So why is Disney making so many cuts?

[jerry557]

They are outsourcing the bell services...
They are raising park prices across the board...
They are gutting the Dining Plan...

Yet just last month they published big profits, and attendance at the parks is way up this year.

It's seems Disney is on a spree to save money in every possible place they can.
Are they expecting attendance to drop next year? Or is this Iger's way to get a pat on the back from the stockholders to inflate the bottom line?

I think Universal is going to get an increase in visitors next year. There will be a point eventually where people are going to crunch the numbers and figure that Disney is just not a good value anymore.

 

[EUROPACL]

Do you think money for great ideas like Underdog, Caveman TV or buying back people you fired years ago grows on trees? It comes from that ATM machine they call WDW...and right now that ATM machine is on minimum investment and maintenance.

 

[raidermatt]

Well, let's do the math.

Disney tells Wall Street it wants to achieve double-digit growth.

Attendance at WDW was up 4% last quarter, and it was flat at DL.

To get 10% growth, or even 5%, you're going to have to make more (or spend less) in other areas to make up the gap.

How do you do that? Gut the dining plan. Raise ticket prices. Whatever it takes to hit that number.

 

[schmitty]

There doing alot of repairs on things so money is going there. Dining Plan is being cut because it was a way to attract people to the parks at non peak times.

 

[NeverEnufWDW]

They are outsourcing the bell services...
They are raising park prices across the board...
They are gutting the Dining Plan...

Yet just last month they published big profits, and attendance at the parks is way up this year.

It's seems Disney is on a spree to save money in every possible place they can.
Are they expecting attendance to drop next year? Or is this Iger's way to get a pat on the back from the stockholders to inflate the bottom line?

I think Universal is going to get an increase in visitors next year. There will be a point eventually where people are going to crunch the numbers and figure that Disney is just not a good value anymore.

WDW exists for a single purpose - to make its shareholders $$$$$$$.

 

[cristen]

Nm.

 

[Sarangel]

WDW exists for a single purpose - to make its shareholders $$$$$$$.

Thus spake the latter-day Disneyist...

Sigh.

Many of us hope that there are better reasons for Disney to exist - to entertain, to teach, to create hope.

 

[Another Voice]

Or the other question - do you make money by running a place filled with amazing attractions, superior service, and so much value for the money that people beg to go there? Or do you run a dirt hole that trades off its goodwill and thinks about new ways to scam people out there money?

Seems to me that Disney was doing a lot better when it built things worth taking a picture of, then it does today where all they can do if hire fifty photographers to pester you to buy a picture.

 

[KMovies]

Seems to me that Disney World is doing the best it ever has been.

It has record attendance, record profits.

Yes, Wall Street is demanding 20% profits. This is just the way that it is in America.

Wal-Mart must make a huge profit - and it must not pay its workers.

It's not a Disney thing.

As for Universal, yes they are adding Harry Potter but they have added so little - and have seen huge drops in attendance to boot.

 

[Golf4food]

As with all decisions governing corporate America the answer is:

GREED

 

[Stitch 03]

So who out there has the capability to do the following:

1) Buy the company outright and take it private.

and...

2) Keep the company together and run it the way many here think it should be.

I am honestly not sure how anyone here can expect the company to be run any differently while it is a publicy traded entity.

 

[tfc3rid]

It's called capitalism... Corporate folks have to answer to owners first and customers second...

 

[Another Voice]

It's called capitalism... Corporate folks have to answer to owners first and customers second...

No, that's the Ford Motor excuse as to why they're failing as a business.

Good businesses know how to balance the desires of their customers against the financial requirements of the business. It's amazing how the companies that provide their customers with what they want at a good value and with good service are doing very well despite "Wall Street". But the companies that focus on nothing but the bottom line end up as dog food?

The "Wall Street made me take your chicken finger" excuse is used by the lazy, the stupid and the ignorant. Exactly the people who shouldn't be in business in the first place.

 

[speedyf]

Just like many others...I think the best thing that could ever happen would be for the Disney parks to break away from the main Disney company and form it's own company....but, that will never happen. That way...profits made would go directly back into the parks instead of paying for lousy movies and TV shows.

As for the ticket hike, etc.....just look at anything else that's popular. They will keep raising the prices until people stop coming. That's what I would do if I ran the business.

For example....I used to be able to afford LSU Football season tickets. The tickets were $22 per game for 7 home games for a total of $154 per season ticket. I had 2 season tickets for just over $300.

Then...LSU started winning games. GREAT! More people started wanting season tickets. So...what did LSU do. Not only did they go up on the ticket prices steadily to the current price of $45 per game....they made it a requirement to "donate" at least $50 per season ticket that you want to purchase to the "Tradition Fund".

My old $154 season ticket is now around $350 per season ticket. So, if I want to take my wife and son to the games, it would now cost me close to $1100 for season tickets for 7 games....and that's to sit in the nosebleed upper deck. LSU went up $9 on season tickets this year and there is a waiting list.

So....as long as people are willing to pay the price, just keep hiking it up until the crowds stop coming.

I mean...."VALUE RESORT" at $109 and $119 per night during the summer...up to $129 and $139 during Holiday Season.....WOW! what a value.

Good thing Mardi Gras falls in Value Season this year. I'm paying $66 per night (AAA rate) for a Value Room that people will be paying $119 per night the week after I leave.

I will always enjoy our time at Disney...but, if we decide to return during peak or summer season, I will definitely be checking into off-site accomodations. $109 is ridiculous for a VALUE resort.

End of Rambling.

Speed

 

[G8RFAN]

Just like many others...I think the best thing that could ever happen would be for the Disney parks to break away from the main Disney company and form it's own company....but, that will never happen. That way...profits made would go directly back into the parks instead of paying for lousy movies and TV shows.........

The past 3 weeks have brought a lot of instability to the capital markets sector. But there are certainly a number of hedge funds that have the capacity to pull off a parks unit purchase along with the necessary intellectual property. There was a thread somewhere where I had mentioned that thought. I think tho that the purists wouldn't support it as they would rather see them shed off the media networks division which BTW makes plenty of money to support itself.

 

[disneyfan67]

Just like many others...I think the best thing that could ever happen would be for the Disney parks to break away from the main Disney company and form it's own company....but, that will never happen. That way...profits made would go directly back into the parks instead of paying for lousy movies and TV shows.

As for the ticket hike, etc.....just look at anything else that's popular. They will keep raising the prices until people stop coming. That's what I would do if I ran the business.

For example....I used to be able to afford LSU Football season tickets. The tickets were $22 per game for 7 home games for a total of $154 per season ticket. I had 2 season tickets for just over $300.

Then...LSU started winning games. GREAT! More people started wanting season tickets. So...what did LSU do. Not only did they go up on the ticket prices steadily to the current price of $45 per game....they made it a requirement to "donate" at least $50 per season ticket that you want to purchase to the "Tradition Fund".

My old $154 season ticket is now around $350 per season ticket. So, if I want to take my wife and son to the games, it would now cost me close to $1100 for season tickets for 7 games....and that's to sit in the nosebleed upper deck. LSU went up $9 on season tickets this year and there is a waiting list.

So....as long as people are willing to pay the price, just keep hiking it up until the crowds stop coming.

I mean...."VALUE RESORT" at $109 and $119 per night during the summer...up to $129 and $139 during Holiday Season.....WOW! what a value.

Good thing Mardi Gras falls in Value Season this year. I'm paying $66 per night (AAA rate) for a Value Room that people will be paying $119 per night the week after I leave.

I will always enjoy our time at Disney...but, if we decide to return during peak or summer season, I will definitely be checking into off-site accomodations. $109 is ridiculous for a VALUE resort.
End of Rambling.
Speed

It wasn't a ramble, but a very good post. You would have to be out of your mind to pay anything more than a 90 bucks for a value and even that's pushing it. There's more to do in the the Orlando area than just Disney and I found that out on this trip. I was pleasantly surprised by the 3 onsite resorts in the Universal Studios complex and enjoyed their 2 parks as well. WDW needs to make some changes for the better and I hope they do soon. I want Disney to reinvest in the parks and update them. Not use them as a huge cash cow and bleed them dry, til no one comes or cares about them anymore.

 

[daannzzz]

I haven't paid close attention to the resort prices for a while. I went to the Disneywebsite to chaeck prices for a WDW trip next April 26 - May 4 at the Caribbean Beach. The rate averaged (because of the new more expensive week end issue) $190 per night!!!!! I have been fairly placid with all the cuts and tooning of everything but they may have driven me offsite. I guess it is no worry though as there are plenty of people in line to take the room I don't want.
I hope that line behind me dwindles really quikly.

 

[Another Voice]

I guess it is no worry though as there are plenty of people in line to take the room I don't want.

That's exactly what the Ford dealer said as he watched all the people going next door to the Nissan dealership - "there plenty of people who will only by Fords."

"Brand Image" is only so strong. People still look for value no matter how strongly they like a product. Disney can charge high prices, but they need to offer something in exchange for it. For the past decade they've been relying of fluff: "magic", "where dreams come true", "remember...wishes come true" - in place of a good value for the money spent.

We seem to be reaching a point where fancy slogans aren't going to make up for bad food, long lines and cheap attractions any more.

 

[ChrisFL]

The past 3 weeks have brought a lot of instability to the capital markets sector. But there are certainly a number of hedge funds that have the capacity to pull off a parks unit purchase along with the necessary intellectual property. There was a thread somewhere where I had mentioned that thought. I think tho that the purists wouldn't support it as they would rather see them shed off the media networks division which BTW makes plenty of money to support itself.

If a company bought the parks divison and ran it like OLC runs Tokyo, then I'm all for it

 

[Sabres2008]

So who out there has the capability to do the following:

1) Buy the company outright and take it private.

and...

2) Keep the company together and run it the way many here think it should be.

Um, the Oriental Land Company has done just that with TDR....and according to many on Disney fan boards, has restored the magic to visiting a Disney theme park we all felt in the "good old days."

Personally, I honestly wouldn't have a problem with OLC buying the American Disney theme parks (although DLR seems to be doing pretty well, current leadership -Ed Grier- is quite clueless...recent successes are from Matt Ouimet's run). I am anxious to visit TDR and see the parks, experience the service, and return to the "magic."