End of 2023 Wait Times - Busiest Week of the Year

 

We haven't done a crowd report on the blog lately, and this one is sadly overdue.  But I thought it would be a good idea to look back at the crowds during typically what is the busiest week of the year on the Disney World calendar - the week between Christmas and New Year.  This post will take a look at exactly those wait times and see whether it follows the recent trends of busiest days of the week, as well as trying to put into context just how busy it actually was (spoiler: busy!)

As always, our wait time data comes from Thrill Data.  Wait times don't always tell the full story of how crowded the parks are, but they are at least hard numbers, which carry more weight than anecdotes from guests who were there.  No one can be in all places, all the time, so wait times represent the best way of measuring just how busy things are/were.  

Free Dining is BACK!

 

Disney recently announced that Free Dining (capitalized!) is returning to Walt Disney World in 2024.  In this post, we'll talk about the specifics, and discuss the timing and what it might mean for crowds late into next year.  Free Dining is a BIG promotion - consumers like the word "free" and it has typically been one of Disney's go-to discounts.

First, let's talk about the actual meat and potatoes (pun intended!) of the offer.  It is available to Disney+ subscribers and is valid for most arrivals between July 1 and September 30, 2024.  First thing first here - this is as close as you're going to get for a general public offer.  Disney offers plenty of things to just Florida residents, or Disney Vacation Club members, etc.  The only "condition" in this case is being a Disney+ subscriber, which technically means that it's not for EVERYONE.  But Disney is (wisely) pushing their streaming service, and this is a good way to hook people who might not otherwise have a subscription.

The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure Coming to Hollywood Studios

Artist Rendering Courtesy of Disney Park Blog

 

Disney announced yesterday that a new stage show is coming to Hollywood Studios - "The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure."  This post will talk a little about what the show is, where it's going and the timing of the announcement.

This new show is going in the Animation Courtyard Theater at Hollywood Studios, which, (not so) coincidentally was the home of the former live action stage show based on this same movie, Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  That version was a (very) condensed retelling of the classic animated movie, squeezing the bare bones plot as well as a few classic songs into a 17 minute runtime.  My daughter (who was five at the time, and a big fan of the movie) famously said very loudly, "That's it?!" when the lights came on as the show ended.

Luminous The Symphony Of Us Review

The long awaited Epcot completion is finally at an end! Mostly - CommuniCore Hall is still (inexplicably) not open, but mostly everything else, largely revolving around the refresh of World Celebration, is now finished.  It was a long, strange journey that ended up both scaling back the initial, more grandiose plans for the area as well as took far too long, even given the pandemic.  A true double whammy.

But I have been on the record as saying that I would be satisfied once it was complete, because an open, inviting space was obviously preferable to the sea of construction walls that plagued Epcot for the better part of four years.  Being able to walk across the center of the park instead of having to get stuck in a long, looping path to get from one attraction to another is welcomed, regardless of how I feel about the end result.

Disney Fourth Quarter Earnings Call Notes - Slow Playing Parks Investment

 

Disney had their fourth quarter (and therefore entire year) earnings call yesterday.  As always, a lot of what is talked about there is dense and numbers heavy, so I don't want to go into too much detail as it relates to the company as a whole.  This blog is focused on Walt Disney World, so I wanted to talk about a couple of things that came up related to the parks, as well as Disney reiterating yet again their plan to "turbocharge" investments into the parks.

In the "Experiences" segment (which is really Parks, Resorts and Experiences - I think the name keeps changing but it means large the same thing), operating income was up year over year.  This is good news!  The parks continue to be Disney's most successful sector, and Bob Iger once again commented on CNBC that the parks are "a great place to place our bets."

After Hours vs. Extended Evening Hours

 

Disney recently announced the return of the popular Disney After Hours parties for dates in early 2024.  I wanted to talk about that here, but also put it in the context of Extended Evening Hours, which are both similar and different from the After Hours events.  We'll compare these and try to answer the age old question of whether one or both of these are "worth it" for the average visitor.

Disney loves to use similar terminology for their different offerings, so let's first be clear about what we're talking about here.  Disney After Hours (DAH) is a paid after party (separate from your daily admission to the parks) where guests can enjoy three hours of late night attractions, with lower crowds (and often much better temperatures).  Extended Evening Hours (EEH) are two hours that can be enjoyed by certain resort guests (which we'll get to below).  This is NOT a separate ticket - the only thing you need to show in this case is proof that you are staying at a qualified resort.  Neither of these offerings are themed, like a Halloween or Christmas party; there was a brief time where DAH had a villains theme, but that went away and had not yet returned, so for our purposes, we're only discussing the original, come as you are After Hours.

Columbus Day Crowd Report

 

Columbus Day (or Indigenous Peoples' Day, as some might call it now) is kind of a sneaky holiday at Disney World.  It's only one day, and not multiple days or an entire week, so most people think it won't be crowded.  But this is often incorrect - Columbus Day usually spikes crowds leading to long lines and frustration among guests.

I haven't done a crowd report in a while, so I thought I would take a look at the crowds from last week, leading up to and beyond Columbus Day.  I wanted to see what the crowd levels were like, how they compared to last year and what this might all mean for the coming, always busy holiday seasons.  I found a few things that surprised me this year, so let's dig into the numbers.