Walt Disney World Attendance Down for 2012

[mkcoastie]

Disney has always had a problem with the teen and young adult demographics. They are strong with kids, adults, and families but because Disney has never been about the big thrills they have little to offer teens. They tried to turn this around in the mid to late 90s, which is how we got Tower of Terror, Rock n Rollercoaster, and the current Epcot disaster.

Universal seems to be hitting the thrill market better because it doesn't have a problem putting up an exposed steel rollercoaster and doesn't have to live up to the reputation of being for everyone the way Disney does. Which is good because they aren't. When it comes to people who don't do thrill rides Universal offers next to nothing. That is the area where Disney still has a tremendous advantage.

I agree with this. Despite the more recent effort to appeal to the thrill seekers, Disney is still the only Theme Park experiance that caters to the whole family as a priority. My five year old has a total of one ride across all four WDW parks that he is unable to ride (primeval whirl). A quick look at Universal and I count 6. Even with Universal steping it up a great deal lately, Disney still offers more for the young Kids and older folk. Universal still aims primarily at Teens and younger adults with more a family oriented stuff taking a back seat. I don't know how long this will last, as Universal definately seems to be aiming for WDW in a big way.

As for Kids not knowing who Mickey mouse is....well, I disagree a great deal. Disney has done a great job keeping their charachters in the lives of the newer generation. Most kids will be able to tell you about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and a veriety of other new things like Jake and the Nevrland Pirates.

[biggsworth]

I think Disney is going in the right direction in the past couple of years finalyl after standing still for a while. Universal has definetely made Disney take notice I am sure to help push them along. In the past year just think of the additions world wide. BVS, CL in DCA, new FL in MK, Grizzley Gulch in HKDL, TT in EPCOT. These are all promising and hopefully the start of better things to come. Obviously WdW needs a lot of work though in all of the parks but more sepicfically I would say DHS which begs for a Star Wars land to blow WWoHP out of the water.

[FormerPassholdeer]

I too have voted with my wallet and just let my Premium (WDW/DL) Annual Pass expire. I luckily work for an international air carrier and I can head to TDR and focus spending my money on the only Disney quality product that remains - the parks run by the Oriental Land Company.

I may buy a day or two and focus on DL visits while I'm in the area but even those will be severely cut back now that capital expansion is being cut back here too. I realize that there are a lot of costs associated with hiring cast members, designing rides, etc. but let's face it, the business Disney is in is entertainment on a theme park scale. The public realizes that they're not a charity and Disney certainly doesn't pretend to be one - they're a business out to make money.

But the reality is that Disney Parks have essentially "jumped the shark" (in particular at WDW). WDW is a vicitim of it's own size - four parks should be a consistently great experience but they are all getting stale and tired. The experience at any one of them is so unspectacular anymore sub-par food, inequitable line control, bland merchandise, mediocre and stale entertainment -it's just amazing how bad it all has gone down hill.

To me WDW is essentially the equivalent of an acne scarred, gangly teenage boy. Yes, we enjoy him, play with him, etc. because he is a member of the family and we love hime. But we can't wait for him to "grow out of this adolescent phase" and become a handsome adult that is an extension of the cute little kid we remember. Right now all four parks feature neglected, old attractions and disjointed themes and experiences. If a sponsor can't be found any hopes of building a quality attraction are gone. The New Fantasyland will appeal to a certain demographic but this isn't the crowd buying annual passes.

The bottom line, Universal Studios is exhibiting more traditional Disney behavior then Disney is at the moment. The Oriental Land Company (a franchise) holds up the Disney brand more than Disney does. Disney should be paying Oriental Land penalties for diluting their Disney brand as the U.S. experiences are so inferior.

Thank the Maker (as C3PO says) - that Universal is in town and holding Disney to at least some sort of standard - I can't imagine how bad things would become if they weren't there - for example, probably no mediocre New Fantasyland!

[jcruise86]

Hi jcruise,

IMO, Carousel of Progress is in bad shape. the Carpet looks old, the seats feel lumpy and some are torn, sound is ok. But... the audio animatronic's are working but the show is in dire need of update. So I would not say "Terrible", but I would say bad.

That's depressing, but thanks for a solicited opinion, Kidgenie!

[jcruise86]

I also agree with Kidgeneie.

The carpet is disgusting, the seats look like old movie theater seats you would find in a 1.00 movie theater in a bad part of town.

The sets need A LOT of TLC. Everything from dusting, to fixing, etc.

And thank you too, KingEric!

Anyone else have any opinions on the current state of the CoP? Please share!

[ORD84]

And thank you too, KingEric!

Anyone else have any opinions on the current state of the CoP? Please share!

Last time I was at CoP it was sooo bad that we repeated the same scene 3 times and we also had to keep stopping the show because people were getting up and walking out constantly throughout the entirety of the show, no matter how loud the CMs yelled in English and Spanish...

But yeah people were laughing the show was in such bad shape, I merely took the time to take a nap and get out of the hot sun...

[SpectroMan]

Jeezus, how sad. If they'd turn the volume up a little so you didn't have to struggle to hear the dialogue so much, perhaps it'd hold guest's attention a little better.

[KingEric]

Jeezus, how sad. If they'd turn the volume up a little so you didn't have to struggle to hear the dialogue so much, perhaps it'd hold guest's attention a little better.

Almost every time I have ridden this in recent history, there are moments when people try to get up an exit, resulting in a shouting match between the CM at the Control Booth and the guest trying to exit.

The guest not understanding that exiting can be fatal.

[Chesire]

Disney has always had a problem with the teen and young adult demographics. They are strong with kids, adults, and families but because Disney has never been about the big thrills they have little to offer teens. They tried to turn this around in the mid to late 90s, which is how we got Tower of Terror, Rock n Rollercoaster, and the current Epcot disaster.

Universal seems to be hitting the thrill market better because it doesn't have a problem putting up an exposed steel rollercoaster and doesn't have to live up to the reputation of being for everyone the way Disney does. Which is good because they aren't. When it comes to people who don't do thrill rides Universal offers next to nothing. That is the area where Disney still has a tremendous advantage.

Can't disagree with this more. I can't tell you how many times I've seen my friends (over 13) post about how they're in the happiest place on earth, and how many of my other friends comment about how jealous they are. Just recently, my school offered a trip to Disneyland - the spots were filled in just a couple of days. That's about 600 dollars, 16 hours on a bus total, and a small room in a crappy motel with 3 other people, which they all knew. Yet, they still chose to go to Disneyland. 124 friends of mine on Facebook liked Disneyland, with 35 checking in at one point or another.