Do you think ANYONE at Disney knows the entire scope of how Disney works?

[Red Dog Run]

Does the right hand know the who, what, when, where, why, and how that the left hand is doing (and vice versa?) I wonder if any single person has access to Disney's project goals. Disney's a living machine, and it changes with the times. Wonder how high up customer satisfaction is on the totem pole? And, what do they define customer satisfaction as? Is it repeat visits, certain merchandise pushed, etc.? What drives the changes besides the immediate dollar. Disney spends with the long term in mind, so what's on "their" minds?

 

[Sandisw]

No clue but I do wonder if some of these changes have been on their minds and with what happened in 2020, it allowed these changes under the guise of responses to the restrictions, etc.

 

[BillPA]

Greed, that's what drive the modern Disney. They don't appear to care about the long term, only how much of a bonus they can pull in NOW! Too bad, they are destroying the Magic. RIP Walt.

 

[RivShore]

Greed, that's what drive the modern Disney. They don't appear to care about the long term, only how much of a bonus they can pull in NOW! Too bad, they are destroying the Magic. RIP Walt.

Oh good god, the answer to everything you don't like isn't Greed..they have been losing millions every single day for nearly a year. They have to pull in every dollar to slow the bleeding! What the heck do you expect?

 

[BillPA]

Wrong, Disney had it most profitable year in history. Even their stock is at record highs.

 

[Ssplashhmtn]

Oh good god, the answer to everything you don't like isn't Greed..they have been losing millions every single day for nearly a year. They have to pull in every dollar to slow the bleeding! What the heck do you expect?

You do realize Disney’s market value (stock) has increased ~$100 Billion since November? Yes, Billion. Disney’s stock price is at an all time high.

I guess I’m not following your point....?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Yeah, they know. Problem is, imo, they maximize profits for the short term.
At one point in time it was the long term. There is a huge difference.
They are living on their laurels. It was once a great company that “plused” everything.
No longer. That’s one reason why I sold 2000 DVC points.

I truly wish the old Disney would return. Anyone remember the Roy Disney “Save Disney” campaign?

 

[RivShore]

Wrong, Disney had it most profitable year in history. Even their stock is at record highs.

I think your confusing stock performance with their financials.

Per this article, estimated losses when all parks were closed was staggering:
And now, of course, the parks are closed, and Disney is losing somewhere between $30 million and $40 million per day.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/04/30/how-much-is-disney-losing-per-day.aspx
For Q4 2020, Park losses were $2.4B:
Disney estimated that the net adverse impact of Covid-19 on the parks division operating income was about $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/12/disney-dis-q4-2020-earnings.html
And operating income for all of 2020 was down 50% year over year. How do you see 2020 being the most profitable year in history??

 

[RivShore]

You do realize Disney’s market value (stock) has increased ~$100 Billion since November? Yes, Billion. Disney’s stock price is at an all time high.

I guess I’m not following your point....?

View attachment 549869

You are absolutely correct on the stock increase. But the market is forward looking, it is not based on the companies current performance. And in fact that high stock price does nothing for the company itself today, they can't just tap into those dollars (they would have to go thru a stock issuance to try and cash in on it but that is a long drawn out process which usually causes the stock price to fall).

The stock is looking forward to normalcy later this year and packed parks, with all those delayed trips being rescheduled.

Also, the biggest factor is Disney+, its subscriber numbers have blown away the most optimistic estimates. That part of the company is now being valued in the stock as a tech company (i.e. Netflix). This is what has pushed the stock higher, not it's current dismal earnings (see above post for details on current losses).

 

[New Mouse]

You are absolutely correct on the stock increase. But the market is forward looking, it is not based on the companies current performance. And in fact that high stock price does nothing for the company itself today, they can't just tap into those dollars (they would have to go thru a stock issuance to try and cash in on it but that is a long drawn out process which usually causes the stock price to fall).

The stock is looking forward to normalcy later this year and packed parks, with all those delayed trips being rescheduled.

Also, the biggest factor is Disney+, its subscriber numbers have blown away the most optimistic estimates. That part of the company is now being valued in the stock as a tech company (i.e. Netflix). This is what has pushed the stock higher, not it's current dismal earnings (see above post for details on current losses).

Disney plus is till extremely heavily bloated. All depends on the % of free subscribers they can convert.

 

[Red Dog Run]

No clue but I do wonder if some of these changes have been on their minds and with what happened in 2020, it allowed these changes under the guise of responses to the restrictions, etc.

I'm really curious to know if the leads in each department are on the same page. Your comment is very plausible, and maybe this was the opportunity to revamp many areas all at once ahead of preplanned changes. If some changes don't pan out, there is no blame because it was a "temporary adjustment" due to covid.

 

[Red Dog Run]

You do realize Disney’s market value (stock) has increased ~$100 Billion since November? Yes, Billion. Disney’s stock price is at an all time high.

I guess I’m not following your point....?

View attachment 549869

wow

 

[Sandisw]

I'm really curious to know if the leads in each department are on the same page. Your comment is very plausible, and maybe this was the opportunity to revamp many areas all at once ahead of preplanned changes. If some changes don't pan out, there is no blame because it was a "temporary adjustment" due to covid.

I don’t know. That’s a good question! I just always wonder and as you said, nothing to prevent them in 6 months coming up with a new and magical experience for getting to WDW similar to DME? And maybe they had a contract ending and didn’t want to commit to a new one without having any idea when attendance will be back to normal?

I do know that some divisions were caught off guard in the spring when furloughs were announced..memo didn’t make it to everyone!!! Lol

 

[Lumpy1106]

Not a fan of the layoffs or the end of EMH or DME, but greed and looking out for shareholders interests are not the same thing. Disney+ has been a Godsend - Disney is making a ton of profit off of that. They are putting money into new content like Mandalorian because they are actively looking to keep existing, and grow new subscribers to the service. Parks OTOH are not a good place to put capital right now because the park capacity, for the parks that are open, is limited. They could accelerate ride construction and offer all kids of perks - it will not add much to the # of people in the parks, and thus the profit from those people. That is a big reason why Ratatouille has not opened - there is very little upside to opening the ride right now.

Yes, the DIS stock price is peaking right now, but even that makes sense. Disney has limited expenditures due to cuts they have made (even though they still, really are losing money), kept parks open as much as they can, and have a very bright upside in the near future as the vaccine is more widely distributed. That will improve the stock price every time. That doesn't make for the best of visitor experiences right now, but investors don't care (and yes, I realize that many visitors are also shareholders). Buy low, sell high, and yes, for Disney, this is the low point. Stock price is expected to break $200/share in the near future.

 

[RivShore]

Not a fan of the layoffs or the end of EMH or DME, but greed and looking out for shareholders interests are not the same thing. Disney+ has been a Godsend - Disney is making a ton of profit off of that. They are putting money into new content like Mandalorian because they are actively looking to keep existing, and grow new subscribers to the service. Parks OTOH are not a good place to put capital right now because the park capacity, for the parks that are open, is limited. They could accelerate ride construction and offer all kids of perks - it will not add much to the # of people in the parks, and thus the profit from those people. That is a big reason why Ratatouille has not opened - there is very little upside to opening the ride right now.

Yes, the DIS stock price is peaking right now, but even that makes sense. Disney has limited expenditures due to cuts they have made (even though they still, really are losing money), kept parks open as much as they can, and have a very bright upside in the near future as the vaccine is more widely distributed. That will improve the stock price every time. That doesn't make for the best of visitor experiences right now, but investors don't care (and yes, I realize that many visitors are also shareholders). Buy low, sell high, and yes, for Disney, this is the low point. Stock price is expected to break $200/share in the near future.

Agree but one clarification - Disney is losing billions on D+ during this start up phase. Actual profits from the service won't come until at least 2024 per some analysts.

 

[ilovevacation]

In my mind Disney is similar to the government. Lots of sections doing their own thing with few joint people. Also, I feel like we only know 1% of what is going on even for those of us that like to be in the "know "

 

[crisi]

According to their FY20 Financial statements in 2019 Disney made $11B in income. In 2020 (FYE of September 28), they lost $2B. Keep in mind that almost six months of their last fiscal year was business as usual. Their long term debt increased by $14B. They are hoarding cash (like you do in these situations when you are expecting bad - you want as much cash and short term assets to pay bills as possible). All of their long term solvency ratios have deteriorated (and were already in decline in 2019 due to their large investments). And their net asset ratios took a dive. This is not a company that had their best year ever. I didn't do a deep read of them but the surface read of them looks like a company in trouble, making moves to shore up so there isn't more trouble.

As to the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. Yeah, in big organizations its difficult to move all the pieces together. But large decisions like where to invest, where not to invest, what major projects to put on hold, those decisions are made at the CXO level. Well run organizations (and Disney is generally well run) that a decision one department or division makes that affects other departments or decisions need to be negotiated. (Disney dropped the ball on this with the Covid "free dining" short lived promotion. Marketing really didn't talk to restaurants or health and safety. But that was early days). Those guys are meeting regularly. My experience with big organizations is at this point in a corporate financial crisis, decisions that usually get made lower down get higher thresholds for approval. On a small scale, for instance, any business travel requires a VP to sign off instead of a Director. Purchasing approvals will be lowered - your manager used to be able to approve $3k, your director $30k and your VP $300k. Now you manager can't approve more than pencils and your director has to get permission for a new laptop. I remember working for a large health insurance organization that had the CFO signing off on $1500 laser printers (that was when I knew it was time to find another job). All corporate decisions involve either money or law. You do something because you will make money doing it, you will save money doing it, or you are legally required to do it. Even charitable contributions are looked at in the value they will bring to the brand. At this point, any significant decisions are being scrutinized by a small number of people, even at a company as large as Disney.

 

[Timandalicia]

Does the right hand know the who, what, when, where, why, and how that the left hand is doing (and vice versa?) I wonder if any single person has access to Disney's project goals. Disney's a living machine, and it changes with the times. Wonder how high up customer satisfaction is on the totem pole? And, what do they define customer satisfaction as? Is it repeat visits, certain merchandise pushed, etc.? What drives the changes besides the immediate dollar. Disney spends with the long term in mind, so what's on "their" minds?

What determines all of this? The people with the tablets at the entry gates. With that, I dream that the data analysts all go out for a beer after work and talk about what the data demonstrates. I’d like to join them sometime.

 

[Timandalicia]

Agree but one clarification - Disney is losing billions on D+ during this start up phase. Actual profits from the service won't come until at least 2024 per some analysts.

All I know is, according to my financial advisor they paid me for my last trip. Haha

 

[crisi]

Oh, as to the customer satisfaction argument. Customer satisfaction helps you increase your revenue tomorrow - it may or may not have a positive impact on the bottom line, once you get done with the expenses incurred in creating that satisfaction. Many a company has spent their way into customer satisfaction bankruptcy. It does not pay bills today.

(Accountants really dislike marketers, who can seldom actually cost their grand ideas, or manage to pull together ROI. Its a hand-wavy "this will increase revenue and not cost much" Marketers really dislike accountants who ask "how much is it going to increase revenue and how little will it cost" because those are really hard questions to answer - and in marketing, the margin of error on those guesses are way higher than they are in operations).