Does Disney Have an Overcrowding Problem?
“Nobody Goes There Anymore. It’s Too Crowded.”
Yogi Berra said this decades ago, but he might as well have gazed into a crystal ball and spoken of Disney.
During Easter Week, the unthinkable occurred. Disney Genie+ sold out at Disneyland and Walt Disney World!
This feat occurred despite record-setting prices for Disney Genie+. Not that long ago, people lamented that the price cost $15-$20 plus tax per day.
Now, people willingly pay $35 without hesitation. The worst part involves the purpose of Disney Genie+, which management implemented as a form of crowd control.
The fascinating truth is that Disney’s American parks are overflowing with guests.
Does Disney have an overcrowding problem? And what can Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro do to solve the issue?
What Are the Signs of the Problem?
You need to look no further than Easter 2023 crowds at Disney theme parks to understand the emerging problem.
Disney theme parks have sustained their popularity since the Happiest Place on Earth opened in 1955.
Since Walt Disney World joined the lineup in 1971, Disney has hosted the premier theme park destinations in the Western Hemisphere.
The Field of Dreams adage, “If you believe it, they will come,” might as well be Disney’s marketing slogan.
Throughout the decades, families have made a pilgrimage to Disney theme parks.
Parents have passed their love down to their children, who have, in turn, done the same with their kids.
I vividly recall moments from my first Disney visit, just as I remember interactions with other family members during theirs.
No matter what some critics would have you believe, Disney theme parks remain a source of unbridled enthusiasm for children of all ages.
The recent crowds underscore this point.
Before the pandemic, Walt Disney World claimed its largest monthly attendance ever for January 2020 and again for February 2020.
In the wake of COVID-19, many wondered whether people would ever perceive theme parks the same way again.
After all, we spent multiple years avoiding social gatherings. Could people put those considerations behind them once the pandemic ended?
We all know the answer is absolutely yes. So-called revenge travel dominated the tourism industry in 2022.
During the first quarter of 2023, Disney parks are, if anything, more crowded than ever…and that’s occurred despite management taking steps to prevent it.
Park officials prioritize guest surveys in determining customer satisfaction. Survey scores drop the most when people face larger crowds.
MickeyBlog chronicled Easter Week at Walt Disney World, with people seemingly everywhere.
What Is Doing Doing to Control Overcrowding?
Images from the parks can be misleading. That rarely happens, but let’s allow for the possibility that our eyes can trick us.
If we focus on the analytics, we hear much of the same story regarding Disney parks.
During Easter Week, Disney Genie+ cost more than ever. In February, we’d marveled when guests paid $29 for the service.
Less than two months later, Disney charged $35 plus tax for the service, a 21 percent increase.
Folks, Disney Genie+ sold out several consecutive days…and faster than ever.
Park guests didn’t even blink at the higher prices. They determined they wanted to stand in shorter attraction queues and happily paid more for the privilege.
Similarly, the individual Lightning Lanes for various attractions sold out on most dates during Easter Week.
Disney charges $12-$25 for guaranteed rides on its most popular attractions. During Easter Week, all five rides sold out often.
Remarkably, the same statement applies at Disneyland Park as well. It sold out its Disney Genie+ allotment during Easter Week as well.
Park officials have taken steps to control crowds via pricing measures.
Consumers don’t care, as more than half of guests buy Disney Genie+ anyway.
The parks are more crowded than ever, but it’s not deterring guests.
In fact, Disney has restored annual pass sales at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Disneyland’s Magic Key program has sold out several tiers of its annual passes multiple times.
Disney will place the passes back on sale, and guests will scarf them up within weeks if not days.
Other Approaches to Crowd Control
Historically, Disney has employed park expansion as a means of controlling crowd levels.
Park planners perform this tactic so gradually you’ve barely even noticed.
For example, Disney started the 2010s by improving one of Magic Kingdom’s most essential themed lands.
Disney closed some iconic attractions like Snow White’s Scary Adventures to rebuild New Fantasyland with an E-ticket attraction, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
In the process, Disney reinvigorated a wide swath of Magic Kingdom. History has recently repeated itself at Tomorrowland.
The recent arrival of Tron Lightcycle / Run signifies the completion of the modernization of this themed land.
Executives methodically attack the various parks in this manner. I can point to a recent example at every American Disney theme park!
- Disney California Adventure – Avengers Campus
- Disneyland Park – Mickey’s Toontown
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Pandora – The World of Avatar
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Toy Story and Star Wars Land
- EPCOT – the revitalization of Future World
EPCOT exemplifies this process. Disney split Future World into World Discovery, World Nature, and World Celebration.
Simultaneously, the park has added three attractions: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Journey of Water | Inspired by Moana.
Effectively, Disney calculates its most overcrowded or underachieving park. Then, Imagineers expand the park to enhance its appeal.
In the process, Disney provides park guests with more room to maneuver.
Lately, even this strategy has reached a point of diminishing returns. No matter how much Disney adds, voracious guests still want more.
In 2023, Disney has introduced a new wrinkle. It has added character interactions to siphon traffic away from attraction queues.
That’s a stopgap measure, though. We all know what Disney really needs…
Park Expansion
At this point, Disney only possesses one tool in its toolbox to solve the current overcrowding problem.
Park expansion is a must.
I’m not equivocating here because we’re past that point. Park officials have used smoke and mirrors to maximize attendance.
Since everyone has done their job so effectively, Disneyland and Walt Disney World have run out of room. That’s not just me saying that, either.
Bob Iger has recently acknowledged the truth. First, he pointed out that Disneyland Resort claimed more expansion space than most realize.
Then, Iger committed Disney to spend $17 billion over the next decade at Walt Disney World alone.
I can spare you the math here. Even if Disney built a bunch of rides that cost $200 million each, that’d still be 85 of them.
For that kind of money, Disney could expand Animal Kingdom with the proposed Moana/Zootopia themed lands and add to Magic Kingdom.
Even after that, park officials would still have $10 billion. So, Disney is thinking in grander terms here.
Walt Disney World appears almost certain to gain a fifth park over the next decade unless government officials screw this up for the rest of us.
That’s the ultimate solution to overcrowding at Walt Disney World. A new park removes thousands of guests from each of the other parks each day.
So, this problem comes with an answer that will please everyone. Unfortunately, it will take a while, though.
Remember that Disney needed seven years for Pandora – The World of Avatar. You can imagine how much time Imagineers would spend on a fifth park.
Until then, we’re all just gonna have to grin and bear it at the other parks.
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