Disney Profits Off 32%

[jimmymac]

Lower rates and discounts are great but people, please remember that behind these discounts are laid off people with families who now have no income, no health benefits, nothing. Think about that before you post

 

[lxh11]

Mouseaholic, why then do you feed this, by posting about letters to castmembers and 22% reduction.

Your information is based on rumor and not fact. You say your heart breaks - well consider, that perhaps you should just remain silent and stop fueling the fire with your flawed information.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Your information is based on rumor and not fact. You say your heart breaks - well consider, that perhaps you should just remain silent and stop fueling the fire with your flawed information.

Her info is based on fact - refer to post # 18.

Faced with a bleak economic outlook, Disney executives vowed to press forward with more cost-cutting initiatives. The company earlier this month offered buyouts to more than 600 executives at its U.S. resorts and announced plans to cut 400 jobs in its television division.

Iger declined to reveal a targeted number for cost savings. But he said Disney will be "very aggressive" in slashing costs.

"Some announcements have already been made. . . . Some you'll see in the months ahead," Iger said. "The number is going to be very significant.

 

[jimmymac]

Mouseaholic, why then do you feed this, by posting about letters to castmembers and 22% reduction.

Your information is based on rumor and not fact. You say your heart breaks - well consider, that perhaps you should just remain silent and stop fueling the fire with your flawed information.

No, the information is based on fact. I work for a Disney owned company, See the Sentinal article mentioned above or check out Iger's 2/3 statement. I work for a Disney owned company (30 years'), and in my particular division the attrition rate will be 17%. Some areas the attrition will be 100%. So, no fires are being fuel by false information and you should be more careful with baseless comments

 

[doconeill]

Look, putting a hopeful spin on the news is a natural reaction - it does not mean that we are forgetting that jobs are being lost. But if I get a discount on a room or a package which does entice me to go, perhaps in the process I might actually be SAVING a job, at least for the short term, instead of not going at all and being miserable myself.

 

[Kallista]

revenue may be down only 4% but theme park profit is down 24%

I think the increase in fuel and food last year has something to do with that. They were getting hammered on their costs, but didn't raise prices fast enough to cover them. Costs are currently decreasing, so that should help them a little.

 

[Sherwin]

Mouseaholic, why then do you feed this, by posting about letters to castmembers and 22% reduction.

Your information is based on rumor and not fact. You say your heart breaks - well consider, that perhaps you should just remain silent and stop fueling the fire with your flawed information.

So you're saying that no one is going to get fired, business is going great, and all is happy in the land of Disney?

 

[KYMickey]

As I mentioned earlier the Parks division really isn't in bad shape,

Disney's Parks Division should really be crying! Even though their profits fell 24% they're still about 13% of revenue which is a level that most industries can only dream of. Maybe some other divisions are not doing so well but based on this fact the Parks Division really doesn't have much to complain about yet.

So you're saying that no one is going to get fired, business is going great, and all is happy in the land of Disney?

Maybe everything isn't happy in a land of Disney but based on the known facts things aren't anywhere near as bad in the Parks division as people want to believe. By the way, people aren't being fired, they are being laid off. Maybe the effect is the same but there are very different because one requires cause and the other doesn't.

 

[k5thbeatle]

I think it's remarkable that the parks/resorts revenue is only down 4%. That just shows that (at least for now) people will still spend some of their income on Disney. I know I will (but not until 2010).

I believe analysts who say that the current economic situation has kept many from travelling abroad and kept consumers spending their vacation dollars here in the USA. I also believe these same analysts who say that Disney park revenues will decline in the coming 2 years and that the 4% drop off is only just the beginning. I hope not though.

 

[k5thbeatle]

... But if I get a discount on a room or a package which does entice me to go, perhaps in the process I might actually be SAVING a job...

There ya go, Disney's new theme slogan for 2010...

The Year of; "Come to Disney World and Save Someone's Job!"

 

[btcrane]

I'm happy for all of you who think this is great news becaue you will get a discount on your hotel room in August. This news means people are going to be fired. People are losing their jobs every day around the World....including castmembers. But hey, you go ahead and post your happy faces and .

I will wait for the threads in 6 months about the affects of the castmember layoffs on services.

For me, my heart breaks for that number....because it means Disney is going to fire it's best talent across the board as they have for a few years now. Fire the long-term, experienced castmembers and re-hire the newbees at less money or just eliminate positions alltogether.

First, I agree. I'm watching relatives of my own lose their jobs due to the economy and no hope in sight of finding anything equivalent because no one is hiring.

But something else to consider-any drastic cuts Disney takes at their parks may affect those taking advantage of the deeply discounted rates--laid off castmembers may lead to dirtier parks, closed food kiosks, rides going at lower capacity so lines just as long. We are accustomed to paying topnotch dollars for a topnotch experience at Disney--if the money isn't coming in, Disney can't provide the same experience.

Like many others, I'm also taking advantage of the deals this year (the 4/3 deal in March and the military discounts in August) but I keep returning to Disney because it provides an amazing vacation experience for my family. I hope I never see it turn into "just another theme park."

 

[Stevegriswold]

We are here now and crowds seem down,but not a great deal, but we are not really hitting all the big rides. At AK it was only open 9-5 PM so you really can't see everything even with some rides having low crowd levels.

MK during the week closes at 8 PM so same deal here.
Hollywood studios we got there at 9:30 and got a fast padd for 2:30 PM so those seem to be going quickly. We did the American Idiol Preview (it's ok, not anything I would do again). If you are a big idol fan I think you would like it.

Anyway, things do seem slower but not dead.
We did try to get anvanced reservations for Canada and it was full booked. So some popular places are still difficult to get into. We did get reservations in france for 5 PM and the place was half empty, but that is pretty early to eat and they open just at 5 PM.

We did notice what seems to be a great deal of rides in Rehad so that allows Disney to not operate those rides and reduce staff and increase the wait times a tad at the others.

Also it was sad to see Muppet Vision 3D. The film is so faded, and some special effects like the smoke did not work. The preshow area had three TV's broken and several others the color was realy bad.

There is no lack of screaming brazillian teens in massive tour groups.

Steve