Cash-Strapped Disney

[tanc]

Welcome to the boards!
I’m curious, what was it about the Mary Poppins ride that made it sound like it was going to be an amazing addition to Epcot?

It would have been nice to see an additional attraction in the World Showcase, there's so much they could do with the lands and Mary Poppins fits super well in the UK obviously.

 

[_caleb]

It would have been nice to see an additional attraction in the World Showcase, there's so much they could do with the lands and Mary Poppins fits super well in the UK obviously.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. When rumors of a Mary Poppins ride in the United Kingdom pavilion first started spreading around here, I think a lot of us hoped for something like Tony Baxter‘s old “Jolly Holiday” concept, which would have appeared to be a carousel ride but had the horses leave the carousel as part of a prosper dark ride.

Anyway, when Disney announced the plans for the ride they were going to build in Epcot, many of us were disappointed, as it appeared the ride was actually just going to be an indoor carousel.

This is relevant to the topic of this thread, though, as now the project appears to have been tabled indefinitely due to financial limitations. Obviously, the fact that Disney announces a new attraction is no guarantee that it will be built. I’m sorry we’ll miss out on this one, but hopeful it’ll come back around even better in the future.

 

[_caleb]

I wonder how much Disney is seriously looking at better ways to use the space and facilities they already have in order to increase offerings to the public without costing too much or threatening social distancing in the parks?

I know they’ve put characters on rooftops and floats, but it seems like there is a lot they could do to more fully utilize what’s already there.

 

[_caleb]

I wonder how much Disney is seriously looking at better ways to use the space and facilities they already have in order to increase offerings to the public without costing too much or threatening social distancing in the parks?

I know they’ve put characters on rooftops and floats, but it seems like there is a lot they could do to more fully utilize what’s already there.

The recent reports of Disney turning the Pirates League into a CM break room are not encouraging in this regard. I get that a small pirate-themed face painting lounge may not be the best idea during virus distancing, but the park needs more (safe, distanced) public areas, not fewer. Again, I just hope someone is looking at utilization of the facilities and thinking creatively about how they might increase guest experiences.

 

[peter11435]

The recent reports of Disney turning the Pirates League into a CM break room are not encouraging in this regard. I get that a small pirate-themed face painting lounge may not be the best idea during virus distancing, but the park needs more (safe, distanced) public areas, not fewer. Again, I just hope someone is looking at utilization of the facilities and thinking creatively about how they might increase guest experiences.

Don’t take those reports as an indication that Disney won’t use the space for guests use in the future. Everything you say about guests applies to cast also. The park needs more safe and distanced breakrooms and backstage spaces so they had to find way to increase capacity in that regard. The former pirates league is just one example of many guests locations that are currently being used as cast break space. Those locations will open to guests again someday but for now they are very much needed for cast use.

 

[_caleb]

Don’t take those reports as an indication that Disney won’t use the space for guests use in the future. Everything you say about guests applies to cast also. The park needs more safe and distanced breakrooms and backstage spaces so they had to find way to increase capacity in that regard. The former pirates league is just one example of many guests locations that are currently being used as cast break space. Those locations will open to guests again someday but for now they are very much needed for cast use.

Great points. And, thanks for the reminder about CM needs, too.

 

[tanc]

Sorry for bumping this, but here we are a year later and most of what you said happened. 50th anniversary certainly isn't being celebrated nearly as much as it should be. Splash Mountain having no real info other than a piece of art... it's just sad really.

 

[CastAStone]

Sorry for bumping this, but here we are a year later and most of what you said happened. 50th anniversary certainly isn't being celebrated nearly as much as it should be. Splash Mountain having no real info other than a piece of art... it's just sad really.

Let’s see:

1. Epcot changes are likely to be MUCH less than originally planned.

No. 1 thing was changed from a “pavilion” to a “center”, and perhaps Mary Poppins is dead. The rest - GOTG, Remy, Moana, Mousegear replacement, Dreamers Point, SSE redo, LWTL cucumber stand - appear to be full steam ahead.

2. Layoffs are coming.

Yes, sadly

3. Announced additions are on very long timelines.

Mostly yes

4. Disney World having to close again would be devastating.

Not really a prediction or insight.

5. OLC and Disney relations are strained; expect that to manifest in visible ways.

The latter part of this does not appear to have happened.

6. Every penny counts, and cost cutting measures can be expected within 12 months.

Yes.

7?. Is Chapek the fall guy? Many are speculating Iger plans to use him as the scapegoat.

Nope.

8. 50th celebration is essentially canceled down to only things that cost little... no new floats, no big refurbs.

With new fireworks, a fancy castle, points of light installations, and allegedly a new Move It Shake It coming, I’d say this is half right at best.

Splash was never planned to have started by now.

So giving half credit for 8 and ignoring 4, I score this particular post 3.5 out of 7, or 50%. Less than 78%, and for that matter less than 87%, but far more than 0%, for sure.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Let’s see:

No. 1 thing was changed from a “pavilion” to a “center”, and perhaps Mary Poppins is dead. The rest - GOTG, Remy, Moana, Mousegear replacement, Dreamers Point, SSE redo, LWTL cucumber stand - appear to be full steam ahead.

Yes, sadly

Mostly yes

Not really a prediction or insight.

The latter part of this does not appear to have happened.

Yes.

Nope.

With new fireworks, a fancy castle, points of light installations, and allegedly a new Move It Shake It coming, I’d say this is half right at best.

Splash was never planned to have started by now.

So giving half credit for 8 and ignoring 4, I score this particular post 3.5 out of 7, or 50%. Less than 78%, and for that matter less than 87%, but far more than 0%, for sure.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Let’s see:

No. 1 thing was changed from a “pavilion” to a “center”, and perhaps Mary Poppins is dead. The rest - GOTG, Remy, Moana, Mousegear replacement, Dreamers Point, SSE redo, LWTL cucumber stand - appear to be full steam ahead.

Yes, sadly

Mostly yes

Not really a prediction or insight.

The latter part of this does not appear to have happened.

Yes.

Nope.

With new fireworks, a fancy castle, points of light installations, and allegedly a new Move It Shake It coming, I’d say this is half right at best.

Splash was never planned to have started by now.

So giving half credit for 8 and ignoring 4, I score this particular post 3.5 out of 7, or 50%. Less than 78%, and for that matter less than 87%, but far more than 0%, for sure.

The “50th” was never going to be what people worked themselves into believing.

they don’t need to do that in Orlando. Go with the obvious then.

as far as chapek goes…he may still be a placeholder. If they have any difficulties in the next few years…he’s easy to dump/scapegoat. Nobody is impressed by this Walmart manager

 

[Archie123]

Let’s see:

No. 1 thing was changed from a “pavilion” to a “center”, and perhaps Mary Poppins is dead. The rest - GOTG, Remy, Moana, Mousegear replacement, Dreamers Point, SSE redo, LWTL cucumber stand - appear to be full steam ahead.

Yes, sadly

Mostly yes

Not really a prediction or insight.

The latter part of this does not appear to have happened.

Yes.

Nope.

With new fireworks, a fancy castle, points of light installations, and allegedly a new Move It Shake It coming, I’d say this is half right at best.

Splash was never planned to have started by now.

So giving half credit for 8 and ignoring 4, I score this particular post 3.5 out of 7, or 50%. Less than 78%, and for that matter less than 87%, but far more than 0%, for sure.

Don‘t you know WDW Pro is an insider. And that is 100% true.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

So, we're kinda comparing apples and oranges. Since the original post, things turned around much unexpectedly and drastically for the company. Everything has gone as best as it possibly could have under the circumstances. I don't think it is fair to compare the internal forecasting a year ago to what actually transpired a year later; that's just Monday morning quarterbacking. Let's be thankful things turned out to be no where near as bad as they seemed.

 

[CastAStone]

So, we're kinda comparing apples and oranges. Since the original post, things turned around much unexpectedly and drastically for the company. Everything has gone as best as it possibly could have under the circumstances. I don't think it is fair to compare the internal forecasting a year ago to what actually transpired a year later; that's just Monday morning quarterbacking. Let's be thankful things turned out to be no where near as bad as they seemed.

I would normally agree. I’ll leave it at that.

 

[doctornick]

So, we're kinda comparing apples and oranges. Since the original post, things turned around much unexpectedly and drastically for the company. Everything has gone as best as it possibly could have under the circumstances. I don't think it is fair to compare the internal forecasting a year ago to what actually transpired a year later; that's just Monday morning quarterbacking. Let's be thankful things turned out to be no where near as bad as they seemed.

I agree with you general premise that you can’t really evaluate how things looked to be compared to how they turned out. A lot had to be predicted in unprecedented times.

However, some things turned out better but some things have been pretty bad - DLR (and DLP) was closed for a long time, movie theaters were closed and still aren’t fully back, cruises haven’t sailed. And Disney isn’t like (say) Comcast that has a primary business unit (cable/internet) that was a big source of constant revenue during the pandemic. Disney+ has done well but still is not in profit mode given the massive start up costs.

That said, the doom and gloom of the original post seemed way out of line with reality. Disney is/was not as indebted as other similar sized companies and still owns a lot of assets that could be leveraged if needed to get cash to get through the worse of the crisis. As the financial reports have shown in the last year, Disney was able to control costs enough to be "fine" and certainly not on the brink of bankruptcy or anything like that.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

That said, the doom and gloom of the original post seemed way out of line with reality. Disney is/was not as indebted as other similar sized companies and still owns a lot of assets that could be leveraged if needed to get cash to get through the worse of the crisis. As the financial reports have shown in the last year, Disney was able to control costs enough to be "fine" and certainly not on the brink of bankruptcy or anything like that.

That has been my impression. It has honestly been surprising how well Disney weathered the pandemic considering how exposed they were through the theme park and cruise business and all their recent acquisitions.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So, we're kinda comparing apples and oranges. Since the original post, things turned around much unexpectedly and drastically for the company. Everything has gone as best as it possibly could have under the circumstances. I don't think it is fair to compare the internal forecasting a year ago to what actually transpired a year later; that's just Monday morning quarterbacking. Let's be thankful things turned out to be no where near as bad as they seemed.

You would have expected a self-styled insider to know that Disney as a whole was set to break even quarter after quarter thanks to the continuation of the linear channels rather than cry wolf.

 

[UNCgolf]

You would have expected a self-styled insider to know that Disney as a whole was set to break even quarter after quarter thanks to the continuation of the linear channels rather than cry wolf.

He's only right 87% of the time, not 100%. Cut him some slack!

 

[TTA94]

Don‘t you know WDW Pro is an insider. And that is 100% true.

Is @LiterallyNobody a insider? He/she also talked about the 50th and such awhile back. In particular a mishmash parade coming lol.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I would normally agree. I’ll leave it at that.

I understand, for sure.

 

[JustInTime]

I feel the 50th is fine. Scaled back, sure. I’ll hold judgment until 10/1.