Disney Financial Report. Encouragement for future trip planning?

[bcrook]

Report from WDWinfo

Attendance and Profits are up. BUT, the good news is they explain it is all from raising prices, and do not claim it is from the MM+ charade.

"Attendance was at a record high at Walt Disney World for the time period, and profit was the highest it has been in any previous quarter. The report said, “Guest spending growth was due to higher food, beverage and merchandise spending, increases in average ticket prices at our cruise line and Disneyland Resort and higher average hotel room rates."​

So this could go one of two ways:

1. They haven't yet reached their price ceiling so be prepared for more stiff hikes. That is clearly bad.

2. They are giving up on trying to sell the MM+ disaster, and are turning towards a theme park arms race model -- which is what Staggs claimed he wasn't going to do when they introduced the My Magic. This would clearly be a win for customers.

I guess we will find out which direction this is headed on Saturday with the D23 Announcements. I hope we get more than a new DVC location and a Star Wars restaurant at the Disney Hollywood Adventure. I have lots of vacations to plan. I need something to look forward to other than higher (or tiered) prices.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Well we have staked our real estate investment here for the time being as well, not to mention that I'm trying to get hired PT and in that case, it may actual count towards income along with the investment. So the more their attendance goes up, the stronger our investment looks hopefully. I can say for sure, compared to the beach areas, if Central FL didn't have these parks, there would be nothing but swamps and perhaps a few golf courses. Without the parks, Central FL has no economy. While Disney does well (and that usually indicates growth for all the parks oddly enough) it means we all do well. Empty parks mean bad rentals, means bad real estate, means recession. Thankfully it's all on its way up. Keep it going! Hire me PT, I'm nice and friendly! Keep our new real estate (only bought in March) increasing in value!

 

[bcrook]

Well for you, I hope Disney unveils a great big expansion plan with a reasonably short time frame on Saturday. I can't wait to see how the big reveal turns out. DLR is most likely getting a massive Marvel expansion, I hope some of the love comes to Orlando.

 

[StarWarsJez]

I read that Disney statement as 'without really investing in our parks we've still increased profits, so let's continue with the same model guys and continue to not-invest and reap the benefits!'

 

[Planogirl]

Well we have staked our real estate investment here for the time being as well, not to mention that I'm trying to get hired PT and in that case, it may actual count towards income along with the investment. So the more their attendance goes up, the stronger our investment looks hopefully. I can say for sure, compared to the beach areas, if Central FL didn't have these parks, there would be nothing but swamps and perhaps a few golf courses. Without the parks, Central FL has no economy. While Disney does well (and that usually indicates growth for all the parks oddly enough) it means we all do well. Empty parks mean bad rentals, means bad real estate, means recession. Thankfully it's all on its way up. Keep it going! Hire me PT, I'm nice and friendly! Keep our new real estate (only bought in March) increasing in value!

And as Universal becomes more accepted as its own destination then that could help drive longer stays and more frequent visits which is definitely good for that investment property. I've always said that more than one strong player is a win-win for everyone.

 

[bcrook]

I read that Disney statement as 'without really investing in our parks we've still increased profits, so let's continue with the same model guys and continue to not-invest and reap the benefits!'

It could be, but I love that they are not trying to justify MM+. There are some rumblings that DHS is only staying alive from Frozen this summer and the Star Wars Weekend. Let's see what they unveil. I am ready for Theme Park Wars. considering it is going to take most of a decade to get Avatar opened, they will have to announce something soon if it will be built in my lifetime!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

@bcrook It's so true! This was our first time getting to attend SWW, and we got every weekend but the first. DHS was SOOO ALIVE!!! Every where you looked, there were characters or storm troopers wandering around, or you could say "Hi Chewie!" as he walked by or give Greedo a thumbs up while we waved at you from inside the Hangar. You could see galactic Princesses and royalty everywhere, and see legendary celebs just come on stage for a fun chat. We were there on the last night of the fireworks as well to close it down, and JAT and all of them really made the weekends amazing. And Frozen has helped - A LOT- the parades with skiiers are a neat touch, as are the hilarious dance parties with Olaf (back up dancers! But for a real treat, watch the kids do the moves!) and so they have really kept the park going somewhat too. Although, it is definitely noticeable, all the busy bustling parts in the back, where once we gazed upon Cinderella's sparkling carriage, or where many many characters from all across the Stars 'Verse appeared and where the busy Darth Maul were, well it's all gone quiet...!!!!

In my opinion, they outdid themselves with SWW, for one, with all the characters, shows and entertainment they offered. While less characters, Frozen still offers incredible fireworks - and we get those nightly-. So while I'm lamenting the loss of the drawing classes (we got in on the last day), I think they still offered PLENTY to keep the masses beyond happy so far, and that's without offering new opening attractions (yet). That having been said, a teeny tiny exclusive section of a burger joint dedicated to a few characters and almost impossible to get into, along with some extra character photo ops and some extremely well done shows for a few weekends a year won't be enough year after year. We still need the attractions.

Still, for us, it's enough to have sealed the deal on our APs. We are both home sick today and sad as can be that we can't go to HS. We go all month long, and we finally have to miss a week, and neither of us can stand it lol. I sit by my window coughing, waiting to cue up my fireworks sound recording in anticipation of those first rainbow bursts.... And I have as many FPs book for Aug as my limit allows. Come on EmergenCs! So ready to be better...but I digress. LOL. Point being, if they keep giving us great fireworks and great character interactions and shows (Seriously, Frozen Singalong is HILARIOUS even if you don't like Frozen), they will continue to get the admissions. Disney has always been an ENTERTAINMENT company first, and an attractions company after. They never profess to be Cedar Point (born and raised close to there, but I couldn't bring myself to move THERE) but they do amaze us and immerse us. Even my AP to Busch Gardens, while having many more rides, can't fully do that. (As ours friends said after a great day at BG, but while we sat on Poly beach watching the fireworks, 'BG was really good, but DISNEY is just SOOO much more. We get it!') Again, if all the parks win, we all win.

So I definitely say 'Come on Disney!' Their success is also my literal success! (Any day now, as I await yet a THIRD interview appointment invitation in the hiring process?! Sheesh, just to work a few days a week...I have never worked this hard anywhere to be hired hourly! Pick me! Pick me! lol)

 

[jtowntoflorida]

It could be, but I love that they are not trying to justify MM+. There are some rumblings that DHS is only staying alive from Frozen this summer and the Star Wars Weekend. Let's see what they unveil. I am ready for Theme Park Wars. considering it is going to take most of a decade to get Avatar opened, they will have to announce something soon if it will be built in my lifetime!

Well, not exactly. They are still defending MyMagic+ when asked about it. http://seekingalpha.com/article/339...arnings-call-transcript?page=5&p=qanda&l=last

Tom Staggs was asked specifically about MyMagic+, and this is what he responded with:
"The Parks per cap the growth of 2% that you saw, the real driver there really was the attendance mix where we saw very strong demand at the local level, and especially in the annual pass and that then shows up on the attendance per cap. Food and beverage and merchandise were in line with what we've been seeing prior quarters. So that really is guest mix. But the major initiatives -- we continue to be very pleased with them broadly and with MyMagic+ in particular. This has been broadly available for about a year now. In fact we had about 13 million folks use the MagicBands and they have overwhelmingly called it an excellent experience. So we are very pleased there. We intend to return all of those metrics that we look are pointed in the right direction and MyMagic+ actually was a contributor to the results positively in the quarter. And then also you continue to see the strength of things like the relaunch of California Adventure driving the games at Disneyland. So we feel very good about both that set of initiatives and their continued ability to drive our results."

That I find interesting about this is that they seem to want to equate MyMagic+ with the Magic Bands, which I think we can all agree have a fairly high rate of satisfaction associated with them. But that's really dodging the question, because he turned a question about a HUGE, costly initiative into a question about what's arguably the most popular aspect of that system, the Bands. Without ever giving specifics.

Also, when thinking about the AP survey some of us received recently, I think that they're recognizing the importance of AP holders. They said that WDW experienced the highest attendance of any other 3rd quarter in history, and based on this statement, I'm wondering if that attendance is actually being driven by the locals, who can now come in, do their three rides in about 2 hours, then leave. We've heard on here time and time again that locals are very happy with FastPass+ because it allows them to experience the parks in ways that they couldn't before. Because Disney operates on a fiscal year, and their third quarter is comprised of April, May, and June (when schools are still in session), I can't see that attendance during this time is driven by anyone other than locals, especially considering that on another question about international attendance at the domestic parks, they state that international attendance during the quarter was flat and was neither a driver nor a detractor from attendance. Local AP holders don't need hotel rooms, which may also help explain why the AP discounts on rooms have been so bad recently. But since the locals are already happy, why do anything with them at this point? All they need is their 3 FP+s and they're pretty happy.

The only glimmer of hope I see in the statement above is that they recognize how important revitalizing DCA has been. So hopefully this means that DHS is going to get some major love. Universal's results were released a couple of weeks ago, and while they're a smaller player, they really knocked one out of the park in the theme park area. As Planogirl said, competition is good for the guests, so I'm glad that Disney finally seems to be recognizing what it needs to do to stay on top.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

@jtowntoflorida Its totally true, even though we have other park APs, we go to Disney FAR more often BECAUSE of FP+. And when we meet up with locals that DON'T go to Disney, we often hear "We don't go to Disney, stand in those horrible long lines and its so expensive" yada yada. Most of the times, they had no idea you could book three attractions 30 days before you go, or same day (subject to availability of course) and that no one else offers that for us, no one. So when we go to the other parks, we roll the dice as to what the lines will be. (Not going to buy quick cue as locals, its only good for the day unless you go super premium and we aren't.) We do still go (because who loves rides that doesn't love Manta?!) but not nearly as often as we go to a Disney park. Its definitely helping them, right now I have at least 7 days planned already for Disney, and a few 'maybes' for the others....

On Memorial Day Sat SWW, one of the Survey taker CMs said "Its a locals kind of day". Where we locals might have avoided peak times before, we embrace them now - with FP+. We aren't afraid of crowds, we go ride a few things and move on. It has definitely made APs pay off. I wouldn't dare walk into a single Disney park with at least 3 somethings booked. We've never done it yet and don't intend to. We book FP+ 100% of the time.

And how many times have we been to Universal in the last 5 years...0....10 yrs? Maybe once or twice... and definitely no APs there. If Disney continues to get the edge on locals vs Universal because of the FP+, that is going to be sizable indeed. (As we were told, and was certainly true at least for us, that about 900 people move to FL every day...)

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

@jtowntoflorida Its totally true, even though we have other park APs, we go to Disney FAR more often BECAUSE of FP+. And when we meet up with locals that DON'T go to Disney, we often hear "We don't go to Disney, stand in those horrible long lines and its so expensive" yada yada. Most of the times, they had no idea you could book three attractions 30 days before you go, or same day (subject to availability of course) and that no one else offers that for us, no one. So when we go to the other parks, we roll the dice as to what the lines will be. (Not going to buy quick cue as locals, its only good for the day unless you go super premium and we aren't.) We do still go (because who loves rides that doesn't love Manta?!) but not nearly as often as we go to a Disney park. Its definitely helping them, right now I have at least 7 days planned already for Disney, and a few 'maybes' for the others....

On Memorial Day Sat SWW, one of the Survey taker CMs said "Its a locals kind of day". Where we locals might have avoided peak times before, we embrace them now - with FP+. We aren't afraid of crowds, we go ride a few things and move on. It has definitely made APs pay off. I wouldn't dare walk into a single Disney park with at least 3 somethings booked. We've never done it yet and don't intend to. We book FP+ 100% of the time.

And how many times have we been to Universal in the last 5 years...0....10 yrs? Maybe once or twice... and definitely no APs there. If Disney continues to get the edge on locals vs Universal because of the FP+, that is going to be sizable indeed. (As we were told, and was certainly true at least for us, that about 900 people move to FL every day...)

Yea the only 2 families we know in Orlando also love FP+. That doesn't mean more or most locals hate it I guess. But the reasoning seemed to make sense. They have done the parks so many times that a commando day is long gone. They tend do after work visits, dinner and night show things. FP+ really improved those visits. The headliners were always an hour or more early evening-now they can FP+ those and have a very relaxed evening. Even having no wait for TT or Soarin is a nice improvement for EPCOT, esp since they can alternate which one on different visits. Having the Frozen FP+ will be nice for them as well. But MK and DHS are really nice schedules now with 3 good ones at each.

One family even does Throwback Thursdays at MK-where they schedule 3 classics, like POTC/HM/PPan for example-then the parade and Wishes. Of course I kid them that its throwback to when those were no wait for those-they laugh and say the rest is far worth it, and that they were often 15 to 30 minutes (Pan an hour) anyway instead of no wait. Other visits have been like Monday Mountains etc.

They have AP at US/IOA as well and would love to schedule some FOTL times there if they could.

Since they live there, they don't get EMH either, so FP+ has been nice.

They are back at WDW much more than in the past now because of FP+.

Their visits have greatly improved, and are getting much more value now. AP renewal is now guaranteed.