I Iger and his bean counters getting ready to sell WDW!

[Tonka's Skipper]

No information or rumors on this, just my old mind drifting as I read the posts and problems WDW has now.

I know Comcast made a offer a few years ago which was not even considered.

However look at the all E ticket parks and attractions being added to other parks around the world. Yes we have a great new attraction (E ticket) in the mine train and there is talk of more in avatar land and maybe star wars etc.

When you look at it all, those are really just *holding the WDW resort in place*, not really moving ahead.

You have seen piles of new things in DLR and not much at Uni in California.

A machavielean (spl?) thinking person could almost think Comcast and Uni have a quiet deal in place. In selling WDW, Iger could reap billions and make himself look like a giant!

It would not have to be Comcast either.

Just my mind wondering!

AKK

 

[dcibrando]

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

You most likely right, but I hope it can be a good discussion.

Just the more I see and read, the more I am wondering if this could really be a possibility!

I am a big Disney fan and I would hate to see it happen.

AKK

 

[tjkraz]

Record attendance.
Record-high prices.
Record profits.

Keep repeating that to yourself.

If you owned a business and your number of customers kept rising...regardless of price increases...would you really feel compelled to continue pouring more and more money into that business?

Also bear in mind the amount of money the've spent on NextGen. Park fans may prefer $1 billion spent on attractions rather than $1 billion on computer systems but it's still a VERY substantial investment.

 

[saskdw]

WDW isn't having any problems. Things are better than ever.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Record attendance.
Record-high prices.
Record profits.

Keep repeating that to yourself.

If you owned a business and your number of customers kept rising...regardless of price increases...would you really feel compelled to continue pouring more and more money into that business?

Also bear in mind the amount of money the've spent on NextGen. Park fans may prefer $1 billion spent on attractions rather than $1 billion on computer systems but it's still a VERY substantial investment.

All good points, however Disney lives on its brand and right now there is a lot of people unhappy. not just Nex Gen, but the condition and operation of the park, to the point others are starting to look and wonder..........That could and in fact I would be surprised it has not started to effect the attendance. Not to mention the good attendance is the MK not HS or AK.



By holding back on the new attractions Iger is banking money and if he sold, it would only make him look better to stockholders.

Just for the record, I am not saying this is a good thing nor am I saying it is likely. I am only saying some points look to this possibility.

AKK

 

[eadavis]

As a stock holder, I hope they stay the course, seems like every day they're hitting historic highs.

 

[wiigirl]

As a stock holder, I hope they stay the course, seems like every day they're hitting historic highs.

Me too!

 

[Figmentforever24]

No information or rumors on this, just my old mind drifting as I read the posts and problems WDW has now.

I know Comcast made a offer a few years ago which was not even considered.

However look at the all E ticket parks and attractions being added to other parks around the world. Yes we have a great new attraction (E ticket) in the mine train and there is talk of more in avatar land and maybe star wars etc.

When you look at it all, those are really just *holding the WDW resort in place*, not really moving ahead.

You have seen piles of new things in DLR and not much at Uni in California.

A machavielean (spl?) thinking person could almost think Comcast and Uni have a quiet deal in place. In selling WDW, Iger could reap billions and make himself look like a giant!

It would not have to be Comcast either.

Just my mind wondering!

AKK

There is no secret deal in place for Disney to be sold off to Comcast. Universal Hollywood is actually investing heavily into their park at the moment. Harry Potter is being built as well as the new Despicable Me ride which opens this year. They are also going to be building a new Fast and Furious ride very soon. So they are investing plenty. Disneyland is the one who should be worried.

 

[tjkraz]

All good points, however Disney lives on its brand and right now there is a lot of people unhappy. not just Nex Gen, but the condition and operation of the park, to the point others are starting to look and wonder..........

That's fanboy stuff. Die-hards can spend countless hours posting on message boards about poor quality and high prices all they wish. But as the proverbial turnstiles keep clicking, Disney will stay the course.

That could and in fact I would be surprised it has not started to effect the attendance. Not to mention the good attendance is the MK not HS or AK.

Disney doesn't publish attendance by park so we can only fall back on unofficial numbers. Regardless, if a park like DHS can simply maintain attendance at higher prices and with minimal capital investment, it's a "win" for the bookkeepers.

Universal Hollywood is actually investing heavily into their park at the moment.

(snip)

Disneyland is the one who should be worried.

Meh...time will tell. People said the same thing about WDW when WWoHP was announced for Universal Florida in 2007. It's now been open nearly 4 years. And it's been 4 years of price hikes and attendance increases for Walt Disney World.

I don't see Disney responding in any meaningful way until they have actually been harmed by the competition.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

There is no secret deal in place for Disney to be sold off to Comcast. Universal Hollywood is actually investing heavily into their park at the moment. Harry Potter is being built as well as the new Despicable Me ride which opens this year. They are also going to be building a new Fast and Furious ride very soon. So they are investing plenty. Disneyland is the one who should be worried.

Still that is only 1 park, a small park at that and a small HP.

He could never sell DR, that would have him booted fast, the stockholders would come at him with a pitchfork.

WDW is massive and expensive to run. They are cutting operations corners left and right.

The billions they would rake in from the sale and the licensing of the Disney brand would let Iger build more parks in the far east and other feign countries which he has already said he wants to do and make Disney a international companies, not American anymore.

Again I am not saying there is a deal with Comcast or any other company, just some things keep pointing to it.

AKK

 

[rteetz]

Record attendance. Record-high prices. Record profits. Keep repeating that to yourself. If you owned a business and your number of customers kept rising...regardless of price increases...would you really feel compelled to continue pouring more and more money into that business? Also bear in mind the amount of money the've spent on NextGen. Park fans may prefer $1 billion spent on attractions rather than $1 billion on computer systems but it's still a VERY substantial investment.

Disney is also continuing to pour money into DVC and overseas parks. Two places universal doesn't have a large presence in. I think that is another thing keeping Disney strong, they don't need to make a lot of changes they need to continue every few years to add a ride or two to the WDW resort overall. AK is getting it's much needed expansion and I hope DHS is soon as well. Star Wars is a gold mine for Disney and I think they are waiting for the perfect time to incorporate it. I also have an open mind for abaya I think it has capability to be a very very successful expansion project.

 

[Figmentforever24]

Still that is only 1 park, a small park at that and a small HP.

He could never sell DR, that would have him booted fast, the stockholders would come at him with a pitchfork.

WDW is massive and expensive to run. They are cutting operations corners left and right.

The billions they would rake in from the sale and the licensing of the Disney brand would let Iger build more parks in the far east and other feign countries which he has already said he wants to do and make Disney a international companies, not American anymore.

Again I am not saying there is a deal with Comcast or any other company, just some things keep pointing to it.

AKK

Oh when I said worried I did not mean worried they would get sold. I meant as in Universal is building and opening plenty of new stuff. Iger is a very smart man. He knows how to run a company and he has proven that over the years. I wouldn't doubt for a moment that he knows Walt Disney World is the biggest money maker for the company hands down. You don't sell your biggest money maker to someone else. I do see what you are saying about how the are treating Walt Disney World with the cutting and stuff, but remember tons of people come to Walt Disney World and most of them are first time visitors. I believe most of the cutting is done by management because they know most people wont notice. I don't think it has anything to do with them wanting to hand it over. It is funny though I remember when someone posted a thread like this on another website. They said they thought Walt Disney World was going to be sold to Universal to make a mega resort lol.

 

[OldsDr]

Sell off I don't see any time in the near future. I see a more realistic approach would be third party operators. 1st, the resorts that do not have DVC attached get vended to a third party. Field the complaints and learn and figure out how to do 2. 2) The remaining resorts get vended out to third parties to operate. That way Disney gets a guaranteed rent payment (unless the third party goes bankrupt) every year and it becomes easier to predict income. Then after the hotels are third party Park operations become third party, but piecemeal. Starts with restaurants (already did) and works its way up to whole park operations. The internal bus drivers will be employs of mars. This way they maintain ownership, but no headaches.

I don't want this happen, but it is MBA 101. This way you can better predict money flow and be more accurate with your annual forecasts to Wall Street.

 

[k5jm]

Why did Eisner keep Disney Animation? It lost money in the 70's and 80's. But, it was the content driver for the company. WDW is part of the full-circle eco-cycle that is the WDC.

if anything, Disney would keep all IP and outsource the Resort Operations to a third party(s) and just make their profit less cost. This is what they tried to do with the Disney Stores, and that failed.

 

[tjkraz]

Problem with any sale / outsource scenario is where do you find the company willing to agree to Disney's financial and operational terms?

Other than establishing a consistent revenue stream, there's no real upside for Disney. As things stand now, they can wring every nickel out of the parks. They have ultimate control over product placement (promoting new movies, TV, etc.), ticket prices, merchandise prices, character appearances, construction & renovations and so on. They have freedom to put-together vacation packages which impact hotel, ticket or dining revenues without concern for how those divisions would individually respond. (Consider what it would take to offer a "buy 5 days, get 2 free" offer if the hotels and theme parks were operated by different parties.)

They still control the vast majority of restaurants, which allows them to set dining plan terms which independent operators are virtually obligated to accept.

If Disney wanted to outsource hotel, restaurant or theme park management, they would still want virtually unlimited control coupled with some form of guaranteed revenue stream. That revenue stream would entail the operators taking something off the top. And, although it may help stabilize overall income from the parks, it would leave Disney unable to benefit from the economic peaks.

Why does Disney outsource something like valet parking? Because it's a low-ceiling venture with a higher-than-average liability. Profit from valet parking operations isn't even a blip on the radar for TWDC.

When it comes to larger ventures like hotel and theme park management, I believe Disney still values the ability to leverage those segments on-the-fly to impact the bottom line. Sure it means there will be rough patches every few years when the economy sags, but on the high end, they aren't even close to reaching the ceiling. Financially speaking, WDW and DL are very high-reward business units.

 

[OKW Lover]

I had to check the calendar to see if it was April 1st already.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I had to check the calendar to see if it was April 1st already.

LOL.I agree its far fetched......not likely and as TJkras pointed out you have to find a company willing to work under Disney financial and operational terms.
TJkraz all your points and others are well taken. Their are many economical reason not to sell.

Some posters have pointed out that Iger knows how to run a company..................well that actually make be wonder more, because I don't believe Iger ever understood Disney and the Disney brand and their relationship to making money by providing the best product, but one that is just good enough to get bye.

You may want to remember he's leaving in 2016.....just the time frame to finish putting together a deal to sell WDW and make a big bonus as he leaves.

His kind of operation may just look at the WDW billions and thing I can use that money in another country or development and make more profits!

Not a easy thing to do, but any multi Billion dollar sale would be a hard thin to put together.

Step back a bit and look at what Iger and his bean counters have been doing in cutting left and right.................creating a lot of issues guests are not happy about and new guests are starting to watch and wonder.

Attendance at the MK has increased, at least it has recovered from 2008, but not so much for the other parks.

Know I have read a number of posts saying WDW is a big money maker...............but is it really?.........I cannot find a clear report on what WDW is making!.. If it doing better or worse.


Add to this that Iger as stated he wants to make Disney a international Company , not a American Company and is doing just that, especially in the fair east.

I am not saying this is going to happen, in fact its not likely, but looking at the big picture, you have to wonder what maybe happening behind the scenes



I know I am thinking a little bit machivialian(spl?)


AKK

 

[Magic Fanatic]

LOL.I agree its far fetched......not likely and as TJkras pointed out you have to find a company willing to work under Disney financial and operational terms. TJkraz all your points and others are well taken. Their are many economical reason not to sell. Some posters have pointed out that Iger knows how to run a company..................well that actually make be wonder more, because I don't believe Iger ever understood Disney and the Disney brand and their relationship to making money by providing the best product, but one that is just good enough to get bye. You may want to remember he's leaving in 2016.....just the time frame to finish putting together a deal to sell WDW and make a big bonus as he leaves. His kind of operation may just look at the WDW billions and thing I can use that money in another country or development and make more profits! Not a easy thing to do, but any multi Billion dollar sale would be a hard thin to put together. Step back a bit and look at what Iger and his bean counters have been doing in cutting left and right.................creating a lot of issues guests are not happy about and new guests are starting to watch and wonder. Attendance at the MK has increased, at least it has recovered from 2008, but not so much for the other parks. Know I have read a number of posts saying WDW is a big money maker...............but is it really?.........I cannot find a clear report on what WDW is making!.. If it doing better or worse. Add to this that Iger as stated he wants to make Disney a international Company , not a American Company and is doing just that, especially in the fair east. I am not saying this is going to happen, in fact its not likely, but looking at the big picture, you have to wonder what maybe happening behind the scenes I know I am thinking a little bit machivialian(spl?) AKK

I could take your entire post and change the name from Iger to Eisner and we would be right back in 2004.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I could take your entire post and change the name from Iger to Eisner and we would be right back in 2004.

I would agree, except for the fact Eisner was much more the Creative guy. Iger is just a bean counter looking to bottom line and not really the long term future or the spirit of Disney..

AKK