Entertainment
REPORT: Disney World Attendance Plunges To Four-Year Lows
In September, attendance at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, the company’s flagship park, plunged to its lowest three-week slump in four years, according to an analysis of crowd sizes.
Crowd tracking data between August and September shows that average wait times for the park’s rides dropped to 24 minutes, marking the lowest wait time since 2021, according to an analysis from Fox News. The data indicates that wait times were even shorter than during the July 4 holiday, according to posted times from Disney’s My Disney Experience app, aggregated by third-party tracker Thrill-Data and analyzed by Disney Tourist Blog.
A number of TikTokers who visited the park in September described it as feeling “deserted.”
“I’m at Magic Kingdom right now, and this place is a tomb,” one user said. “There is literally nobody here. There is no wait time for anything. Space Mountain — walk on. Haunted Mansion — walk on. Pirates of the Caribbean — walk on. The longest I have even seen a wait time for … 30 minutes.”
Disney’s recently disclosed financial figures paint a different picture, as the company has reported mostly unchanged attendance figures and revenue growth. August was the slowest full month of the year to date, averaging 28 minutes per ride, followed by July at 30 minutes, according to Disney Tourist Blog’s tracking data. Weekends in September were busier than weekdays.
In order to fill the traditionally slow weeks after Labor Day, Disney rolled out a number of aggressive deals, including an $89-per-day three-park ticket that excludes Magic Kingdom, 50% off children’s tickets and the return of free dining for certain dates and packages, Fox News reported.
Some travelers have described the park’s prices as a potential reason for attendance drops, which were also observed this past summer, according to Disney blogs.
“Disney executives have acknowledged the concern but have been slow to adapt their pricing strategies in light of these economic difficulties,” Disney Dining reported back in June. “The sentiment among consumers suggests an ongoing reluctance to spend on extravagant trips like Disney World, marking a troubling shift for the beloved theme park.”
Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Disney executives were discussing whether their continuous price hikes are alienating middle class families who would have otherwise planned a visit. The price of attending a Disney park has skyrocketed in recent years, with the typical price of a four-day stay inside the park rising by $1000 between 2019 and 2024, according to an analysis conducted by The Wall Street Journal.
Much of the increase — roughly 80 percent — has been driven by new charges for services that were once free.
