I was just watching the news and.......

[lvs_eeyore]

They said that Disney's profits are down one hundred million dollars from this time last year due to the economy. They said in essence that they don't expect profits to go back up until the economy gets much better and people begin to feel very secure that it will stay that way. They also said that it's not just Disney that's feeling it. Also mentioned was Universal and Vegas.

 

[Testtrack321]

Guess who is actualy incressing in attendence. The close to your home amusement parks like Cedar Fair's parks and Six Flag's parks.

 

[MickeyMoose15]

WDW attendance is down a bit this year because of the weak economy.

 

[Mr D]

I wonder what the attendance figures were for Tokyo DisneySea was for today, they did open this morning to the general public because its tomorrow there (sept. 4th)

 

[ozmo19]

SeaWorld in Orlando is running on-track to have a record breaking year with attendance, too. Besides the economy have slowed down, you might start to see that people are reevaulating the astronomical cost to visit WDW now. Many folks feel personally secure during the slowdown, but some might be just thinking a little more about how much the cost is and if it isn't worth the trip anylonger. As for attendance, we live in Orlando, and used to visit the parks at least twice a week. There's nothing new, things are closed, hours are short, and the parks are beginning to be unkept in many ways. We don't go but every few weeks now. That type of loss of visitor affects the attendance as well.

 

[dmermod]

I'm not an economics major or anything - but perhaps if Mr. Eisner lowered the prices a bit on the parks, wouldn't more people attend, bringing more money into the park?

We'd all love to see that wouldn't we

Cheers

 

[Laurajean1014]

Friends just back from WDW and they said that people were everywhere and it was crowded! They were also buying everything in sight! Guess, the recession is taking longer to hit WDW!

Don't believe everything you read, unless your on these boards.......

 

[Safari Steve]

SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa have the highest single-day admission cost in FL. Their recent price hike to 51.85 prompted the most recent price increase at WDW and UO. WDW's ticket is less than a dollar cheaper than Seaworld's... but cheaper nonetheless.

 

[DreamingofDisney]

Don't forget that they are comparing these revenue numbers to last year's numbers. The Millennium (sp?) Celebration was a huge success $$wise, so I think it would be tough to out do a showing like that, slow economy or not. But yes, the economy has slowed. The buzz here is all about Compaq & HP merging. Jobs are now going to be lost in our backyard and that's when this all gets a bit scary.

 

[fklhou]

Look at this article for more information on Disney. . http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-asecdisney29082901aug29.story?coll=orl-home-headline Disney is indeed suffering due to the economy.

 

[KnightsQwn]

Well, I went to one of the "neighborhood" parks and I will DEFINATELY be doing DISNEY from now on only.

Disney spoils us, so, if they suffer now, the folks that go to the lesser parks will be back.

Nobody does it like Disney/

 

[johare]

Yep, Disney is doing so well that they have to fire 6 dock workers who previously handled the friendship boats.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-biz-boats090701.story?coll=orl%2Dbusiness%2Dheadlines

 

[MickeyMoose15]

Dino-Rama area is a kiddie area to get families to go there. Paul Pressler said in an interview that a new E-Ticket attraction is planned for 2004 but no word yet on any new land.

They don't talk to cast members about anything till about a week or a couple of days before it is official.

 

[JeffH]

Disney hasn't done much positive in the past few years

If this is how you see it, they nothing Disney could ever do will ever be positive to you.
Considering the following has been done in the past few years at WDW:
The highly successful Millenium Celebration at Epcot (which is the main reason that attendance is down from last year, because last year was very successful) added:
Tapestry of Nations and Reflections of Earth.
The (Food/Wine & Flower/Garden) Festivals at Epcot have gotten bigger and better every year, such events that we have made single day trips to Epcot just to enjoy them.
The LIVE entertainment has increased (in Epcot and throughout the world), including the 2 Lord Flatly runs and this years Blast!

Additional hours at MGM to accomodate the addition of the fantastic Fantamic (our favorite attraction in all of WDW), along with the 1st true thrill ride at WDW, Rock and Roller Coaster, and one of Tasha's favorite Bear in the Big Blue House.

The Pooh and Buzz additions at the MK have been extremely successful, as was the return of the Main Street Electical parade, and Aladdin and the new Tiki Birds are 2 of Tasha's favorite attractions.

The expansion of character meals and the great value all you can eat meals and buffets, have made WDW an eaters delight.

Then, of course, AK opened only a few years ago (our favorite park), which with the live shows and intense landscaping inspire us to return over and over again.

But it seems that you conveniently choose to ignore these, or have declared them unworthy of your praise.

(those in Car #1) thought Disney was the most wonderful magical place on earth and agreed with everything they are doing?

I'm in car #1, think WDW is the most wonderful magical place on Earth, yet DON'T agree with everything they are doing (no one is perfect), in fact I speak out whenever I feel something is wrong/bad, and even have posted 'how WDW could be better' on my own Disney webpage. But just because JitYI sucks doesn't mean that everything else at Epcot does as well.

Disney is hoping that Dino-Rama is a quick bandaid for a park sorely in need of help.

No, Dino-Rama is Disney adding a few C and D rides to what was basically an E attraction filled park so far. Disney parks have typically been filled with A-E attractions, but have most recently only been adding E attractions. Now that they have finally gotten around to adding a few 'minor' B-D attractions, is not a negative thing.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy...another parade! How wonderful. Disney can never have enough parades.

Disney has always had parades, kids love parades, people gather thickly to see them, parades are 'events' that people make it a point to see. People who don't care for parades usually love them as well because they have the park to themselves while everyone else is lined up for them. I guess you can't appreciate them from either angle? We plan to try to see 3 (new) parades in one day on 9/29, because Tasha loves parades.

I just bought tickets for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party.

I just got ours in the mail (along with our MVMCP tix), last weekend, we will be there 10/26, Tasha will probably be dressed as Kida and I might try to fit into my Starfleet uniform once again.

Sure, there will always be things that we can complain about, but nothing deserves the complete condemnation of WDW and/or Eisner.

 

[MickeyMoose15]

Almost every year Disney does something positive......except replace a old attraction with a character meet and greet.

 

[dmermod]

Why do people insist that park attendance is down due to the way Disney is presenting itself. Thats about as lame as saying "Everyone stand by me and don't buy gas for 1 week, that way we can drive the gasoline prices down". Have any of you naysayers actually read a newspaper that doesn't deal with local events.

Sure, Mike Eisner is in it for the money. Isn't he the CEO of one of the biggest corporations in the world. By the way if you don't like Disney, don't be watching ESPN, or watching cartoons in the morning, or turning on the news in the evening (cause it's pretty much all owned by Disney). Anybody ever decide to send Disney a letter written with more than a few syllable words in it to express their concerns? Naw, it's pretty safe to say that you folks just like irritating us folks and walking away afterwards (smack that beehive).

Park attendance is down due to the thousands of people who are being laid off, or cut back or salaries reduced to save business across the nation (jeez even globally, read anything about Toshiba lately).

Also - when was the last time we had a .35 cheesburger. It's the same principle folks. Park costs were about $20 bucks years ago. Now they're up - jeez, live with it.

Johare - nobody wants everyone to be the same. But you might be happier over at one of the following newsgroups, they all speak your language:

alt.disney.criticism
alt.disney.sucks
alt.disney.the-evil-empire

As for me - I'm happy as a lark nowing I can get onto any Disney property I want, whenenver I want, with whomever I want.

And all you naysayers are just jealous !! (neener, neener, foo-foo - raspberries abound!!!)

Cheers

 

[MickeyMoose15]

Attendance is down because the economy is down and many people are losing their jobs, so they want to be careful with their money.

 

[johare]

JeffH,

That's the BEST you can come up with? Pooh, Buzz, Tapestry of Nations, Flower Festivals, R&R Coaster, Extra hours at MGM, new Tiki Birds?!? and Aladdin?!? You MUST be joking! None of these lame attractions deserve any praise whatsover. The only possible exceptions in my opinon are Buzz which is amusing, though hardly innovative and R&R which is also fun, but uses darkness in place of theming. Disney can and hopefully will do much better than this in the future.

I'm in car #1, think WDW is the most wonderful magical place on Earth

I think car #1 is driving right into a blinding sunset.

No, Dino-Rama is Disney adding a few C and D rides to what was basically an E attraction filled park so far

Dino-Rama is not adding C and D rides, they are adding cheap carnival rides. There's a big difference. Look at the C & D rides of the past.

I just got ours in the mail (along with our MVMCP tix), last weekend, we will be there 10/26

Uh oh, that's the same day we will be there. Unfortunately we are skipping MVMCP for the first time this year.

Attendance is down because the economy is down and many people are losing their jobs, so they want to be careful with their money.

Strange...the other parks haven't been affected as much as Disney. The Disney spin machine would like everyone to believe otherwise. While the economy has had some impact on attendance, the truth is that Disney has brought it upon themselves.

 

[JeffH]

That's the BEST you can come up with? Pooh, Buzz, Tapestry of Nations, Flower Festivals, R&R Coaster, Extra hours at MGM, new Tiki Birds?!? and Aladdin?!?

All were/are excellent minor (R&RC major) additions to the parks, in the same vein as Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Snow White (which you must also think are jokes and deserve no praise).
And if they were to add a spectacular high-tech ride in Fantasyland, all the 'old' rides would then seem very dated.
Note: there is more theming in R&RC than Space Mountain (which has hardly any theming, just darkness), so I guess it is lame as well.

quotes:
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Attendance is down because the economy is down and many people are losing their jobs, so they want to be careful with their money.
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Strange...the other parks haven't been affected as much as Disney. The Disney spin machine would like everyone to believe otherwise. While the economy has had some impact on attendance, the truth is that Disney has brought it upon themselves
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NO, attendance is down this year because attendance was WAY UP last year as a result of the Millenium Celebration which packed Epcot.

 

[MickeyMoose15]

GO JEFF!!!!! GO JEFF!!!!