Disney Parks Are More Empty Now Than During The Pandemic Due To Company's Latest Policies

Both Walt Disney World and Disneyland have not been seeing the sales they’ve wanted, seeing record-low sales to the park that many have attested to the disparagingly high cost of entry for the amusement parks. 

New data from analysis firm Touring Plans show that the Disney Parks, as well as all U.S. parks, have been seeing lower crowds, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The data isn’t entirely based on ticket sales but instead uses information on wait times that are posted on the Disney Park mobile apps. Using the average wait time throughout the day, they were able to find the disappointing information for the entertainment empire. 

According to the data, the average wait time for a ride in the Magic Kingdom was 47 minutes in 2019, dropping down to 31 minutes in 2022 because of the pandemic. This year has seen even lower wait times despite the pandemic no longer being an issue, with the average wait time of 2023 being only 27 minutes. All other parks followed similar trends according to Touring Plans. 

Even holidays can’t save the park with Hollywood Studios, a park that features Star Wars-themed attractions, seeing its third-slowest day of the entire year on the Fourth of July. 

Many are connecting the extremely high ticket prices to the smaller attendance, though other aspects like the Florida heat and other more notable destinations are some of the other possible reasons for the low attendance. 

CEO Bob Iger has attempted to make amends for the low park sales as well as the numerous other failures of the Walt Disney Company during his time away from the helm. The park is lowering the number of days where they charge its highest ticket price, $179 for adults, and increasing the number of days it offers its lowest ticket price, $104 for adults. The company has also removed the parking fee for those who come from Disney-run hotels. 

Despite the lower wait times in 2022, the park was still able to reel in higher profits than during the pre-pandemic days. According to the New York Post, in 2019, the parks were able to earn $26.2 billion in total with $6.8 billion in profit. In contrast, Disney theme parks pulled in $28.7 billion total in 2022, showing $7.9 billion in profit.

Things don’t look good for Disney. Even with the higher profits in 2022 compared to 2019, 2023 is looking to be even lower than 2022 alongside the current price drops. The elements are looking to produce an overall disappointing fiscal year for the Disney parks though only time will tell if it’s the case.