News Disney’s Q2 FY25 Earnings Results Webcast

[Disstevefan1]

Big guy, denying facts and saying "I'm just asking questions" makes you the same as Joe Rogan.

I don’t know the facts. That’s why I ask questions.

It’s so great for someone like you who know all the facts can clear this up for everyone. Thanks!

Same as Joe Rogan? THANKS for the compliment!

 

[Kamikaze]

I don’t know the facts. That’s why I ask questions.

It’s so great for someone like you who know all the facts can clear this up for everyone. Thanks!

Same as Joe Rogan? THANKS for the compliment!

The facts are whats in the filing.

If you think being like Rogan is a compliment, we're done here.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Maybe so. But don't more guests still stay off-site? If those numbers aren't following, then the crowds might not either. Maybe? I guess we'll find out in a few months.

I also recall folks saying a while back that Disney had taken rooms out of inventory. It wasn't as a conspiracy theory, but to help with staffing. A byproduct was that it also made occupancy rates look better. But you're saying that even if rooms aren't available for booking (whether they're shuttered for staffing or refurbs or whatever) they're still counted in the denominator?

They explicitly put in the report what the number of rooms available that is the denominator in the ration for the occupancy rate. That number has stayed fairly consistent for quite a minute never of quarters so while some rooms get added others are taken offline but it's not like a huge swing either way, or hasn't been.

So unless one thinks they are playing games with those numbers it does mean there were more occupied rooms this quarter

 

[MisterPenguin]

<----- winky emoji means I am joking.

And its overuse isn't funny at all.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What’s surprising is that Universal is seeing significant attendance declines on both coasts.

Furthermore, if families are delaying their visits for Epic, then I would’ve expected some moderation of attendance at WDW too as families delay trips to Orlando in general.

…this is why everyone scratches their heads.

Disney has “animal magnetism draw”? Not based on the lack of interest in their releases. Can’t sell tickets

But it is more than that.

Check out the chart below…now eps is always “set” so it’s beaten…parlor tricks.

But look at the revenue…it’s 5x plus a 10 quarter trend?

Why all of a sudden in January?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So unless one thinks they are playing games with those numbers it does mean there were more occupied rooms this quarter

They’re likely not playing games…

But what never really permeates is that there is nothing stopping them from doing that. There really isn’t

Out of order rooms are not used to calculate occupancy. Why would they be? If they aren’t gonna sell them…they’re not gonna count. It’s common sense…not conspiracy.

Now I know how this kinda thing was handled in the past…the first real “low occupancy” period was 2001-02 where Inventory was reduced (but they made better use of it)…it took about 3 years to bring all the rooms online from plague mothballing.

Shouldn’t be an issue at all. Dvc always juices that number…which is the beauty of it.

I’m assured (grain of salt) that there are ALOT of rooms available for sale. So I’m trying to figure out who ends up in them?

Guess the whales are showing up last minute?

 

[easyrowrdw]

They explicitly put in the report what the number of rooms available that is the denominator in the ration for the occupancy rate. That number has stayed fairly consistent for quite a minute never of quarters so while some rooms get added others are taken offline but it's not like a huge swing either way, or hasn't been.

So unless one thinks they are playing games with those numbers it does mean there were more occupied rooms this quarter

Thank you!

 

[WoundedDreamer]

Is that occupancy of available inventory, or of total inventory?

Excellent point. Does Disney take rooms out on inventory? It makes sense from a operational standpoint; a room is taken out of inventory, its not ever rented, no people ever in it, no housekeeping or maintenance needed while its out of inventory.

And taking rooms out of inventory of course as you say, helps with the occupancy numbers reported.

You both got a response to these questions, but it was a little prickly. Here's a little bit of extra information.

Disney reports the total number of available hotel room nights in their 10Q and 10K filings. It's basically the number of hotel rooms multiplied by the number of days in the quarter. Occupancy is derived as a percentage of how many of those room nights are booked. Disney had 2,546,000 domestic room nights available in Q2 of 2025 and 2,550,000 room nights in the year ago quarter. Small fluctuations quarter to quarter are normal. These changes are based on how many days are in a quarter, whether a hotel room is being altered by extensive renovations, or if a room is being eliminated. Otherwise, they should remain in inventory. Here is Disney's description:

Available hotel room nights is defined as the total number of room nights that are available at our hotels and at Disney Vacation Club (DVC) properties located at our theme parks and resorts that are not utilized by DVC members. Available hotel room nights include rooms temporarily taken out of service.

A significant renovation might also remove hotel rooms from available hotel room nights calculations. This is an excerpt from a 2017 filing:

Lower occupied hotel room nights were driven by fewer available room nights at Walt Disney World Resort due to room refurbishments and conversions to vacation club units.

In this case, both refurbishments and DVC conversions are responsible for a decline in available hotel room nights. This tells us refurbishments can temporarily impact occupancy calculations, but they will be added into the calculation once the refurbishment is completed. (Edit: I was a little clumsy with my writing, only the refurbished rooms will be added back to inventory and not DVC)

The small 4,000 decline in available hotel room nights is not enough to impact Disney's occupancy numbers in any meaningful way.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Let’s extrapolate out that “4% increase”. If WDW had 10 million guests total last May-July, a 4% increase is 400,000 guests. Over 90 days, that’s 1100 more people in each park, each day. It may mean something on paper but it’s a drop in the bucket for those in and staffing the parks.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I’m sorry but the spin from the executives doesn’t make sense. The numbers don’t lie.

Blaming the wildfires on USH’s poor attendance may pass muster for this recent quarter (I think they are exaggerating the effect) but it doesn’t explain prior declines.

Orlando’s attendance has been falling for 2 years according to Comcast’s own earnings reports. The execs say they saw “some stabilization” in the decline, but nonetheless, attendance in Orlando declined even further according to their own FY24 Q4 earnings report.

Fair and balanced

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

Park profits are from cost cutting, experience reduction, price increases and LL sales. There are no winners.

Operation costs actually increased. So not really cost cutting.

I assure you Disney is cost cutting where possible.

I mean all businesses look to operate lean for the most part. People get bonuses for reducing operational costs.

 

[BrianLo]

Out of order rooms are not used to calculate occupancy. Why would they be? If they aren’t gonna sell them…they’re not gonna count. It’s common sense…not conspiracy.

Shouldn’t be an issue at all. Dvc always juices that number…which is the beauty of it.

Both of these common sense musings are also factually untrue.

“(5)Available hotel room nights is defined as the total number of room nights that are available at our hotels and at Disney Vacation Club (DVC) properties located at our theme parks and resorts that are not utilized by DVC members. Available hotel room nights include rooms temporarily taken out of service.”

 

[BrianLo]

Let’s extrapolate out that “4% increase”. If WDW had 10 million guests total last May-July, a 4% increase is 400,000 guests. Over 90 days, that’s 1100 more people in each park, each day. It may mean something on paper but it’s a drop in the bucket for those in and staffing the parks.

Indeed. I think the big story is that Wall Street was bracing for a tourism cliff, rather than this is a historical attendance rebound to 2019. I surmised it’s Americans rotating back domestically from their couple years of European trips. But there is still a lot to watch and wait over.

 

[Disstevefan1]

“(5)Available hotel room nights is defined as the total number of room nights that are available at our hotels and at Disney Vacation Club (DVC) properties located at our theme parks and resorts that are not utilized by DVC members. Available hotel room nights include rooms temporarily taken out of service.”

Question asked and now answered here THANK YOU SIR.

 

[Kamikaze]

…this is why everyone scratches their heads.

Disney has “animal magnetism draw”? Not based on the lack of interest in their releases. Can’t sell tickets

But it is more than that.

Check out the chart below…now eps is always “set” so it’s beaten…parlor tricks.

But look at the revenue…it’s 5x plus a 10 quarter trend?

Why all of a sudden in January?

Premier Pass is most likely a huge factor.

Notice how the previous quarter the revenue beat was slightly up - Premier Pass was around for 2 of the 3 months of the quarter and wasn't fully rolled out.

This is the first quarter where it was fully available for the entire quarter.

 

[Dranth]

now eps is always “set” so it’s beaten…parlor tricks.

Companies, do miss the markets EPS expectations (including some that reported this week). Disney themselves have missed a number of times in the past. They do tend to beat more often than not, but that is likely due to analyst being conservative on their numbers but it is hardly rare or uncommon.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Companies, do miss the markets EPS expectations (including some that reported this week). Disney themselves have missed a number of times in the past. They do tend to beat more often than not, but that is likely due to analyst being conservative on their numbers but it is hardly rare or uncommon.

I’d say “rarely” for sure

 

[Dranth]

I’d say “rarely” for sure

According to AI I don't entirely trust the percentage of companies that missed EPS estimates looks to be about 30% for last year. First quarter this year it was around 25%.

Don't know if I would call 1/4 rare but it is certainly a good bit less common than beating.

 

[JAN J]

Think the discounts are more of a factor of getting people there in a slowing economy which requires opening WDW back up to middle class prices. But I am surprised the booking numbers and occupancy numbers are so high in the face of the deep discounts. Shows they are likely working as intended. They have plenty of room to fall on room prices while being majorly profitable.

Pretty terrific earnings call for them. Streaming has stabilized and is a reliable money maker. Movies are a bit shaky this year. Still a lot of long term problems to figure out in multiple areas of the business. Who knows if the stock rebounds, but from strictly a financial perspective the company is very healthy.

Movies have been more than a bit shaky post COVID, Disney has to find it's creative juice again cause it's been mostly blunders lately...

But even with that, their massive revenues in DPEP still offset any issues movies are offering.
Disney+ is finally turning a profit (though I still find the content lackluster, though it has improved).
And Abu Dhabi... That's huge, no matter how we feel about it.
Gotta give it to Iger, he really pulled that massive one. Bob Paycheck would never.

If they go back to making these +$1.0b (sometimes close or even over+$2.0b) box offices that's another easy +$500m per film. Makes them pretty close to unstoppable and uncatchable in the entertainment world.

 

[JD80]

But its still wrong.

They DO cut costs where they can (and sometimes where they shouldn't). That doesn't mean overall costs don't increase.

Uni is opening a third park, that means the operational costs are going up, lets call it by 33%. That doesn't mean they aren't limiting other things in other areas, cutting costs there while still having a higher operational budget.

Increased operational costs are not always bad.

I never said they don't cut costs.