Why Park Attendance is the Latest Signifier of Disney’s Decline

Published: July 14, 2023

Why Park Attendance is the Latest Signifier of Disney’s Decline

By Movieguide® Contributor

Disney’s Independence Day weekend was the slowest in almost a decade; a trend its attendance has seen all summer.

“It’s something that nobody would have predicted – just unfathomable,” Len Testa, a computer scientist who runs Touring Plans told the Wall Street Journal.

The “unfathomable” drop in attendance is a reflection of the decline of the entire company.

In the animated movie department – an area that the company has dominated since its inception a century ago – the media giant has released flop after flop. In total Disney and Disney’s Pixar have lost an estimated $900 million, largely due to the company straying away from its family-friendly values.

The company has fared no better with older audiences. Their reliance on oversaturated IPs, such as Star Wars and Marvel, and overdone storylines has left many fans unsatisfied. As a result, Disney+’s subscriber count has declined by roughly 7 million users this year, the first decline the platform has seen since its release at the beginning of 2020.

The business side of Disney is also struggling with leadership roles needing to be filled and quickfire strategy changes leading to company whiplash. Last month, Disney’s CFO, Christine McCarthy announced she would be stepping away from the company. The CFO position has traditionally been seen as a stepping stone to the CEO position. Her leaving makes it unclear if Disney will need to extend Iger’s CEO contract beyond the initial two-year deal.

Furthermore, the company has recently restructured itself as Iger dismantles the work of former CEO Bob Chapek and breaks up the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution group into three separate divisions.

With failures across the board, it’s no wonder that Disney’s parks are suffering as well. The decline in park attendance is only compounded by Disney losing sight of its audience. Ticket prices have consistently risen over the years, bringing the price to a point that is unaffordable for most multi-children families. Last October, the price of a two-day ticket rose 9% from $255 to $285.

“People might be a little bit fatigued with price increases based on the economy at the moment,” said Stephanie Oprea, senior planner and director of marketing for Pixie Travel, an agency that specializes in Disney vacations. She noted that some clients have considered cruise or beach vacations rather than pay the current price for a Disney parks experience.

To combat the falling attendance numbers, Disney has implemented major discounts to attract more visitors. Their promotions include discounts for return visits and savings of up to 40% on rooms at some Disney World hotels on certain days around Christmas – typically one of the busiest and most expensive times to visit.

These deals, however, have yet to prove effective in regaining visitors. The average wait time at the Magic Kingdom park was 27 minutes during the 4th of July weekend – down from 31 minutes in 2022 and 47 minutes in 2019.

Disney is clearly struggling and would do well to change course. At the heart of the issue is that the company has lost sight of its primary audience: families. The company has instead relied on nostalgia as it seeks to remain in the good graces of millennials and Gen Z. The company would do well to return to its roots rather than continue on its current path leading to the downfall of a much-beloved company.

Movieguide® previously reported:

In its first 100 years, Disney built its brand as being the most family-friendly movie studio and entertainment company in the world. 

However, in the last five years, Disney seems to have forgotten their own brand. Due to pressure from lobbying groups in Hollywood, much of the newer movies have embraced anti-family agendas. Unfortunately, this includes a significant amount of anti-biblical themes. While Disney is trying to promote the narrative that this is the norm,a Gallup pollrevealed that 55% of Americans think it is morally wrong to change your gender. 

Disney’s blatant flaunting of anti-biblical values is causing them to lose customers at the box office. AsMovieguide® previously reported, thecompany lost $900 millionon its last eight releases.  

Among the recent Disney movies containing some anti-family content have been ONWARD, LIGHTYEAR, STRANGE WORLD, THE LITTLE MERMAID, and ELEMENTAL. 

It’s not just the movies. In addition, in the last three years, Disney has told its park greeters to say,“Welcome, Dreamers” instead of the traditional greeting,“Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls.” One park even had a transgender fairy godmother’s assistant wearing a dress and sporting a mustache welcoming family customers in one of its stores. Furthermore, a top Disney executive was quoted in a video as saying that she tries to insert some LGBT content in all of Disney’s entertainment programming. 

This move is also costing the parks money as they cater to nostalgic adults and not families.