Bean Counters and shortsightedness

[wabbott]

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a DIS stockholder, about 400 shares. So I have a financial motive.

Three weeks from Monday we'll be in DLR/DCA for 4 days. Come next April we'll be in WDW for 8 days. We plan to go as often as we can until old age puts us out of comission.

Its plain that we like the parks, warts & all, and back up that attitude with thousands of dollars in spending.

Do we think the parks experience has declined after reopening since covid? Absolutely.

Was it because of poor decisions by management? Definitely.

Has the company's leadership sufficiently planned & executed a way forward to healthy & sustainable growth? Not hardly. That opinion is shared by thousands of stockholders as is reflected by the stock price.

So I will continue to opine about management decisions, and critique, minutely, everything they do, or don't do.

Everyone else here gets to have their say on whatever they see fit, it seems, and so will I.

If other DisBoard posters are unhappy with my criticism of how the company is run, that's too damn bad.

Deal with it.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a DIS stockholder, about 400 shares. So I have a financial motive.

Three weeks from Monday we'll be in DLR/DCA for 4 days. Come next April we'll be in WDW for 8 days. We plan to go as often as we can until old age puts us out of comission.

Its plain that we like the parks, warts & all, and back up that attitude with thousands of dollars in spending.

Do we think the parks experience has declined after reopening since covid? Absolutely.

Was it because of poor decisions by management? Definitely.

Has the company's leadership sufficiently planned & executed a way forward to healthy & sustainable growth? Not hardly. That opinion is shared by thousands of stockholders as is reflected by the stock price.

So I will continue to opine about management decisions, and critique, minutely, everything they do, or don't do.

Everyone else here gets to have their say on whatever they see fit, it seems, and so will I.

If other DisBoard posters are unhappy with my criticism of how the company is run, that's too damn bad.

Deal with it.

It’s all good! You can have your opinion I don’t think anyone has said you can’t. when you put it out in a public forum you just need to be prepared to get checked on it is all

 

[wabbott]

It’s all good! You can have your opinion I don’t think anyone has said you can’t. when you put it out in a public forum you just need to be prepared to get checked on it is all

Fair enough. Everbody critiques everyone else. They have a name for that iirc: Peer Review.

 

[Brian Noble]

Deal with it.

Good suggestion. Welcome to my ignore list.

 

[Suger Mag]

I am so tired of the constant doom and gloom. If you need a break then take a break, stop stalking the message boards of a place that stresses you out. The negativity gets tiresome. I am happy, I dont own stock. I own DVC which I bought long enough ago that i can shake my head at the current prices. I get my money's worth out of Disney+, I enjoy a lot of the content that they are putting out... Star Wars primarily but also the Muppets and some of the Marvel. For me the biggest ick are the fans who seem to never be happy, and constantly want to talk about how much xxxxxx sucks.

I actually like Genie+. I like to go to the parks later in the day, I dont mind waking up and futzing on my phone while I sit on my balcony at Jambo drinking coffee and watching the Zebras being jerks. Once I figured out I can move and stack rides all morning long... BAMN i was sold. ILL is also fine, I like having a set time I can choose to ride the big ride... and before people talk about nickel and dimes, I would rather a few dimes than a a few Benjamins. Booking Genie+ and 2 ILL is STILL generally cheaper than a one day Express pass at Universal. Free is great if it works for you... but for me, the Genie works best so far for our style. Paper FP... unless you got your butt in the park early, all the popular ones were gone, best part was getting and accumulating them and using them later. Next came the Book ahead FP... that was the worst for me, never mind trying to decide what park, now you have to try to figure out your ride schedule to prebook your top 3 rides 90 days or whatever it was out... that for me also sucked. Of course I would like to see Genie+ be free for Deluxe as that would benefit me, but since it worked for me better than the previous free programs, I am not unhappy.

 

[Boski]

Again if people could back their assertions with actual data I would at least hear them out, but cherry-picking data or just straight up making it up is just wrong

This just a suggestion.....I haven't seen one post of yours where you link any numbers, data, studies, etc. If you have and I have missed it please let me know and I'll apologize. But I just think if you're going to make such a big deal with other posters for not referencing sources, you should be doing the same if you want people to understand how you are forming your opinions. If you don't you end up being one these people:

when you cherry pick data to make your point you can make it say whatever you'd like.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Not no one.

 

[wabbott]

I am so tired of the constant doom and gloom. If you need a break then take a break, stop stalking the message boards of a place that stresses you out. The negativity gets tiresome. I am happy, I dont own stock. I own DVC which I bought long enough ago that i can shake my head at the current prices. I get my money's worth out of Disney+, I enjoy a lot of the content that they are putting out... Star Wars primarily but also the Muppets and some of the Marvel. For me the biggest ick are the fans who seem to never be happy, and constantly want to talk about how much xxxxxx sucks.

I actually like Genie+. I like to go to the parks later in the day, I dont mind waking up and futzing on my phone while I sit on my balcony at Jambo drinking coffee and watching the Zebras being jerks. Once I figured out I can move and stack rides all morning long... BAMN i was sold. ILL is also fine, I like having a set time I can choose to ride the big ride... and before people talk about nickel and dimes, I would rather a few dimes than a a few Benjamins. Booking Genie+ and 2 ILL is STILL generally cheaper than a one day Express pass at Universal. Free is great if it works for you... but for me, the Genie works best so far for our style. Paper FP... unless you got your butt in the park early, all the popular ones were gone, best part was getting and accumulating them and using them later. Next came the Book ahead FP... that was the worst for me, never mind trying to decide what park, now you have to try to figure out your ride schedule to prebook your top 3 rides 90 days or whatever it was out... that for me also sucked. Of course I would like to see Genie+ be free for Deluxe as that would benefit me, but since it worked for me better than the previous free programs, I am not unhappy.

I ain't going anywhere. Everyone else gets to put out their opinions, likes and dislikes, no matter how stupid. And I've been here for about two years posting about everything Disney, from meals to company history to experience to movies. So stop with the accusations of "stalking."

I will cease opining on how the company is being run when/if it gets back on track for steady earnings growth. When/if that happens, I will be the one posting about it first.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

This just a suggestion.....I haven't seen one post of yours where you link any numbers, data, studies, etc. If you have and I have missed it please let me know and I'll apologize. But I just think if you're going to make such a big deal with other posters for not referencing sources, you should be doing the same if you want people to understand how you are forming your opinions. If you don't you end up being one these people:

I ain’t cherry picking, honestly I am a bit lazy about posting data. This thread has had plenty though

 

[Smugpugmug]

Upthread, someone mentioned that they do not split out domestic results by resort, but the 3Q earnings report did that, at least qualitatively:


Attendance in Florida was down ("decrease at WDW was primarily due to ... lower volumes"), but in California it was up. Whatever is driving Florida attendance is unlikely to be G+ or other related things, because California is doing the same things. One possible difference: California resumed annual pass sales back in January, while Florida did not resume APs until late April, a full month into the quarter. But "results" is profit, not revenue, and the boat anchor that is the Galactic Starcruiser is not helping there.

I think the insanely bad marketing and the high price tag is what killed the Starcruiser sadly. Does anyone else remember the horrendously awful trailer Disney put out for it that was so bad, they deleted it and made a new one? I know it probably wouldn't have survived had it been way cheaper, but the $5000 was way too expensive for 2 days. I would've gone if it was significantly cheaper - I enjoy these interactive experiences even if the IP is something I don't care for. Plus it's a good thing Disney innovates in it's offerings or else we'll receive more cheap rethemes like Toy Story Land.

 

[Suger Mag]

I ain't going anywhere. Everyone else gets to put out their opinions, likes and dislikes, no matter how stupid. And I've been here for about two years posting about everything Disney, from meals to company history to experience to movies. So stop with the accusations of "stalking."

I will cease opining on how the company is being run when/if it gets back on track for steady earnings growth. When/if that happens, I will be the one posting about it first.

I'm sorry, I missed the part where I replied to you. My comment was a general comment about the tone.

edit: sorry about all that odd blank space, I came back and was like uh what did I do.... I was munching on some Chinese take out and I think my plate added in a lot of space returns or something LOL all removed now, but whoopsie

 

[Suger Mag]

I think the insanely bad marketing and the high price tag is what killed the Starcruiser sadly. Does anyone else remember the horrendously awful trailer Disney put out for it that was so bad, they deleted it and made a new one? I know it probably wouldn't have survived had it been way cheaper, but the $5000 was way too expensive for 2 days. I would've gone if it was significantly cheaper - I enjoy these interactive experiences even if the IP is something I don't care for. Plus it's a good thing Disney innovates in it's offerings or else we'll receive more cheap rethemes like Toy Story Land.

Way too high of a price and the no windows/balcony/pool was the killer for me, If I had won that sweepstakes I would have gone lol.

I think an escape room adventure with a dinner and show might have been more successful , at least been able to be priced more accessible. Trying to staff and pull off a 24 hour immersive for 2 days is a lot

 

[Smugpugmug]

Way too high of a price and the no windows/balcony/pool was the killer for me, If I had won that sweepstakes I would have gone lol.

I think an escape room adventure with a dinner and show might have been more successful , at least been able to be priced more accessible. Trying to staff and pull off a 24 hour immersive for 2 days is a lot

I couldn't justify paying $5000 for a room that looks like a summer camp bunk bed set up. Not that I would've paid that anyway. I think most people chose to do a longer Disney trip or even a cruise (not just DCL, but other lines like Royal Caribbean) as those options were the same price or even cheaper.

I agree. I don't think it would've made money if it was half the price but had the same staffing level. I would really be into something like Sleep No More, the most comparable experience to the Starcruiser. I haven't done it myself but it consistently gets high praise and is very popular.

Also since everyone (me included!) likes to do Universal comparisons, their escape rooms are way overpriced too. I bet they're themed wonderfully but way too expensive compared to other experiences like it.

 

[fatmanatee]

I couldn't justify paying $5000 for a room that looks like a summer camp bunk bed set up. Not that I would've paid that anyway. I think most people chose to do a longer Disney trip or even a cruise (not just DCL, but other lines like Royal Caribbean) as those options were the same price or even cheaper.

I agree. I don't think it would've made money if it was half the price but had the same staffing level. I would really be into something like Sleep No More, the most comparable experience to the Starcruiser. I haven't done it myself but it consistently gets high praise and is very popular.

Also since everyone (me included!) likes to do Universal comparisons, their escape rooms are way overpriced too. I bet they're themed wonderfully but way too expensive compared to other experiences like it.

Sleep No More is a trip, have done it twice and sorta can’t believe it’s still going.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Sleep No More is a trip, have done it twice and sorta can’t believe it’s still going.

In a good or bad way? Haven't done it myself but it has interested me for a long time.

 

[fatmanatee]

In a good or bad way? Haven't done it myself but it has interested me for a long time.

Good, I’d recommend going in with some background knowledge of what to expect and where to start though. I did not so I was a bit lost at first and missed out on some stuff. Still a very cool experience.

 

[irlandaise]

Good, I’d recommend going in with some background knowledge of what to expect and where to start though. I did not so I was a bit lost at first and missed out on some stuff. Still a very cool experience.

By "background knowledge" do you mean being familiar with "Macbeth" —er, "the Scottish play"?

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I ain’t cherry picking, honestly I am a bit lazy about posting data. This thread has had plenty though

I think many posters here also find it exhausting to have to provide links to backup everything they say here. It works both ways I guess.

You’ve used the word “anecdote” here in previous posts as a way to seemingly dismiss people’s points of view. How does the CEO claiming that guest satisfaction is up make its way in to the “data” bucket? (Sincere question because I don’t know how they gather that information.). My only guess is it’s from surveys they conduct one guest at a time (AKA anecdotes)? Can it be said the plural of anecdote is data? I see a lot of negative “data” across multiple discussion sites to think that it’s worth paying attention to.

Lastly, “I wish Disney would fail.” There, I said it. I wish Disney would fail in the same way I wish my favorite struggling sports teams would lose a few more games, because at this point I’m just hoping it leads to lessons learned and a better draft pick next season.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I think many posters here also find it exhausting to have to provide links to backup everything they say here. It works both ways I guess.

You’ve used the word “anecdote” here in previous posts as a way to seemingly dismiss people’s points of view. How does the CEO claiming that guest satisfaction is up make its way in to the “data” bucket? (Sincere question because I don’t know how they gather that information.). My only guess is it’s from surveys they conduct one guest at a time (AKA anecdotes)? Can it be said the plural of anecdote is data? I see a lot of negative “data” across multiple discussion sites to think that it’s worth paying attention to.

Lastly, “I wish Disney would fail.” There, I said it. I wish Disney would fail in the same way I wish my favorite struggling sports teams would lose a few more games, because at this point I’m just hoping it leads to lessons learned and a better draft pick next season.

I don't think a lot of people have the data to back the assertions they make and when pushed they get defensive and move goalposts so they never have to admit to being incorrect, which is why i don't think you see a lot of people providing data or any hard facts. I definitely ask for clarity when someone says something I'm pretty sure in wrong but i rarely boast data in my posts, it's primarily asking for clarification. Outside of that i see your point, i don't like hunting down data either, but there seem to be a lot on these boards who do and are ignored whenever they disprove someone else's conjecture.

I was using that guest satisfaction quote as an example because the original poster only used the parts of igers quote that fit their narrative. I was just pointing out that they were being unfair and splicing together a thought based on their bias, Igers comment is IMO 100% biased as well, and i think i cleared that up in the thread as well

You are allowed to have that opinion, you aren’t reporting any questionable information so I have nothing to clarify. I just don't appreciate people riffing, have your opinion, just don't make things up (nothing to do with you btw)

 

[fatmanatee]

By "background knowledge" do you mean being familiar with "Macbeth" —er, "the Scottish play"?

Yes. Wasn’t aware it was based on Macbeth when I went at first and wasn’t familiar with the story .