Disney CFO Jay Rasulo May Not Extend Contract Before Jan. 31 Expiration

[rteetz]

I agree that they should get some credit for the DCA redo...however lets face it - if the park had just limped along with flat attendance (like studios)... Then it would look exactly like it did in 2007. That was taken out of their hands by a large drop in attendance and revenue... The DL faithful STOOD UP and had a backbone... And they were rewarded. Avatar the jury is out. Buzz has not been good (if even present) and lots of skepticism. But we'll See. My main problem there is they are stetching it out to almost 10 years. That's ok - go ahead and not do anything in the other parks because you're "doing this"...but take your sweet time. I'll gladly pay the increase on my annual pass and the mnsshp tickets Downtown I'm giving no credit on - first... Nobody asked for the closure of pleasure island and retail outlet mall type stores to be built. That was 100% an accounting and rental/ fee move. I hope it's done well and offers some nice new things. But I have to see it to say the ends justify the means. Absolutely NOTHING is being done at Hollywood studios as I know it. I'm not falling for this "it's going to be big!" Fanboy garbage. I will judge/ credit when I hear what's being done...and more importantly when I can walk into it. I have a 7 year old into Star Wars...if he's chasing girls by the time it opens - I'm not gonna be real thankful. That's a failure for a " family entertainment company". Fantasyland underwhelms... It already looks like kinda ho hum part of the scenery now... As opposed to a draw. Fool me once... I don't knew what to make of the bands...I, "mr negativity" actually give them credit for how the system works at this point... I see alot of positives. But can you tell me that they won't start to use it as a club against me? Or use it to screw employees that have slowly been shafted for years? I can't yet.

California is definitely a whole different animal when it comes to the parks.

I for one am exited for avatar, yes I think it's been dragged out for too long, but hopefully (being the keyword) that has something to show for it. Now the movie was delayed again. I will say tho that because of avatar the park is getting a lot of much needed enhancements.

February 2014 was the last ticket increase so get ready we might be seeing another one very soon.

I'm too young to remember pleasure island or have any affiliation with it so I'm glad they are just doing something with it. So far it looks good.

DHS has a lot of empty buildings, and TSMM is getting a third track so that's about it.

Fantasyland is visually great at least I think so. It's the biggest expansion of my lifetime really. I like 7dmt but it always could be better.

I have no problems personally with MM+, I've used it twice, everything has worked and I feel like I use fast passes more this way then I did before which was their goal. The bands don't bother me at all. That might have been one of their best investments because of all the data they can collect on guests with this and how they can improve or not improve the parks.

 

[BigTigger]

CFO's are rarely accountants anymore - most are MBA's with M&A experience types - so that may hurt Staggs.

Yes Disney is much more than Parks & Resorts now, but P&R is still the golden goose of profits and perception. It is also the stability to offset movies which can be highly volatile in profit and TV which has falling ad revenues (with so so chances of making it up in internet or PPV type schemes). Disney needs to learn how to exploit franchises like Marvel and Star Wars and grow franchises like Pixar. P&R could be the conduit to do that, but not with the limited capital invested back into P&R. Maybe MM+ is diluting the investment pool and absorbing capital and cash too much to allow P&R to do anything else. Rasulo knows that answer as does Iger. The next CEO will have to be able to guarantee investment in P&R or the theme parks will become amusement parks due to the stale offerings as noted by other posters.

I hope the next COO / CEO in waiting can bring a cohesive strategy to the table and convince Iger to solidify his legacy by adding some new must have / visit P&R updates and expansions.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

CFO's are rarely accountants anymore - most are MBA's with M&A experience types - so that may hurt Staggs.

Yes Disney is much more than Parks & Resorts now, but P&R is still the golden goose of profits and perception. It is also the stability to offset movies which can be highly volatile in profit and TV which has falling ad revenues (with so so chances of making it up in internet or PPV type schemes). Disney needs to learn how to exploit franchises like Marvel and Star Wars and grow franchises like Pixar. P&R could be the conduit to do that, but not with the limited capital invested back into P&R. Maybe MM+ is diluting the investment pool and absorbing capital and cash too much to allow P&R to do anything else. Rasulo knows that answer as does Iger. The next CEO will have to be able to guarantee investment in P&R or the theme parks will become amusement parks due to the stale offerings as noted by other posters.

I hope the next COO / CEO in waiting can bring a cohesive strategy to the table and convince Iger to solidify his legacy by adding some new must have / visit P&R updates and expansions.

I agree 100%

I hope we are not doing to much Thinking on the "wishful" side...

Also...Disney is currently..."I believe"... Failing to actually understand who they are.

They are scared in Orlando because they did not see a big bump in "average stay" and "average spending per guest" after animal kingdom opened.

Those are their doomsday statistics...pretty simple why - take how many days people stay, multiply by what they spend = your revenue. Multiply by total guests attending. Take that ridiculously huge number and subtract overhead = total profit.

Total profit goes to all the other bad things they pay (like the NBA and Chris Berman) for as an offset... Or in already hefty pockets.

But since ak...the amount of not only travelers per capita - but especially foreign and offseason travelers have gone up significantly...

What am I thinking?
The lack of park investment specifically in Orlando is robbing them of what they want most - a significant uptick and boom period.

Disney is one of the few/rare brands where they can "spend" their way to more profits...because of the brand recognition. They may be the worlds most solid/stable brand...they're certainly in that conversation.

So if you really get the shovels and rock the place...you may be able to fill the parks close to capacity on a large portion of calendar days.

But they are using the mouse as a credit reserve...drawing off it like a kid on iTunes. They are " defusing" the investment for what will amount longterm to meaningless pennies on the stocks and dividends.

It's short sighted...to say the least. Worst case scenario is much worse longterm.