On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace

[Sirwalterraleigh]

To just affirm Pro’s root premise (even though he posts hoax leaning stuff that’s redonkukous)...this is disastrous financials...the spin doesn’t polish this turd.

But the problem for Disney is the fundament alteration to what their business is going to be...and the pain is just beginning for everyone involved.

Get your popcorn.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They were designed to hold a lot less people than they have been lately. As others have pointed out, there is a path to profitability that does not require meeting the same attendance levels.

As for more budget cuts, I'm on the fence. We will have to see how the business is forced to change over the course of several months. Even if the money gets cut from large scale productions, it could end up being moved to other areas. Hard to tell just yet.

They were designed and overbuilt to handle this much and more...especially the Eisner era.

What they haven’t had happen is enough reinvestment within their footprints to meet demand.

That’s not about “capacity”...it’s about vision. They stopped refreshing for damn near 20 years...and squeezed their expectations...and introduced ride rationing...to get you to buy after hours magic...

The question is - did you fall for it?

You’re so planted on the fence I think it’s cutting off some vital blood flow...

Question: have you ever seen parks in a recession before?

 

[pheneix]

BTW, if anyone is naive enough to think they are getting inside stock information from a WDW fansite, and act on it, they deserve anything they get. Anyone who thinks the SEC would consider what is being said on a WDW fan forum as "real" insider information that could affect company stock is also pretty naive. Take all rumors stated here with a grain of salt - or a whole salt shaker.

signal boost for voice of reason

 

[PhotoDave219]

No one thought there’d be a deadly virus in community spread...

...the minute that became clear - 3/13/20 - I knew Disney was in deep trouble.

Anyone would have gotten to that same conclusion within weeks IF you realize what they sell and how they sell it.

Everyone who is a Disney fan knew this was bad on January 26th when SDL & HKDL had to close.

We all knew that all hell would break loose if Disney had to close the domestic parks.

..... A $3.5 BILLION dollar loss For one quarter and Parks & Resorts later.....

Until the public health emergency ends? This company is in serious trouble.

 

[pheneix]

I dont feel like catching up...is there a second post drop or...?

Doing something I’ve never done before on the next “big original content” - actually writing drafts in a word processor.

Plus there are rumors and narratives I want to fully research and vet before I post. This thread really blew up on some interesting places on YouTube. The next “big original content” may do the same.

But the next thread is coming. Might be a while. Might be tomorrow. But it’s coming.

In the meantime, I’ll be here taking my licks as “the old guy who got it wrong.” When things go another way I will be drinking troll tears.

 

[PhotoDave219]

BTW, if anyone is naive enough to think they are getting inside stock information from a WDW fansite, and act on it, they deserve anything they get. Anyone who thinks the SEC would consider what is being said on a WDW fan forum as "real" insider information that could affect company stock is also pretty naive. Take all rumors stated here with a grain of salt - or a whole salt shaker.

You have better odds of the NBA or Disney listening to me suggest that their bubble isn’t as tight as they think it is because of nightly princess visits to players rooms.

.... and believe me, Disney or the NBA isn’t gonna listen to me.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Doing something I’ve never done before on the next “big original content” - actually writing drafts in a word processor.

Plus there are rumors and narratives I want to fully research and vet before I post. This thread really blew up on some interesting places on YouTube. The next “big original content” may do the same.

But the next thread is coming. Might be a while. Might be tomorrow. But it’s coming.

In the meantime, I’ll be here taking my licks as “the old guy who got it wrong.” When things go another way I will be drinking troll tears.

To be fair, you didn’t necessarily get anything wrong...yet. You just kind of jumped the gun and assumed certain things would be discussed today that weren’t.

Many of us appreciate what you sharing, and I think it’s smart to check things over before making the next post.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Everyone who is a Disney fan knew this was bad on January 26th when SDL & HKDL had to close.

We all knew that all hell would break loose if Disney had to close the domestic parks.

..... A $3.5 BILLION dollar loss For one quarter and Parks & Resorts later.....

Until the public health emergency ends? This company is in serious trouble.

I think it’s more than that...

All their plans for parks involve more people at higher prices...the dog doesn’t stop chasing the rabbit on Wall Street.

Even is some miracle vaccine comes out quickly...anyone believe they have the patience to lose tens of millions of gate clicks for the next few years and build back up?

And since there won’t be any real investment...what’s park stagnation gonna look like then??

2 hour waits for mine train gonna get the people there in 2025??

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Doing something I’ve never done before on the next “big original content” - actually writing drafts in a word processor.

Plus there are rumors and narratives I want to fully research and vet before I post. This thread really blew up on some interesting places on YouTube. The next “big original content” may do the same.

But the next thread is coming. Might be a while. Might be tomorrow. But it’s coming.

In the meantime, I’ll be here taking my licks as “the old guy who got it wrong.” When things go another way I will be drinking troll tears.

You are very intriguing on this...

But to not make it about you...let’s be serious: Bob the puppet master was never going to give any inkling they aren’t in control completely on 8/4. Not yet...they only “admitted” what we knew: their business is shutdown except for a no profit streaming service and games shows on abc and they got their hands on a pile of cash. “My pile is bigger than yours”

Look at what happens during the END of the year. Business is getting a pass for the first half. At least those that have power. Stores are going bankrupt left and right...because they were already going to. But not big banks, tech, entertainment, medical, etc.

Only the pawns have moved on the board so far. And I know that far exceeds Americans patience. It is what it is.

 

[Jefro]

I can also endorse that I've never seen some of the Canadian Provincial/Federal parks so busy. Maybe not the quintessential tour bus portions of the parks (like Lake Louise or Banff), but everywhere else is bananas on weekends.

Outdoor recreation in many forms is seeing a boom.

Part of this is a regional desire to retake areas that often were overcrowded by non-locals. We definitely see that out here in Hawai'i, although sometimes the consequences of overindulgence have bit us.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Part of this is a regional desire to retake areas that often were overcrowded by non-locals. We definitely see that out here in Hawai'i, although sometimes the consequences of overindulgence have bit us.

...tough place to have zero tourism bucks coming in

 

[AEfx]

I think it’s more than that...

All their plans for parks involve more people at higher prices...the dog doesn’t stop chasing the rabbit on Wall Street.

Even is some miracle vaccine comes out quickly...anyone believe they have the patience to lose tens of millions of fat clicks for the next few years and build back up?

And since there won’t be any real investment...what’s park stagnation gonna look like then??

2 hour waits for mine train gonna get the people there in 2025??

Or is the country going to be waiting with baited breath to ride...Tron? LOL.

That’s why, in the mid-to-longer view, I think Universal has the advantage over Disney in terms of park rebounding, how ever many years in the future that becomes possible. They have an entire new theme park which may be on hold, but is now waiting in the wings to be restarted when the time comes for new product.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Or is the country going to be waiting with baited breath to ride...Tron? LOL.

That’s why, in the mid-to-longer view, I think Universal has the advantage over Disney in terms of park rebounding, how ever many years in the future that becomes possible. They have an entire new theme park which may be on hold, but is now waiting in the wings to be restarted when the time comes for new product.

Depends on how well Comcast handles it’s own problems/debt.

I actually like what they’re doing in wdw...all “solid” potential additions that add to a desperate lack of capacity.

But it’s just a bit of catch up for what Iger didn’t do...not advancement at all. Not enough...and now they’ll go cheap for a decade.

All that work at mgm...is the day much different??

 

[bryanfze55]

Depends on how well Comcast handles it’s own problems/debt.

I actually like what they’re doing in wdw...all “solid” potential additions that add to a desperate lack of capacity.

But it’s just a bit of catch up for what Iger didn’t do...not advancement at all. Not enough...and now they’ll go cheap for a decade.

All that work at mgm...is the day much different??

MGM is a head scratcher. In theory, it should be a great park made even better by recent investment. You can do a theme park with 9 rides. Not saying Disney “should.” But Universal Studios Hollywood laid the blueprint for an enjoyable full day park with less than 10 rides. But throw in mix of crowds, Florida weather, and FastPass+, however, and the landscape changes.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Or is the country going to be waiting with baited breath to ride...Tron? LOL.

That’s why, in the mid-to-longer view, I think Universal has the advantage over Disney in terms of park rebounding, how ever many years in the future that becomes possible. They have an entire new theme park which may be on hold, but is now waiting in the wings to be restarted when the time comes for new product.

I don't know. It seems like we're years away from a new theme park in Orlando being a viable prospect and the rumours are that Universal will be building the Nintendo land in one of the existing parks in the meantime. So that in and of itself suggests there will have to be some major re-thinking of the Epic Universe proposal if anything ever comes of it. The Nintendo area should be popular, but it seems that all bets are off regarding a new park for the foreseeable future.

It looks like Orlando will be in survival mode in coming years rather than splashing around billions of dollars on new attractions to attract visitors. Beyond that seems unknowable to me. The advantage Disney has right now is that the infrastructure is already all there, and they can open up the resort as demand increases without really having to build anything. They also have a few major attractions in various stages of completion ready to roll out over the coming years, which seems like a decent position to be in as tourism (hopefully) begins to recover.

 

[Lilofan]

Within 2 minutes of the earnings being released many users were claiming it was an accounting trick. I highly doubt anyone on here has the capacity to read and digest the mechanics of an earnings report in that amount of time.

Surely Disney used a few perfectly legal tactics to move money and losses, but nothing they did was illegal in order to puff up their financial situation to appear exponentially better than what many are trying to allude to.

The same doom and gloom insiders were preaching dooms day was FINALLY upon us and got caught, again. This is their time to do damage control.

Companies know how to move $$ around to before earnings call with Wall Street. Disney is not going to pull an Enron.

 

[Lilofan]

What are you talking about?

Iger's not the CEO, he's on the board. He's out of management. He has a term on the board that goes to the end of 2021.

People are naive if they think Chapek is calling the shots without Iger’s blessing. He’s not going to finish his term by end of 2021. Bet on it.

 

[Lilofan]

Basically the parks are screwed and they expect Disney + to keep them afloat? Lolol, The Disney bubble will burst. Kind of makes no sense like how my local Mall Store is closed but the outlet disney store is open. That’s Disney for you.

Parks and resorts aren’t screwed. Disney brass will restructure impacted areas that will include less staff on payroll. That is business 101.

 

[Lilofan]

This is what they say every earnings call. They did before the pandemic, and they will continue to do so.

Earning Calls exist to tell investors what they want to hear and drum up media attention. It's mostly PR/marketing fluff.

What was trending on twitter after the call? Mulan's Disney+ release.

They don't want you thinking about hard numbers. Or the long term impact of this recession. Just what's new at DIS.

Earnings calls exist to impress Wall Street to hopefully raise company stock price to satisfy the Street and company shareholders.

 

[celluloid]

MGM is a head scratcher. In theory, it should be a great park made even better by recent investment. You can do a theme park with 9 rides. Not saying Disney “should.” But Universal Studios Hollywood laid the blueprint for an enjoyable full day park with less than 10 rides. But throw in mix of crowds, Florida weather, and FastPass+, however, and the landscape changes.

Not to mention a park filled with Actor Equity roles and fairly heavy on meet and greets and shows that seem to either be closing up or pausing with no forseeable replacements in the future. Thus making the lack of rides more noticable again.