to discounting) and general staleness. << It's getting better though. Didn't you get the memo when standing in line at the unemployment office?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Artistic people all have very stong egos. As well as those in power. They have to.>> Yes, but management is generally misplaced ego. Artists create. They have skills. They add something to society. Managers exist to control. Not to say you can't have great, smart, visionary managers who appreciate creativity, just that it's not likely. For instance, I don't know one WDW Ops Exec that has an ounce of creativity (and certainly, I don't know all by far). But I cringe when those people try and make creative decisions. ~Creatives MAKE Magic!~
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >> I think it's more a case of a three-year depression that has hit our country and many others coupled with WDW's price points (prior to discounting) and general staleness. << <<It's getting better though. Didn't you get the memo when standing in line at the unemployment office?>> You must have missed my brief return to a MAGICal realm (don't think I'm going back) on a thread about what WDW pays its CMs, which degenerated into a discussion of everything but the issue at hand. But ... you make a very good point as Congress holds unemployment benefits hostage in the worst economy since the Great Depression. People are so clueless, but I don't want to go all negative heading into a magical weekend. ~Jamie Dimon='s Satan!~
Originally Posted By Ursula I also think something needs to be said for the "free" dining plan. It is VERY busy when the free dining is offered and less so when it is not. I think guests are more savvy to getting codes and pins for this using the intergoogle for assistance.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I also think something needs to be said for the "free" dining plan. It is VERY busy when the free dining is offered and less so when it is not.>> I'm wondering if they've already got a plan for offering it from say Jan. 2n until sometime in March? Bet you they do ... <<I think guests are more savvy to getting codes and pins for this using the intergoogle for assistance.>> Of course they are. People have now had sites like Mousesavers and AllEars and Mouseplanet for well over a decade. Discounts are 'announced' often days and even weeks before ... well, they are officially announced. ~TDO Exec: Let's Raise Food Prices Another 11% this summer ... And Then Offer Free Dining The Rest of the Year!~
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Yes, but management is generally misplaced ego. Artists create. They have skills. They add something to society. Managers exist to control. Not to say you can't have great, smart, visionary managers who appreciate creativity, just that it's not likely. << Artist are temperamental, and have no concept of cost, only their final vision. You need management to rein in all those artistic juices to make a project feasible from a money standpoint though. >> For instance, I don't know one WDW Ops Exec that has an ounce of creativity (and certainly, I don't know all by far). But I cringe when those people try and make creative decisions. << They shouldn't be making any creative decissions. Only overseeing the projects budget.
