Has Disney’s Strategies To It’s Loyal Customers Finally Caught Up With It?

[ChipnDale79]

I'm still hoping for later/cooler night visits like the old days at WDW.

i remember running around MK at 1am during Magic Hours...those were some fun times and the reasons why we kept going back.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I'm still hoping for later/cooler night visits like the old days at WDW.

I wish the parks were open later, especially AK. I remember riding Big Thunder and Splash at midnight - good times.

 

[sky13]

i remember running around MK at 1am during Magic Hours...those were some fun times and the reasons why we kept going back.

One of my favourite memories of MK is on a Saturday night right after Easter in 2015. I arrived at something like 11am or midnight (after having spent the whole day at Universal). MK closed at 1am and had EMH from 1-3am. It was amazing how much I managed to do in those 3-4 hours, especially with almost everything being a walk on! And that was possibly one of the experiences that really made me love visiting WDW.

Sadly they don't do such late nights any more, I really do miss these. Even Disney After Hours and MNSSHP etc don't go until quite so late...

 

[New Mouse]

It's the same story told a million times.

People want:
Everyone to get paid well
Products and services to be top quality
Products and services to be affordable
Companies to make a lot of money so they will pay dividends and their 401ks will grow

All those things can't happen.

Actually it's quite easily achievable of you take greed out of the equation.

Does someone like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk need all that money?

 

[focusondisney]

It's the same story told a million times.

People want:
Everyone to get paid well
Products and services to be top quality
Products and services to be affordable
Companies to make a lot of money so they will pay dividends and their 401ks will grow

All those things can't happen.

Eh, they could, if CEOs & the other highest executives did not make 400 + Xs what average workers make. The economy worked just fine that way for most of our country’s history.

 

[Jwaire]

i remember running around MK at 1am during Magic Hours...those were some fun times and the reasons why we kept going back.

And they shot "Wishes" off twice! Once at like 9 for the littles and then again a few hours later.

 

[Disney Bobby]

Eh, they could, if CEOs & the other highest executives did not make 400 + Xs what average workers make. The economy worked just fine that way for most of our country’s history.

The average executive pay at Disney is $215k a year. The top execs make a lot more, but you could take Iger's entire salary and spread it out over the rest of the company, and it would give workers about $2 extra a week. Spread that salary out over all the products sold to discount them, and it would be completely invisible.

While I do think executive pay has gotten out of control, as well as the number of layers of management, it's not just that. For a public company, it all comes back to investors. When investors stop investing based on returns and put their money behind companies that are "fair" but return less, it will change. Until then, expect companies to pay high prices for leadership they think can drive high returns. Expect that leadership to offer as little as they can in a product to get your money and try to keep labor costs as low as possible.

 

[Disney Bobby]

Actually it's quite easily achievable of you take greed out of the equation.

Does someone like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk need all that money?

Maybe. Elon has some expensive ventures that are changing the world. Takes a lot of cash to do that. "Need" is subjective.

 

[ChipnDale79]

One of my favourite memories of MK is on a Saturday night right after Easter in 2015. I arrived at something like 11am or midnight (after having spent the whole day at Universal). MK closed at 1am and had EMH from 1-3am. It was amazing how much I managed to do in those 3-4 hours, especially with almost everything being a walk on! And that was possibly one of the experiences that really made me love visiting WDW.

Sadly they don't do such late nights any more, I really do miss these. Even Disney After Hours and MNSSHP etc don't go until quite so late...

magic hours allowed us to go back to the room mid afternoon to cool off and relax a little bit before dinner. We'd head to our ADRs and after that, more fun in the parks.

Now it seems we dont have time to go back to the rooms, and if we have an ADR, your day is basically done after them. Sure you may get an hour or two after them, but not nearly as much time as you used too.

 

[New Mouse]

The average executive pay at Disney is $215k a year. The top execs make a lot more, but you could take Iger's entire salary and spread it out over the rest of the company, and it would give workers about $2 extra a week. Spread that salary out over all the products sold to discount them, and it would be completely invisible.

While I do think executive pay has gotten out of control, as well as the number of layers of management, it's not just that. For a public company, it all comes back to investors. When investors stop investing based on returns and put their money behind companies that are "fair" but return less, it will change. Until then, expect companies to pay high prices for leadership they think can drive high returns. Expect that leadership to offer as little as they can in a product to get your money and try to keep labor costs as low as possible.

Investors aren't investing, yet they've given Iger a 2nd unwarranted extension. What they're doing now is quite obviously broken to both investors and the general public, so why does Iger deserve the absurd salary and incentive again?

This is infact Igers fault as Chapek was not around long enough to have much of an impact. Disney stock has failed under his tenure.

 

[RivShore]

Maybe. Elon has some expensive ventures that are changing the world. Takes a lot of cash to do that. "Need" is subjective.

Exactly.

Who decides and how do you decide how much is too much for one person?

And as you point out, the unintended consequences would be significant. If Musk was capped at a wealth of say $10B by some federal Board of Wealth Oversight (there are a few senators who would love to be on that board, LOL), SpaceX and a half dozen other of his important companies would not exist. With SpaceX alone he has made space travel safe, affordable, and frequent. We went from hardly ever seeing a Cape Canaveral luanch to one almost every day and actually had a few days where multiple rockets went up in a single day. NONE of that happens if you put a cap on success.

 

[jpbothwell]

The average executive pay at Disney is $215k a year. The top execs make a lot more, but you could take Iger's entire salary and spread it out over the rest of the company, and it would give workers about $2 extra a week. Spread that salary out over all the products sold to discount them, and it would be completely invisible.

While I do think executive pay has gotten out of control, as well as the number of layers of management, it's not just that. For a public company, it all comes back to investors. When investors stop investing based on returns and put their money behind companies that are "fair" but return less, it will change. Until then, expect companies to pay high prices for leadership they think can drive high returns. Expect that leadership to offer as little as they can in a product to get your money and try to keep labor costs as low as possible.

I don't think it's the investors fault. It is natural for an investor to expect a return on that investment or they will move their money elsewhere. The problem with Disney, and most companies today, is that executive compensation is almost entirely tied to stock performance and their interests are aligned exclusively with the investors' interests. Management's base salary is only a fraction of total compensation. They make their millions from stock options, outright grants and bonuses tied to stock performance. It's how Eisner became a billionaire (I have no problem with billionaires but I think they should be entrepreneurs that create new businesses and not CEOs). This incentivizes short-term gains at the cost of a long-term strategy. It is much easier to boost revenue by nickle and dime-ing your guests and charging for things that you previously offered for free than it is to cultivate guest satisfaction over the long term that generates repeat business and brings new customers in through word of mouth. This reached its apex under Chapek and I think Iger is trying to walk it back a bit but the company has so many other issues that it is making it difficult to go back to the ways things were when they need the parks to offset loses in streaming and entertainment, and there are some HUGE losses there.

Executive compensation needs to be tied to more than share price performance. Objective evaluations of guest satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and overall brand perception. Unfortunately, guests aren't as happy, many cast members at the parks and resorts I've encountered recently definitely don't seem happy and the brand is seen as something that is overpriced. I think Disney World was always an expensive vacation, but it still delivered outstanding value for the money. People don't have a problem paying more money if they believe they are getting more than what they are paying for and that just isn't the case anymore. They really need to address this before the damage to the brand is permanent. Unfortunately, Iger's spending spree and the mountain of debt it brought, combined with a changing media landscape, an ultra competitive streaming market which is core to their growth strategy, and a sudden inability to connect with audiences in the theaters, is creating the perfect storm for Disney. I don't think we are going to see many changes in the parks in the near term. Maybe Epic Universe will light a fire under their butts. Competition is always good for the consumer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I do love what Walt and Roy created. As Roy E. said, "The Walt Disney Company is more than just a business. It's an authentic American icon.¨ The people who work there need to believe that.

 

[Summer2018]

Maybe Epic Universe will light a fire under their butts. Competition is always good for the consumer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I do love what Walt and Roy created. As Roy E. said, "The Walt Disney Company is more than just a business. It's an authentic American icon.¨ The people who work there need to believe that.

Amen to that!

 

[tink2424]

As for the labor shortage (I know that there are a lot of politics with this) I would like to see something done better with immigration - both legal and illegal. We have so many migrants in this country right now for many reasons and it would be better to at least put them to work. And many of them want a job but if you are not legal than it is very hard to get a job.

So, let's work something out where if you are here - even if it is illegally - that you have to work in order to get other government benefits. It seems like a win-win scenario for everyone. I'm sure a lot of Latin American workers would love to work in the Orlando area (I know there are all sorts of challenges with this from political reasons to lack or housing but I'm sure American ingenuity could make it work if we wanted to) and would help with all of the tourism jobs. And let's face it immigrants are willing to take jobs most Americans don't want to do and are will to work for lower wages. Not saying that they should be taken advantage of but I'm sure there are millions willing to work.

It's time for the country to start thinking outside the box to fix some of these larger issues.

 

[tink2424]

The other main point I agree with is the value for money argument. As many have said it is not that Disney was ever cheap (although there were hotels/tickets that a lot could afford - more than today) but it was the value for your money. Now Disney has done away with both - everything is very expensive & your value/experience is so much worse. When you do away with both nobody is happy and your business suffers.

As CEO, yes it is Iger's job to keep investors happy. But how you keep investors happy is that you create and sustain your business. The theme parks are a service business and keeping your customers happy will ALWAYS bring in more money. A lot of CEOs forget this and that is why Disney is in decline. They need someone to refocus the brand back to that point. Until they put the customer first they will never recover and be the brand they once were.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Actually it's quite easily achievable of you take greed out of the equation.

Does someone like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk need all that money?

You might not like it, but if you stop paying a CEO a salary comparative to other CEO's in their market they will most likely leave. Now you are hiring a CEO without the experience needed to run the company correctly because you aren't willing to pay their going rate. The company suffers because of this, and Disney can't afford to shell out as much to thier employees so they have lay offs and pay cuts. The customer now starts missing out because the company is run poorly, and their isn't enough employees, especially driven ones because of this.

You're mad at the system, when you figure out the best way to combat it please let me know haha. Complaining without a solution is a waste of time.

Musk and Bezos can have as much as they want IMO, they put in all the risk, they get the lions share of the reward, if you would do things differently, come up with a revolutionary idea and then make sure to give all the profits away. I don't think it's as easy as you're making it out to be, otherwise we'd all be billionaires

 

[BrianL]

You might not like it, but if you stop paying a CEO a salary comparative to other CEO's in their market they will most likely leave. Now you are hiring a CEO without the experience needed to run the company correctly because you aren't willing to pay their going rate. The company suffers because of this, and Disney can't afford to shell out as much to thier employees so they have lay offs and pay cuts. The customer now starts missing out because the company is run poorly, and their isn't enough employees, especially driven ones because of this.

You're mad at the system, when you figure out the best way to combat it please let me know haha. Complaining without a solution is a waste of time.

Musk and Bezos can have as much as they want IMO, they put in all the risk, they get the lions share of the reward, if you would do things differently, come up with a revolutionary idea and then make sure to give all the profits away. I don't think it's as easy as you're making it out to be, otherwise we'd all be billionaires

Yeah, this is true. I generally don't ahve a problem with CEOs getting paid a lot as long as they are delivering results for the company. I think that's the key, and there are too many useless CEOs who will run a company into the ground and get away with a golden parachute. They need to heavily tie the CEO compensation to the company's performance. I feel like Iger was doing a great job in his first tenure - this time, ehhhh. But he did inherit quite a mess too.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Yeah, this is true. I generally don't ahve a problem with CEOs getting paid a lot as long as they are delivering results for the company. I think that's the key, and there are too many useless CEOs who will run a company into the ground and get away with a golden parachute. They need to heavily tie the CEO compensation to the company's performance. I feel like Iger was doing a great job in his first tenure - this time, ehhhh. But he did inherit quite a mess too.

I totally agree, but you’re looking for an overhaul of the system, and what companies would initiate that when it would put them behind in talent acquisition. The only way to do it would be to offer them an even larger pay day for performance the.mn what they’re making now, and the poop storm would begin from there haha

 

[jpbothwell]

You might not like it, but if you stop paying a CEO a salary comparative to other CEO's in their market they will most likely leave. Now you are hiring a CEO without the experience needed to run the company correctly because you aren't willing to pay their going rate. The company suffers because of this, and Disney can't afford to shell out as much to thier employees so they have lay offs and pay cuts. The customer now starts missing out because the company is run poorly, and their isn't enough employees, especially driven ones because of this.

You're mad at the system, when you figure out the best way to combat it please let me know haha. Complaining without a solution is a waste of time.

Musk and Bezos can have as much as they want IMO, they put in all the risk, they get the lions share of the reward, if you would do things differently, come up with a revolutionary idea and then make sure to give all the profits away. I don't think it's as easy as you're making it out to be, otherwise we'd all be billionaires

I don't think paying the CEOs less is the solution I would advocate, but I think their performance needs to be evaluated on more than short-term profits and shareholder returns. As for Musk and Bezos, they aren't CEOs, they're entrepreneurs and visionaries who created new businesses and changed the industries they operate in and the counrtry as a whole. Disney CEOs are there to shepard an already iconic company and ensure it continues to deliver on the what the founders created. At the heart and soul of the Walt Disney Company was its creativity and its story-telling. They may not have created new stories, but they told them in inventive ways that has inspired generations.

Finally, I wouldn't characterize the discussion as complaining, but even if it was, it might be the first step in recognizing there is a problem. If enough people "complain," who knows...Disney might actually do something to address the problem.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I don't think paying the CEOs less is the solution I would advocate, but I think their performance needs to be evaluated on more than short-term profits and shareholder returns. As for Musk and Bezos, they aren't CEOs, they're entrepreneurs and visionaries who created new businesses and changed the industries they operate in and the counrtry as a whole. Disney CEOs are there to shepard an already iconic company and ensure it continues to deliver on the what the founders created. At the heart and soul of the Walt Disney Company was its creativity and its story-telling. They may not have created new stories, but they told them in inventive ways that has inspired generations.

Finally, I wouldn't characterize the discussion as complaining, but even if it was, it might be the first step in recognizing there is a problem. If enough people "complain," who knows...Disney might actually do something to address the problem.

Michael Eisner would want a word on this.

If you offer a potential CEO less than what their contemporaries make, that will greatly diminish the talent pool. Making it an even more of a “shot in the dark”, and at that level you can’t afford to role the dice.

Again you’re mad at the system