Walt Disney Company fourth quarter 2020 financial results to be released mid-November

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Synergy with a merger always means cutting headcount. It’s not a secret buzzword, that’s literally what it means. If I buy a company and I combine it with my operation the synergies come from the duplicate functions I no longer need. At an over simplified level I have 2 CEOs and only need 1 so when I cut the 2nd CEO the cost saving goes down as synergies. Almost every merger of public companies relies on synergies to make it work financially. They aren’t all headcount related, in some cases you can combine corporate headquarters or cut IT maintenance agreements, stuff like that. They will usually quote an amount expected to be saved from synergies but with a large merger it may take years to fully achieve them. I don’t know what the cost synergies related to the Fox deal were or how long they are expected to take to achieve but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they are still seeing cost reductions from it.

This is actually “literally” what it means:

Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words

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www.dictionary.com

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Either this change happened very recently or Chapek said something that wasn't yet implemented.

I've asked two specific people this exact question in the past week, and they both said the parks were at 25%.

Also, 35% of EPCOT park capacity is slightly above an average day of pre-pandemic attendance.

Who did you ask?

I’ll always remind that no one in Orlando has ANY power. Never will.

 

[JoeCamel]

Either this change happened very recently or Chapek said something that wasn't yet implemented.

I've asked two specific people this exact question in the past week, and they both said the parks were at 25%.

Also, 35% of EPCOT park capacity is slightly above an average day of pre-pandemic attendance.

Oh Len, you gotta get a new bus driver...

Just kidding I know how hard you work to bring us a complete picture of what is happening in the parks. Thanks

Who did you ask?

I’ll always remind that no one in Orlando has ANY power. Never will.

See above for the source

 

[Giss Neric]

Just posted right after you, deleted mine as you beat me.

So they have now increased, I wonder when that took effect?

If you watch a lot of Disney Youtubers who goes on a weekly basis you can tell when it took effect. I think when Halloween season started.

 

[Serverfarm]

Surprise, no wall street types asked about the thousands of Cast Members laid off.

A lot of folks are ending their term at Disney over the next 2 months, we're in Q1 (the call was for Q4). Though a good # of Fox/Hulu/DTCI/ESPN/MN folks were let go in Sept. Next round is Feb if the finance/legal guys are in "business as normal" mode.

fyi,
synergy = layoffs
innovation = cutting capex (and reorgs)

 

[ParentsOf4]

If you watch a lot of Disney Youtubers who goes on a weekly basis you can tell when it took effect. I think when Halloween season started.

I'm thinking the same thing. Crowds were noticeable heavier when we went in late September (after Halloween season had started) compared to what they were like when my son went in mid July. He sent me lots of photos with light crowds throughout all 4 parks. Crowds were definitely heavier when I went in late September.

Here's a link to my September 2020 trip report, with lots of photos to show what the crowds were like:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-“is-it-safe-”-trip-report.970517/

In November, I went to (mostly) the same parks on the same days and did not notice much of a crowd difference from September.

It's not scientific but, for comparison, the following photos were all taken on various Sundays at approximately the same time in the evening.

September 2019:

July 2020:

September 2020:

November 2020: