Cash-Strapped Disney

[Lilofan]

August 4th is a big day. We'll have to see how that plays out... could be bad, could be sustainable, won't be good.

Iger and Chapek will razzledazzle the Wall Street analysts during the 8/4 earnings conference call. When both Bob & Bob come up with a "restructuring and efficiency " plan it will help ease the nervousness of the Disney shareholders and Wall Street and hopefully the company stock price. Disney is a mover and shaker in the general stock market with billions of dollars of investor money at stake.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Jose’s extreeeemely stereotypical hispanic accent is not a great thing these days. It’s not mean-spirited, it’s just a product of its time. Easily fixed with a re-record.

I can't really speak to what offends a Hispanic person, but I think the same could be said for the other accents. A bit exaggerated, sure. But completely harmless and quite fun. It plays off of the positive stereotypes. Which isn't a bad thing at all. Storytelling, as an art form, relies on tropes and stereotypes. If they are mocking or highlighting a specific negative one, that is a different story. I don't think the Tiki Room hosts are an issue at all.

 

[JoeCamel]

Stay tuned. Look at what Carnival is doing. Shuttering ? How about all the interns laid off, CP/ICP program shuttered, only 39% of resort cast recalled, over 80% of parks cast recalled, no fireworks, parades, Disney execs taking 20-30% pay cuts, Iger taking 100% pay cut, Chapek 50% pay cut, furlough 70K cast starting in March, and that's just for starters.

Where did Carnival find a buyer for 13 ships???

 

[Lilofan]

Where did Carnival find a buyer for 13 ships???

Good question, probably at a fire sale price paid by a billlionaire?

 

[JoeCamel]

These guys don't seem to be very concerned with DIS fundamentals. Everything is fine, repeat after me, everything is fine.....

 

[Ravenclaw78]

Where did Carnival find a buyer for 13 ships???

Scrap metal is always valuable. Normally, they'd sell these ships to downstream competitors (smaller cruise lines with the capital to refurbish an older existing ship but not enough to build a new ship), but they've mostly been forced to sell to shipbreakers at a significantly reduced price.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Where did Carnival find a buyer for 13 ships???

Come on to my new yacht and I'll tell ya!!

 

[Goofyernmost]

The way the ride is set up means to disinfect, the whole ride has to be completely emptied and closed for a period of time.

Judging from the looks and smell of the river I'd say there may be enough chemicals (algae killers, etc.) to not allow any living creature to survive much less a virus. It's the boats that will be the biggest risk and they certainly cannot be disinfected between rides.

 

[Goofyernmost]

That is not the case on 95% of the log flumes in I’ve ridden in this country.

I'll bet that I have ridden Splash about 20 times since it opened, I have never gotten more then a few drops of water on me ever. It didn't ever really constitute a "splash". The only place that really has a soaking possibility would be the front two rows. Sit toward the back and you will enjoy the ride and walk away with a few quick drying spots on your shirts. That said, however, there are many that ride it for the splash and they will happily occupy the front rows to absorb the action/reaction part of such a ride. Everyone then leaves happy.

 

[John park hopper]

Scrap metal is always valuable. Normally, they'd sell these ships to downstream competitors (smaller cruise lines with the capital to refurbish an older existing ship but not enough to build a new ship), but they've mostly been forced to sell to shipbreakers at a significantly reduced price.

Many of the ships go to India and are dismantled for scrap, the conditions those people work under are horrendous

 

[Kingoglow]

It Would be nice if some of these last few changes included add some positive male role models back to parks. Everything is princess, princess, princess. All the boys have to identify with are dastardly characters like Gaston, or sidekick‘s to princesses.
Alas, there is never budget for that sort of diversity.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Many of the ships go to India and are dismantled for scrap, the conditions those people work under are horrendous

Carnival Corporation to Sell 13 Cruise Ships - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

Carnival Corporation said it intends to further accelerate the removal of ships from its fleet in 2020. It added these are ships that were previously expected to leave the fleet in coming years, the company said, in a press release. "We have aggressively shed less efficient ships," said CEO Arnold…

www.cruiseindustrynews.com

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

It Would be nice if some of these last few changes included add some positive male role models back to parks.

Nope. That ship has sailed.

 

[Mrtko]

That seemed to be the case at first: keeping up construction and re-opening sooner than later.

BUT... then they delayed construction (other than ground prep) for Epic Universe which is now a year delayed. It could wind up being more. UO also just went through a round of lay-offs.

From just viewing their actions from the outside, it certainly looks like they're now conserving their resources.





That's not true at all. But the numbers for AECOM for 2019 will be out withing a few weeks, so, we'll see for sure. But, previous to 2019, numbers have been up year after year.

MisterPenquin, Thank you for replying and you might be right. As for attendance, we might both be able to stake a claim to the truth. Here is a quote from Disney Annual Report filed for fiscal year 2019 ending September 29, 2019 (page 42).

Revenues
"The increase in theme park admissions revenue was due to an increase of 8% from higher average ticket prices, partially offset by decreases of 2% from lower attendance and 1% from an unfavorable Foreign Exchange Impact. The decrease in attendance was due to lower attendance at Shanghai Disney Resort. Attendance at our domestic theme parks was comparable to the prior year."

If you remember, after Disney opened Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland, Bob Igor had to explain why attendance was down if a new land was open. In the quarterly report for April - June they reported:

"The decrease in operating income at our domestic parks and resorts was due to higher costs and lower volume, partially offset by increased average per capita guest spending. Higher costs were driven by labor and other cost inflation and expenses associated with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which opened at Disneyland Resort on May 31. The decrease in volume was due to lower attendance, partially offset by higher occupied room nights."

So Disney was aware and surprised by the attendance numbers and they fought back to at least even with the previous year for the domestic parks. I think I am on solid ground with my statement that Disney was having attendance slippage prior to the pandemic. I certainly understand the other view that there was no decrease. So I concede a draw

As for Comcast, I believe your point they have pulled back. They are also suffering revenue loss from the park closure. I am just making up numbers now so this isn't factual, but if a family spend 4 days in Orlando and went to Universal one day and Disney 3 days, that would seem like the right split. If Universal can gain even one more day of that 4 day trip, the numbers change dramatically for Disney (down), Universal (up!). Disney will be under great pressure to just retain current attendance. Disney needs the investment to stay competitive and Comcast needs the investment to grow. Who will win that game? Who will recover faster from this pandemic? This is a very high stakes game in a very confusing time.

Again, thank you for the discussion.

 

[MisterPenguin]

It Would be nice if some of these last few changes included add some positive male role models back to parks. Everything is princess, princess, princess. All the boys have to identify with are dastardly characters like Gaston, or sidekick‘s to princesses.
Alas, there is never budget for that sort of diversity.

That's why Disney bought Marvel so that... oh wait... nevermind...

 

[Nubs70]

What is the break even point in theme park admissions?

WDW could be better off remaining idle certainly so during this soft open period.

 

[Rich T]

I can't really speak to what offends a Hispanic person, but I think the same could be said for the other accents. A bit exaggerated, sure. But completely harmless and quite fun. It plays off of the positive stereotypes. Which isn't a bad thing at all. Storytelling, as an art form, relies on tropes and stereotypes. If they are mocking or highlighting a specific negative one, that is a different story. I don't think the Tiki Room hosts are an issue at all.

It just needs to be toned down a tiny notch IMO; just a word here and there (like “for eeeensteeeence...” I could actually do without the line, “I wonder what happened to Rosita.”

Jose overall is a great host and a wonderful character.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

Many of the ships go to India and are dismantled for scrap, the conditions those people work under are horrendous

Very true.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention:

This whole Splash Mountain thing was torpedoed by Tokyo. Disney wanted to get completely away from Song of the South, but OLC essentially told them to pound sand. That meant they're stuck spending enormous money just to match the current quality, and simultaneously NOT getting away from Song of the South. So the only gain they get is Tiana might sell better in the souvenir shop.

Any petitions I can sign to put OLC in charge of the US theme parks? Anyone?

Well, partially it's because they announced the damn thing, so they've gotta do it. Then they either pull it off and make people actually want the change in Orlando, or people hate on it so much that they can just sit on it indefinitely in Florida. They've done everything they can to get Tokyo on board, and since that's not happening, they're just stuck. And by the way, that's one of the ways you can tell they didn't have their act together: if Splash Mountain is so racist, why will a Disney park continue to have it? If they had this pinned down and ready to go, that wouldn't have been the case.

I remember reading from another insider that the upcoming DL Splash change had little to do with the petitions and more to do with retheming the area to sell more instragram moments and relevant food / merchandise nearby. They just, in a deplorable way, used this time of uncertainty to their advantage. I guess Splash isn't nostalgic enough to $hapek & company.

I'm loving every word of this thread. Especially the first post. Iger's really screwed the pooch this time. Glorious to see!

I agree, but it's also terribly saddening. These are the theme parks we love and these people in charge are screwing them up tremendously.

 

[Yoshifumi]

Seeing this thread is making me laugh. Disney now probably not gonna do a re-theme on the WDW version of Splash because money? Them bleeding money every second?

For real though, if this is true, its gonna be the biggest lol moments to all the Kpop stans on twitter wanting it changed. I am just confused that this is the reason why they wouldn't be doing it. Wouldn't Disney cancel their other projects to make room for this re-theme because its more important? At least we still have the Tokyo version to ride still.


Side note: Comcast is probably about to take the crown from Disney at some point now.