guest experience

Kaatsheuvel, Friday, 7 November 2025.
Efteling is expanding Winter Efteling to extend evening hours, add refreshed entertainment and winter F&B assortments, and coordinate hotel packages—moves intended to lift per‑capita spend and ADRs while smoothing attendance outside summer peaks. For operators this signals a focused off‑peak yield strategy: longer lighting‑intensive operating windows, targeted capacity and queuing management during peak evening flows, and integrated accommodation packaging that converts day visitors into overnight guests. Operational impacts include revised staffing rotas, higher lighting and energy budgets, curated retail assortments tied to winter IP, and adjusted merchandising velocity for seasonal goods. Local lodging platforms are realigning inventory, suggesting upside in occupancy and average daily rate through packaged offers. For retail and F&B planners, the most intriguing fact is the pivot to evening‑driven demand capture—meaning merchandising, labor, and pricing models should prioritise late‑day spend maximisation. Expect revisiting layout, assortment depth and service models to harvest ancillary revenue across extended operating hours.

Orlando, Wednesday, 10 September 2025.
EPCOT’s 2025 Food & Wine Festival—an 87‑day marquee designed to drive F&B revenue and dwell time—has registered a notable disconnect between expectation and guest experience, with reviews highlighting weaker menu curation, inconsistent pricing elasticity, and underwhelming activations that threaten per‑capita spend. For retail and operations leaders, the most striking signal is reputational risk: steady declines in perceived product quality and experiential coherence can erode long‑term attendance and reduce the festival’s effectiveness as a revenue diversification tool. Critics point to heavy, hot menu choices ill‑suited to Central Florida weather, delayed booth rollouts, and near‑identical decor year over year; yet pockets like Harvest Hollow show that standout vendor execution still lifts guest satisfaction. This matters for contract KPIs, vendor selection cycles, thematic investment and price architecture. Expect discussions—already circulating since last Wednesday—about tightening menu development timelines, reworking activation design, and recalibrating festival ROI to protect park‑level F&B goals.

Paris, Wednesday, 27 August 2025.
Disneyland Paris announced last Monday that Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy will close in October 2025 for a major renovation, reopening in spring 2026. The most notable change: the ride will permanently drop 3D in favour of upgraded 2D projection as projectors are replaced, a shift made after guest feedback. Expect a new artist‑studio queue scene, larger‑than‑life props, refreshed media and updated ride systems aimed at improving immersion, reliability and throughput. For retail and park operators this signals continued investment in IP‑led dark rides in a constrained capex environment — a mid‑life refresh that prioritises targeted technical upgrades over replacement. Short‑term capacity loss will require operational adjustments across the resort, but offers opportunities to pilot AV, projection mapping and vehicle maintenance protocols that could set a regional benchmark. Close coordination between operations, merchandising and guest flow planning will be critical to mitigate revenue and satisfaction impacts during the closure.