News Bob Iger talks about attendance declines, ticket pricing, the feud with Ron DeSantis, and his huge optimism for Disney Parks and Resorts

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What do you think WILL be the revenue leader?

If they can't make streaming work, it will be because audiences have turned away from traditional entertainment entirely.

That seems unrealistic. People will still want movies and TV shows... even if they aren't called movies and TV shows anymore.

Nobody has really made streaming work…only Netflix and to a lesser extent hbo can keep the head about the breakwater…

Which is the whole problem Disney has…and the street isn’t going along with it anymore

Bob(s) said “cause its disney” is the draw and unlimited sale potential…blue ocean…

Bombing you’re entire years movie slate doesn’t send that kinda message on “demand”

How are the ratings for greys anatomy these days?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

What do you think WILL be the revenue leader?

Parks and Experiences.

 

[el_super]

Parks and Experiences.

Have they ever made as much money as Media?

How do you expect that they would double or even triple their revenue in Parks?

 

[Lilofan]

What do you think WILL be the revenue leader?

If they can't make streaming work, it will be because audiences have turned away from traditional entertainment entirely.

That seems unrealistic. People will still want movies and TV shows... even if they aren't called movies and TV shows anymore.

The revenue leader will be the cast who look for ways in an inventive manner to cut cut cut to impact the guest experience , increase revenue and get rewarded with performance bonuses.

 

[FigmentFan82]

No. In fact, Disney+ needs to scrub Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Logan from its service and put them on Hulu instead.

Disney is about FAMILY entertainment.

Lol, no.

You're kidding yourself if you think that'll ever happen. If you can un-clutch your pearls for 2 seconds you'd know that adult profiles can be locked behind a separate password, and kid profiles do not show this content.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Have they ever made as much money as Media?

With all of the media (tv, studio, etc. combined) no I don’t think so. The parks and experiences has done better than film and studio though. It’s a bit tricky to slice and dice it.

How do you expect that they would double or even triple their revenue in Parks?

Additional parks and experiences. That of course means more cruise ships (which are coming), expansion in California to meet demand, and more parks and experiences in general. If universal adds a property in Texas, is Disney going to do nothing?

 

[el_super]

Additional parks and experiences. That of course means more cruise ships (which are coming), expansion in California to meet demand, and more parks and experiences in general. If universal adds a property in Texas, is Disney going to do nothing?

There are 6 parks int he US currently.

You think 7 is enough to double their business? Or are you thinking more like 12-14 parks total?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

There are 6 parks int he US currently.

You think 7 is enough to double their business? Or are you thinking more like 12-14 parks total?

Well they currently own 5 cruise ships and an additional 3 are on the way.

As for parks, they have 2 US resorts, so adding a 3rd US resort would add to revenue significantly and adding a 3rd park (or merging the 2 into 1 super park - whatever they end up doing….) would certainly increase attendance and revenue in California.

I believe there are additional revenue opportunities for other experiences as well - we shall see if Disney pursues that.

 

[denyuntilcaught]

They've likely reached the limits on who will pay for Prime just for shipping. On other forums I visit, there are always a ton of people who pay for Prime because of the streaming, not the shipping. They were quite content to just add things to their cart until they reached $25 (pretty easy to do these days) and get free shipping that way. It was the entertainment options that pushed the subscription over the edge.

This is exactly it. Amazon invests in Prime Video because it's been proven that 2-day shipping is no longer a novel feature and driver of macro Prime subs. PV is indeed that "added bonus," but that bonus has been proven to be that tipping point that convinces people to stay with Prime, and is actually the biggest growth driver in non-saturated Prime markets outside of the US. Hence the billions of investment into the streamer.

TBH Netflix and Prime Video are the only streaming models that are making relative sense. Apple TV+ will pretty much be a prestige player and the narrative will eventually shift that it was never intended to compete at the same level as Netflix, PV, Hulu, or D+. More of a second tier like Max.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Additional parks and experiences. That of course means more cruise ships (which are coming), expansion in California to meet demand, and more parks and experiences in general. If universal adds a property in Texas, is Disney going to do nothing?

I don’t think adding more parks to WDW/DLR will significantly increase attendance. Adding a 3rd resort stateside may bring in more guests, but I don’t think it will. Especially if it’s in the middle of the country.

Universal is building a regional park… if Disney were to build a full blown theme park in Texas let’s say, people in the neighboring states who would usually fly to Cali or Florida May choose not to, since there’s a park closer to them. I think for Disney, building a third resort would be nonsensical. While expanding the current 4 parks at WDW is crucial to keeping up with demand, adding a fifth park would just take attendance from the existing 4, it won’t add enough additional attendance to make up for the additional infrastructure and cast needed to run a whole new park.

 

[el_super]

As for parks, they have 2 US resorts, so adding a 3rd US resort would add to revenue significantly

What do you base this on? Is there some big population of US Residents with the means to currently visit a Disney Resort, but can't because of travel restrictions or finances? What percentage of able and willing US Disney Fans are currently NOT going to the existing parks and resorts?

There may be a big group of people willing to go that lack financial means, that would be able to go if parks were more local, but would you not have to reduce expectations on revenue gained from these groups? If you build a local Disney Park in Ohio, would the locals in Ohio want to pay California/Florida prices for those parks?

And what about cannibalization of the existing resorts? No concerns at all that expanding up to 12 US parks would hurt the over all attendance of Disneyland and Walt Disney World?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

What do you base this on?

Partially based on universals desire to build a 3rd resort in Texas. Partially based on the current demand for the parks in both Florida and California - many of the visitors are local (within a days drive).

Is there some big population of US Residents with the means to currently visit a Disney Resort, but can't because of travel restrictions or finances?

Certainly not because of travel restrictions, that’s a silly thing for you to mention as you know there are no travel restrictions for travel within the USA.

What percentage of able and willing US Disney Fans are currently NOT going to the existing parks and resorts?

I don’t know. What percentage ARE going to existing parks and resorts? Neither of us have that data so why ask it?

There may be a big group of people willing to go that lack financial means, that would be able to go if parks were more local, but would you not have to reduce expectations on revenue gained from these groups? If you build a local Disney Park in Ohio, would the locals in Ohio want to pay California/Florida prices for those parks?

A big part of the expenses for a vacation is long distance travel. Round trip air fare for a family of 4 adds a lot. A new resort(s) within a days drive of major populations would certainly attract crowds without expecting any less spending.

And what about cannibalization of the existing resorts? No concerns at all that expanding up to 12 US parks would hurt the over all attendance of Disneyland and Walt Disney World?

Not at all. We are talking about a 3rd resort in the USA - it’s a big country with lots of people that love theme parks.

 

[FettFan]

Plus, with Disney's affinity for re-editing their content without warning or notice, if I like a Disney property I just get it on physical media. No McClunky, no Lilo hiding in a pizza box, no French Connection alternative history.

To build off this thought, I wouldn't be surprised if sometime in the near future, TWDC decides to put all of their properties in "the vault" with no more physical media being produced. Bob will mandate that if you want to watch Walt's 1937 Snow White or 1954's 20,000 Leagues you're going to need a Disney+ subscription.

Meaning that my bootleg DVDs of The Cat From Outer Space are gonna sell like hotcakes.

 

[annsene]

Anyone know how much TWDC made or lost on the Disney Stores before Chapek closed them? As a former store cast member, so many of our guests who couldn’t afford a Disney vacation would get their “fix” by visiting the stores.

If the store concept could be reimagined into more of an experience like Build a Bear, where themed parties and events were offered along with merchandise, it could reach a market that is underserved by the current costs of the parks.

 

[JD80]

Not sure if Disney needs to invest in brick and mortar stores across the country. They should focus on making their online store shopdisney not terrible.

 

[FigmentFan82]

Twitter rumors firing up about Iger selling Disney.

 

[mightynine]

Twitter rumors firing up about Iger selling Disney.

Not to be rude, but from anyone with actual knowledge? Twitter is not exactly trustworthy, especially with the paid blue checks all trying to get "engagement" in hopes they'll be the next-in-line for Elon's bribes revenue sharing.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Not sure if Disney needs to invest in brick and mortar stores across the country. They should focus on making their online store shopdisney not terrible.

The argument for stores or combine store and experiences that are more local to more people is it does make Disney "more accessible" like Iger said he wanted to do and reinforces the brand.

I agree just straight up stores in malls is not going to rmp ovide good RoI in a vacuum though

 

[Tha Realest]

Not to be rude, but from anyone with actual knowledge? Twitter is not exactly trustworthy, especially with the paid blue checks all trying to get "engagement" in hopes they'll be the next-in-line for Elon's bribes revenue sharing.

Gustin, Disney’s favorite stenographer, has tweeted the stories

 

[Smugpugmug]

Not to be rude, but from anyone with actual knowledge? Twitter is not exactly trustworthy, especially with the paid blue checks all trying to get "engagement" in hopes they'll be the next-in-line for Elon's bribes revenue sharing.

From what I've seen on Twitter, it's a big fat no. Just speculation at this point.