A Spirited Valentine ...

[ford91exploder]

Pandora has barely been open for two months, and it's already stale and dated compared to Volcano Bay and Jimmy Fallon?

Pandora's the ONLY thing that IS NOT stale and dated at WDW, Yet apparently all it did was redistribute traffic from other parks at WDW not drive NEW traffic as it was intended to,

As to Jimmy Fallon that goes in the #FAIL category at least in my opinion, I liked Twister better, Uni is sending me invites to see musical acts and stuff which is new and limited time for the summer, Disney is sending me discounts on lodging which is insane as I'm DVC with all the money they spent on new IT systems they cant figure out who on their mailing list is DVC and probably NOT interested in 'Discounted Vacation Packages', And DEEPLY discounting AP's for DVC members.

Disney's attitude is 'Visit Disney because we are Disney, Oh and BTW we are desperate so here are huge discounts', UNI is selling short term UNIQUE experiences and NOT Discounting. Wonder whose attendance and revenue is meeting plan, I suspect It's not WDW.,

Can't comment on VB but it's interesting that UNI put a cap on attendance so that guests have predictable wait times.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Paper tiger?

Indeed...

The deal with Sunac also may be a tacit admission of just how much Wanda has struggled to devise a winning formula in the complex theme parks business. The company's first major attraction, Wanda Movie Park Wuhan, opened in central China in late 2014 and closed within months after early admission numbers plummeted. Wanda said the park was shutting down temporarily for upgrades, but it has yet to reopen. The company's major theme park development in Nanchang — which Wang talked up on state television last year while publicly dismissing Disney's Chinese theme park ambitions — reported attendance of approximately 1.3 million in its first seven months. Shanghai Disneyland, meanwhile, hit 11 million visitors in its first full year. ​

 

[Chef Mickey]

A company with 2 months of cash in the bank is not STRONG by any means, its closest competitor in the space has 6 months of cash.

And before you talk about how easy it is to borrow, An event which which would cause the company to draw down cash would also shut down commercial lending.

Stock price != Strength

Are you talking CMCSA? Balance sheet is important but earnings are where I talk about strength. DIS has a lower debt/asset ratio than CMCSA. DIS now makes more profit than CMCSA too.

Use some real numbers if you would. The stuff you're saying just isn't accurate or is different than what I'm throwing out there. We went through this already with DIS revenue growth, which is solid and I gave the numbers. WE can talk about buckets all day, but it's seasonal. Revenue/Profits are headed up at DIS.

Not sure how you can argue DIS isn't a market leader and/or isn't a financially strong company.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I went to TDL a month ago and the TDEPD was amazing!

 

[brb1006]

I went to TDL a month ago and the TDEPD was amazing!

Wish you took a picture of the finale.

 

[TiggerDad]

Actually, it would be kind of cool for the speedway to be rethemed to lightcycles.

there's a thread for that

 

[DocMcHulk]

there's a thread for that

My mistake. I accidentally posted it in the wrong thread.

 

[GoofGoof]

A company with 2 months of cash in the bank is not STRONG by any means, its closest competitor in the space has 6 months of cash.

And before you talk about how easy it is to borrow, An event which which would cause the company to draw down cash would also shut down commercial lending.

Stock price != Strength

This is just factually inaccurate. There's no practical reason that DIS would need to have any more than 2 months of cash on hand (if that's even a good number). The company has very little debt so there's little chance of a default. Their debt service is quite manageable. I don't know who you consider their closest competitor, but how much debt does that company have?

What happened to DIS after 9/11 when tourism crashed? Did the company run out of cash or fold? No. The cash balance today is 6 times what they had on hand on 9/30/01. It's fine to have an opinion about the direction the company is going in but it's pure fantasy to say they are not very financially healthy right now.

 

[Kman101]

Have fun in California @Mike S ! Hope you see the parks panel Saturday! Could end up being a good one! (Well lots of announcements ... maybe not good LOL)

 

[Nubs70]

This is just factually inaccurate. There's no practical reason that DIS would need to have any more than 2 months of cash on hand (if that's even a good number). The company has very little debt so there's little chance of a default. Their debt service is quite manageable. I don't know who you consider their closest competitor, but how much debt does that company have?

What happened to DIS after 9/11 when tourism crashed? Did the company run out of cash or fold? No. The cash balance today is 6 times what they had on hand on 9/30/01. It's fine to have an opinion about the direction the company is going in but it's pure fantasy to say they are not very financially healthy right now.

Any idea on debt to income ratio between now and 12/01 ? I bet @ParentsOf4 has that number at a fingers length.

 

[Mike S]

Very cool.

 

[brb1006]

Very cool.
View attachment 214975
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For a moment I thought that was the theater that played Big Band Beat

 

[Princess Leia]

John Oliver's been cast as Zazu in the Lion King remake
http://www.avclub.com/article/john-oliver-joins-live-action-lion-king-257914
I don't hate the casting, but I do take a lot of issue with Disney remaking a classic like this with (presumably) CGI animation. I don't care that they're calling it 'live action'- it most likely will not be a live action movie, unless Donald Glover is running around in a lion costume like on Broadway.

 

[lazyboy97o]

John Oliver's been cast as Zazu in the Lion King remake
http://www.avclub.com/article/john-oliver-joins-live-action-lion-king-257914
I don't hate the casting, but I do take a lot of issue with Disney remaking a classic like this with (presumably) CGI animation. I don't care that they're calling it 'live action'- it most likely will not be a live action movie, unless Donald Glover is running around in a lion costume like on Broadway.

How is a remake of a film all that different than a new production of a play? People retelling known stories is a tradition that goes back millennia.

 

[Princess Leia]

How is a remake of a film all that different than a new production of a play? People retelling known stories is a tradition that goes back millennia.

It's not a bad thing, exactly, I just don't agree with it. The Lion King is a retelling of Hamlet, after all. The only reason I think Disney should remake a film is if they can make it better. While I haven't seen the Pete's Dragon remake, I have a lot of friends who liked it more than the original. I feel the same way about Jungle Book- while I love the original, I think Disney improved upon it for the remake. Beauty and the Beast, on the other hand, was in no way better than the original. Not even close.

It's all a matter of opinion. I think that the cast so far is terrific (though I think that if Disney gets anyone other than Jeremy Irons for Scar, they're making a mistake), but unless Disney thinks they can make the movie better, it just looks like a cash grab to me.

 

[Cesar R M]

I still question the Marvel acquisition because it seems too complex and limited.

If they can ride the gravy train trough licensing and merchandise, they can maintain a high $$$$$ as Star Wars.

 

[Cesar R M]

You were bringing in share price, so I just corrected you that valuation has nothing to do with splits or price per share.

I never mentioned "valuation". I only mentioned share price per share.
Regardless if the value of the company after and before the splits are equally the same.

 

[Cesar R M]

Some of that space might be appear large due to wide-angle camera lenses... The 100-acre Woods scene at the beginning of Pooh's Hunny Hunt has scenery as close as any in WDW's Pooh ride. (Of course, there are areas with wide-open spaces as well, but it doesn't look like it's mandatory in all cases.)

The WDW's pooh ride has very wide pathways too compared to your traditional omnimover imho.
I feel like details are closer to you when you're in a normal omnimover or track ride than with trackless.

I wonder if its pure perception as you said it, but I felt like that when I was at WDW's pooh ride.
And feels the same in all the other videos (from the dutch ride of Pardoes to the Rat in Paris)

 

[Cesar R M]

John Oliver's been cast as Zazu in the Lion King remake
http://www.avclub.com/article/john-oliver-joins-live-action-lion-king-257914
I don't hate the casting, but I do take a lot of issue with Disney remaking a classic like this with (presumably) CGI animation. I don't care that they're calling it 'live action'- it most likely will not be a live action movie, unless Donald Glover is running around in a lion costume like on Broadway.

On the good side, they have Earl Jones again..
On the bad side.. seriously? Seth Rogen as Timon? (edit, the link above is wrong.. IDMB says Seth Rogen will be as Pumbaa)
At least it wasn't Seth "Dirty moth" MacFarlane.

 

[ford91exploder]

This is just factually inaccurate. There's no practical reason that DIS would need to have any more than 2 months of cash on hand (if that's even a good number). The company has very little debt so there's little chance of a default. Their debt service is quite manageable. I don't know who you consider their closest competitor, but how much debt does that company have?

What happened to DIS after 9/11 when tourism crashed? Did the company run out of cash or fold? No. The cash balance today is 6 times what they had on hand on 9/30/01. It's fine to have an opinion about the direction the company is going in but it's pure fantasy to say they are not very financially healthy right now.

The difference between post 9/11 and now was that Disney did not have the giant fixed costs associated with ESPN, At WDW half or more of the resorts shut down. So Disney could respond to the change in business environment.

Now Disney is saddled with HUGE rights payments for ESPN which even if they shut WDW completely they would not be able to make up. ESPN's rights cost comes in at 600 Million/Month and the Leagues and players association are going to insist that the river of money keeps flowing.

That's the difference between then and now. Disney has enormous fixed costs in a declining variable return environment. Back in 2001 they could dial back the business to match cash flow now they cannot.