Is it just me or has attendance been down?

[goofyernmost]

With all respect, It's you.

Well that's pretty vague! All of us?

 

[lukemorenus]

Lord, I hope so! Our last two trips have been packed.

 

[bakerworld]

We vacationed over July 4th week and the parks/buses didn't seem particularly full, however we never do rope drop so I'm not sure about that time. We don't do G+ and were still able to find rides with less than 30 minute waits - 25 minutes is my personal limit. We did get to accomplish most of what we wanted (ADR's at SciFi dinner, the Turf Club and Cinderella's Castle with fireworks at the MK and watching fireworks most evenings from the Springs). The most people we saw was on July 4th leaving MK at close but we were on the 2nd bus with a seat. The heat was fairly horrible so really the most busy areas were the resort pools. LOL

 

[sponica]

When did this become a fact. All the years I have been going to the place summer has always been the time when the crowds where the biggest. I know it's hot, but it has always been hot and humid in Florida in the summer months. The only time I ever heard of it being busier would be between Christmas and New Years.

EDIT: I used the wrong quote. I was trying to quote the one that said that summer time was always not the busy time of the year, that, in my mind, and past history I believe is incorrect. Anyway my apologies for any confusion.

I know in the before time, summer was starting to have lighter crowds because they'd successfully moved everyone out of summer (festival of the arts, flower/garden, and food/wine). If my kids could handle the melting heat, we'd do mid or late August in a heartbeat.

 

[Thenwood]

Attendance might be down but ride wait times are up because not all of the shows are back open and half of the rides are down most of the time (ie ToT has only had two of the four elevators going for months now and RnR has been down at a record breaking rate). Personally I think it’s intentional to get more guests to buy into lightening lane.

 

[squirk]

I’d love to think that attendance is down because we’ve gotten the revenge-spending trips out of our systems, and guests are now pushing back on all of the recent pricing changes. But given the myriad ways Disney can manipulate crowds, I don’t know if or how we could ever independently verify that attendance is down from same time last year.

And as others have said, perceptions can be inaccurate.

 

[cakebaker]

Just back from a trip last week to WDW. Summer is when we usually make our longer trips and this time seemed much less crowded than in the past. I paid little attention to standby wait times though- between DAS and Genie+ along with the extended evening hours, we never used standby at all. We just noticed a marked difference in the crowd levels walking around and wait times at quick service locations. There were a few rides down now and then, most notably SDMT in the mornings of course, but other than weather related, they were few and far between and none of them down long enough to cause us a real problem.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I’d love to think that attendance is down because we’ve gotten the revenge-spending trips out of our systems, and guests are now pushing back on all of the recent pricing changes. But given the myriad ways Disney can manipulate crowds, I don’t know if or how we could ever independently verify that attendance is down from same time last year.

And as others have said, perceptions can be inaccurate.

I think this. I too want to believe it's push back against Disney, but the way they can manipulate the parks including wait times, crowd density, and everything else.... I think there is no easy way for us to know right now.

 

[Grandmaof2]

We just got back and the lines were horrible. Some popular rides were way over 60-90 minutes. Avatar was almost over 2 hours. (Plus rides down. We were at Epcot on one day and out of the first four rides three we were on broke down). This was the first time we went in the summer due to the fact grandchildren are going in High School.. NEVER again!

 

[tinkerhon]

Here now--- DEFINITELY less crowded than what we are used to this time of the year !!!

 

[JBelle19]

Here now--- DEFINITELY less crowded than what we are used to this time of the year !!!

we arrive this weekend, so this makes me happy!!

 

[MJJME]

Well I would expect Summer to be among the slowest times of the year. The weather is horrible down there from May to October.

really? its actually usually one of the busiest times b kids are out of school

 

[LYSE]

We've been going about twice a month on average and the crowds have honestly been up and down, it was dead early June but over crowded later in the month and so far when we've gone in July (we'll be at epcot Sunday...so we'll see)

 

[MillauFr]

really? its actually usually one of the busiest times b kids are out of school

We went in August once and it was empty. I don't think most people can handle the Florida heat. It was one and done for us. We only go in December now and even then it was toasty.

 

[wfjny]

I think you guys are forgetting that the majority of people that are bringing their kids to WDW have no choice but to go in the summer when the kids are out of school. Summer has always been the busiest time of the year for the parks because of that. If you lived in New England like I did, we had a mid-winter school break at the end of February and that is when we would go. The drive down to Orlando on I-95 was like a parade of cars with New England and New York licence plates. So it may be that it is a little slow and, of course, the temps have been record highs.

There seems to have been a switch that started happening well before covid. The summer crowds did seem to be lessening. Now, yeah, everything is relative, so a 90 minute wait for a ride is certainly less crowded than a 120 minute wait.

I "think" that a big part of that was people that were more willing to take their kids out of school during the school year. I don't want to get into a religious war about if that is right or wrong, I am just saying I noticed more people (including friends and members of my extended family), that seemed to be changing how they felt about pulling their kids out, especially when they are younger. A lot more questions about taking kids out of school on various boards. My wife also works for the schools, and I personally find it amazing how many kids were taking off the week before Thanksgiving. Not the week of Thanksgiving, the week before. Essentially a two week break. Similar issue around Easter.

Not to mention, from a parks perspective, summer is the worst time to be there. Yes, I know, I go for a week long trip every summer. But you need to be prepared. Prepared for the summer heat, for the humidity, for the strong sun, and for the daily rain storms. But, if you can do it, you can have a great time (again, go back two sentences). We also tend to be there at opening, and then leave during the heat of the day, and return after the afternoon rain storms. So I know when we are leaving in the late morning we feel like the fish trying to swim upstream.

All of that, along with people traveling in from outside the country, people that homeschool, various schools that have adjusted their schedules (Think year round schools that do a two week break every few months), as well as school sponsored programs at Disney (bands, STEM groups, etc.), and the whole sports complex, Disney has been finding ways to attract people during what were their slower times. I am not sure there are any slow times anymore...

 

[lucas]

Well that's pretty vague! All of us?

I think they were replying to the OP - based on the title of this thread.

 

[disney castle days]

We were there the week of Christmas (although not day) and then last week, and last week felt more crowded than Christmas time. It could be also the fact that there were larger groups and groups of people that had no clue what they were doing, but even Phillarmagic and Hall of Presidents were filling up quickly which never happens. We have been before in July, and I think it is on par with the normal summer crowds.

 

[jcemom]

We're about a month out from our trip and I was surprised to find reservations available, as of yesterday, for Savi's lightsabers (multiple choices, on both of our HS days), build a droid (again, on both of our days), the MK fireworks dessert party (the one where you sit, didn't check the others), and Capture Your Moment photo sessions at all four parks.

 

[Mikey15]

They probably will be. That is one of the slowest periods of the year

August can be hot and understandably slow, but in my experience Labor Day weekend (Sept 3-5 this year) can be quite busy.

Maybe the AP changes & park reservation system has reduced the local/in-state crowd on holiday weekends though,

 

[Mrs.AMC]

There seems to have been a switch that started happening well before covid. The summer crowds did seem to be lessening. Now, yeah, everything is relative, so a 90 minute wait for a ride is certainly less crowded than a 120 minute wait.

I "think" that a big part of that was people that were more willing to take their kids out of school during the school year. I don't want to get into a religious war about if that is right or wrong, I am just saying I noticed more people (including friends and members of my extended family), that seemed to be changing how they felt about pulling their kids out, especially when they are younger. A lot more questions about taking kids out of school on various boards. My wife also works for the schools, and I personally find it amazing how many kids were taking off the week before Thanksgiving. Not the week of Thanksgiving, the week before. Essentially a two week break. Similar issue around Easter.

Not to mention, from a parks perspective, summer is the worst time to be there. Yes, I know, I go for a week long trip every summer. But you need to be prepared. Prepared for the summer heat, for the humidity, for the strong sun, and for the daily rain storms. But, if you can do it, you can have a great time (again, go back two sentences). We also tend to be there at opening, and then leave during the heat of the day, and return after the afternoon rain storms. So I know when we are leaving in the late morning we feel like the fish trying to swim upstream.

All of that, along with people traveling in from outside the country, people that homeschool, various schools that have adjusted their schedules (Think year round schools that do a two week break every few months), as well as school sponsored programs at Disney (bands, STEM groups, etc.), and the whole sports complex, Disney has been finding ways to attract people during what were their slower times. I am not sure there are any slow times anymore...

Taking kids out of school, or not taking them out, is removed from the hands of parents in some school systems. It had nothing to do with who was willing, nor not willing.
At least around here.
Well, unless you want to jump through some serious hoops.
At least it was pre-pandemic. If there's a change in policy now I'm not sure but before you got 4 absences per semester. Excused or Unexcused treated the same. If you exceeded the 4 you could present the why to the school (doc note, etc) and they could accept it, or not. A trip to Disney, vacation was not going to be accepted. So, if you wanted to gamble that your child would miss no other days that semester and go on a trip then good. Go. Take the risk. Otherwise, you could risk your child failing the semester.
Of course they like to claim it was for the good of the child's education but we all know it's because they get paid for avg number of hinny's in classrooms. So they want you child's hinny in their seat not out on vacation.
With remote learning that may have changed things