Why is DL more crowded?

[Disney Kidd]

I have had an AP to DL pretty much every year since I was born. I remember ditching school as a kid for a birthday and the park being EMPTY. I have memories of my brothers and I riding Indiana Jones 7 times in a row! Nowadays, I go to the park in the middle of the week in January or February, and it's super crowded. I haven't seen a slow day in awhile. Why is this? Is DL more popular now? I grew up during the releases of some of the greatest films: The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Toy Story. I remember Disneyland being VERY popular as a kid. Do more people have AP now? Perhaps because they made them more accessible with monthly payments? Is DL more of a destination, rather than a day trip, since adding more hotels, DD, and DCA? Not sure. Not complaining, just curious?

 

[NavyDad01]

When I was stationed in San Diego about 5 years ago and we went multiple times and it was dead. I think it just depends on when you go. Granted we didnt get on Indiana Jones 7 times but 3 or 4 times.

When we went on vacation 3 years ago it was also dead. For this upcoming trip I expect it to be crowded as heck!

 

[3Gsandme]

Generally, the post 9/11 recession seems to have ebbed and people are spending money on travel again.

 

[lalasmama]

I think there's lots of reasons:

Current population of LA (2010) : 15,750,000
2000: 14,661,000
1990: 13,522,000
1980: 10,841,000
Which means, generally, that there's 33% more people in LA in the last 30 years.

"Kid-glasses"--just like people were talking about on the last "DLR needs serious repairs/painting/updating/etc" thread, the DL of our childhood memories was from a 7-8-9-10-12-14 year old, who pays attention and notices things much differently than adult. My DD doesn't think lines are ever "too long" at Disneyland (she's been going the last 4 years). As an adult, there's plenty of times I think, "Heck no, I'm not waiting that long for that ride!" I notice the burned out light, she notices the all the pretty lights that sparkle in the night. I notice paint chips, she notices that it's gold on IASW and believes it has to be real. I think, "Gee, that character is really proportionately off," and she misses the fact that Sofia the First, a kid, is as tall as me and her dad.

So Cal passes, along with affordable monthly payments have been introduced.

The generations that have grown up on Disney, Disneyland, and WDW are now in the middle of childbearing years, and grandparenting seasons, and wanting to re-create those memories from their youth with their younger loved-ones.

I think that's just the tip of the iceberg...

 

[chrisaman]

Part of it may be that it has never had more to offer than it does now

 

[tarheelalum]

I think the monthly payment plans for annual passes have had the greatest effects on crowd levels but other factors as well.

 

[Djscarlette]

I agree with the pp, the recession was hard on people and nobody wanted to splurge on long and expensive vacations. Now, people are ready to spend money again.

 

[Ronferr80]

I also think that the 60th anniversary of Disneyland is pushing families and people to make it an event to get to the parks this year which may be bringing in larger crowds then normal

 

[peterpanandwendy]

Not to mention the bit of a Golden Age that Disney is in again right now with movies like Frozen… I'll bet a lot of families with little girls are feeling like now is the time to spend the money to visit.

 

[SMD]

They've opened a whole second gate. It's not the same experience it was 20 years ago and it won't be again.

 

[maltdizzy]

1) Economy has improved. All the Disney Parks saw significantly reduced attendance during the recession. 5 years ago was rock bottom. That's why Disney offered some incredible deals (remember WDW offer 3 extra days of hotel and tickets for free!). AP's were a luxury people people gave up. But the increase attendance at DL has seem equal to the improving economic climate.

2) Cars Land. No longer can you do everything in DCA in 4 hours and be ready to leave. It's finally a two park resort!

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

I was wondering this myself. When we went 5 years ago in May it wasn't busy. We didn't even use fastpasses. We went again this month and it was packed. I know part of it was because of the 60th starting, but I was watching wait times from before we went and lines were always longer than years ago. It's crazy. I hope it's not always like this.

 

[Disney Kidd]

Just to clarify, I grew up in the 90s, pre-recession. So I'm comparing the 90s to attendance now, specifically middle of the week attendance. I think it must be a combination of increased population, more to do, and an increase in AP.

 

[GatorChris]

Could be the rise of the Home Schoolers. There was a time that home schooling was rare, which meant more kids and families went during traditional times. But this sector of education has exploded, and we are part of that phenomenon. We love it! My wife (certified teacher) keeps them home teaching them the same thing as a school would but with closer monitoring and cutting all the public school garbage out. And the big plus...we make our own schedule! That means the kids may work a few days during Spring Break, but they get 3 days off in February to head down to Anaheim. And with the amount of kids that are there when we are, I'd say a lot of families are doing the same thing.

And don't forget that Disney seems to be adding more and more running events during the off season to attract people to the parks and resort. For instance, the normally quiet mid-November has a big Avengers race for three days. That probably bumps the crowds up for 5-7 days when it would be a ghost town normally.

 

[maltdizzy]

Just to clarify, I grew up in the 90s, pre-recession. So I'm comparing the 90s to attendance now, specifically middle of the week attendance. I think it must be a combination of increased population, more to do, and an increase in AP.

Well..EVERYTHING...is much more crowded than it was in the '90's. Beaches, all theme parks, foreign travel, etc. Shoot, the population has increased by 25% in 20 years. And as hotel and park capacity is added, so is attendance. 20-25 years is a long time, I can tell you difference between the 90's and now is significantly less than the difference between the '70's and '90's. And WDW? They've all be torn down and reconstructed the whole resort to add larger crowds since the mid-'90's. This why we get crankier as we age.

But some are comparing it to 3-6 years ago, when attendance took a big dive everywhere because people cut back big time, even when AP's were roughly the cost of a two-day ticket (plus we had recessions and/or economics busts in early '90's and early '00's as well). In the '90's, AP's were so cheap, OC residents would buy them and use DL as daycare...drop the kids off before work everyday and pick them up on the way home, that was the original catalyst to raising and tiering the AP prices.

The above post makes a good point...Disney strategic schedules all their new runs and events at the slowest weeks/weekends of the year to increase attendance. I think the long-standing DL Half Marathon on Labor Day is a rare exception.

 

[chickapin parterre]

I like the PP about "Kid Glassess". The vision of childhood experiences are truly different from what is experienced once you turn adult.
The problem I have with calling out AP population as a contributor to crowding is that Ap folks tend to be more experience minded visits then filling in all the lines.

In the middle of the week, from opening to noon (September-June) it is still possible to ride Splash, Snow white, Pinocchio , , Main street vehicles continuously. Buzz requires exiting but there is no line in the beautiful hallway.

I like to blame the increase of rope drops as major influence on crowding. What was once a "job well done, you have an empty Park" for waiting at the gates for 45 mins reward is now gone. Folks bunching, staying in specific lines longer. It use to be that I would spend 15 mins in Fantasyland to accomplish my attraction goals when we all trickled into the empty park. Now that time is 35 mins. It was always that a handful of visitors were ready to fill in my seat, but now there are lines of folks waiting for that seat.

 

[Disney Kidd]

The problem I have with calling out AP population as a contributor to crowding is that Ap folks tend to be more experience minded visits then filling in all the lines

Yes, I would agree. I have an AP, and spend most of the time just walking around enjoying the ambiance. I don't have to go on every ride because I've done them so many times. I just like to be at DL.

 

[VandVsmama]

It's a lot busier for several reasons, in my opinion:

1. Population in 1995 in the USA was 266.3 million. We started 2015 with 320 million people in the US. That's an extra 53.7 million people compared to 20 years ago. That's a 20.16% increase in population.
2. Disney has added all sorts of Run Disney events to fill in the gaps during what used to be historically lower times of year. Plus, during those Run Disney events, you as the adult can often wear a costume...something that normally kids 9 and under are only allowed to do.
3. Late Sept - Oct 31 - Halloween parties at Disneyland have become hugely popular in recent years.
4. The Internet blossomed and boomed. In 1991, the World Wide Web was just getting started. In 1995, most people still made travel plans through traditional travel agents. Now most people make their own travel arrangements thanks to the Internet & informational message boards like this one. Information is power and when you put the information in the hands of their consumer, they can squeeze more dollars out of a vacation...thus making a 3-day trip to Disneyland more affordable.
5. AP Holder special events have become very popular in recent years.
6. Disneyland has done a great job on redoing California Adventure. Before Carsland, our family never considered a trip to DL. Why bother? After hearing online and from friends how fabulous Carsland is, we decided that we wanted to go and check it out. And because it was so fabulous, we wanted to go again! And again. And again.
7. School calendars have changed a lot from 1995 to 2015. Many school districts across the US have added a week (sometimes 2) off during mid-October for "fall break." As a result, mid-October has become an increasingly popular time of year to go.
8. 2-3 years ago, most schools only took off the traditional 2 days for Thanksgiving. As of last year, my niece's school district started taking the whole week off for Thanksgiving. So 2 years ago, you could go to DL the few days leading up to Thanksgiving and it would be dead. This past Thanksgiving, it was very crowded.
9. Economy - when people don't have jobs, they don't go on vacation. More disposable income = money for luxuries like a vacation.
10. Disney uses a lot more technology-based marketing now compared to 20-30 years ago. So instead of just getting a letter or postcard in the mail giving you a special offer during certain dates, you also now receive it in email. And maybe you'll read the email whereas you might have just thrown out the snail mail letter as junk mail.
11. Youtube - nowadays when a new ride or attraction or parade or fireworks show is unleashed at a Disney park, that same day, you can watch a Youtube video taking you through the whole attraction. This is thanks to small smart phones and GoPro cameras that people bring with them into the parks. In the early 1990's, sure people had video cameras, but they were a lot bigger and more unwieldy and impossible to video a ride through the attraction.
12. Smart phones - in the early to mid-1990's, if you had a cell phone, it was a flip phone. And you were on cutting edge technology if it was on a digital plan, compared to an analog cell phone plan. People who wanted to "stay connected" had pagers. Now we all have the Internet in the palm of our hands. You can check airline prices, buy DL tickets, make hotel reservations from your smart phone. You can also use your smart phone to check ride wait times, whereas before, you pretty much had to walk up to the start of the ride's line to see what the wait time that was posted. This spreads the traffic across the park more.
13. Fast Pass - when I was in high school, there were no fast passes. So it was considered a good day if you got on 8 rides in one day at Disneyland. Waiting in line for an hour to go on one 5-minute attraction was just what we did. Everybody was in the same boat. Now you can get a FP and go on other attractions while you wait. Quite an attractive feature to theme park guests. Other theme parks have started doing the same thing after Disney took the lead on it.