Disney News, Discussion & an Element of Fun - 2024 Edition

[only hope]

My guess is that Disney has done the math, and the amount of sales they're losing because of the lack of resort delivery is less than the amount they'd have to pay for staffing resort delivery (from what I've been told from CMs who worked it, it took a lot of people to get everything sorted and delivered to the right places). I really thought it would come back when the College Program first came back post-COVID, but it seems to be another relic lost forever to history. Maybe once Dinosaur shuts down for good, we can borrow a Time Rover and bring it back from the past.

Probably. I wonder if bringing it back to just the deluxe resorts may pay off- guessing they spend far more than those in moderates and values.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

deluxe resorts may pay off- guessing they spend far more than those in moderates and values.

Nah that's just presuming off a level of hotel. You can say someone who spent less has more budget for merch whilst someone else who spent a good chunk of their budget on the hotel is left with less. But that's still presuming what someone is spending off just a hotel. These days you could argue a lot might come down to what merch is available and if it appeals to enough people as well as the quality. We brought home a lot of stuff in 2017 from pillows to ornaments to clothing but scoured through the stuff in 2022 and just nothing was really all that good, the type and quality we felt was lesser than 2017. We used the package delivery a lot in 2017 too. I personally miss it but I think they've seen people are willing to either carry it around with them, get a locker, purchase it later in the day and do other things that offset the cost to labor and logistics in holding purchases and delivering it to the hotels so there's not a need to bring back the service.

At this rate you have to be careful to not put too many perks on strictly deluxe. Of course Disney being Disney they could offer it just to deluxe but I don't know that they would use the point that they spend more than those staying at moderates and values in lieu of trying to attract people to stay at a resort that is merely priced higher.

 

[BayTower2010]

Nah that's just presuming off a level of hotel. You can say someone who spent less has more budget for merch whilst someone else who spent a good chunk of their budget on the hotel is left with less. But that's still presuming what someone is spending off just a hotel. These days you could argue a lot might come down to what merch is available and if it appeals to enough people as well as the quality. We brought home a lot of stuff in 2017 from pillows to ornaments to clothing but scoured through the stuff in 2022 and just nothing was really all that good, the type and quality we felt was lesser than 2017. We used the package delivery a lot in 2017 too. I personally miss it but I think they've seen people are willing to either carry it around with them, get a locker, purchase it later in the day and do other things that offset the cost to labor and logistics in holding purchases and delivering it to the hotels so there's not a need to bring back the service.

At this rate you have to be careful to not put too many perks on strictly deluxe. Of course Disney being Disney they could offer it just to deluxe but I don't know that they would use the point that they spend more than those staying at moderates and values in lieu of trying to attract people to stay at a resort that is merely priced higher.

This is an interesting post. The package delivery has totally stopped all my family's impulse buying. No one wants to carry around a bunch of packages as you go from ride to ride, or park to park. Every trip -and I go on 2 to 3 a year - I find I am buying less and less merchandise. I am known by family and friends for my Disney apparel, now as my favorites are getting old and tattered, there is not a replacement purchase. I have a spare bedroom of different Disney items-shaded light, Mickey clock, WDW prints-have not bought anything new since COVID hit. This is Disney's loss and my pocket book gain.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is an interesting post. The package delivery has totally stopped all my family's impulse buying. No one wants to carry around a bunch of packages as you go from ride to ride, or park to park. Every trip -and I go on 2 to 3 a year - I find I am buying less and less merchandise. I am known by family and friends for my Disney apparel, now as my favorites are getting old and tattered, there is not a replacement purchase. I have a spare bedroom of different Disney items-shaded light, Mickey clock, WDW prints-have not bought anything new since COVID hit. This is Disney's loss and my pocket book gain.

I think even if the quality was more on par with our 2017 purchases, if we had been on site in 2022 when we last went we probably would have purchase less ourselves because of not having the package delivery. It really was easy to pop into a store look around and say "let's get that" and even if you didn't do package delivery to the resorts you could still have the drop off to the specified location and pick it up on your way out of the park.

I don't think you're alone in how you've curbed your impulse shopping. it just seems to be the case that Disney has figured out that even after not having it for several years the cost ratio isn't favorable enough and guest behavior not altering enough to warrant bringing it back, a shame IMO.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

My guess is that Disney has done the math, and the amount of sales they're losing because of the lack of resort delivery is less than the amount they'd have to pay for staffing resort delivery (from what I've been told from CMs who worked it, it took a lot of people to get everything sorted and delivered to the right places). I really thought it would come back when the College Program first came back post-COVID, but it seems to be another relic lost forever to history. Maybe once Dinosaur shuts down for good, we can borrow a Time Rover and bring it back from the past.

I agree, I'm sure they've done the math on the economics of the delivery service. For every poster here who says they're buying less, there are probably ten people who are buying a lot (not me because I mostly buy online now).

I also think that labor costs have risen a lot and that's likely a big part in the math not working out for Disney. Though I still think they should do it because it was a nice perk to have

 

[OKW Lover]

I just changed my buying habits to wait until i'm heading out of the park.

 

[adamreisinger]

I just changed my buying habits to wait until i'm heading out of the park.

I think this is what the majority of people have done, especially at MK, where the Emporium seems more crowded than ever post park closing.

 

[MissPixieDreamer]

I can say the impulse of buying after every ride is gone, because my husband hates bags... and upon leaving the park we're just so tired we don't dedicate enough time to browsing the stores on the way out. Many recent visits I've left the parks with no bags at all. Really sad.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

I think this is what the majority of people have done, especially at MK, where the Emporium seems more crowded than ever post park closing.

Yup, people still buy in the end if they really want to. Sure maybe some buy less but probably not many. We rarely ever could use package delivery since we rarely stayed more than 2-3 nights.

 

[Brian Noble]

Disney knows, to the penny, (a) how much they sell with and without resort delivery and (b) how much it costs to provide. So they know whether or not it is a good business decision.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Hawaiian Airlines have Moana 2 plane designs, flying through March 2025:

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney also reports merchandise revenue globally and includes food/beverage revenue with it.

In the 2 fiscal years before closures (2018/2019) when resort delivery existed that revenue was $5.674B and $5.963B. In the 2 fiscal years post gradual re-openings (2022/2023) that revenue has been $6.579B and $7.712B. This current FY it’s $6.989B through 9 months.

 

[Madteaparty001]

Disney also reports merchandise revenue globally and includes food/beverage revenue with it.

In the 2 fiscal years before closures (2018/2019) when resort delivery existed that revenue was $5.674B and $5.963B. In the 2 fiscal years post gradual re-openings (2022/2023) that revenue has been $6.579B and $7.712B. This current FY it’s $6.989B through 9 months.

Yes, but things cost a lot more now. I think the number of items people buy has gone down even if the amount they spend has gone up. If adjusted for inflation is Disney really making more now with a weaker dollar?

Personally, the downgrade in quality, the higher cost, the lack of convenience, and the lack of variety means I'm buying a lot less souvenirs in the parks.

 

[vspenn]

USD is not weaker compared to 2018/2019. Depends how you want to measure, but at YE 2018, USD/EUR was 1.14, USD/JPY was 109. YE 2019 it was 1.11 and 108, respectively. Today USD/EUR is 1.08 and USD/JPY is 154. CNH was 6.8, 6.9 and 7.15. I don't know the mix of revenues, but on the balance, I would say USD is either neutral or stronger for revenue purposes.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Yes, but things cost a lot more now. I think the number of items people buy has gone down even if the amount they spend has gone up. If adjusted for inflation is Disney really making more now with a weaker dollar?

Personally, the downgrade in quality, the higher cost, the lack of convenience, and the lack of variety means I'm buying a lot less souvenirs in the parks.

Rough adjustment for inflation just comparing those full fiscal years (18/19 v 22/23) TWDC earned about $600M more in revenue than pre-closures.

Also have to consider that during FY22/23 some of the International parks were still closed (about 7 months out of 24) and Hong Kong operated only 5 days a week during FY22 when it was open and is now on 6 days a week.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Shanghai operated only 5 days a week during FY22 when it was open and is now on 6 days a week.

Wow, why isn't it open everyday?

 

[HokieRaven5]

Wow, why isn't it open everyday?

Did a double check, it was Hong Kong that had those closures on days of the week, not Shanghai.

It wasn’t until June of 2023 when Hong Kong returned to 6 days a week operation.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Also have to consider that during FY22/23 some of the International parks were still closed (about 7 months out of 24)

I read an article about Tokyo Disney expecting a decline in merch sales in 2025 (modest to me but not to them I guess of an anticipated 3.4%). You could have fooled me while we were there almost 2 weeks ago, things were flying off the shelves but it was a lot of Halloween branded merch as well as Fantasy Springs merch and honestly not a whole lot of TDR stuff, mostly ride specific or area specific.

I guess the decline they anticipate is that while there is Fantasy Springs merch the 40th Anniversary merch sold so well that by them removing it from purchase the merch interest declined. However, what I saw in TDR in both Disneyland and DisneySea is that people there carry GOBS of bags, huge bags with them all over the place. So contrary to what people are talking about with just purchasing later on while they are exiting the parks, I saw people purchasing at all hours and just carrying it around with them. It seems that between reusable bags (mostly the ones that fold up small) and larger totes that's what sells there for the market. I myself had a hard time with merch there because I don't use resuable bags, totes, and then they had more cultural merch like mats for the ground and hand towels (some beach towels that were not the same as the beach towels you'd see here) but

But even though attendance has soared at TDR they too say they anticipate an 11% drop this year vs 2019 attendance. They had the same surge in attendance once they reopened that is now anticipated to level out. Everyone and anyone I knew was headed to Japan last year and this year so that makes sense. Much like WDW saw, just later on due to Japan staying closed for much much longer than many other countries. They don't have multi-day tickets, no park hoppers and no APs either since covid.

 

[BayTower2010]

Disney knows, to the penny, (a) how much they sell with and without resort delivery and (b) how much it costs to provide. So they know whether or not it is a good business decision.

I worked in the Mortgage business and there is one true axiom "liars figure and figures lie". In other words, if you want something to be true, you can find the math to make it so. Trying to take the math of purchasing pre COVID and post COVID is a fools mission. So just make it up and claim it is not cost efficient. Think I am not being logical--let us go back to the Magical Express. How much did it cost Disney? Nothing, as they passed the cost along to the resorts with higher room rates/DVC with HOA fees. Yet when they ended the program did room rates decrease, nope, they just kept the higher room rates to add to profits. BUT they tell the public it was not "cost effective".

 

[Brian Noble]

How much did it cost Disney? Nothing, as they passed the cost along to the resorts with higher room rates/DVC with HOA fees.

This is categorically false. Room rates did not increase beyond the "usual" year-to-year increases when ME was deployed.