Here's the rest of the quote on that website. (Bob Chapek, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, September 10, 2022,
https://insidethemagic.net/2022/09/disney-bob-chapek-gives-unpopular-comments-superfans-ab1d23/, accessed September 11, 2023.)
"Chapek said he recognized that many superfans might see “this as a disadvantage,” but it’s exactly what he felt like he needed to do to treat families who do not visit Disney World often.
“We’ve got to make sure that not only are we heeding the needs of our superfans, but we’re heeding the needs of everyone who travels from across the country one time every five years. We have a real high-class problem: We have much more demand than there is supply. What
we will not bend on is giving somebody a less than stellar experience in the parks because we jammed too many people in there. If we’re going to have that foundational rule, you have to start balancing who you let in. … Our
ticket prices and
constraints we put on how often people can come and when they come is a direct reflection of demand. When is it too much? Demand will tell us when it’s too much.” [Emphasis added.]
Two important points. First, this is proof again they have lowered the maximum capacity. Some earlier bloggers said they lowered it by 17% from 2019. Previous information on the internet indicated in 2019, about 34% of the attendance at WDW were passholders. So, coupled with limiting the number of outstanding annual passes, they might have cut the passholder numbers about in half.
The second point pertains to the constraints they put on how often people can come and when they can come. At WDW, we see that in only Pixie passes currently being on sale for new annual passes. The lawsuit may be impacting their "levers" on the other tool of reservations with two separate buckets. It still leaves open lifting blockout dates and adding bonus days against the number of reservation holds without staying in a Disney owned or other qualified resort (using length of stay exception and, of course, ticket dated reservations.) They could also add afternoon entry.
Other than those two issues, the only other driving force is demand. However, before Disney expands the limiting cap on the number of annual passes outstanding, Disney is likely to use the other levers to achieve the mix they think is working for them.