Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[DGsAtBLT]

This is true, and in addition there’s the “conspicuous consumption” issue where many people save for A couple/few years in order to be at the top tier resorts. It’s bragging rights for many people in less economically strong communities to say they stayed at an expensive resort and got expensive TS reservations and add-ons. When I experimented with being a TA I was constantly amazed at how many families would save for years in order to “go all out” with tons of extras instead of all stars and basic attendance. These were not once in a lifetime people these were people that wanted to buy the experience that made them feel the way they expected to feel while at Disney. They also wanted to post gratuitously on social media as a status point. I was a bad travel agent in this experiment as I was always trying to advise the cheapest way to do things.

I’d rather go less and stay where I like best. I don’t want to go yearly if it means having to skip favourite resorts. The resorts are a big part of our trip. I refuse to post on social media while on a vacation though because I’m paranoid (I’ll say cautious, lol) so there’s that. Not for bragging purposes.

Honestly, going to a Disney often is a flex in itself. No matter where you stay. I’m assuming most people who don’t go bare bones do so because they like it not to for bragging rights.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Wait - did I miss something?

Just rumours of big news coming.

 

[Anna_Sh]

Layoffs: all but a sure thing. So devastating for all those CMs
Christmas canceled: saw it coming
Iger out: Josh replacing maybe???
Main Street changing: to what? Not anytime soon. Nothing is being spent right now on modifications
Hours/days cut: Yup, I think so

Those all seem pretty reasonable (though heartbreaking). I bet tomorrow is going to be a crying into a bowl of ice cream kind of day

The only thing I don’t get is this: if the numbers are really that bad, why didn’t they go ahead and unblock the lower tiers of APs a little early? We may not pay to get in each time, but we tend to be enthusiastic about eating and shopping. I bet attendance will improve on/after August 7th.

 

[Mit88]

Luckily for Universal they allocated and approved the budget for Epic Universe. If they were to have approved and announced it just 6 months later, I don’t think we see that 3rd park

 

[Anna_Sh]

Lifting black out dates could also pose a problem with higher level passes that aren’t blacked out, but on the other hand they haven’t really seemed to care that APs paid for hopping (and water parks for platinum plus), so

They’ve lifted the blockout dates early before. A couple of years ago, they gave us an extra month.

 

[rteetz]

It loses me when they talk about cleaning house at WDI. That’s the group who just did galaxy’s edge and Pandora. What’s the issue there?

You must not have followed these things very long. WDI is typically one of the first to see cuts when cuts need to happen. They are notorious for huge bloated budgets and cost overruns. People are routinely let go or pushed into retirement at WDI. When projects are canceled or on hold they lay off Imagineers to trim down the costs. Just part of that business. They do great work but it is SO SO SO costly to the Disney company overall.

 

[Eric Smith]

You must not have followed these things very long. WDI is typically one of the first to see cuts when cuts need to happen. They are notorious for huge bloated budgets and cost overruns. People are routinely let go or pushed into retirement at WDI. When projects are canceled or on hold they lay off Imagineers to trim down the costs. Just part of that business. They do great work but it is SO SO SO costly to the Disney company overall.

I was more referring to this quote:

“You can't layoff enough people in WDI. The place needs to be shut down and padlocked. Then after a period of time, you bring it back to life. With new people, with new dreams. And without this tired bunch of talentless hacks.”

 

[rteetz]

I was more referring to this quote:

“You can't layoff enough people in WDI. The place needs to be shut down and padlocked. Then after a period of time, you bring it back to life. With new people, with new dreams. And without this tired bunch of talentless hacks.”

There is always nonsense in many of these rumors. Some of these "insiders" are built on nostalgia and bitter about past theme park losses. WDI isn't talentless, their talent just has a large price tag.

 

[Anna_Sh]

The extra emptiness may be the only upside to lots of rain and wind, although we will be at DHS on Saturday and kids really want to ride SDD (for the first time! ) so I hope it holds off a little. Also, we are changing resorts on Sunday, no parks, and I don’t know what to do during our “homelessness“ since hanging at pool seems unlikely...any locals have suggestions for rainy day stuff that is actually open now...museums, etc? We have a car.

I think DS is easier on rainy days than the parks. Social distancing may change that a bit, but I rarely cancel a planned trip to DS even if it’s definitely going to rain.

 

[Anna_Sh]

Luckily for Universal they allocated and approved the budget for Epic Universe. If they were to have approved and announced it just 6 months later, I don’t think we see that 3rd park

Has construction really gotten going? In other words, could they cancel it if they really needed to?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I was referring to this statement:

“You can't layoff enough people in WDI. The place needs to be shut down and padlocked. Then after a period of time, you bring it back to life. With new people, with new dreams. And without this tired bunch of talentless hacks.”

Guess I took that as hyperbole but if they literally meant get rid of every single person there and start from ground zero then I agree with you that it would be surprising/mistake

I took it more as it has grown and ballooned more than it needs to be and you can trim a lot "of the fat" there as less new projects / capital spending and less imagineers needed

 

[Jothmas]

I’d rather go less and stay where I like best. I don’t want to go yearly if it means having to skip favourite resorts. The resorts are a big part of our trip. I refuse to post on social media while on a vacation though because I’m paranoid (I’ll say cautious, lol) so there’s that. Not for bragging purposes.

Honestly, going to a Disney often is a flex in itself. No matter where you stay. I’m assuming most people who don’t go bare bones do so because they like it not to for bragging rights.

It may be a small percentage, I don’t know, but there are also the parsimonious and/or bargain hunters like me. My bragging, and I definitely do it, is when I get the cheapest room at the cheapest resort with rock bottom airfare and rental car. That’s my flex. I can afford a lot more, but the thrill is getting something for the lowest price possible and then telling everyone I know about it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You must not have followed these things very long. WDI is typically one of the first to see cuts when cuts need to happen. They are notorious for huge bloated budgets and cost overruns. People are routinely let go or pushed into retirement at WDI. When projects are canceled or on hold they lay off Imagineers to trim down the costs. Just part of that business. They do great work but it is SO SO SO costly to the Disney company overall.

Oof. Cheap salaries, stupid expensive budgets.... yeah I’d ax them first too. But not in a clean the house and change the model sort of way. Just in a lay-off everyone you can and hire new labor we can when we start up again sort of way.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Has construction really gotten going? In other words, could they cancel it if they really needed to?

I thought I’d seen a rumor Epic construction had stopped but I can’t find it...

 

[The Pho]

Has construction really gotten going? In other words, could they cancel it if they really needed to?

Vertical construction is on hold. The park has been currently delayed for one year. They never stopped site work though.

 

[AmberMV]

So are we assuming these rumors are coming out because of the financials discussion next week? Will they announce things during the call, or right before or after?

 

[Eric Smith]

There is always nonsense in many of these rumors. Some of these "insiders" are built on nostalgia and bitter about past theme park losses. WDI isn't talentless, their talent just has a large price tag.

I agree with that, but that talent is how you build the best theme parks on the planet.

 

[rteetz]

So are we assuming these rumors are coming out because of the financials discussion next week? Will they announce things during the call, or right before or after?

They won't announce doom and gloom during the call. They will want to make things look as good as they can even though they will be terrible. You say a bunch of negatives and stock price goes down even further.

 

[AmberMV]

Oof. Cheap salaries, stupid expensive budgets.... yeah I’d ax them first too. But not in a clean the house and change the model sort of way. Just in a lay-off everyone you can and hire new labor we can when we start up again sort of way.

Those things happen even when the economy is booming. My brother was hired at NASA 5 or 6 years ago after they forced some high-priced career engineers into retirement so that they could hire fresh college graduates for a fraction of the cost. It's just the way it works sometimes.

 

[Jothmas]

Regarding layoffs and the ability to cut, I have been surprised this week to see how many CMs there are working in the parks. I assume there must be some minimum for safety reasons, but I thought there would be fewer than what I have seen. For example, I think there were five CMs working Living with the Land and there was zero queue and we were the only people on the boat and no one in the boat ahead of us. The CMs outnumbered the guests.