Yes, and they shuttered a couple of resorts or parts of resorts after 9/11 as well. Better that they shut down a couple of resorts rather than lay people off and have less people spread out to cover more resorts. If the customers aren't there, it doesn't cost less (or not much less anyway) to run an empty hotel than a full one.
And you know this because? Or, as you mentioned earlier, this is nothing more than just a rumor and pure speculation on your part?
Besides, shutting down a resort just doesn't make sense (yet, at least). If I remember right, the company's last earnings call said the parks were holding up OK, but the networks were hurting from lack of ad revenue. In their November earnings call, Disney execs mentioned that revenue from the parks was holding up quite well, off around only 1% from last year, but they were worried about deteriorating consumer confidence causing some problems, especially the decline Disney saw in advanced bookings. To deal with these concerns, Disney execs announced that they were "also putting in place new marketing initiatives and accompanying pricing incentives, designed to stimulate bookings and attendance during the first half of 2009." There's the 4/3 deal.
So, at least in November, there's no real evidence that Disney management is yet considering closing resorts (or parks for that matter). They just launched a MAJOR promotion to drum up business. With all Disney invested in the 4/3 promo, I believe that they will let this promo play out, unless it was a horrible flop. While I strongly believe the Disney exec team has contingency plans for closing properties should the economy get super-fugly, all signs point to more surgical cost cutting measures coupled with heavy promotions to help keep the parks in the black. Remember, Disney won't touch anything until attendance falls to a point where they start to lose money (and none of know where that point is). Also, there are a lot of costs associated with shuttering a property, and additional costs to revive it when demand picks up. Only a fool would act without clearer visibility into our economic future.
So, in a nutshell, all of these rumors are just a giant load. Pay attention to what the company says on their earning calls, that's were the real juicy news can be had:
http://corporate.disney.go.com/investors/archive.html
http://corporate.disney.go.com/investors/quarterly_earnings/081106_transcript_earnings.pdf
If you're really interested in all of this, mark your calendars for Tuesday, February 3, 2009 at approximately 4:15 p.m. EST. That's when Disney will announce Q1 earnings. By then, they should have a much clearer picture from advanced bookings through the summer and they will know how the 4/3 deal worked for them.
For a lot of companies, February will be sort of a corporate Groundhog's Day. By then, many companies should have a feel for how bad the economy is and will likely be moving forward. Accurate news on holiday retail will be available, for example, and Disney will have much better visibility into park performance for the rest of the year. If you want to dive into rumors and speculation, wait for that date, then sift through Disney's quarterly financials looking for all the clues you want, chances are, they will actually be there. But for now, based on what I've seen on this forum, these rumors are lacking in anything to back them.
And, by the way, if or when something does happen, such as closing a resort, Disney will
definitely announce it. They have no choice, as a publicly traded company,they are legally bound to announce such events.
. I wouldn't be crushed if they did. It'd be to another mod (im at pofq in the spring) or a dvc resort like ssr. Either way id still be at disney and im sure they wouldnt move me to a value considering i paid for a mod.
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