Politics 28000 Layoffs coming to Disney's domestic theme parks - statement from Josh D'Amaro

This thread contains political discussion related to the original thread topic

Slpy3270

Well-Known Member
Why do people keep suggesting that Disney will look for a buyer or sell off business units? Disney's entire strategy over the last 15 years has been to scale up so that they can be one of the few big media companies that survives. They've arguably executed that strategy better than anyone.

Disney's core value proposition is that they have valuable brands that they can monetize better than anyone because of synergies between film, linear television, streaming, consumer products, and parks. Theme parks are a key part of that strategy.
Two words: activist investors. If they take advantage of continued stock price decline, long term strategy is thrown out the window in favor of instant profits.

They're the reason Time Warner is a shell of what it used to be, and if it weren't for the AT&T sale HBO would've been spun off as well.
 

t3techcom18

Well-Known Member
Thank you for a useful post. Putting aside the sad news of real people losing there jobs for a moment, I was wondering the impact on the park experience.
Seems like they been trying to rid themselves of photopasses photographers for a while, trying for the auto kind.
Guest relations has always been great when I needed them, having less means waiting a little longer depending on the day and need.
DVC reps, are these the people working the kiosks and soliciting and such? If so... I’m good with it.
What would the impact be of a front line boss and backstage data ops?
I never used Minnie Van, Uber always worked well.

Yeah, some of these have been considered "problematic" for them for a while now, so these are cuts that they've been wanting for a while.

Photopass = Exactly what you said, plus their popularity has certainly gone down over the years due to the advancement of smartphones.
GR = Less tours, less manpower, and a different number of things. Probably longer lines at the GR spots.
DVC reps = Yes, it's those folks. They do the kiosks, open houses, the seminars, etc.
Front line managers = More responsibilities for each. Likely will take longer to report to certain situations if needed asap.
Backstage data ops = Not really too visible. Probably running on a skeleton crew.

Keep in mind, all of these divisions are just non-union.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Laying off 13% of the workforce that provides crucial operations to your business, not to mention high guest satisfaction and positive public image, is not endurance nor recovery. It's surrender.

A company that surrenders to a virus is setting itself up for long-term decline.
This 100%.

Disney needs a leader. Without one, they will never survive this.

I wonder what franchise they will try to sell first?
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
Source?

also......NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At this point, anyone not keeping the parks running is really in the crosshairs. So I'd expect most live entertainment cut. Gone forever? Probably not. Gone for a while? Probably.

No one's safe as we've seen.

It's a real bummer since Hoop is a personal favorite.
 

Unbanshee

Well-Known Member
We might even see a rise in influencer vloggers. A comped empty room in exchange for bloated praise is even cheaper than outsourcing your marketing.

I would love to see that. I'd love to see the vloggers stoop low enough to take handouts while 30% of the Parks are laid off. Throw away all of their social media posts and crying emoji faces for Cast Members losing their jobs one week, GoOd MoRnInG fRoM dIsNeY'S yAcHt ClUb the next week
 

Riverrafter21

Well-Known Member
I would love to see that. I'd love to see the vloggers stoop low enough to take handouts while 30% of the Parks are laid off. Throw away all of their social media posts and crying emoji faces for Cast Members losing their jobs one week, GoOd MoRnInG fRoM dIsNeY'S yAcHt ClUb the next week
Don't forget to smash that like and subscribe button and ring the bell
 

412

Well-Known Member
I would love to see that. I'd love to see the vloggers stoop low enough to take handouts while 30% of the Parks are laid off. Throw away all of their social media posts and crying emoji faces for Cast Members losing their jobs one week, GoOd MoRnInG fRoM dIsNeY'S yAcHt ClUb the next week
Are we supposed to be upset at vloggers?

I may think many Disney vloggers are boring, uninformed, grifters, etc., but if Disney thinks their advertising is worth a free room, that's fine by me. Hopefully that cheap advertising encourages people to visit the parks so that some of these Cast Members can be rehired.

What are vloggers supposed to do? Protest Disney? Tell vacationers to stay away? I don't see how that helps Cast Members.
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
Charging full price has nothing to do with managing costs. Whether pre-pandemic or during a pandemic, businesses always want to manage their costs/expenses.

Just because they're not charging less doesn't mean they aren't looking to reduce their costs.

And, yes, from a customer's perspective, it is galling to pay the same price for reduced goods and services.

However, from the parks' point of view, they can't cram in all the customers they'd like who, in total, contribute toward fixed expenses like keeping the lights on and cleaning and maintenance and depreciation. So, they have less customers covering those costs, which means they can't deeply discount the cost to the much fewer guests that are there.

Think of it this way, if there was just one guest that showed up on a particular day, how much would they have to pay to cover the costs of opening the park for that day?
Thank you.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
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rowrbazzle

Well-Known Member
Yes, because they are corporate pawns who will say or do anything to scrape by and represent the worst of this fan community.
Apparently he's persona non grata around here, but I really appreciated reading Josh at Easy WDW on this. He correctly rips Disney for wasting money on influencers with no reach (and those who shill for the free stuff), wonders what the appropriate response is for someone who chronicles the parks without getting free stuff, and empathizes with those who lost their jobs.
 

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