DVC saved Disney?

[MichiganDVC]

I heard a rumor through a different message board that Disney was almost bankrupt and may not have "made it" if it had not been for DVC. Any truth to that statement?

TIA!

 

[disney1474]

I highly doubt this but maybe someone else knows more.

 

[MouseMomx2]

No, no truth to that rumor.

 

[summabreeze85]

They went through some rough times at the end of the 90s but they've been very far from bankruptcy.

 

[mb_uh]

No but my hubby thinks because of the way the record profits they basically have to keep building and selling to keep profits looking good to shareholders.

 

[Lynne M]

The Disney company is massive: movies, television, music, merchandise, theme parks. One blockbuster film like "Captain America 2" or "Iron Man 3" brings in far more money in ticket sales, DVD sales, licensing and merchandising than a year's worth of DVC sales.

So no, I can't imagine that DVC could ever save the Disney company from bankruptcy. It's not a drop in the bucket, but it's certainly not their biggest revenue source.

 

[disneynutz]

The money from DVD/DVC a couple of years ago moved parks and resorts from the red and into the black. That's probably where the rumor came from.

Bill

 

[Wedgeh]

Parks and resorts represents roughly 1/5 of Disney's operating income. They don't break it down, but my rough calculation suggests that DVC sales must be less than 3% of parks and resorts revenue, even with better margins lets give a very rough (and probably very generous) 10% of operating income for Parks and Resorts. DVC sales would represent, in that probable severe overestimate case, 2% of Disney's profits.

 

[DonnaL]

While I have no idea as to any numbers, I will say that during the early 2000's there were times we would be in very low crowd level parks. This was during a few year period right after 9/11. I cannot imagine the Disney corporation as a whole was close to bankruptcy, however, based on what my family observed during that timeframe I can't imagine parks and resorts was pulling their weight as to profit margin.

 

[CMOORE185]

I heard that Disney was almost bankrupt and may not have "made it" if it had not been for DVC.

TIA!

We saved Disney! Wait until I tell everyone at work I helped to save Disney!

 

[Halle]

I thought Disney's tough times were the mid to late 80's.

 

[tjkraz]

Sales of DVC points and the dollars current owners contribute to theme parks undoubtedly have helped the bottom line. Particularly during periods of lagging tourism like 2002-2003 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and in 2009-2010 during the recession.

But did DVC keep the company out of bankruptcy? Not by a long shot.

Greatest challenge TWDC faced in the last 30-40 years came in the early 80s. The company was under-valued by Wall Street and was being targeted by corporate raiders who (presumably) would have gained controlling interest and then begun selling off individual divisions for profit. Michael Eisner's hiring helped put a stop to that. And that all occurred about 8-10 years before DVC opened its first resort.

 

[Brian Noble]

DVC has definitely helped the Parks & Resort segment---and that segment overall has done well. But, a bit more than half of the company's earnings come from the Media Networks segment, and the lion's share of that is driven by ESPN.