‘Not Normal’ Disney World Crowd Size Draws Response From CEO

A sign near an entranceway to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., on May 22, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Disney CEO Bob Iger responded to reports showing that Disney World’s wait times for rides and attractions have dropped this summer, suggesting that fewer people are going to the theme park.

In a comment to CNBC this week, Mr. Iger was asked about the trend, and he attributed it to an overall slump in tourism to Central Florida, where the theme park is located.

“Florida opened up early during COVID and created huge demand, and didn’t have competition because there were a number of other places, states, that were not open yet,” he said Thursday. If you look at the numbers in Florida in 2023 … versus 2022, where not as much was open, and Florida was the only game in town, there is a lot more competition today,” he added.

However, data has shown that lines for attractions at Disney’s most-visited park have gotten increasingly shorter, according to the Wall Street Journal. The average wait time dropped from 47 minutes per ride in 2019 to 31 minutes per ride in 2022, the report said. And for 2023, the wait times dropped to 27 minutes per ride and attraction.

When asked about the feud between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Mr. Iger implied that it did not factor into attendance. “No,” the executive said. “We see no sign of that at all.”

Disney has been embroiled in a legal and political fight with Mr. DeSantis that was, in part, triggered by the company’s vocal opposition to a bill that bans discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. The company has also faced streaming losses, and its stock was recently downgraded in part due to fears of lower attendance at its Disney World and Disneyland theme parks.

Mr. Iger also claimed that the WSJ’s recent report did not take into account Central Florida’s weather. The temperatures, he said, rises “to about 100 degrees and 99 percent humidity” during the summer months. It means that recent figures for the Fourth of July wait times published by the paper aren’t fully “accurate” year-over-year because it measures only a single day, he said.

“We do not have long-term concerns about that business,” Mr. Iger added of the Orlando resort.  “We actually track hotel tax revenue across the state, which is a matter of public record, and there are counties in Florida that have been down 6, 7 percent recently,” he also told CNBC.

For July, data from Thrill Data reported that the average Disney World wait time is about 33 minutes, or one of the shortest wait periods of any month since last January. Generally, the summer months are the high season for Disney parks.

‘Not Normal’

While Mr. Iger and other Disney executives have said they expect weaker performance from their U.S. theme parks this year, the recent attendance numbers suggest reality could be even worse than pessimistic predictions.

“This is not normal. These are not peak summer crowds. These are shockingly low crowds,” wrote Becky Gandillion of Touring Plans in a blog post in which she detailed some of the dismal data. “Let’s face it. If this weekend didn’t turn crowds around at Walt Disney World … crowds aren’t going to turn around,” Ms. Gandillion wrote. “All signs point to this continuing in the short and long term.”

The WSJ also interviewed people who went to Disney World, and one woman told the paper that she “couldn’t believe how light the crowds were” during the Fourth of July holiday.

Kayla Pareti, a content creator who focuses on Disney-themed content and a travel agent for a Disney-related travel agency, also told CNN that the crowds were similarly light.

“It was a Saturday before Fourth of July, which is a major holiday. You’re expecting a lot of crowds, and it was just crazy that nobody was there,” she told CNN.

“Usually, when you walk into the park, they have Hollywood Boulevard, which is like the main thoroughfare, and it’s usually packed with people,” Ms. Pareti continued to say. “At one point around noon, I turned around and no one was on the street. It was just a strange sight to see,” she added.

In the interview, Ms. Pareti suggested she spends a considerable amount of time at Disney’s parks. “For a year and a half after COVID, any time was a busy time,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, people are still coming, but it’s not anywhere near where it was.”

It comes also as Disney recently increased the price for one-day tickets at its Orlando theme parks from about $109 to between $124 and $189 depending on the date and demand for that day, according to reports. The company also increased the prices of its various yearly passes.

The relatively low attendance comes as Disney recently announced layoffs at ESPN several weeks ago, including severing ties with a number of on-air personalities. Investment company KeyBanc Capital Markets also recently lowered Disney’s rating from overweight to sector weight.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.