Monday, April 13, 2009

Claustrophobics Need Not Apply

Many have been speculating about Disney’s financial acrobatics during the current state of the economy lately. With quite a few number of unfortunate cut backs throughout the parks, as well as the incredible deals and vacation packages Disney has been offering recently, a lot of folks have been thinking that Disney wasn’t economically bullet proof. While that may be true, Disney is most certainly not taking as hard a hit as we once where lead to believe. Pictured below is an example at how well Disney is in fact doing with having people in their parks.Animal Kingdom crowds This photo was taken a week ago on April 6th, 2009. It was a little after 12pm. The crowd you see is a mix between the dump out of the 11:30am performance of Finding Nemo – The Musical and the queue line for the 1pm performance. As you may know, this is my favorite show at any of the parks, and actually my favorite attraction at Animal Kingdom. So bare with me while I divulge for you some numbers about the show.

During normal seasons at WDW, they’ll show 5 performances at the following show times: 10am, 11:30am, 1:45pm, 3:15pm, and 4:45pm. During peak seasons, which with Spring Break and Easter, is no doubt is in full swing now, they’ll show 6 performances. These show times are slightly different however, since the park is open later. (also due to peak season). The peak show times are as follows: 11:30am, 1pm, 3:15pm, 4:45pm, 6pm and 7:15pm.

On that same day the photo above was taken, Disney did something for the first time that I had never heard of before. They actually had an Extra Magic Hours performance of the show at 10pm! Extra Magic Hours have been benefiting resort guests for a few years now. As far as I know, they’ve only kept attractions, shops, and restaurants open for guests during EMH evenings. With the popularity of Finding Nemo – The Musical, it doesn’t really surprise me that it would be the first stage show to be included in the EMH repertoire.

The Theatre in the Wild has a capacity of 1,700 people. The total count of people who where lucky enough to see the best show on property last week was a bit over 10,000! That means the theatre was filled to capacity for nearly every performance. I have so much love and respect to everyone at the show. From the ushers, to managers, cast and crew, everybody does such a spectacular job at pulling off such an amazing show every time.

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