My family and my brother’s family just came back from Disney and we can personally attest that the parks were not empty and wait times for popular attractions were hefty as usual. We did the 4 park hopper Sunday to Wednesday and all four parks we went to were busy with Magic Kingdom of course being the most brutal of the 4. There was absolutely no room anywhere to watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom and people were pushy and aggressive so we left but were able to catch them at Epcot. It’s likely the photos circulating online were taken when the parks first opened bright and early before they filled up.
We were at WDW for spring break this year. We debated whether to get Genie+ or not. The first day at MK we went without. Wait times were seriously inflated. We expected crowds to be crazy. They were not as bad as previous trips taken during spring break. All of the covid related vacation postponements have been met and higher prices, along with higher costs of living, are contributing to WDW being a ghost town. Disney has some serious making up to do with its base.
Disney needs to go back to pre PLANdemic. Our family has had annual resident passes since there were annual passes, and as a little girl, I was at DW when it opened. Each time my dad, who was terminally ill, came home from the hospital, DW was one of his healing places. We have not been there in almost 3 years and gave up our passed 2 years ago.
Speaking about guest experiences and complaints at Disney…I would love if a reporter would investigate this, because I can’t find anyone else talking about it.
We’ve been to WDW 4 times since 2021. We noticed something really interesting the last two times. We stay on Disney property, so we get that 1/2 hour before park opens benefit. In September 2022, we arrived at Magic Kingdom. As they opened the lands to us, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Thunder weren’t open. The weather was beautiful, so it wasn’t that. We were told by CMs it was because they had to take down decorations from the Halloween Party. This forced the rope drop crowd to Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Seven Dwarf and Space Mtn, which resulted in crazy wait times for all those right off the bat. So we just happen to be standing by Haunted Mansion near regular park open time when we hear a firework pop like a bottle rocket. The CM then begin opening Haunted Mansion. 5 minutes later, another firework. That’s odd. I look on the app out of curiosity. Now Pirates is open. Another 5 minutes, firework, Thunder Mtn open. That was awfully synchronized. We suspected they were doing crowd control. Rope drop is known for lower wait times on popular rides. Were they manipulating the crowds, forcing them towards the most popular to increase wait times and get people to buy genie? We weren’t sure…until our next trip this May 2023!
No Halloween Party in May. But same exact thing! But this time they told us those rides were “down” But they still did the firework thing in synchronization. Hmm. And we noticed it in Epcot and Hollywood too! Tower of Terror and Mickey were “down” at rope drop (I suspect Aerosmith would have been “down” too if it wasn’t already being refurbished). But Mickey and Tower were up and running at regular open time. At Epcot, we entered on the Skyliner. They had CMs blocking the path towards Morocco, only allowing access to Ratatouille and saying we would have to go the way of Canada to access other rides. When we asked why, they said the countries that way weren’t open yet. Odd. But they moved out of the way at regular open time. Were they getting back access crowds to go to Ratatouille, and front access crowds to do Test Track and Frozen to make waits longer at rope drop? Because our first two trips they didn’t do this AT ALL at any of the parks. It’s definitely a recent thing.
This is the stuff that is getting annoying with Disney. They’re not trying to make it a memorable experience, they’re trying to capitalize by manipulating the crowds there. May and September aren’t exactly peak times. So it seems like they’re trying to actually create crowds. What is the point of even having that early access perk for resort guests if they funnel you to specific rides and they’re not all open until regular park hours? Especially when they give different excuses as to why they’re down. That’s shady. I think people are picking up on all this kind of stuff (along with increased prices and loss of perks to resort or annual park guests) and it’s starting to finally affect people booking vacations.
I think the hype about being empty is a bit overblown. There are still serious wait times– wait times longer than I would like to spend.
But the wokeness and the creepy sexualization is something that’s turned off many of the people I know. They just want to be entertained, not lectured. This is definitely cutting into the attendance.
Comments for Fans Call Out Iger’s Lies, Reveal Truth About Disney Parks
Emma Lee
My family and my brother’s family just came back from Disney and we can personally attest that the parks were not empty and wait times for popular attractions were hefty as usual. We did the 4 park hopper Sunday to Wednesday and all four parks we went to were busy with Magic Kingdom of course being the most brutal of the 4. There was absolutely no room anywhere to watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom and people were pushy and aggressive so we left but were able to catch them at Epcot. It’s likely the photos circulating online were taken when the parks first opened bright and early before they filled up.
Jellyfish Hiss
The Disney brand is unfortunately damaged due to a series of terrible decisions that sadly continue. Bob Iger has his head in the sand.
P.C.Knott
We were at WDW for spring break this year. We debated whether to get Genie+ or not. The first day at MK we went without. Wait times were seriously inflated. We expected crowds to be crazy. They were not as bad as previous trips taken during spring break. All of the covid related vacation postponements have been met and higher prices, along with higher costs of living, are contributing to WDW being a ghost town. Disney has some serious making up to do with its base.
Marie
Disney needs to go back to pre PLANdemic. Our family has had annual resident passes since there were annual passes, and as a little girl, I was at DW when it opened. Each time my dad, who was terminally ill, came home from the hospital, DW was one of his healing places. We have not been there in almost 3 years and gave up our passed 2 years ago.
Teddy Gingerich
Overall numbers may be lower than in previous years, but tourism in Florida is down everywhere. Universal is also seeing lower numbers.
G
Speaking about guest experiences and complaints at Disney…I would love if a reporter would investigate this, because I can’t find anyone else talking about it.
We’ve been to WDW 4 times since 2021. We noticed something really interesting the last two times. We stay on Disney property, so we get that 1/2 hour before park opens benefit. In September 2022, we arrived at Magic Kingdom. As they opened the lands to us, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Thunder weren’t open. The weather was beautiful, so it wasn’t that. We were told by CMs it was because they had to take down decorations from the Halloween Party. This forced the rope drop crowd to Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Seven Dwarf and Space Mtn, which resulted in crazy wait times for all those right off the bat. So we just happen to be standing by Haunted Mansion near regular park open time when we hear a firework pop like a bottle rocket. The CM then begin opening Haunted Mansion. 5 minutes later, another firework. That’s odd. I look on the app out of curiosity. Now Pirates is open. Another 5 minutes, firework, Thunder Mtn open. That was awfully synchronized. We suspected they were doing crowd control. Rope drop is known for lower wait times on popular rides. Were they manipulating the crowds, forcing them towards the most popular to increase wait times and get people to buy genie? We weren’t sure…until our next trip this May 2023!
No Halloween Party in May. But same exact thing! But this time they told us those rides were “down” But they still did the firework thing in synchronization. Hmm. And we noticed it in Epcot and Hollywood too! Tower of Terror and Mickey were “down” at rope drop (I suspect Aerosmith would have been “down” too if it wasn’t already being refurbished). But Mickey and Tower were up and running at regular open time. At Epcot, we entered on the Skyliner. They had CMs blocking the path towards Morocco, only allowing access to Ratatouille and saying we would have to go the way of Canada to access other rides. When we asked why, they said the countries that way weren’t open yet. Odd. But they moved out of the way at regular open time. Were they getting back access crowds to go to Ratatouille, and front access crowds to do Test Track and Frozen to make waits longer at rope drop? Because our first two trips they didn’t do this AT ALL at any of the parks. It’s definitely a recent thing.
This is the stuff that is getting annoying with Disney. They’re not trying to make it a memorable experience, they’re trying to capitalize by manipulating the crowds there. May and September aren’t exactly peak times. So it seems like they’re trying to actually create crowds. What is the point of even having that early access perk for resort guests if they funnel you to specific rides and they’re not all open until regular park hours? Especially when they give different excuses as to why they’re down. That’s shady. I think people are picking up on all this kind of stuff (along with increased prices and loss of perks to resort or annual park guests) and it’s starting to finally affect people booking vacations.
Sue
Don’t believe this garbage Disney is not empty one reason it’s not as busy it’s to hot out for most people.
Chris
Local here. We have been several times in the last couple months. It has never felt empty when we were there.
Bob
I think the hype about being empty is a bit overblown. There are still serious wait times– wait times longer than I would like to spend.
But the wokeness and the creepy sexualization is something that’s turned off many of the people I know. They just want to be entertained, not lectured. This is definitely cutting into the attendance.
DisneyShareholder1
A fix is simple. Fire rogue Reimagine Tomorrow executives.
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