A sequel? Nah, not this one

pheneix

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Been wondering what would be worthwhile to post about as the "thing" I keep hearing about is not ready for public consumption. Having said that, here are some thoughts.

Disney can brag about how much debt cash they raised but the FY21 budgets reflect realism. A lot of low level and mid sized park projects are being crammed into the schedule just so they can use every scrap of cash left this year. It will not be available next year.

China market and Mulan issues are interesting and loop back to rumors about drama at the Chinese parks. Shoulda seen all this coming.

The Guardians ride at Epcot cost $450 million. I am not messing with you all.

There was a huge $200 million plus tower coming to Polynesian before the economy imploded. Now we just get Moana rooms.

Epcot.... that's why I really came on here to post. That park is in serious trouble. The overall low attendance and park hours cuts have been talked to death. What doesn't seem to be discussed too much is how the loss of private events hurts. One medium sized event at Epcot paid for nearly a week's worth of Illuminations shows. This is a fall and winter season where that revenue is knee capped. The forward looking business on this front is not that great. So much so that the whole dinner table looking thing seems "off the table." The point of it was to massively increase event space and revenue ops.

Disney really backed themselves into a corner with the near term operations at Epcot. The new Ratatouille ride seems like its not opening until mid 2021. Word is Burbank wants all parks projects held off until 2021. They think a more appropriate time to bundle and market everything will arise then.

Layoffs.... we all see what is in front of us. Cast member food banks are a depressing sight to see. There are a lot of people to blame for that. Disney being near the bottom given the park closures. Does it even need to be formally called "layoffs" anymore? Furloughed indefinitely seems like a future that's equally as insecure.
 

MaximumEd

Well-Known Member
With all the bad news re budgets, cash on hand, project delays and cancellations, and layoffs, it makes me wonder just how bad this “thing” must be.
Edit: I would have to guess spinning off or outright selling the parks and resorts would have to be on the table at some point. Media, in all its forms, can be beamed directly into your home. A park experience? Not so much. I’d be more than happy to be wrong.
 

HairyChest

Well-Known Member
@pheneix Thanks for the insight. What are they going to do about the huge construction zone in the middle of Epcot? They can’t just leave it like that for a couple years right? Is Burbank looking to reopen Disneyland ASAP or are they pushing that off to 2021? I would think Disneyland can easily pack the park with passholders, not needing travelers from out of state to make huge profits.
 

Goofnut1980

Well-Known Member
When you get greedy you tend to bring it upon yourself. For so long Iger didn’t spend at the parks so now when they are working on so many projects at once it hurts them. If you want people in the parks. You can’t just discount a room. Bring back a park ticket for $50. Give a limit and make people use a drivers liscense to control it like they do for DVC APs. That prevents scammers and companies buying up tickets and selling them for a profit. That way the guests are coming to the parks to spend money.

I think organizations that get too big for their britches lose track of how to run the business. The company I work for. We were a medium size company. Got bought by the number one company in our field and now it’s a complete disaster because they only care about the bottom line instead of how they got where they are today and who got them there.

Disney has some of the most creative minds to be had. Use them on how to get people back in the parks. Make the items needed for an attraction instead of outsourcing. I don’t think anyone ever said, built a $500 million attraction. Keep things fresh, update and build things so there are new experiences. Guardians didn’t need to be a roller coaster. Disneyland was designed for the whole family to enjoy, some can’t enjoy an attraction like that. Could they have redesigned the current attraction and come up with an new concept using the existing footprint. Yes they could. And may have spent $100 mill.

I don’t know. I’m not an expert. But I think when you let the purse strings dictate your every move things like this can happen. A value report shouldn’t be $200 a night. I didn’t pay that much for a brand new Hilton for 6 months living in LA for work. I just looked at changing my resort for my stay in a week and some rooms are well over $500 with a discount. If everything has collapsed, a 20-30% off doesn’t cut it. I’m pretty sure a group of folks with some common sense could get in a room as a team and create a way to bring people back. And I don’t mean executives. They only make it worse.

This begs the question.
When do you price yourself out of the market?
 
Last edited:

_caleb

Well-Known Member
When you get greedy you tend to bring it upon yourself. For so long Iger didn’t spend at the parks so now when they are working on so many projects at once it hurts them. If you want people in the parks. You can’t just discount a room. Bring back a park ticket for $50. Give a limit and make people use a drivers liscense to control it like they do for DVC APs. That prevents scammers and companies buying up tickets and selling them for a profit. That way the guests are coming to the parks to spend money.

I think organizations that get too big for their britches lose track of how to run the business. The company I work for. We were a medium size company. Got bought by the number one company in our field and now it’s a complete disaster because they only care about the bottom line instead of how they got where they are today and who got them there.

Disney has some of the most creative minds to be had. Use them on how to get people back in the parks. Make the items needed for an attraction instead of outsourcing. I don’t think anyone ever said, built a $500 million attraction. Keep things fresh, update and build things so there are new experiences. Guardians didn’t need to be a roller coaster. Disneyland was designed for the whole family to enjoy, some can’t enjoy an attraction like that. Could they have redesigned the current attraction and come up with an new concept using the existing footprint. Yes they could. And may have spent $100 mill.

I don’t know. I’m not an expert. But I think when you let the purse strings dictate your every move things like this can happen. A value report shouldn’t be $200 a night. I didn’t pay that much for a brand new Hilton for 6 months living in LA for work. I just looked at changing my resort for my stay in a week and some rooms are well over $500 with a discount. If everything has collapsed, a 20-30% off doesn’t cut it. I’m pretty sure a group of folks with some common sense could get in a room as a team and create a way to bring people back. And I don’t mean executives. They only make it worse.

This begs the question.
When do you price yourself out of the market?
Yep. I believe @lazyboy97o is asleep right now, so I’ll post their spot-on observation: Disney Leadership do not understand the business they’re in, and do not “get” the parks at all.
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
I would think big attraction debuts are not smart right this minute. While marginally increasing attendance should be a short-term goal, they/we actually don’t want a glut of people coming, or a glut of people around one attraction (obviously, or they’d be selling AP’s.

Little improvements, temporary (!) overlays, minor events could drive local traffic.

I’d love to see more fine dining events at the resorts. I would be 100% happy with a resort trip and an “Epcot food & wine style dining event” right there at the resort restaurant. Emphasize chef table experiences, etc. These are all nice upcharges, memorable experiences, and I wouldn’t even add to park crowding. Something like the recently announced Swolphin events.

As a small business owner operating at 50% capacity (who hardly ever operated at 100% anyway) there is a sweet spot where you can pay your bills and even improve your numbers without big crowds - and huge events are a big no-no. But small, controlled events can give the bottom line a nice boost.
 

DVCakaCarlF

Well-Known Member
I would think big attraction debuts are not smart right this minute. While marginally increasing attendance should be a short-term goal, they/we actually don’t want a glut of people coming, or a glut of people around one attraction (obviously, or they’d be selling AP’s.

Little improvements, temporary (!) overlays, minor events could drive local traffic.

I’d love to see more fine dining events at the resorts. I would be 100% happy with a resort trip and an “Epcot food & wine style dining event” right there at the resort restaurant. Emphasize chef table experiences, etc. These are all nice upcharges, memorable experiences, and I wouldn’t even add to park crowding. Something like the recently announced Swolphin events.

As a small business owner operating at 50% capacity (who hardly ever operated at 100% anyway) there is a sweet spot where you can pay your bills and even improve your numbers without big crowds - and huge events are a big no-no. But small, controlled events can give the bottom line a nice boost.
The premium for “exclusivity.”
 

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
I would think big attraction debuts are not smart right this minute. While marginally increasing attendance should be a short-term goal, they/we actually don’t want a glut of people coming, or a glut of people around one attraction (obviously, or they’d be selling AP’s.

Little improvements, temporary (!) overlays, minor events could drive local traffic.

I’d love to see more fine dining events at the resorts. I would be 100% happy with a resort trip and an “Epcot food & wine style dining event” right there at the resort restaurant. Emphasize chef table experiences, etc. These are all nice upcharges, memorable experiences, and I wouldn’t even add to park crowding. Something like the recently announced Swolphin events.

As a small business owner operating at 50% capacity (who hardly ever operated at 100% anyway) there is a sweet spot where you can pay your bills and even improve your numbers without big crowds - and huge events are a big no-no. But small, controlled events can give the bottom line a nice boost.

I agree. I would love to be going to Epcot right now for dinner. Would probably go at least once a week with the intent of spending money and maybe riding a ride. That's why the frozen AP sales (especially the Epcot After 4 pass) is a very rough hewn approach. I think something like you mention would also be great. But, the longer they take the approach they are, the more my interest is waning. And, the better the deal or the offer will have to be to get me back. I'm doing a trip this weekend. And, as a new local, it will likely be my last for quite awhile because of the taste left in my mouth. I know I'm just one opinion, but there seem to be more with this same feeling - and it isn't necessary brand damage.
 

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