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.
