Refurbishment coming to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort lobby

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes this may absolutely be correct. Recently learned what I consider to be an impressive financial statistic about one of the deluxe hotels, just that one, made a profit of over 11 million in 1 month. For clarification, this was literally profit. Not revenue. But actual money in the pocket after expenses, actual Profit. Wow.

Gonna need numbers on that…but I bet they are “unavailable”

I’ve been there…long talked “huge money” into hotels that tend to diminish as you ask further up the food chain

 

[nickys]

The money has never been made on the hotel ops. Ever

They run at really high overhead

About 90% of the profits in Florida have always been the gift shops. Which is probably declining in a changing retail landscape

It’s not a coincidence they try to overmonetize hotels, bars, restaurants, and tickets with increasing frequency for 10+ years…they’re not making more…they’re recouping ground that has been lost. Similar to how they’re trying to use streaming to make up for massive broadcast/cable declines.

There’s a lot of common sense into these things…they’re just not gonna admit the vulnerability. You have to dig a bit. But not much

Yes this may absolutely be correct. Recently learned what I consider to be an impressive financial statistic about one of the deluxe hotels, just that one, made a profit of over 11 million in 1 month. For clarification, this was literally profit. Not revenue. But actual money in the pocket after expenses, actual Profit. Wow.

You can’t both be right here, surely? Otherwise the gift shop is making a profit of $900k in a month.

There again, pretty sure one of you has worked at the resorts fairly recently and the other did so some time ago……

 

[Disone]

Gonna need numbers on that…but I bet they are “unavailable”

I’ve been there…long talked “huge money” into hotels that tend to diminish as you ask further up the food chain

I already gave a number. And we are definitely going to disagree on this one.

Over 11 million in profit in one month. I'll elaborate only to say that the month was one of the months of this year, 2025. I'll also add that there is no world in which 90% of the profit is coming from the retail.

But no I'm not going to be drawn into sharing with you the exact numbers because clearly I wouldn't be allowed to share that on this forum as it would be specific and trackable.

Having said that, I think it stands the reason that the overhead of a hotel is nowhere near the overhead of a theme park. Also if non Disney companies can make a profit on their hotels I'm pretty sure Disney can do the same. Why would the Marriott World center be able to make money but not a Disney Resort?

If it was truly the case that ...

The money has never been made on the hotel ops. Ever

... then I believe Disney would sell. Understanding that in fact they are making money, better explains why Disney still has them.

It just doesn't make sense that today's Disney would hold on to a lost leader the size of their WDW resorts profile.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You can’t both be right here, surely? Otherwise the gift shop is making a profit of $900k in a month.

There again, pretty sure one of you has worked at the resorts fairly recently and the other did so some time ago……

Oh my info is dated…so I may be completely wrong. I just am curious how it got from “point A to point B”

The other thing Is $1 a month “a lot”…that’s kinda rhetorical…but needs to be brought up.

I already gave a number. And we are definitely going to disagree on this one.

Over 11 million in profit in one month. I'll elaborate only to say that the month was one of the months of this year, 2025. I'll also add that there is no world in which 90% of the profit is coming from the retail.

But no I'm not going to be drawn into sharing with you the exact numbers because clearly I wouldn't be allowed to share that on this forum as it would be specific and trackable.

Having said that, I think it stands the reason that the overhead of a hotel is nowhere near the overhead of a theme park. Also if non Disney companies can make a profit on their hotels I'm pretty sure Disney can do the same. Why would the Marriott World center be able to make money but not a Disney Resort?

If it was truly the case that ...

I can totally believe the number and dynamics have changed…but not at face value. It it’s coming from a front line in the swamp…I always advice to vett it when possible. I’ll leave it at that.

But I also ask the same question as above.

Is that really a lot of profit to justify the operation? You decide.

Anecdotal but true…a certain “cheaper” locale that I started at along time ago had a fluctuating but stable daily revenue of about $200K per night…not profit…revenue…but if you do the math…that was a huge tally for the year…and it was gobbled up without breaking much of a sweat…that high overhead across the land that both you and I are acknowledging exists. I hope their margins are better now…since they’re overpriced and on the precipice of a major drawback (they have been for years and have “faired well” to not have one hit overall)…but I don’t believe it would end up that amazing in the weeds.

... then I believe Disney would sell. Understanding that in fact they are making money, better explains why Disney still has them.

It just doesn't make sense that today's Disney would hold on to a lost leader the size of their WDW resorts profile.

It may never happen…likely not…but the case can be made they have sorta “aligned” for it moving forward.

 

[Disone]

Oh my info is dated…so I may be completely wrong. I just am curious how it got from “point A to point B”

The other thing Is $1 a month “a lot”…that’s kinda rhetorical…but needs to be brought up.



I can totally believe the number and dynamics have changed…but not at face value. It it’s coming from a front line in the swamp…I always advice to vett it when possible. I’ll leave it at that.

But I also ask the same question as above.

Is that really a lot of profit to justify the operation? You decide.

Anecdotal but true…a certain “cheaper” locale that I started at along time ago had a fluctuating but stable daily revenue of about $200K per night…not profit…revenue…but if you do the math…that was a huge tally for the year…and it was gobbled up without breaking much of a sweat…that high overhead across the land that both you and I are acknowledging exists. I hope their margins are better now…since they’re overpriced and on the precipice of a major drawback (they have been for years and have “faired well” to not have one hit overall)…but I don’t believe it would end up that amazing in the weeds.

It may never happen…likely not…but the case can be made they have sorta “aligned” for it moving forward.

Great response. I enjoyed reading A contradiction without it ever feeling even remotely personal. Something increasingly rare on these forums so credit to you and thank you for keeping it civil.

Great example and yes a bit anecdotal. I absolutely acknowledge the high overhead cost but at the same time they're nowhere near what the parks are. I used a big Resort like the World center just because it feels a little bit more like comparing apples to apples.

It's clearly not the case that hotels can't lose money. Plenty have to the point of bankruptcy. Some have even fallen off. There was a day and a time where the hotel landscape was ruled by the Holiday inn and the Howard Johnson. Clearly those chains have lost their dominance in this industry.

I just don't think Disney would keep theirs if they were following a similar trajectory all indications I have from the inside is that they absolutely are a value-added asset to the company.

Also antidotal but possibly a good point of reference is that from the year it opened in Euro Disney theme park, now called Disneyland Paris, was the number one tourist attraction in all of Europe. I know people think otherwise they think that it failed when it opened but the theme park did not. The hotels did. They built seven of them. And to this day none of them have been expanded and no new hotels have been added because they failed to do one thing at Euro Disney that Walt Disney World has not failed to do. Get heads on beds. So when you hear that Euro Disney was losing money when it opened, it absolutely was. But not because people weren't going to the park. The park itself was successful, it was the hotels that were not.

If the Disney World hotels were not successful, Disney World would not be successful today.

I will add that I think it's absolutely true that the parks are experiencing a very soft attendance this summer. But it's the hotels, the DVC Resorts, (and Disney Springs which I call Disney's money manufacturing facility) that are carrying Walt Disney World.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

And to this day none of them have been expanded and no new hotels have been added because they failed to do one thing at Euro Disney that Walt Disney World has not failed to do. Get heads on beds.

They do fill up on occasion now. Doesn’t mean they need to expand - but they were completely full during my visit over New Years.

In so many ways Paris is a mix of WDW and DL and that includes the on site / offsite hotels. At WDW they are highly themed, and staying off site means difficult transportation/ parking issues. At DL the actual hotels are themed but still basic hotels and for 1/4th the price you can stay literally across the street.

Paris has lovely themed hotels, but many other options are 1 train stop away. Not across the street, but not the hassle of staying off property in Florida.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Great response. I enjoyed reading A contradiction without it ever feeling even remotely personal. Something increasingly rare on these forums so credit to you and thank you for keeping it civil.

Great example and yes a bit anecdotal. I absolutely acknowledge the high overhead cost but at the same time they're nowhere near what the parks are. I used a big Resort like the World center just because it feels a little bit more like comparing apples to apples.

It's clearly not the case that hotels can't lose money. Plenty have to the point of bankruptcy. Some have even fallen off. There was a day and a time where the hotel landscape was ruled by the Holiday inn and the Howard Johnson. Clearly those chains have lost their dominance in this industry.

I just don't think Disney would keep theirs if they were following a similar trajectory all indications I have from the inside is that they absolutely are a value-added asset to the company.

Also antidotal but possibly a good point of reference is that from the year it opened in Euro Disney theme park, now called Disneyland Paris, was the number one tourist attraction in all of Europe. I know people think otherwise they think that it failed when it opened but the theme park did not. The hotels did. They built seven of them. And to this day none of them have been expanded and no new hotels have been added because they failed to do one thing at Euro Disney that Walt Disney World has not failed to do. Get heads on beds. So when you hear that Euro Disney was losing money when it opened, it absolutely was. But not because people weren't going to the park. The park itself was successful, it was the hotels that were not.

If the Disney World hotels were not successful, Disney World would not be successful today.

I will add that I think it's absolutely true that the parks are experiencing a very soft attendance this summer. But it's the hotels, the DVC Resorts, (and Disney Springs which I call Disney's money manufacturing facility) that are carrying Walt Disney World.

Contrary to rumor… I love hearing about different experience and perspectives here (it distracts me from my work )…

And I love to be proven wrong. Because learning everyday is always the right choice.

It’s only when people start with “my opinion is my truth” that things get “dicey”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Great response. I enjoyed reading A contradiction without it ever feeling even remotely personal. Something increasingly rare on these forums so credit to you and thank you for keeping it civil.

Great example and yes a bit anecdotal. I absolutely acknowledge the high overhead cost but at the same time they're nowhere near what the parks are. I used a big Resort like the World center just because it feels a little bit more like comparing apples to apples.

It's clearly not the case that hotels can't lose money. Plenty have to the point of bankruptcy. Some have even fallen off. There was a day and a time where the hotel landscape was ruled by the Holiday inn and the Howard Johnson. Clearly those chains have lost their dominance in this industry.

I just don't think Disney would keep theirs if they were following a similar trajectory all indications I have from the inside is that they absolutely are a value-added asset to the company.

Also antidotal but possibly a good point of reference is that from the year it opened in Euro Disney theme park, now called Disneyland Paris, was the number one tourist attraction in all of Europe. I know people think otherwise they think that it failed when it opened but the theme park did not. The hotels did. They built seven of them. And to this day none of them have been expanded and no new hotels have been added because they failed to do one thing at Euro Disney that Walt Disney World has not failed to do. Get heads on beds. So when you hear that Euro Disney was losing money when it opened, it absolutely was. But not because people weren't going to the park. The park itself was successful, it was the hotels that were not.

If the Disney World hotels were not successful, Disney World would not be successful today.

I will add that I think it's absolutely true that the parks are experiencing a very soft attendance this summer. But it's the hotels, the DVC Resorts, (and Disney Springs which I call Disney's money manufacturing facility) that are carrying Walt Disney World.

As far as Disney hotels losing money/profitability. It is an interesting study there. Very unique. No place on earth really like it if we’re honest?

Every piece of the property was designed to be part of a “web” to generate profit and also to backstop all the nonsense in Hollywood.

So the hotels were expanded…righty by evil Mike…as were the draws to provide a backbone that could almost never conceivable fail?

It works…but all parts contribute to each other. It’s not “shell game” accounting…nothing improper…but it’s more “organic”…

Like who pays for 1,000 $500,000 buses? Or whatever they cost? It’s not cheap and they always seem to forget to charge me a fare?

Just as a $44.95 pair of low quality mouse ears off the boat by the truckload ain’t costing all that much before you hit the Apple Pay…

The gravy flows in multiple directions

 

[Tha Realest]

How so?

The “unique” is that there are gigantic life size props in parks outside of the windows of their hotels and some boats/choo choo

As at hotelier…Disney has always been “begrudging” at best. Remember that they reluctantly took over the operations of them in the first place and that was when they were an elaborate mom and pop outfit.

Current “design” approaches strongly indicate they want them more streamlined/marriott to perhaps outsource them down the road. Very hard to dispute that angle.

So “unique” to Disney as far as operations goes is a bit of a modern day fantasy…people are paying 200% of the market “value” of the room (on a good day) and need to feel justified in doing so…so they go along with this fantasy.

But in the end check em in and get em out of there. Use the KISS method

Can you imagine the P&R earnings reports where the revenue side is all just juicy licensing fees with none of the attendant operational costs and expenses?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Can you imagine the P&R earnings reports where the revenue side is all just juicy licensing fees with none of the attendant operational costs and expenses?

I can think of a future 95 year old ceo that can imagine it