January Occupancy WAAAY Down

[DisFlan]

Here's an Iger blurb from the 3/3 Orlando Sentinel. Bookings are slowing. His follow up is "but we're opening American Idol". (Which gets a big yawn from me - but tastes vary.)


Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said this evening that theme-park bookings have slowed, despite the company's heavy discounting efforts.

"We're on par with where we were a year ago. But we're discounting in the marketplace," Iger told analysts at the Deutsche Bank Securities media and telecom conference. "So the bottom line will be affected somewhat by that."

Disney had said in early February that bookings between January and June were running slightly ahead of last year's pace, thanks largely to its seven nights for the price of four hotel-and-ticket promotion.

Still, the Disney chief pointed to the recent opening of the new American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios as evidence that the company will keep making long-term investments in its parks despite the deep recession.

"We'll continue to look at opportunities like that," Iger said. "We'll continue to invest carefully and selectively and strategically."



DisFlan

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Here's an Iger blurb from the 3/3 Orlando Sentinel. Bookings are slowing. His follow up is "but we're opening American Idol". (Which gets a big yawn from me - but tastes vary.)


Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said this evening that theme-park bookings have slowed, despite the company's heavy discounting efforts.

"We're on par with where we were a year ago. But we're discounting in the marketplace," Iger told analysts at the Deutsche Bank Securities media and telecom conference. "So the bottom line will be affected somewhat by that."

Disney had said in early February that bookings between January and June were running slightly ahead of last year's pace, thanks largely to its seven nights for the price of four hotel-and-ticket promotion.

Still, the Disney chief pointed to the recent opening of the new American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios as evidence that the company will keep making long-term investments in its parks despite the deep recession.

"We'll continue to look at opportunities like that," Iger said. "We'll continue to invest carefully and selectively and strategically."



DisFlan

For those of you who think Disney is on the right track or that Iger "get's it" even a little bit, this blub should be very telling for you.

Universal is putting in a big new coaster AND Harry Potter with more rumors still outstanding and Iger thinks American Idol is a "long term investment"???

 

[DisFlan]

For those of you who think Disney is on the right track or that Iger "get's it" even a little bit, this blub should be very telling for you.

Universal is putting in a big new coaster AND Harry Potter with more rumors still outstanding and Iger thinks American Idol is a "long term investment"???

It probably sounded pretty lame to the Deutsche Bank audience, too. Not exactly the crowd you'd want to un-impress. And I'd have to guess that his admission about bookings "slowing" means that they're probably down more than just a little.


DisFlan

 

[redrosesix]

Here's an Iger blurb from the 3/3 Orlando Sentinel. Bookings are slowing. His follow up is "but we're opening American Idol". (Which gets a big yawn from me - but tastes vary.)


Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said this evening that theme-park bookings have slowed, despite the company's heavy discounting efforts.

"We're on par with where we were a year ago. But we're discounting in the marketplace," Iger told analysts at the Deutsche Bank Securities media and telecom conference. "So the bottom line will be affected somewhat by that."

Disney had said in early February that bookings between January and June were running slightly ahead of last year's pace, thanks largely to its seven nights for the price of four hotel-and-ticket promotion.

Still, the Disney chief pointed to the recent opening of the new American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios as evidence that the company will keep making long-term investments in its parks despite the deep recession.

"We'll continue to look at opportunities like that," Iger said. "We'll continue to invest carefully and selectively and strategically."



DisFlan

Good evidence that the person at the helm determines the direction of the company. So we can pretty much feel guilt-free for laying the blame at his feet.

 

[tjkraz]

For those of you who think Disney is on the right track or that Iger "get's it" even a little bit, this blub should be very telling for you.

Universal is putting in a big new coaster AND Harry Potter with more rumors still outstanding and Iger thinks American Idol is a "long term investment"???

I agree with you to a point. It's disappointing that Disney doesn't have any new attractions under construction. But I do believe they will make announcements before the economy shows any major improvement. It's mostly a question of timing right now.

Disney is making multi-million dollar investments in Space Mountain and Hall of Presidents this year. When was the last time Universal spent any money on their tired old attractions like ET, Terminator or Twister? To repeat guests, keeping the old favorites fresh is just as important as introducing a latest-and-greatest every couple of years.

Harry Potter was announced nearly 2 years ago so its far too late for the economy to have any impact on that.

Rock It will be a nice addition to USF but let's be honest about that one--if Disney had announced the same concept for DHS we'd be having a different conversation about how Disney standards had fallen. US has some nice recent attractions in The Simpsons and Mummy, but RockIt is a cheapo, Six Flags quality attraction that has no place in a Disney park.

 

[DisFlan]

I didn't post Iger's statements so much in light of Universal as that he may need a speech writer. We don't know everything he said, but the take away quote could have been a lot better than "bookings are slowing, but we're opening a 2nd-tier attraction based on an over-the-hill TV show".

Every person in that conference audience was more than likely already aware that times are tough in the hotel and theme park industry. Iger could have stressed something like "we're using this difficult economic period as an opportunity to reinvest in and enhance our guest experience for the future". And maybe have mentioned inventive ideas or attractions that are on the table - these would have certainly been noted.

I don't know if Iger "gets it" or not, but what he ended up with here pretty much leaves the impression that Disney is behind the curve on innovation and ideas. Oh...and that ressies are dropping off. (DIS stock dropped, again, that day.)

DisFlan

 

[mitros]

Well, we made 9 more day trips since my last post, and the parks are STILL crowded, the restaurants are STILL busy....in other words, business as usual at WDW, just as I have been saying all along. And with the flower and garden show coming up, the crowds WILL be through the roof.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Well, we made 9 more day trips since my last post, and the parks are STILL crowded, the restaurants are STILL busy....in other words, business as usual at WDW, just as I have been saying all along. And with the flower and garden show coming up, the crowds WILL be through the roof.

That's GREAT news for Disney! I'm happy they are busy. Disney is spending a TON of advertising $$$ to beg people to come down.

Now we just have to get the guests to spend $$$ while they are there like the did in 2007 and early 2008.

I believe the second quarter will end this month. Let's hope it's better news than the last quarter. Maybe they will then be able to toss some $$$ back into the maintenance departments!

 

[mitros]

That's GREAT news for Disney! I'm happy they are busy. Disney is spending a TON of advertising $$$ to beg people to come down.

Now we just have to get the guests to spend $$$ while they are there like the did in 2007 and early 2008.

I believe the second quarter will end this month. Let's hope it's better news than the last quarter. Maybe they will then be able to toss some $$$ back into the maintenance departments!

Living close by, we have, as always, made many trips to WDW. We have NOT seen any sort of "down time" at WDW this quarter, nor last, or the one before that. There were a lot of statements made by folks that things were "down" at Disney. From personal experience, that has not happened. Whether they are spending money on toys, clothing and trinkets, or not, they are still going on the rides {long lines}and filling the restaurants {cannot get reservations}
So, once again, my point is simply, Disney has not suffered any downturn in the amount of guests on property. If they are not making money is not what I have been talking about. lo these many months.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Living close by, we have, as always, made many trips to WDW. We have NOT seen any sort of "down time" at WDW this quarter, nor last, or the one before that. There were a lot of statements made by folks that things were "down" at Disney. From personal experience, that has not happened. Whether they are spending money on toys, clothing and trinkets, or not, they are still going on the rides {long lines}and filling the restaurants {cannot get reservations}
So, once again, my point is simply, Disney has not suffered any downturn in the amount of guests on property. If they are not making money is not what I have been talking about. lo these many months.

Your perspective notwithstanding, this is not all exactly true to my experience. Also being relatively local I have lots of anecdotal evidence too.

We have called and received reservations at 'Ohana with LESS than a weeks notice TWICE in the past 2 months (one Fri, one Sun). When at MGM the lines for ToT were walk on one recent visit and 10 minutes the other (RnR was 10 & 20 minutes the same days).

We experienced a mere 20 minute wait for Soarin' one Saturday in 2009.

My daughters rode Space Mountain 4 times in a row (walk on) on another Friday night this year.

Is my experience definitive? Absolutely not but it shows that on a given day anyone can experience different things.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Living close by, we have, as always, made many trips to WDW. We have NOT seen any sort of "down time" at WDW this quarter, nor last, or the one before that. There were a lot of statements made by folks that things were "down" at Disney. From personal experience, that has not happened. Whether they are spending money on toys, clothing and trinkets, or not, they are still going on the rides {long lines}and filling the restaurants {cannot get reservations}
So, once again, my point is simply, Disney has not suffered any downturn in the amount of guests on property. If they are not making money is not what I have been talking about. lo these many months.

Downturn of guests, obviously in your personal observations....no downturn.

Downturn of income, no question after the last quarter company statements - Disney is not colledting nearly as much $$$ p/guest as in the past.

Yea, the parks are busy and people are enjoying themselves....but Disney still has to make more $$$ p/guest than they are now.

Feeling the $$$ pinch of the economy (and Disney is now a bottom-line kind of company)- no question. Read Bob Igers words.

 

[MemoToMe]

I had an interesting observation the other day. I went to Downtown Disney the other day (I wanted to find a CD at Virgin Megastore before it closed). I walked from Westside through PI and into Marketplace. Of the hundreds of people I saw, I could barely count on two hands the amount of people with shopping bags in their hands. Also, T-Rex, the new restaurant, had no line to get in. I'd say right now that if things are on track for attendance, then spending (the "per caps" in theme park speak) must be way down.

And, of course, we all know that "what people want is more shopping and dining options".

 

[Jynohn]

I just got back from Disney yesterday. The parks were the most crowded we've ever seen (60+ minute waits for most rides and extremely congested walkways). Yet we were able to get reservations less than 30 days out at Le Cellier, Teppan Edo, 'Ohana, and Whispering Canyon for the exact times that we wanted. In fact, both 'Ohana and Whispering Canyon were over half empty when we were there.

We also noticed little to no lines to buy merchandise, or at the bakery and ice cream shop on Main Street which are usually mobbed at the end of the night. So to us, it looked like all the promotions were working to get bodies in the parks, but people definitely don't seem to be spending money like they used to...

 

[mitros]

I just got back from Disney yesterday. The parks were the most crowded we've ever seen (60+ minute waits for most rides and extremely congested walkways). Yet we were able to get reservations less than 30 days out at Le Cellier, Teppan Edo, 'Ohana, and Whispering Canyon for the exact times that we wanted. In fact, both 'Ohana and Whispering Canyon were over half empty when we were there.

We also noticed little to no lines to buy merchandise, or at the bakery and ice cream shop on Main Street which are usually mobbed at the end of the night. So to us, it looked like all the promotions were working to get bodies in the parks, but people definitely don't seem to be spending money like they used to...

I think Disneys giving away these 3 days with purchase of 4 is going to come back and bite them on the back side if no one is spending any money. Oh well, sucks to be them.........Disney, that is.