News Cost Cutting Measures Coming Early 2025

[Disstevefan1]

Yes, maybe.

But it’s not the topic of this thread. If someone wants to validate it and start another thread I’m sure I’ll jump in.

The title of this thread is cost cutting measures early in 2025. I am sure we can all agree there will be plenty of operational cost cutting. There is nothing new about this; this is SOP; deliver less and charge more.

And, yes as a side note, not related to this thread, I suspect the various WDW projects underway will also get their own cost cutting as we have seen in past projects.

Again, nothing new here. It is, what it is, and folks will keep showing up, including me, I just keep my expectations low going in.

 

[mysto]

HS cut some costs this morning. First thing in the morning Rise, Slinky, and RnRC all had delayed openings.

I hope they don't just fire all the maintenance and IT staff again. That would be the laziest most destructive thing they could ...

OMG "it's a lock" isn't it?

I feel the "reliable downtime" is the most important flavor of "doom schlock". Service outages you can count on! It makes ME passes easy to get, but hard to use.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The title of this thread is cost cutting measures early in 2025. I am sure we can all agree there will be plenty of operational cost cutting. There is nothing new about this; this is SOP; deliver less and charge more.

And, yes as a side note, not related to this thread, I suspect the various WDW projects underway will also get their own cost cutting as we have seen in past projects.

Again, nothing new here. It is, what it is, and folks will keep showing up, including me, I just keep my expectations low going in.

Usually in threads when “stay on topic” mandates from the plebs arrive…

It translates roughly to “I’m not gonna acknowledge this…it’s less magical…please stop before I cry on my churro ”

…roughly

 

[BrianLo]

Usually in threads when “stay on topic” mandates from the plebs arrive…

It translates roughly to “I’m not gonna acknowledge this…it’s less magical…please stop before I cry on my churro ”

…roughly

Usually it is! This time it was just a pointed criticism no one understood the topic from the jump and started speculating about Indy because they are ‘crying over their churro’ for Dinosaur, as you’d say.

I’m not disillusioned things are going to be cut wildly to make the pre Epic numbers look good. I’m wondering what those are instead of a veiled “save Dinosaur” campaign.

I think you’d probably agree with me here.

 

[Dranth]

It’s not the reality of the market. You just highlighted how the market doesn’t just act in one uniform way towards public companies. Disney’s problem is one of leadership. They don’t know or like theme parks and therefore lack the ability to justify the very basics of the business.

I disagree. Companies can be treated differently even when reacting in the same way. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing.

Yes, this is all a gross simplification but outside of the chosen companies of the moment, you still have to obey the current "number go up" demand of the market. What number(s) needs to go up may change, but if it isn't going up for the foreseeable future you will go down. Some within the same segment will move more than others despite similar results and forecasts because they are not all treated the same. Sometimes for legit reasons, sometimes not.

As for Disney leadership, sure, I have my problems with them, but I disagree that they don't like the parks. Chapek loved them, that doesn't mean he wasn't a terrible steward. Josh does as well and while I don't like some of the choices he has made, others I do and that book isn't closed yet. Iger may prefer to just deal with movies and TV, but he hasn't been shy about letting whoever is leading the parks to spend tons of money on them during the second half of his first term and this second one.

Maybe you can clarify that last part about them not able to justify because it seems like they have.

 

[BrianLo]

Fact check, that was early 2016 AFAIK.

Sorry yes, I double checked and it was indeed April 2016 the #thanksshanghai thing started. We’re on a very similar timeframe again it seems.

 

[Jrb1979]

I disagree. Companies can be treated differently even when reacting in the same way. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing.

Yes, this is all a gross simplification but outside of the chosen companies of the moment, you still have to obey the current "number go up" demand of the market. What number(s) needs to go up may change, but if it isn't going up for the foreseeable future you will go down. Some within the same segment will move more than others despite similar results and forecasts because they are not all treated the same. Sometimes for legit reasons, sometimes not.

As for Disney leadership, sure, I have my problems with them, but I disagree that they don't like the parks. Chapek loved them, that doesn't mean he wasn't a terrible steward. Josh does as well and while I don't like some of the choices he has made, others I do and that book isn't closed yet. Iger may prefer to just deal with movies and TV, but he hasn't been shy about letting whoever is leading the parks to spend tons of money on them during the second half of his first term and this second one.

Maybe you can clarify that last part about them not able to justify because it seems like they have.

I disagree. This is a quote from the last Six Flags investors call.

"This is an incredibly exciting time as we lay the foundation for growth for the new Six Flags and focus on what our team does best: make people happy by delivering the best possible experience and value to our guests each and every day,” concluded Zimmerman.

Not all companies want to cut costs to make numbers look good. Remember Six Flags is a publicly traded company so they need to have high earnings each quarter too.

 

[Dranth]

I disagree. This is a quote from the last Six Flags investors call.

"This is an incredibly exciting time as we lay the foundation for growth for the new Six Flags and focus on what our team does best: make people happy by delivering the best possible experience and value to our guests each and every day,” concluded Zimmerman.

Not all companies want to cut costs to make numbers look good. Remember Six Flags is a publicly traded company so they need to have high earnings each quarter too.

They just announced they are cutting employee pay by 25% for some of their employees just a few days ago.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I disagree. Companies can be treated differently even when reacting in the same way. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing.

Yes, this is all a gross simplification but outside of the chosen companies of the moment, you still have to obey the current "number go up" demand of the market. What number(s) needs to go up may change, but if it isn't going up for the foreseeable future you will go down. Some within the same segment will move more than others despite similar results and forecasts because they are not all treated the same. Sometimes for legit reasons, sometimes not.

As for Disney leadership, sure, I have my problems with them, but I disagree that they don't like the parks. Chapek loved them, that doesn't mean he wasn't a terrible steward. Josh does as well and while I don't like some of the choices he has made, others I do and that book isn't closed yet. Iger may prefer to just deal with movies and TV, but he hasn't been shy about letting whoever is leading the parks to spend tons of money on them during the second half of his first term and this second one.

Maybe you can clarify that last part about them not able to justify because it seems like they have.

The way companies get treated differently for the same thing shows the irrationality of the market, especially in the moment.

Liking them because they’re fun to visit isn’t exactly the same as liking them and knowing them as a business. Whatever appreciation is there is also not confident. Iger and the top level is the biggest problem. He didn’t consider the parks a core business.Just spending a lot doesn’t mean it has been done well or with understanding. A lot of it was the result of pressure from others. But he also doesn’t just let the heads of the parks spend. For most of his tenure the parks leaders were not people with parks experience. He meddles in the parks and only allows certain content to be produced. His tenure started with a success he immediately prohibited because he doesn’t understand why it was successful.

The number go up issue is exactly the highlight of why there isn’t internal understanding and confidence. The business is cyclical. That’s what they can’t justify but should be able to do with ease. Disney already knows the numbers are going to go back up. A couple of predictable slow but still quite profitable quarters is something they should be able to weather, just as they can weather a few underperforming movies.

 

[Jrb1979]

They just announced they are cutting employee pay by 25% for some of their employees just a few days ago.

Not exactly. What they are doing is ending the COVID bonus pay they have been giving out to those who finished their contract. Outside of that they are investing in food quality, fixing up the parks and adding more family oriented rides to improve guest satisfaction.

From the rumors here Disney is cutting a lot of that the next few quarters cause "earnings"

 

[HauntedPirate]

I disagree. Companies can be treated differently even when reacting in the same way. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing.

Yes, this is all a gross simplification but outside of the chosen companies of the moment, you still have to obey the current "number go up" demand of the market. What number(s) needs to go up may change, but if it isn't going up for the foreseeable future you will go down. Some within the same segment will move more than others despite similar results and forecasts because they are not all treated the same. Sometimes for legit reasons, sometimes not.

As for Disney leadership, sure, I have my problems with them, but I disagree that they don't like the parks. Chapek loved them, that doesn't mean he wasn't a terrible steward. Josh does as well and while I don't like some of the choices he has made, others I do and that book isn't closed yet. Iger may prefer to just deal with movies and TV, but he hasn't been shy about letting whoever is leading the parks to spend tons of money on them during the second half of his first term and this second one.

Maybe you can clarify that last part about them not able to justify because it seems like they have.

$lappie loved the parks?? That's like saying Palpatine loved democracy.

I may dry that one out and fertilize my lawn for the year.

 

[Dranth]

The way companies get treated differently for the same thing shows the irrationality of the market, especially in the moment.

Liking them because they’re fun to visit isn’t exactly the same as liking them and knowing them as a business. Whatever appreciation is there is also not confident. Iger and the top level is the biggest problem. He didn’t consider the parks a core business.Just spending a lot doesn’t mean it has been done well or with understanding. A lot of it was the result of pressure from others. But he also doesn’t just let the heads of the parks spend. For most of his tenure the parks leaders were not people with parks experience. He meddles in the parks and only allows certain content to be produced. His tenure started with a success he immediately prohibited because he doesn’t understand why it was successful.

The number go up issue is exactly the highlight of why there isn’t internal understanding and confidence. The business is cyclical. That’s what they can’t justify but should be able to do with ease. Disney already knows the numbers are going to go back up. A couple of predictable slow but still quite profitable quarters is something they should be able to weather, just as they can weather a few underperforming movies.

Got it.

I think we agree more than we don't. Where I disagree is that I do think they like the theme parks. Not being great at running them is a whole other issue.

 

[Jrb1979]

Got it.

I think we agree more than we don't. Where I disagree is that I do think they like the theme parks. Not being great at running them is a whole other issue.

Agreed I think the reason they don't run them well is they don't fully understand them.

 

[Dranth]

$lappie loved the parks?? That's like saying Palpatine loved democracy.

I may dry that one out and fertilize my lawn for the year.

He very much loved the parks or at least liked them a good bit. That doesn't mean he understood how to run them, make them better or what even made them work to begin with. Nor does it excuse all the many mistakes he made.

 

[networkpro]

I hope they don't just fire all the maintenance and IT staff again. That would be the laziest most destructive thing they could ...

OMG "it's a lock" isn't it?

I feel the "reliable downtime" is the most important flavor of "doom schlock". Service outages you can count on! It makes ME passes easy to get, but hard to use.

Outsourcing IT, not firing its quibbling I know but the job is being done less expensively. For a company that's driven by technically intricate attractions and offerings, they are pretty primitive. We have some former Disney IT workers at my workplace and they are great, just hindered by an inept company.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It’s not the reality of the market. You just highlighted how the market doesn’t just act in one uniform way towards public companies. Disney’s problem is one of leadership. They don’t know or like theme parks and therefore lack the ability to justify the very basics of the business.

It’s pretty clear what the market thinks about Disney…

They’re not buying that stream is a “goldmine” and there are some serious questions about the brand’s ability to sustain itself…for the first time since the 1980s

A drop in park business when travelers are spending like sailors is not a good “market sign” …like…at all

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

He very much loved the parks or at least liked them a good bit. That doesn't mean he understood how to run them, make them better or what even made them work to begin with. Nor does it excuse all the many mistakes he made.

…anybody know how to get Starbucks juice out of a keyboard? If someone spontaneously snarfs…

Asking for a friend

 

[HauntedPirate]

He very much loved the parks or at least liked them a good bit. That doesn't mean he understood how to run them, make them better or what even made them work to begin with. Nor does it excuse all the many mistakes he made.

If you can show verifiable proof that he "at least liked them a good bit", I'll concede the point. Otherwise, you're trying to revise history to fit your view.

 

[HauntedPirate]

It’s pretty clear what the market thinks about Disney…

They’re not buying that stream is a “goldmine” and there are some serious questions about the brand’s ability to sustain itself…for the first time since the 1980s

A drop in park business when travelers are spending like sailors is not a good “market sign” …like…at all

Jim Cramer says we should buy DIS. What more do you need?!?!

 

[GhostHost1000]

Jim Cramer says we should buy DIS. What more do you need?!?!