Greetings. I've been lurking on this board for more than a year now and have finally decided to make a post. I in no way consider myself an expert on WDW in the way some of you seem to be. I've only been twice, my last visit was 10 years ago. Although I hope to bring my 5 year old daughter soon.
Despite my lack of fandom, I must admit that I do occasionaly spend time studying the park through Google Earth. I marvel at the scale and scope of the operation. It fascinates me to understand what it takes to keep all the little things running. Even more, I'd love to take a gander at the compound NE of the park, but that's another thread.
With all the discussion here about the condition of the parks and attraction maintainance, it got me to wondering. Just how much does it cost to operate WDW each day? Now I realize thats like asking "How long is a piece of string?", still there must me some Disney bean counter out there with a spreadsheet that knows the answer.
To better frame the discusion, I'm talking about the cost of running the park for 24 hours, opening to opening. Figure in wages, salaries, supplies like food, beverage, souveniers, utilities like electricity and water, and of course the cost of operating and maintaining the rides themselves. Let's ignore things like R&D and new attraction construction since that's a budgetary black hole.
Then, balance that out with what the parks actually take in every day; ticket sales, hotel rooms, food and souvenier sales.
So at the end of the day, do they make a profit?
I realize nobody here acutally knows these answers. Right?:shrug: I just thought it would be fun to see some educated guesses.
Sorry to throw out math homework right at the start of school.
Despite my lack of fandom, I must admit that I do occasionaly spend time studying the park through Google Earth. I marvel at the scale and scope of the operation. It fascinates me to understand what it takes to keep all the little things running. Even more, I'd love to take a gander at the compound NE of the park, but that's another thread.
With all the discussion here about the condition of the parks and attraction maintainance, it got me to wondering. Just how much does it cost to operate WDW each day? Now I realize thats like asking "How long is a piece of string?", still there must me some Disney bean counter out there with a spreadsheet that knows the answer.
To better frame the discusion, I'm talking about the cost of running the park for 24 hours, opening to opening. Figure in wages, salaries, supplies like food, beverage, souveniers, utilities like electricity and water, and of course the cost of operating and maintaining the rides themselves. Let's ignore things like R&D and new attraction construction since that's a budgetary black hole.
Then, balance that out with what the parks actually take in every day; ticket sales, hotel rooms, food and souvenier sales.
So at the end of the day, do they make a profit?
I realize nobody here acutally knows these answers. Right?:shrug: I just thought it would be fun to see some educated guesses.
Sorry to throw out math homework right at the start of school.
