Disney World attendance, ride times seem lower this summer. Weather, other reasons may be cause

Excited Disney fans hitting the much-beloved Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando this summer have found joy, wonder, and, at times, a surprising lack of other fans.

A Wall Street Journal article Monday reported tracking from analysts who said traffic to Disney's U.S. theme parks (and some rival parks) have slowed this summer, with the wait times for lines at Walt Disney World significantly lower than usual.

At Disney's Hollywood Studios, home of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, July 4 was the third-slowest day in the past year, according to Touring Plans, a company that tracks wait times at major amusement parks. The average posted wait time at the Magic Kingdom that day was 27 minutes, the Wall Street Journal reported, down from 31 minutes in 2022 and 47 minutes in 2019.

In a recent podcast, the Disney History Institute said that park attendance was down at least 20% from a usual summer.

What's been causing Disney's empty Main Street? Here are some possible reasons.

It's hot. Really hot.

The planet just came off its warmest June on record into an unrelenting heat wave that has blanketed much of the country in July.

On July 4, temperatures in the Orlando-Kissimmee area where Disney World is located hit 96 degrees, just two degrees short of the all-time record, and there was a heat advisory in effect until the evening.

That's an awfully hot time to be walking around with your kids in the blazing sun for 12 hours.

Disney got even more expensive

A USA TODAY analysis of Disney prices last year put the cost of a long weekend at Disney World at $1,859 for a family of four, not counting airfare and anything else they might (almost certainly will) buy, and a LendingTree survey of more than 1,500 consumers found that 18% of those who visited Disney World went into debt for their vacation (although most of them said they didn't regret it). And that was before Disney hiked the prices.

In December, the company raised the price of one-day one-park tickets to the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios for the first time since 2019. Before that, guests paid the same price for all four parks, ranging from $109 to $159. Now one-day park tickets will run you:

• Disney's Animal Kingdom: $109-$159

• EPCOT: $114-$179

• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $124-$179

• Magic Kingdom: $124-$189

Disney notes the top-end $189 Magic Kingdom price is for only nine days between Christmas and New Year's, a peak period for the park, and more than 99% of one-day one-park tickets will cost less than that. Disney also offers discounted plans throughout the year.

The price for most annual passes also increased, and most out-of-state fans can only buy the most expensive one. The plans are:

• Disney Incredi-Pass: $1,399. Admission to one or more parks all year with a reservation, no blockout dates, up to 5 reservations held at a time.

• Disney Sorcerer Pass: $969. Admission to one or more parks with a reservation most of the year, blockout dates apply, up to 5 reservations held at a time, Florida residents and Disney Vacation Club members only

• Disney Pirate Pass: $749. Admission to one or more parks with a reservation most of the year, blockout dates apply, up to 4 reservations held at a time. Florida residents only.

• Disney Pixie Dust Pass: $399. Admission to one or more parks Monday through Friday during certain times of the year with a reservation, blockout dates apply, up to 3 reservations held at a time. Florida residents only.

Park Hopper and Park Hopper Plus passes, which allow you to move between parks after 2 p.m., are now priced variably by date.

Disney CEO Bob Iger dismissed the idea in an interview Thursday on CNBC's Squaw Box, saying, "pricing is not an issue" at the parks and he wasn't concerned.

"One of the things that we addressed as soon as I came back was whether our pricing was right or not and whether our pricing reflected value," Iger told host David Faber. "I don't know when the last time you visited Disney World. I say it's where the Disney brand lives in its most sublime form. I still believe that it's an incredible experience."

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The DeSantis-Disney feud

The ongoing feud between Florida's governor and the Most Magical Place on Earth could be an issue.

After the Wall Street Journal article published, Disneygoers were quick to comment on social media, with many of them blaming Disney for supposedly "grooming" children and catering to LGBTQ+ people, and others blaming Gov. Ron DeSantis for the state's battle against "woke" and laws restricting diversity, the LGBTQ+ community, Black history, immigrants, and Disney itself.

However, Touring reported that wait times went back up at Disney World after July 4, according to the Wall Street Journal, and other amusement parks that were not feuding with the governor saw similar slowdowns on the same day.

There also have been multiple travel advisories issued from various community and advocacy groups such as Equality Florida, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and the NAACP, warning people to be careful in Florida or avoid it entirely for fear of being targeted by Florida's cascade of new laws in recent years restricting trans care and bathroom use, criminalizing drag, banning most abortions, allowing concealed carry without training or permits, eliminating many Black studies from schools and adding the harshest anti-immigration rules in the country.

Does any of that have an effect? It's hard to tell conclusively, but several large conventions recently changed their Florida plans due to the politics in the state.

Fallout from COVID-19 and 'Florida fatigue'

Iger blamed the empty streets not on ticket prices or DeSantis but on the increase in competition after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted outside of Florida.

"This is kind of complicated, but Florida opened up early during COVID. And they created huge demand and didn't have competition because there were a number of other places, states that were not open yet," Iger told CNBC. "So, if you look at the numbers in Florida in 2023 ... versus 2022, where not as much was open, Florida was the only game in town, there's a lot more competition today. So, against 2022, the state of Florida has been down. 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."

With the end of the global COVID-19 health emergency, there's been a rebound in cruise-ship bookings and international travel, according to Daryl Cronk, director of hospitality analytics at STR's parent company, CoStar Group. That may indicate what some call "Florida fatigue" from people who have been coming to Florida as the only game in town the last few years and now want something new.

"As we are moving beyond the COVID pandemic, things that weren't available because of restrictions, limited travel internationally, these things that weren't available for a couple of years are now available, and there is some pent-up demand for those trips," Cronk said. "We're seeing that this summer."

Florida tourism may be down in general

The year started strong, with the highest tourism numbers ever recorded in the first quarter of 2023, but figures compiled by the premiere hotel analytics firm STR show the three most-watched benchmarks — occupancy rates, the average daily rate per room, and revenue per available room — all dropped in April and May in comparison to the same months in 2022. Occupancy rates began their slide in March.

Official tourism numbers for the spring and early summer have not yet been released.

There's no conclusive answer, as some or all of these reasons may be factors. But if you want to enjoy Disney World parks without (as many) crowds, this summer might be the time. Just stay in the shade.

Contributors: Eve Chen, USA TODAY; Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Disney in Orlando: Traffic's down, but DeSantis may not be the reason