Parks Closed at Capacity

[Quiksilvr]

Oh yea - right ----- talk to Chrysler employees the end of this month. They came to work....they did their jobs.....they may loose everything.

Oh yes - GM next month.

Your post and Mr. "Big Toe" are quite simply - rude.


My 88 year old mother - survivor of the Depression - has always been careful with her $$$$. Her investments disappeared and now State Health Care and Retirement are in danger.

My little company is limping through furlough's each month.....my Dealers are closing...none of these people were taking large risks.

DH has faced buyouts and life after the laid-off have left. How much fun do you think it is to work "backstage" at WDW right now.....stress I guess you are lucky to avoid.

Insensitive comments.

Your comment seems to show an oversensitivity to this issue. The author of that comment did not slam you or the family members you provided anecdotes from.

He made several salient points that I will reword in a clearer manner for you here, to show you that even though the points may have been made inartfully they were still good points:

1. "Some businesses do better during a recession because of the nature of their product." This is true. This is not designed to belittle you. It's just a fact. Some businesses do do better in a recession.

2. "Some people are having a rough time during the recession. Others view the recession as an opportunity, especially those who may have sat on the sidelines with respect to certain purchases during the recent bubble." This is true. It is not a dig at those who cannot afford to view the recession as an opportunity.

3. "I can best measure the impact of a recession by its impact on me." This is true. For that poster, the recession is having little impact. You proved the truth of his comment by reciting how the recession is having a larger impact on yourself.

4. "It is not fair for the government to pick and choose which businesses deserve to be saved from bankruptcy." That's an opinion point and I can certainly see how different people can interpret it differently; that doesn't mean the poster was trying to offend you.

5. "Many people made bad decisions that got them into their current financial messes." This is true. The poster did not say "all", so clearly, you have no cause to be offended by that comment. Lots of people did make bad decisions that got them into trouble. He didn't say one of those people was you.

6. "I choose to not get caught up in the materialistic rat race, and it has done nothing but benefit me." Again, opinion point. The tone suggests that he looks down at people who do get caught up in that, but he didn't insult anybody in particular.

The point of all that? You chose to get upset... for some reason. I can't figure out what it was.

 

[Padrepride]

Blizzard Beach was closed again for 2 hours after it reached capacity today.

 

[redrosesix]

I think it is perfectly fine to blame those who got the US and world economies off-track -- in some cases it was homeowners that lost all sight of reality, but if the lack of banking regulations hadn't been a major factor the G20 wouldn't have agreed to place stronger regulations on banks. But unfortunately it's not only those who made bad choices who suffer -- many, if not most, of those who will be hurt by this did not cause it.

Nobody I know is going to lose their homes around here any time soon -- we never had the chance to get a mortgage worth more than the value of our homes. Nonetheless, it is a buyer's market right now because many people are just not taking chances. Our family business is in real estate investment and we're biding our time to take advantage of less competition from outside buyers (we think they'll be swooping in on cities in the US soon) and plan to make some more purchases within the next year

BTW, we stayed at WDW this year on the 4/3 deal -- we had already booked (and saved for) a trip but took advantage of the better deal. Even though we're not hurting (not including my stock portfolio -- but you live by the sword, you die by the sword) but we spent hardly anything on souvenirs and much less on food. Just decided it was a time to cut back.

 

[dalt01]

Chrysler employees should have had an escape plan. A wise man always has a second plan. If my business shut down tomorrow there are other things I could do to make money. A wise person never puts all his eggs into one basket. Once again... poor planning and poor decisions. We'll never get anywhere as a country as long as people want to blame others for their own misfortunes. I've seen immigrants come here and sleep on floors and become millionaires.

the poor planning and poor decisions was at a level beyond the control of the working stiff. i am not sure if your head is in the sand or in the clouds but i do know your finger is not on the pulse.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I'm not trying to belittle anyone or hurt anyone's feelings. My comments weren't meant as hurtful. They were intended as positive. I have tried to stay positive through all this. There's PLENTY of places you can go if you want to do the whole Whoa is me thing. I hear it all the time. It gets to you after a while. Trying to stay positive keeps me from being like the rest of the people whining about the economy. Negative thinking is contagious. I'm not trying to sound rude or stuck up. And I'm not as well off as most of you think either. I'm just trying to offer a different perspective. Perhaps if everyone else had a more positive attitude then we ALL really wouldn't be as bad off as we are. And YES I still feel most people put themselves where they are. I understand things go wrong, and I have been there more than you might imagine. We go to Disney 4 times a year not because we can afford to, we go because my son's disability check pays for it. We go because my son's Autism keeps us from most interaction with human beings, and Disney is our escape from the stresses caused by raising an amazing child who got those "unfortunate circumstances" (sound familiar) of a whole host of mental illnesses. So before you go judging me for being rude and insensitive you should know that I have overcome a wall that most of you know nothing about. And I'm still positive, and I'm not whining.

ONLY YOU can change your circumstances! Your never too old to try something new, and there's billions of ways to make money or start a new career. And like Suze Orman says "A $6.00 an hour job is better than NO job!". The problem with much of America is they think themselves too good for the $6 an hour job, even if it's only temporary. You do what you have to to get by, and sulking and bad mouthing the economy never helped anyone.
What "WE" must do is trips to WDW for sanity purposes. It's one of the few places we can go where we aren't treated like floor dirt because our son has a temper that he can't control due to Autism. ONLY value resorts, (We've never stayed at a Moderate), ONLY driving (can't afford airfare), bringing in our own foods... Bringing our own electric cooler for OUR OWN foods, We do Disney 3-4 times a year for less than many of the figures I see here for ONE TRIP!!!
That's our must, and that's how we do it. And it's working.
To those unemployed... My work is slow this month, so TODAY (since I didn't get any service calls) I listed 30+ items on Craigslist and sold an old subwoofer from my truck. Have you did anything to help yourselves, or are you just sulking? The phrase "God helps those that help themselves" isn't in the Bible, but it's still darn good advise.

Have fun with that one. Unsubscribing and moving on. I'd rather look at the pictures of the food I'll be eating for free in Sept than hear how bad the economy is. The title of this thread led me to believe this was a positive thread. I would have avoided it all-together if I had know it would turn out to another bad economy thread.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Blizzard Beach was closed again for 2 hours after it reached capacity today.

Don't forget the $$$ results of the first quarter for Disney. They were earing 53% of the revenue earned for the same time period one year before.

Using Disney's numbers.....that means they now have to have 189% of the guests who traveled last year in order to break even.

Sad to say......but the parks and resorts HAVE to be packed for them to stand a chance to break even.

Bad news.........they would have to be at 189% of last year's capacity ALL the time to break even.



Anybody want to see Dsney on Broadway? Pay full price for ticket #1 and then the second ticket is only $15. Yes, that's right. It's their current promotion.

I guess they are offering this because they know how much we want to see a Broadway play ---- vs the downturn in revenue.

 

[miprender]

We were just there and I have to say.... there were alot more people than I ever imagined. I knew it was going to be busy, but I have never seen so many people in the parks, DTD and everywhere. And I have been during 4th of July which made that week seem like nothing.

Bad for us,good for Disney!

 

[yitbos96bb]

Bad economy my big toe.........................

Disney's projecting that they will be down 10% in attendance this year. Unemployment creeps ever higher. The economy is terrible.

Also, i have friends in Orlando who are waiters. Everyone of them is reporting a lot of people the last month, but the tips are way worse. People are constantly tipping below 10% even.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Disney reports second quarter earnings this week (First quarter ended December 08) - the guess it it will be around the time the banking "health checks" will be announced. Perhaps to slip it in un-noticed.

Orlando paper will report the information, I am sure.

We will have a better idea how well these hords of people in the parks are spending. Let's hope its better than the first quarter. Don't forget....Disney would have to fill the parks at 189% of 2008 numbers in order to match the quarter a year before (because of discounts for rooms and lower spending while at Disney).

I cannot wish 189% park attendance on anbody even if it means Disney matches last year's numbers.

 

[jimmymac]

Just thought I'd add a little sidenote here: "In 2008, Robert A. Iger raked in $51,229,341 in total compensation. In the previous year, the CEO of this company made $28,773,941. So during an historic bad year, his compensation actually increased 78%. Hmmm. Well, if he ever leaves Disney, he has a future at GM

 

[Mitzicat]

Getting back to the original thoughts. I was in Orlando the week of 6-11 April, staying at the Hyatt Grand Cypress. Oh my goodness I have never seen so many people. I did not go into the parks, but I did go to Downtown Disney....big mistake. World of Disney looked like a tornado hit it. Stuff and people everywhere. Lines for the T-Rex restaurant were out the door and around the side of the building, same goes for McDonalds. The pool at the Hyatt was so packed I walked around and went back to the room. Too many people fighting over chairs and towels.

A taxi driver told me that he was very busy that week with airport pick ups because most of the rental car companies were out of cars. He had also taken a family to Aquatica and they turned them away at the ticket counters.

I have no clue if these folks had prepaid or took advantage of special deals. I have no clue if they have lost their job or still working. All I know is that the Orlando area was packed that week!

 

[mitros]

Getting back to the original thoughts. I was in Orlando the week of 6-11 April, staying at the Hyatt Grand Cypress. Oh my goodness I have never seen so many people. I did not go into the parks, but I did go to Downtown Disney....big mistake. World of Disney looked like a tornado hit it. Stuff and people everywhere. Lines for the T-Rex restaurant were out the door and around the side of the building, same goes for McDonalds. The pool at the Hyatt was so packed I walked around and went back to the room. Too many people fighting over chairs and towels.

A taxi driver told me that he was very busy that week with airport pick ups because most of the rental car companies were out of cars. He had also taken a family to Aquatica and they turned them away at the ticket counters.

I have no clue if these folks had prepaid or took advantage of special deals. I have no clue if they have lost their job or still working. All I know is that the Orlando area was packed that week! [W

We made yet another day trip yesterday, {Monday} and the MK was a horror! Space Mountain and Wed-Way People Mover were closed, so everything elase in Tomorrowland was mobbed. The rest of the MK had 45 minute to an hour wait on everything, The train around the park was totally packed every time we saw it out in the open. We talked to several CMs standing near the Castle, and they said that this was the first day in about 3 weeks where the park was almost manageable. They said the park was closed several times because of capacity. The monorail was packed, the ferries and other watercraft were all filled to capacity, leaving some to wait {as one person told us} for three boats before they were able to get on.
Went over to Epcot and, as usual, one hour for Soarin' 45 minutes SSE, 40 minutes for Listen to the Land, 45 minutes for MS, and on and on. The shortest wait was Imagination, about 15 minutes.
Bad economy, lost jobs ??????????? why were there so many bodies there?
This garbage about people making their plans last year. When are these planned trips going to be over? Otrhers here said last December, "oh, wait til next year, things will slow down. It's almost May, and things ain't slowed down folks. WDW is busy guys and gals, no doubt about it. Slowing economy hasn't shown up at WDW so far. Still a lot of people on the rides, in the restaurants, you know the drill. Now we are approaching the summer months. Can't wait to see the capacity days that will happen this year.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Hey Mitros - remember - we have discussed this before in another thread?

Remember 189%?

Yes, with all the discounts Disney is offering AND people spending less while at the parks, Disney now has to keep thge parks at 189% capacity in order to break even with 2008.

YEA - the parks are bulging.....maybe there will be fewer cutbacks at our beloved WDW.

Thanks for the GREAT news!

 

[jimmymac]

Bad economy, lost jobs ??????????? why were there so many bodies there?
This garbage about people making their plans last year. When are these planned trips going to be over? Otrhers here said last December, "oh, wait til next year, things will slow down. It's almost May, and things ain't slowed down folks. WDW is busy guys and gals, no doubt about it. Slowing economy hasn't shown up at WDW so far. Still a lot of people on the rides, in the restaurants, you know the drill. Now we are approaching the summer months. Can't wait to see the capacity days that will happen this year.[/QUOTE]

I envy you your laser-like ability to analyze today's economic situation. Disney says attendance is down 8%, but you know different. Disney says per capita spending is down 42%, but you know the reality better than they. Layoffs across the board at all Disney cost centers - TV, radio, news, entertainment. ESPN profits are way, way down. But you know better. ABC profits are also way down. Again, you know better. DVD sales off close to 30%, but once again you know better. Disney is discounting just about everything in their inventory 40%. Disney is laying off / buying out close to 2000 positions why? Newfound philanthropy? Free dining - Disney's way of burning off excess profit? According to you, "slowing economy hasn't shown up at WDW." Some serious Kool Aid you're imbibing there

 

[mitros]

Bad economy, lost jobs ??????????? why were there so many bodies there?
This garbage about people making their plans last year. When are these planned trips going to be over? Otrhers here said last December, "oh, wait til next year, things will slow down. It's almost May, and things ain't slowed down folks. WDW is busy guys and gals, no doubt about it. Slowing economy hasn't shown up at WDW so far. Still a lot of people on the rides, in the restaurants, you know the drill. Now we are approaching the summer months. Can't wait to see the capacity days that will happen this year.

I envy you your laser-like ability to analyze today's economic situation. Disney says attendance is down 8%, but you know different. Disney says per capita spending is down 42%, but you know the reality better than they. Layoffs across the board at all Disney cost centers - TV, radio, news, entertainment. ESPN profits are way, way down. But you know better. ABC profits are also way down. Again, you know better. DVD sales off close to 30%, but once again you know better. Disney is discounting just about everything in their inventory 40%. Disney is laying off / buying out close to 2000 positions why? Newfound philanthropy? Free dining - Disney's way of burning off excess profit? According to you, "slowing economy hasn't shown up at WDW." Some serious Kool Aid you're imbibing there [/QUOTE]

Yea, well, I guess my weekly trips do not prove a thing, like big crowds, full restaurants, hour wait for certain rides. I don't care about the numbers you rattled off. We were there, we saw the crowds, it's as simple as that........

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

I envy you your laser-like ability to analyze today's economic situation. Disney says attendance is down 8%, but you know different. Disney says per capita spending is down 42%, but you know the reality better than they. Layoffs across the board at all Disney cost centers - TV, radio, news, entertainment. ESPN profits are way, way down. But you know better. ABC profits are also way down. Again, you know better. DVD sales off close to 30%, but once again you know better. Disney is discounting just about everything in their inventory 40%. Disney is laying off / buying out close to 2000 positions why? Newfound philanthropy? Free dining - Disney's way of burning off excess profit? According to you, "slowing economy hasn't shown up at WDW." Some serious Kool Aid you're imbibing there

Yea, well, I guess my weekly trips do not prove a thing, like big crowds, full restaurants, hour wait for certain rides. I don't care about the numbers you rattled off. We were there, we saw the crowds, it's as simple as that........[/QUOTE]



One teensy little flaw in your theory.....Disney doesn't operate on YOUR visual accounts. They are a bottom-line kind of operation. When profits are off.......so it the payroll, quality of the food presented in the restaurants, condition and maintenance and all the little pixies who perform magic backstate to make the onstage operate look seamless.

It's ALL about profits.

Don't forget......based on last quarter results presented by Disney....your parks MUST be packed....it's simple reaction to the downturn in the economy.

Don't forget - it's ALL about the bad economy for Disney right now.

 

[jimmymac]

Yea, well, I guess my weekly trips do not prove a thing, like big crowds, full restaurants, hour wait for certain rides. I don't care about the numbers you rattled off. We were there, we saw the crowds, it's as simple as that........[/QUOTE]

That's the "Don't let the facts get in the way" school of thinking isn't it?