then dropped him as soon as Disney shareholders decided he wasn't maintaining the Company's heart anymore.
But then, who
is maintaining the company's heart? Iger? Rasulo? The army of pencil-pushers who have designed the disasterous current Parks and Resorts business model?
Nope.
But at what point does Wall Street finally agree the parks are operating on a BUBBLE created by discounts? What happens when the discounts end?
They don't look that close. All they see is pure numbers with either a plus or minus in front.
In my opinion, from the purely selfish point of view of one who wants to see the parks expand, grow and recapture some of the magic of years past, all discounting needs to stop ASAP.
Here's the problem as I see it:
-The current business model they are using, and have been for a while, is one that mandates that everything has to show a profit. Rides, restaurants, shows, shops...all of it has to have a quantifiable reason for existing.
Ever wonder why they aren't building many big E-tickets anymore? That's why. The sharp-pencil boys look at the cost of building/operating/maintaining a major E, then measure how much profit can be made over it's lifespan. Spending $100-$200mil on a ride that won't pay for itself quickly is a risk they aren't willing to take these days, except for instances where that kind of outlay is needed to help rescue a park with issues (AK, DCA).
Compounding the problem are the many discounts, including Magic Your Way and dining. Think about it. Back in the day when Disney parks were a premium product and it seemed like a major new ride was always just around the corner, how were tickets being sold? I'll tell you how...full price. You want to go to the parks, you pay full price for your ticket. Buy a two or three day pass and you may save a couple of dollars. Could everyone afford to go, perhaps not. A Disney vacation was a luxury, something to be looked ahead to and saved for.
Now days, thanks to MYW, many guests are paying as low as $30 per day. A park full of guests paying that little is not making the money it used to. At that point management is just hoping that by getting the warm bodies into the park they will get some money off of food and merch, and not even hoping to generate enough profit to be able to justify building a big E. All it does is get butts in the seats and let's managament tell Wall St. that attendance is up. It's all smoke and mirrors.
If we want to get major new rides and other investments into the parks,either the current business model or all ticket discounting needs to go. Attendance will suffer in the short term, but will eventually rebound.
-Next, they need to cut the dining discounts. Like the cheap tickets, they are using it to get guests in the door, then making what profit they can by reducing the portion size, quality, and uniqueness of the meals. Makes the bottom line look good and perhaps lets a few guests who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford the high-priced meals find a spot at the table, but at the expense of the things I listed above: quality and uniqueness.
Even worse is taking a park's highest-end restaurant, dumbing down and limiting the menu, then raising the meal cost and demand by promising that a character will visit you at your table. Didn't used to be that way, and it was better.
-Hotels. Tough one. They have painted themseves into a corner. They need to charge a lot for the rooms in order to offset many of the other discounts. The best move may be to eliminate the room discountts, but return the rack rates to a reasonable level. Guests may pay a little more for their room, but in the long run, as with all the other discount eliminations, they will receive a better park experience from the increased revenue. Gonna take someone with a ton of bravery to start cutting those discounts. Could cause a revolt by guests who aren't looking at the big picture.
-While I am on the topic of hotels...they need to stop building them. Seriously. More rooms, at heavily discounted rates, is going to do nothing but make things worse. Yes you are getting bodies into the hotels, and by extension into the parks, but with the discounts you aren't really seeing a profit increase. All you get are crowded parks with long lines at the same old rides, and longer waits to get an overpriced meal at one of the restaurants that hasn't been closed for no reason (Pirate, Veranda, Terrace...)
Attendance goes up, capacity and guest satisfaction go down.
*sigh*
Enough of this. Sorry if none of it makes any sense. Way too early on a Saturday morning to rant about this stuff...:lol:
