Just saw that Nick Wilde and Judy Hops are coming to DCA "soon".
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Zootopia Characters Coming
- Thread starter GetAPaperBag
- Start date
D
Deleted member 107043
I wonder where? Animation Bldg?
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
Maybe they will temporarily displace Oswald as a cost cutting measure.
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Deleted member 107043
That makes sense.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
They will be on Hollywood Blvd, just like the blog post says. Haven't heard anything about them displacing Oswald, which would not be an even trade. Usually the studios' marketing budget covers the expense of meet-n-greets like this for a set period of time - since that is likely to be the case here, no other characters in the park should be affected.
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
I noticed it looks like they're getting ready to kick off another one of those interactive games in Disneyland which I thought was weird if they are in cost cutting mode.
A binnacle (?) compass has been installed at Fowler's Harbor.
https://mintcrocodile.smugmug.com/photos/i-PL3QZZb/0/O/i-PL3QZZb-O.png
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
DLR has not yet been as impacted as WDW has, but there have been some. Attractions was told to cut their staffing budget by over a third, so those effects are going to be felt in operations. Mad T Party is one of these cuts, as is stopping Pixar Play Parade during Food and Wine.
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Deleted member 107043
From a customer viewpoint I can kind of understand the staffing cuts. The last time I visited DLR (about a year ago) it seemed like every attraction, FP kiosk and snack stand was manned by army of cast members. I remember seeing the swarm of staff at the registration desk while checking into the PP Hotel and thinking, "No wonder this place is so expensive".
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
The attractions cast decrease has already led to several attractions operating at half or lower capacity, despite constant peak levels of attendance. So while PPH may not need all that desk staff, attractions cast cuts will be felt by all guests when they have to wait in much longer lines than usual.
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Deleted member 107043
Maybe they're anticipating a decline in attendance in the wake of back to back admissions price increases and SW Land construction. There were quite a few vocal online regulars who said they would skip DL this year for these reasons.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
They're not and there won't be, barring an economic meltdown. Just like in the mid-90's when American park operations suffered from overspending in Paris, Shanghai is affecting US park operations due to its overruns. The difference is that Disney could just cover the costs now, but instead wants to maintain absurd rates of growth/profitability and so it will cut to do so.
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Deleted member 107043
From a Motley Fool article dated February 18:
"The online chatter points to weakness at ESPN as well as the delay and budget overruns at Shanghai Disneyland as the causes for Disney's attention to whittling down costs at its stateside theme parks. That doesn't make sense.
For starters, Disney was able to overcome lower attendance at Disneyland Paris and a spike in pre-opening expenses at Shanghai Disney to still deliver widening profit margins for its theme park division. Then we get to how the market weighs Disney itself. It posted a blowout quarter, with the only decline in its segment revenue and operating income breakdown coming from its ESPN-fueled media networks division. The stock still moved lower on the news, fearing the continuing weakness at ESPN. Improving the already widening margins at its theme parks isn't going to fix ESPN or make Mr. Market look away from the challenges at the leading sports programming network."
You can read the rest here: http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...ld-is-cutting-costs-at-the-worst-possibl.aspx
I can agree that Disney wants to keep profits and its stock price up, but there's no evidence that SDL is the reason for cutbacks or even that the cuts are meaningful enough to make a dent in the cost increases in Shanghai.
"The online chatter points to weakness at ESPN as well as the delay and budget overruns at Shanghai Disneyland as the causes for Disney's attention to whittling down costs at its stateside theme parks. That doesn't make sense.
For starters, Disney was able to overcome lower attendance at Disneyland Paris and a spike in pre-opening expenses at Shanghai Disney to still deliver widening profit margins for its theme park division. Then we get to how the market weighs Disney itself. It posted a blowout quarter, with the only decline in its segment revenue and operating income breakdown coming from its ESPN-fueled media networks division. The stock still moved lower on the news, fearing the continuing weakness at ESPN. Improving the already widening margins at its theme parks isn't going to fix ESPN or make Mr. Market look away from the challenges at the leading sports programming network."
You can read the rest here: http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...ld-is-cutting-costs-at-the-worst-possibl.aspx
I can agree that Disney wants to keep profits and its stock price up, but there's no evidence that SDL is the reason for cutbacks or even that the cuts are meaningful enough to make a dent in the cost increases in Shanghai.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Well, I don't know what to tell you. I know people who work throughout WDP&R and the reason for the cutbacks is overspending in Shanghai. Has nothing to do with ESPN or Paris. Just Shanghai, aka Bob's Money Pit. I don't have an article to link you to, but my reputation and track record on the boards here kinda speaks for itself. Shanghai is the reason, and no one is shy about stating that internally.
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Deleted member 107043
That may all be true, but you have to admit that staffing cutbacks at DL would have to be pretty severe to offset cost overruns at SDL. As the article points out it's odd to cut spending when profit margins are widening, even for Disney.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Cutting staff 20-40% (depending on the department) and eliminating all overtime for hourly cast at both DLR and WDW adds up to a significant sum. Factor in price increases for tickets, food and merch and suddenly there's a lot of money on the table.
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Deleted member 107043
Yes, but it doubtful that it's enough offset the $3.5 billion spent to build SDL though.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
They're not trying to offset $3.5 billion - just the extra unplanned money they've had to funnel into it to get the darn place open in the recent past. Remember, SDL was supposed to open in December originally.
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Deleted member 107043
Yes, I know.
How much were the cost overruns?
How much were the cost overruns?