Season of A Million Cutbacks

I don't know. It seems like Disney cuts the little things that people enjoy but don't make a big impact on your trip just because it isn't enough to make people quit coming back. Less bang for your buck but not enough to really be noticed. Is attendance really down or is that just an excuse?

"Move It! Shake It! MousekeDance It! Street Party" will be the street party replacement beginning January 18, 2019.

Other new 2019 entertainment announced here; although nothing else appears to be a "replacement" of the other offerings ending in September.

now that they agreed to pay $15 an hour, they need the cuts to offset the cost..so Streetmosphere, Rivers of Life actor, Rafiki's Planet Watch closing so less CM needed. Illuminations ending..fireworks cost a lot and the replacement might be something that can be reused...

Altair;2518033 wrote: Goodbye Dorma Nesmond, Paige Turner, Dara Vamp and Officer Prime Brody are the ones leaving, you will be missed maybe you can become storm troopers.The Citizens of Hollywood were also very fun to interact with and gave great photo ops. All will be missed. :down:

Yeah, WDW has to make more room for storm troopers. Disney buying Marvel and SW irks me between what its done to the parks, and then mediocre (at best) films.

Cinderelley;2518035 wrote: Sounds like poor planning.

Well, that and still settling into their choices they've made. I expect they forecast this, and many of these decisions were on the horizon a long time ago.

waymickey;2518038 wrote: I find that some people I speak to are waiting for Star Wars to open. And some are priced out since they have a larger family; 5 or more.

I think that's it. SW, along w/ other aspects of Disney, has made us examine the destinations of our next several vacations.

waymickey;2518038 wrote: I find that some people I speak to are waiting for Star Wars to open. And some are priced out since they have a larger family; 5 or more.

This is us as a large family.

We used to go to Disney every year when we lived in Texas. The last trip we made, our kids were 11, 10, 4, and 3. Then, we moved to Orlando and lived close enough we could see the fireworks every night. We were annual passholders, everything was great. We moved to Kansas last year and just started planning a trip for January to see friends and go back to Disney.

I was blown away by the price. Granted, our kids are now 17, 16, 10, and 9, so I'm paying for five "adults", but still. Yikes.

OK, update... some operational cuts have been made, may not be noticeable with guests... front line cast member cuts were scheduled, but I havent heard anything too drastic or if they been implemented... Other cuts are being proposed and looked into but haven't been put into action yet... And may not..

I still think once the holiday season starts (week before and of Thanksgiving through New Year's) attendance will tick up despite being told projections still are for attendance being low...

I will be in WDW starting Monday so I will see first hand how the crowds are...

DizneyFreak2002;2518012 wrote: Disney projects a decrease in fall attendance.... Due to these projections and the purchase of Fox, several cutbacks are being made across the resort... Instead of many threads, I will list all operational cutbacks due to the reduced fall attendance projections here:

CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW'S PIRATE TUTORIAL - Magic Kingdom will end on September 29th

RAFIKI'S PLANET WATCH - Animal Kingdom will "go seasonal" beginning September 30th 2018

CITIZENS OF HOLLYWOOD - Disney's Hollywood Studios will be eliminated or drastically reduced starting September 29th... At the moment, at least 4 members of the Citizens have been released from their contracts...

MOVE IT! SHAKE IT! CELEBRATE IT! - Magic Kingdom will end on December 1, 2018... I listed this here because this is a cut, but I believe something new is being worked on... But since it is several months out before a replacement happens, I'll call this a cut because there is no reason this cannot run despite being one of the most hated forms on entertainment in the Disney fan community...

There are rumors of other cutbacks happening, but cannot confirm them at the moment... If anything else is confirmed or changes, I will update this thread as necessary....

None of these are much of a loss or going to really affect attendance. The bigger turn off for me is the massive amount of construction going on to get ready for Star Wars. So while this year attendance may dip, once Galaxy’s Edge opens it is going to surge to record breaking highs.

CaptSmee;2519163 wrote: None of these are much of a loss or going to really affect attendance. The bigger turn off for me is the massive amount of construction going on to get ready for Star Wars. So while this year attendance may dip, once Galaxy’s Edge opens it is going to surge to record breaking highs.

I think the consensus among us here is that if there is a downturn in attendance, it would be because most people are waiting for Galaxy's Edge... December 2019, not the time to visit....

And BTW, if attendance is down, I'd like to know where... While I didn't find the parks totally crowded, I still found huge crowds everywhere... But, projections called for a slow down... I didn't see it though...

DizneyFreak2002;2519181 wrote: I think the consensus among us here is that if there is a downturn in attendance, it would be because most people are waiting for Galaxy's Edge... December 2019, not the time to visit....

And BTW, if attendance is down, I'd like to know where... While I didn't find the parks totally crowded, I still found huge crowds everywhere... But, projections called for a slow down... I didn't see it though...

Yes, I've heard the same that lines aren't exactly short. I know October is usually a busy month and I think this is "Jersey Week." We went late August and while it was super hot, didn't feel that lines (outside of TSL) were that bad. Glad to hear you had a good trip.

I wonder what they base their projections on? How many hotel rooms are booked? If so, are more people just staying offsite, so there are really more people at the parks than their room bookings suggested?

The price isn't keeping us away, nor are the cutbacks on things like the Streetmosphere actors. Things change with the times and can't stay the same. I'll miss many things, like I miss Mulch, Sweat, and Shears, but I'm fine with Disney making changes.

We're just not going back for a while because of other things we want to do. As a family, we've changed with the times as well. We want to see National Parks. We want to see Harry Potter at Universal. We want to go to Disneyland. We want to go to Hawai'i and Alaska, maybe the UK and/or Iceland. Can't do all of those things AND do WDW. Plus, in a few months, I'll have two kids in post-High School education situations...one in Idaho and one in Texas (and we live in Virginia).

Our annual trips to WDW lasted almost 20 years, and we have many fond memories of them. And we know we'll be back at some point. But we're not going to go as often as we used to. We've just changed.

baldburke;2519187 wrote: Yes, I've heard the same that lines aren't exactly short. I know October is usually a busy month and I think this is "Jersey Week." We went late August and while it was super hot, didn't feel that lines (outside of TSL) were that bad. Glad to hear you had a good trip.

I don't think this is Jersey Week... Maybe next week???

I didn't find the parks overly busy... But some of the wait times were high for crowd level... And I know Disney exaggerates the wait time, but I did legit wait 60 minutes for Slinky Dog while the posted wait time was 60 minutes.... Other rides has wait times like 25/30 minutes when normally they are walk on...

And thank you!!! I really did have a fun time...

DizneyFreak2002;2519214 wrote: I don't think this is Jersey Week... Maybe next week???

I didn't find the parks overly busy... But some of the wait times were high for crowd level... And I know Disney exaggerates the wait time, but I did legit wait 60 minutes for Slinky Dog while the posted wait time was 60 minutes.... Other rides has wait times like 25/30 minutes when normally they are walk on...

And thank you!!! I really did have a fun time...

For most Disney attractions, I consider anything with a posted wait of 30 minutes or less as 'walk on'...

Cinderelley;2519194 wrote: I wonder what they base their projections on? How many hotel rooms are booked? If so, are more people just staying offsite, so there are really more people at the parks than their room bookings suggested?

You know that wonderful little app called My Disney Experience??? There ya go!!! That is where they get their numbers from... They see hotel bookings, they get FP plus booking numbers, they see how many ADRs are made, they see theme park tickets sold... They can project from the data received from My Disney Experience...

I really do believe their theme park ticket sales are projecting downward... Or were projecting downward... I also believe that is why we started seeing the operational cuts... Believe me when I tell you there were more cuts on the table, and still are, just waiting to be given the green light...

Let us remember, Disney can be crowded and still see a drop in attendance... Huge numbers go to WDW, so even a drop of, say 10,000 is a lot for their books, it is chump change compared to the millions who show up yearly... And i just made that 10,000 number up... I don't know how much they projected down their attendance...

azcavalier;2519204 wrote: The price isn't keeping us away, nor are the cutbacks on things like the Streetmosphere actors. Things change with the times and can't stay the same. I'll miss many things, like I miss Mulch, Sweat, and Shears, but I'm fine with Disney making changes.

We're just not going back for a while because of other things we want to do. As a family, we've changed with the times as well. We want to see National Parks. We want to see Harry Potter at Universal. We want to go to Disneyland. We want to go to Hawai'i and Alaska, maybe the UK and/or Iceland. Can't do all of those things AND do WDW. Plus, in a few months, I'll have two kids in post-High School education situations...one in Idaho and one in Texas (and we live in Virginia).

Our annual trips to WDW lasted almost 20 years, and we have many fond memories of them. And we know we'll be back at some point. But we're not going to go as often as we used to. We've just changed.

Sooner or later the price will keep people from going, but what is that price??? They obviously haven't hit the ceiling yet... And the cut backs, nah, these cutbacks aren't going to keep people from going either... Most first timers wouldn't even know they were cut... The regulars, the APers, DVCers, they would notice the cutbacks... And even then, these cuts wouldn't stop people from going...