Disney World has a bigger problem than Ron DeSantis: people aren't going

• New data shows that Disney World's crowds this summer are their smallest in years.
• Disney's ongoing feud with Ron DeSantis is certainly a factor.
• But the bigger issue is that the park is too expensive now, especially for young families.

Walt Disney World is billed as the "most magical place on Earth," but based on a growing amount of evidence, it seems like fewer people are spending this summer soaking up the fairy dust. And for all the talk about its parent company's fight with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, it's pretty clear that the park's problems run deeper than a political beef.

Disney execs warned earlier in the year that they expected earnings at their US theme parks to be down this year, but according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the drop-off may be worse than feared. According to data from Touring Plans, a company that tracks major amusement parks, the average wait time for a ride in the flagship Magic Kingdom park on the July 4 holiday was 27 minutes, down 13% from 2022 (31 minutes) and 43% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (47 minutes). It was also the third-slowest day in the last year at Hollywood Studios, despite the park being home to the uber-popular Star Wars attractions. Disney-focused blogs have also been tracking the foot traffic decline for months, posting pictures of near-empty parks and nonexistent lines during major holiday weekends.

Disney's revenue from parks, experiences, and products was up 17% in the second quarter of this year, according to its most recent earnings report. However, that increase was credited to growth at Shanghai Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.

There are plenty of explanations for the slowdown in Disney World visitors — company execs have suggested the decrease is mostly due to a pullback in interest following their successful 50th-anniversary celebration in 2022 and the weather on July 4 was historically hot. The other obvious issue is Disney's ongoing feud with DeSantis. The logic here is fairly clear: conservatives might be less inclined to visit Disney World, there are fewer conventions going to Florida, and it is not hard to imagine that some left-leaning families want to avoid the state at this point. 

Despite the DeSantis dust-up, the park's biggest issue has nothing to do with politics — Disney World is damn expensive.

Disney has raised prices multiple times in the past year and introduced surge and park-specific pricing. That is, the more popular parks and dates will be more expensive than others. This could help to quell the crowd sizes during the busiest times of the year, but it is also not making it any easier for the average family of four to visit the "Happiest Place on Earth," especially as inflation has put the squeeze on many American's pocketbooks.

It's also clear that a cut back on vacationing is not the issue. The number of travelers bouncing around the country over Fourth of July weekend eclipsed pre-pandemic levels — TSA screened a record number of passengers at airports on the Friday before the holiday. As Courtney Garcia, a senior wealth advisor at Payne Capital Management, put it on CNBC's "Fast Money," the data seems to point to a "more of a Disney problem than a travel problem."

"People are traveling," Garcia said. "They are just not going to Disney. Yes, it could be some of the political problems. You are also seeing it is very expensive to go to Disney now. Especially for a family of four or five, it is not always reasonable, especially when inflation is higher."

As costs have squeezed visitors, it seems that Disney is starting to take some notice. According to Business Insider's Samantha Delouya, recently-returned Disney CEO Bob Iger recently began to roll back some of the price increases from the past few years including eliminating some unpopular parking policies and increasing the number of days without surge pricing.

Does Disney have a DeSantis problem? Absolutely. But they also have other issues, and the governor is just one small part of what looks like a perfect storm hovering over the theme parks.