WDW to close one park in midweek during 2009? - commentary #2

A reader from the Netherlands chimes in with this important aspect (problem) relating to Magic Your Way tickets:

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Magic your way tickets - this has brought more people to the parks in Florida, or it made people stay longer and spend more. however, in the long run this seems to work against Disney - just imagine: you've been to Disneyworld , 10 days in 2006, and again 10 in 2007 - and perhaps you booked 10 days this summer because it was so cheap, there was a lot of new stuf to see, and the usual 3 to 4 days you used to "play" in the years before, were never enough. There was always something you did not see, or you would have like tot spend just another day at one of the waterparks.

But now, having spend so much time in the Parks, you have seen everything - two, three, even four times. or more. Including EE. All in- the magic your way might end up as being too much, too easy, too cheap, for there is no reason that you HAVE to go back any time soon. Yes it was fun, but you have seen it all, year in year out. perhaps now is the time, to skipp a few years (just like you used to do in the old days) before going back.

Short turn gain might end up being a long turn loss - sure, lots of people will go to Florida. But some of them will go to cheaper hotels outside of Disney, for they are eager to see "Harry" and a few new coasters in other parks. Disney can wait, or we just buy a three day hopper, so we can do our favorites. Anything new on te horizon at the World? accept for a few new parades and TSM (nice, but no EE!) I cannot see anything being build right now. Worse, we will have a closed space mountain soon - with nothing to replace it! And the MK is a place i am not able to fill an entire day already.

And if they want those people to stay 10 days again and again and again - even with higher cost, they will have to give them more, and of a higher quality - or eventually they wont be coming back. People will go to Florida, even with parks closed on certain days a week, even with higher fuell prices.

But only if you build it, they will come. Disney needs to act, right now, fast track on new parades, perhaps a big show (aladin?) in the MK to help us get through 2009, and start building new things fast...... btw- my last visit to Florida was in januari 2005 - if the crowds seem to lessen next year I will go back again - for I very much dislike crowded themeparks!

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WDW to close one park in midweek during 2009?

My miceage article for this week provides the breaking news that Disney may close DAK and DHS one day per week in early 2009, if attendance levels drop enough.

I'll post some of the email I receive here, to give these folks writing to me a wider platform to be heard. Here's one now:

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Enjoyed your article today, as always. But I just have to write and say that if WDW is even considering closing parks because of lower attendance...well, it would be a lie. What I mean is, Disney would simply be finding an excuse to close a park and save some money.

Anyone who regularly makes trips to WDW in the fall knows that the parks used to be a ghost town during those months—almost every ride was a walk-on. The parks are much busier in the off-season now. My family is looking at going this November, for example, and I was floored to discover that most of autumn is now “regular season” at the resorts! So why would a slump in attendance trigger something this drastic in response?

Hey, let’s just look at some numbers. According to estimates, in 2003, the MK had 14 million visitors and at the other end, AK had 7.3 million. The travel industry was still getting over 9/11 but the point is, those numbers didn’t create any speculation that WDW would close parks one day a week. Now in 2007, the MK pulls in 17 million and the AK 9.5 million. So if 2008 attendance was even down 10%, it would still be substantially higher than just a few years ago.

I also reject any notion that the parks would get better upkeep with a day of rest, either. Disney has never had a problem keeping the parks up with an every-day schedule when it has the desire to do so—I’m sure you agree with me on this.

So if they did this, it would be a cost-cutting measure, plain and simple, no different than the decision to stagger the opening/closing times of World Showcase and Future World in Epcot. Let’s not let Disney off the hook by saying they would “need” to do this because of fuel costs or whatever (and I say this as a Disney shareholder who definitely wants the company to remain highly profitable).

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Toy Story Midway Mania Tips and Tricks (Spoilers) - part 2

I've gotten some helpful emails after my article on miceage, so the most current list of Easter Eggs is here: http://www.ultimateorlando.com/archive/midwaymania/index.html

I think we have them all now.

But wait! Another email from a trustworthy source mentions a TANK in the army/plates room, but didn't tell me (yet) how to turn this on. Hm. Perhaps we do have more Eggs to find. I shall update the URL above as I learn more.

This weekend, I intend to play until I get 300,000. Wish me luck.