A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Disneyhead'71]

And those are at resorts. DTD will have much higher demand than restaurants in resorts, though perhaps not as high as those in the parks.

And much more competition. And a better steak house in STK.

My guess is The Boathouse will replace Fulton's in most tourists schedule.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Please correct me if I'm wrong. But, if E&Y came in for an audit and found that Disney categorized as capex those above expenses incurred to correct issues or get it to really perform, after Disney signed off on and accepted the product (and wrote the specs)... they might let them categorize them as capex, but they might have to explain why.

PwC, but that's not the point.

I think you're thinking about things correctly but I believe you're assuming that the project was somehow "complete" and then all of these changes were made subsequent to that. I think it's much more likely that the expenditures along the way have all been tweaks to make the product function as designed in the initial scope. So it's not like some final product was accepted months ago that they're now tweaking with no new functionality. They're still implementing the initial functionality.

 

[CDavid]

Multiplication.

10 CMs * 2 shifts * 4 parks * 8 hours = 640 labor hours per day

640 * 10 = $6,400 dollars per day

$6,400 * 365 = $2.3M per year

Do you have a dunce cap with mouse ears?

Thanks.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

My guess is The Boathouse will replace Fulton's in most tourists schedule.

This goes back to a conversation I was having with flynn in another thread, but I think you're misinterpreting the average Downtown Disney guest, specifically those that go for dinner. The DTD dinner guest is someone who comes specifically because they're going to have dinner at a certain restaurant. Folks who come just to meander around might grab a beer at Raglan Road but they're unlikely to all of a sudden decide to grab a meal at Fulton's. Thus, the goal of The Boathouse is not to cannibalize business from other dining locations at Downtown Disney, but to bring new guests to Downtown Disney specifically to experience The Boathouse.

It's like if they put a Blue Man Group theater in Downtown Disney. If Cirque averaged 10,000 guests per week (I have no idea how big the place is), that doesn't mean that Cirque and Blue Man Group would have to "share" those 10,000 guests because BMG will attract incremental guests. Sure, there's going to be some cannibalization, but these fine dining locations are destinations for the people who visit them, not impulse decisions for people who are just casually strolling DTD.

 

[MichWolv]

It's the expense post acceptance - the big T&M expenses that overrun and are under-estimated. These are not adding functionality - capex, these are to get what's been built, capitalized and accepted to work - actually work in a true environment with real customers banging on the whole solution.

The fact that it's an over-run is not relevant. In other words, your ability to estimate does not affect that amount of costs that are capitalized. Actual costs either meet the criteria or don't, and those criteria do not involve whether the costs were more or less than estimated.

Costs that are necessary to "get something to work" sound like capital expenditures to me. For example, if you buy a piece of machinery, the costs of installing it are capital expenditures, even if it costs more to install than you thought it would. Costs of modifying the "true environment" to work with the software, however, are not capitalizable as software costs, but might be capitalizable in their own right. Costs of training are not capitalizable.

For example: to the Provider, having to re-design, re-build, re-test, re-implement an interface so it actually works when integrating all of the disparate legacy systems, migrating that data into the new data schema and everything collapses because the legacy data set isn't really what was in the original design....to the Provider it's an enhancement requiring a change order and more money. Not necessarily to the Customer, like Disney. There's no new functionality.

Depends. If you throw out the old work and re-do it completely, then the costs of the work that is trashed and abandoned are expensed, and the cost of the "re-work" are capitalized. If you use the old, and need to add capability, it's all capitalized. Costs of building interfaces are costs of internal use software. Again, if an interface is built and doesn't work, the costs of that interface are then written off and the costs of the replacement interface are capitalized. Costs of migrating data are never capitalized, either on the first attempt or subsequent.

Or those occurring when it actually hits the hands of real users - not the small handful who participated in the true alpha and beta testing prior to acceptance - often the same ones who wrote the spec's for the system and approved the results of the feasibility. Things such as key information not displaying in the correct order to complete their job, or it's so slow to display that a reconfig where the data is virtually staged must happen. Big issue to fix. Big expense, big change order and enhancement to the Provider.

Costs of making the information appear the way it's supposed to sound like software development costs to me. Why would the fact that they are incurred late in the process change anything? Costs of making the software run fast enough for its intended purpose are also development or enhancement costs. Both capitalizable.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. But, if E&Y came in for an audit and found that Disney categorized as capex those above expenses incurred to correct issues or get it to really perform, after Disney signed off on and accepted the product (and wrote the specs)... they might let them categorize them as capex, but they might have to explain why.

You keep inviting me to correct you. If E&Y came in for an audit, Disney would kick them out, as PwC is Disney's auditor. Beyond that, my thoughts on the accounting requirements are above.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

This goes back to a conversation I was having with flynn in another thread, but I think you're misinterpreting the average Downtown Disney guest, specifically those that go for dinner. The DTD dinner guest is someone who comes specifically because they're going to have dinner at a certain restaurant. Folks who come just to meander around might grab a beer at Raglan Road but they're unlikely to all of a sudden decide to grab a meal at Fulton's. Thus, the goal of The Boathouse is not to cannibalize business from other dining locations at Downtown Disney, but to bring new guests to Downtown Disney specifically to experience The Boathouse.

It's like if they put a Blue Man Group theater in Downtown Disney. If Cirque averaged 10,000 guests per week (I have no idea how big the place is), that doesn't mean that Cirque and Blue Man Group would have to "share" those 10,000 guests because BMG will attract incremental guests. Sure, there's going to be some cannibalization, but these fine dining locations are destinations for the people who visit them, not impulse decisions for people who are just casually strolling DTD.

I still think Fulton's will take a hit.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Just keep in mind that when discussing Disney 's Parks & Resorts with annual revenue of $12.3 billion in FY2014, numbers less than $10 million are rounding errors. Based on trends in Disney's P&R expenses over the last few years, SG&A spending associated with MyMagic+ ran into the hundreds of millions.

Let's also recall that there still are plenty of CM's today supporting MyMagic+. I suspect they are all being accounted for in P&R opex. During the rollout of MyMagic+ in FY2013 (dating back to October 2012) and FY2014, opex increased by roughly $1.2 billion.

$1.2 billion in operating expense pays for a lot of Cast Members manning MyMagic+ touch points.

 

[culturenthrills]

So the Halloween and Christmas parties go up $6-7 a ticket with Halloween night jumping up $10 in price. The parties already aren't a deal like they used to be. How long before the parties are just as expensive As a one day ticket.

 

[SirLink]

I still think Fulton's will take a hit.

Indeed would be a good time to add features back to The Empress Lilly or even revert back its name and give it to the Ralph Brennans crew to devise a menu.

 

[seascape]

So the Halloween and Christmas parties go up $6-7 a ticket with Halloween night jumping up $10 in price. The parties already aren't a deal like they used to be. How long before the parties are just as expensive As a one day ticket.

I will be buying tickets for both events tomorrow as my wife and I will be at WDW for our spring visit. We love both events and find them well worth the cost. Price increases are a fact of life, just like tax increases.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Indeed would be a good time to add features back to The Empress Lilly or even revert back its name and give it to the Ralph Brennans crew to devise a menu.

I love Brennan's in NOLA, and Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in DTD Anaheim.

Who do we contact to make it happen? At least some edible beignets would be available at WDW. The beignets at PO are awful!

 

[FigmentJedi]

The ride never ends. Live-Action Pinocchio is now in development

http://deadline.com/2015/04/pinocch...on-film-being-developed-at-disney-1201406564/

Who else is starting to miss the Direct to Video Sequels?

 

[Mike S]

The ride never ends. Live-Action Pinocchio is now in development

http://deadline.com/2015/04/pinocch...on-film-being-developed-at-disney-1201406564/

Who else is starting to miss the Direct to Video Sequels?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

And yet not 1 hand drawn feature on the horizon.

"This isn't your Grandad's Disney"- Bob Iger.


I give up. Disney is artistically bankrupt.

I'm sorry, but if you think that picture is beautiful, you only have taste in your mouth.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Something to consider: Eisner wanted to do a shot-for-shot CGI remake of Pinocchio shortly before the end of his reign to prove that the medium was inherently superior to 2D. Then Save Disney happened...

 

[Lee]

I'm sorry, but if you think that picture is beautiful, you only have taste in your mouth.

Wow.
I just hate that so much...

 

[matt9112]

I will be buying tickets for both events tomorrow as my wife and I will be at WDW for our spring visit. We love both events and find them well worth the cost. Price increases are a fact of life, just like tax increases.

so you just accept the government taxing you for anything...its ok its part of life.

 

[NearTheEars]

And yet not 1 hand drawn feature on the horizon.

"This isn't your Grandad's Disney"- Bob Iger.


I give up. Disney is artistically bankrupt.

I'm sorry, but if you think that picture is beautiful, you only have taste in your mouth.

A huge wall with plenty of seating and people chose to sit on the ground.

And we wonder why they got rid of the benches.

 

[matt9112]

A huge wall with plenty of seating and people chose to sit on the ground.

And we wonder why they got rid of the benches.

disney builds park like setting....people get mad that people sit down on it....like you do at the park...

 

[NearTheEars]

disney builds park like setting....people get mad that people sit down on it.

It doesn't really bother me, but in the middle of the day, if I had a choice, I'd sit on the wall/bench.

If I reserved a FP for fireworks viewing later in the night, I'd be sitting Indian style in the faux grass awaiting the show.