Article: Disney Job Freeze

[Luv2Roam]

Iraq war threat sparks Disney World jobs freeze
Reuters, 02.19.03, 7:53 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney World theme park has frozen hiring as jitters over a potential war between the United States and Iraq slows travel, Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday.

Disney, the world's largest theme park operator, was scrutinizing all expenses at Florida-based Walt Disney World and California-based Disneyland, although Disneyland has not frozen hiring outright, spokeswoman Leslie Goodman said.

Seasonal jobs at the Florida parks are not covered by the freeze, she said.

Disney has 53,500 positions at Orlando. Florida-based Disney World and about 20,000 at Disneyland.

"We think it is the prudent and precautionary step that we need to take in the face of uncertainty -- not just the threat of war, but even the dialogue and the concerns about war are things that impact our business," Goodman said.

The threats of terrorism and war have cast a pall over travel worldwide, which in turn has hurt business at Disney and other destinations.

Disney executives for months have said that travelers were waiting until the last minute to book vacations and that European travel had slowed, remarks they repeated during the company's earnings conference call Jan. 30.

Disney has targeted local theme park visitors as international attendance has flagged, and its stock has moved strongly in reaction to the perceived threat of war.

Shares fell 45 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $16.85 on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday.

Disney rival amusement parks Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, and SeaWorlds in Orlando and San Diego have not instituted freezes, said a spokesman for Busch Entertainment Corp, the parks subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc..

"It's pretty hard at this point in the year to tell what our business is gong to be like," Busch spokesman Fred Jacobs said.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

 

[raidermatt]

Disney executives for months have said that travelers were waiting until the last minute to book vacations and that European travel had slowed, remarks they repeated during the company's earnings conference call Jan. 30.

Interesting....

I certainly can't question what has happened in the last few weeks, but on the Jan. 30 call, they said International visitation was on the rise, up 17% at WDW, and "more than that" at DLR. They did say the booking window remained short.

 

[Another Voice]

Hmm...

And one of the local news programs just had a story that so many people are booking so much earlier for spots at the national parks that a lot of summer is already booked out here in California.

Makes one wonder....

 

[Figmentrocks]

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies....

The mouse uses everything for an excuse, eh?

 

[KNWVIKING]

If people are worried that Disney is a terrorist target, maybe they feel safer booking a trip into the wilderness.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by raidermatt
Interesting....

I certainly can't question what has happened in the last few weeks, but on the Jan. 30 call, they said International visitation was on the rise, up 17% at WDW, and "more than that" at DLR. They did say the booking window remained short.

Right, but that's up 17% from 2001, which was way down after 9/11. So ... 17% better than the same timeframe the year before but still down from what it should be.

 

[Galahad]

Just anecdotally, WDW has been a ghostown for months. It really is depressing to see how sparse the crowds are. We are going for a week in March. The height of the spring break season. Just made all of our PS arrangements. Got everything we wanted immedately and the CM on the phone says that it has been so slow they've cut back hourly folks in the call centers and she can pretty much get somebody any PS they want except some of the Cindy's castle type requests.

I don't think it's all terrorism/war stuff though. We are DVCers. We will spend a week there on March. We are moving from Florida over the summer and don't expect to be back to WDW for 2 or 3 years. We'll probably start using some of the other DVC options. More investment in the parks and guest experience needs to be made before we'll feel anywhere near the magic we go there fore.

 

[Bob O]

I dont know about some, but when i go to the park and the crowds are sparse the last thing l feel is depression. if that happens im elated that there are no waits!!!

 

[KNWVIKING]

Gotta love an empty park.We normally go in the off-seasons just because I don't want the crowds. I earned a trip for the week of July 4th. I don't know how I'm going to handle the crowds, may never go to the parks.

 

[Galahad]

I dont know about some, but when i go to the park and the crowds are sparse the last thing l feel is depression. if that happens im elated that there are no waits!!!

I agree Bob. Unless it means 1) that they will also cut back on things like entertainment, etc. because it isn't justified by the small crowds or 2) reduced revenues only leads to more reductions. Kind of like the city bus companies that raise fares because no one is riding the bus.

 

[raidermatt]

Right, but that's up 17% from 2001, which was way down after 9/11. So ... 17% better than the same timeframe the year before but still down from what it should be.

True, but nonetheless an upward trend, and a big reason for Disney's 7% stock jump after the earnings call.

Still, I really do tend to agree with your evaluation, that the uptick in attendance had more to do with the quarter being used for comparison than with any real response to anything Disney has been doing.

But Disney made no mention on their earnings call (that I heard) of outside factors being responsible for the attendance upticks, and instead cited things like improved marketing, and "A Bug's Land" at DCA. Further, in a conversation on another board with a Disney emplo....er...contrac...er...fan with "solid" inside info, I was told in no uncertain terms that the attendance rise was continuing, and was mainly due to Disney's efforts, not an improvement over the post-9/11 quarter.


Bob and Vike, I love short lines as much as anybody, but like Galahad says, low attendance is bad for the company, and we know how the current regime responds to low attendance...

 

[KNWVIKING]

Oh I understand the consequences low crowds and realize that bigger crowds really are good for the BIG picture, but......

Back when Florida was locked into their extended drought I kept looking at the weather reports,hoping to see rain. But when I was on vacation in WDW the selfish side of me hoped it would last just one week more.

Galahad, you commented previously about WDW being a "ghostown". Just reading some recent trip reports and they are stating the parks are crowded.

 

[Galahad]

Galahad, you commented previously about WDW being a "ghostown". Just reading some recent trip reports and they are stating the parks are crowded.

Haven't read the trip reports, and I'm not trying to discount someone else's experience. Since we live here we are mostly "day trippers", but we go frequently, all different times of the week. The crowds are definitely quite sparse compared to the same period in previous years. Some days at MK get more crowded (and that's the place we go the least). But overall I'd stick by my observation that the crowds are way down. We also do some weekend overnight stays on site (and will do a week next month) and I can also say that the resorts are less crowded and/or are taking advantage of that by doing lots of refurbishing.