Looking at the lasts quarters results press release it says:
Well .............. (and this comes from a long time stockholder) ......... they carefully craft these releases to their advantage, with truths, but not necessarily the full truth. This statement was quite true about
Disneyland ... but they use the term "domestic parks" ..... to imply it includes WDW but not for a nano second do I believe the decrease in volume spent was due to lower attendance. Being in the parks about every 2-3 months .... there is nothing about low attendance happening at WDW. If it were then the attraction lines wouldn't be so long, the food lines wouldn't be so long, walkways wouldn't be hard to navigate, the FastPasses wouldn't be gone so fast, the upsell events wouldn't be so crowded .... Disney World is crowded to the point that it's ticket value is decreasing .... and I have always been firm in my belief that the ticket prices were appropriate. SWGE opens ........... there won't be a CM who isn't exhausted at the end of the day ............
........... except perhaps the Merchandise CMs and I do agree with perhaps the spending is down there. And that is a problem because that money is critical to profits. Chapek has been slowly turning Disney parks into big DisMarts - where so much of the merchandise is unoriginal and repetitive. They take the same object, change the character and put it on the shelves. We are at the point where we can buy so much of the same merchandise at stores, online or ebay so why would we pay the overinflated prices in the parks. Another reason merchandise sales might be down .............. who has time to shop when you are standing in lines all day just trying to make your ticket have value? I know the last few visits I walk right up to pay for merchandise, no wait, and usually have several CMs to help me. Not a good sign.
There is attendance - which can be linked to spending in terms of tickets.
But in terms of Disney hotels, dining and merchandise ... that is all optional and it wouldn't surprise me if folks are tired of the inflated prices and planning their trips in a way to give Disney as little as possible. I do.
I know my last trip - 7 days in parks.
Hotel offsite including breakfast.
Had AP tickets.
2 Table Service Meals (LTT lunch/Sci Fi with TiW Discount).
3 Quick Service Meals (PizzeRizzo, BOG, Satuli)
A few snacks and cokes.
All other meals offsite; food I brought to hotel or fast food.
Villains Disney After Hours
3 Iluminations Tshirts, 2 Ornaments, 1 Hat (AP Discount).
1 DAH Tshirt (AP Discount).
Note we purchased Specialty Items only.
I didn't spend much because of their prices.