Cuts coming to every area of parks and resorts - thanks to Shanghai and Paris

[ford91exploder]

Its like making a deal with the devil no the Chinese don't want your soul and there not evil but your making a one way deal with zero leverage. There is literary nothing Disney can do except say OK and hope they see money someday. I don't think American priority will be saving a private company's melt down. The PLA could literary take control of the entire park and you would be able to do nothing. Of course that's extreme but the point is valid.

TWDC is powerless in china.

Naked greed drove that deal, It was a bad idea and even Eisner said too risky. A licensing deal with 'fee for service' in building the park would have been the way to go. There is money to be made in China but it will be made by the Chinese as Chinese business is based on relationships not on Law as it is in the west. As a result western companies are powerless in China.

 

[Seanual757]

It's a shame as an APH and DVC owner Disney increases our costs for pass holders and you take away more stuff. Keep this crap up and they will be pushing more and more folks to Universal just down the street. We still love Disney but as soon as you start to ruin our families experience they will loose us as guests and owners.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Its like making a deal with the devil no the Chinese don't want your soul and there not evil but your making a one way deal with zero leverage. There is literary nothing Disney can do except say OK and hope they see money someday. I don't think American priority will be saving a private company's melt down. The PLA could literary take control of the entire park and you would be able to do nothing. Of course that's extreme but the point is valid.

TWDC is powerless in china.

All of that money spent and not even the majority owner of the park

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Yes it was, Unfortunately Iger has all of Eisner's flaws and none of his good qualities. And he has left NOTHING in the tank except trouble for the NEXT management team.

Some here in the past have said I've been over the top in what this management team would cut, Unfortunately it looks like I am correct. And if during the Good Times this much is being cut just imagine what will happen if the gate clicks drop. Goodbye Star Wars and all that pretty stuff. I've seen this picture show before in corporate land before and it always starts with a management team which does not understand their product and is obsessed with financial performance. It always ends with Warren Buffets classic line "Those who manage only for the bottom line. Soon will have NO bottom line".

Do they think Team Disney will start to krank up the dues on the DVC owners? An increase of 100 or 200 dollars per month of each owner would bring in would $$$. Plus, nothing the DVC owners can do about it. They are painted into a corner.

 

[Nmoody1]

It's like a repeat of the end of Eisner tenure - by which time Paul Pressler had ruined Disneyland, Bob Chapek is doing the same.. only on a bigger scale. Retail wizards should not be left to run theme parks. Especially ones with hotels, water parks and recreation attached to them.

I imagine execs at Comcast are rubbing thier hands together as the Mouse hangs himself down the road. Everyone here may be chirping that Disney is still the leader, but Universal have the opportunity to build another park - they did a good job on IOA, and now they can learn even more from thier mistakes and create a true theme park destination. Thier hotel offerings match and sometimes surpass disneys.

It's a crying shame, you can't really backtrack from price increases - it takes a long time to patch up wounds - and the Vacation kingdom is so full of scars now.

 

[wdisney9000]

I love these threads! The doom & gloomers are and will have a field day! DISNEY IS DOOMED!! LOL

Ah, displaced anger manifested in a retaliation against an innocent target. Quite the coping mechanism for a deeply disturbed individual.

Your the guy who gets yelled at by his boss but will not stand up to him for fear of loosing your job, so you go home and kick the dog to take out your anger.

 

[Andrew C]

It's difficult to imagine how any true fan of WDW can find comfort in these cuts. Clearly, some have grown so upset at the doom-and-gloomers that they'd rather see them suffer more than WDW become a better place.

In no way shape or form can these reductions be viewed in a positive light. It's not as if corporate Disney has any intention of ever passing these savings on to the consumer. To the contrary, prices can be expected to increase higher than ever.

I've been a lifelong fan of WDW ever since we kids in the neighborhood learned that Walt was building an "East Coast Disney". Decades later, I still believe in WDW and dearly want to see it become a better place.

To derive pleasure over WDW's decline so a few doom-and-gloomers lament is just sad.

I agree with most of this although I think some of the "doom & gloomers" as they are called around here are taking pleasure in this decline as well.

These cuts are real and there is no denying that. What I am interested in knowing is what the impact will be on overall guest experience. Will it be dramatic? Will it only be slightly? Will only some guests notice? I guess this may depend on how the cuts are implemented.

 

[stevehousse]

I find this to be utter crap! But I'm sure all the execs haven't had any decrease in their ridiculous pay...I think Disney is just being cheap and stingy over this...

 

[LAKid53]

It's like a repeat of the end of Eisner tenure - by which time Paul Pressler had ruined Disneyland, Bob Chapek is doing the same.. only on a bigger scale. Retail wizards should not be left to run theme parks. Especially ones with hotels, water parks and recreation attached to them.

I imagine execs at Comcast are rubbing thier hands together as the Mouse hangs himself down the road. Everyone here may be chirping that Disney is still the leader, but Universal have the opportunity to build another park - they did a good job on IOA, and now they can learn even more from thier mistakes and create a true theme park destination. Thier hotel offerings match and sometimes surpass disneys.

It's a crying shame, you can't really backtrack from price increases - it takes a long time to patch up wounds - and the Vacation kingdom is so full of scars now.

I agree about the hotels. We always stay at Royal Pacific. Several hundred dollars cheaper than most of the WDW deluxes and a MUCH better experience. Because Loews knows how to run a hotel. Even their Value, Cabana, is better than a Disney Value.

 

[Mike C]

I imagine execs at Comcast are rubbing thier hands together as the Mouse hangs himself down the road. Everyone here may be chirping that Disney is still the leader, but Universal have the opportunity to build another park - they did a good job on IOA, and now they can learn even more from thier mistakes and create a true theme park destination. Thier hotel offerings match and sometimes surpass disneys.

It cannot be overstated how much Comcast's CEO Steve Burke running Disneyland Paris has helped the Universal parks. You have a guy at the top of the chain who really gets the parks and that attitude has shown throughout the last 5 years or so there. They aren't done, and you can bet Burke has a bit of personal want to go after Disney a bit down in Florida (and in California for that matter).

The third theme park is likely going to be extremely clever in multiple ways. They are going to use its eventual location very creatively (business and theming wise, that will make the Hogwarts Express seems like just a warm up). They are completely taking advantage of what Disney has(n't) done over the last 10 years in construction costs, design, and more. They already have some of the better imagineers working there (at least for cost control). And the relationships they set up doing the construction since the original Wizarding World have been extremely beneficial.

 

[asianway]

Since I haven't been vilified by #DisneyTwitter recently...

If things are so bad, shouldn't they cut the charitable donations? They're handing out five dollar bills every time someone uses some hashtag. And I wonder how many CMs are so poor some of the charity money actually funnels back to them

 

[Brad Bishop]

For those of you who think the SW expansion cant/wont be cut? How sure are you of that? At WDW a shovel hasnt hit the dirt yet.....plenty of time to cut. Same with everyother plans for expansion. If they can cut a insignificant curb greeter......EVERYTHING will be on the table.....especially multi million dollar budgets......dont fool yourself.

I think it depends on what "cut" means.

If "cut" means the project is scrapped, I don't that's likely at all. I think that they're looking down the street at Universal and while Disney is well in the lead with regards to guests, can you imagine the day when one of Universal's parks beats attendance at WDW? DHS's numbers are within reach for Universal. The big thing DHS has going for it right now is, "because it's here." There aren't many people traveling to WDW for DHS. They're going to MK, EP, or even AK. DHS is, "Well, since we're here." If it were on it's own Universal would have passed their numbers long ago, I think.

If "cut" means that the grand plans that they have for Star Wars Land will be trimmed back because of costs (not just at WDW), then, yes, I think that's probably pretty likely. It's a matter of "how much". Every project like this seems to have things cut out of it so that's kind of a baseline. The real question is whether or not they'll cut even beyond that because of a foreign property. They did it with Tomorrowland being revamped in the early 1990s. It still sits half finished 25 years later. How did they never get back to that in a 1/4 of a century?

My guess is: Something Star Wars will be built and it'll probably be less than we expect or hope for because they need to trim costs to cover for SDL (Iger's "legacy").

Also, Disney CEO's building their "legacy" parks isn't such a good idea, IMO.

 

[Horizons1]

CMs resort wide have been told about cuts because of Shanghai and managers are letting anyone who wants to leave early for the day do so, almost everyday now.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I agree about the hotels. We always stay at Royal Pacific. Several hundred dollars cheaper than most of the WDW deluxes and a MUCH better experience. Because Loews knows how to run a hotel. Even their Value, Cabana, is better than a Disney Value.

Being better then a Disney Value is no big stretch!

 

[ford91exploder]

Except that's not the only thing.....every little thing being cut back....alone these cuts are no big deal...together they can change a family's opinion on the mouse.

It's not the effect of any INDIVIDUAL cut, It's the effect of the AGGREGATE of the cuts, Personally IF I had to make a operational change at WDW to 'save' money, I probably would have closed DHS until renovated and left everything else untouched, One it's light on attractions at the moment and closing it would save money on the expansions because construction could occur unhindered by the presence of Guests and non-Construction CM's

Of course my plan assumes that Disney actually INTENDS to build TSL and SWL and retheme DHS to whatever it's going to be...

 

[PREMiERdrum]

When this all started coming out, I thought we were just getting an echo chamber effect, but this story seems to have grown legs on its own merits and is taking off, with little visible effort yet to squash it by the mouse.

 

[ford91exploder]

I think it depends on what "cut" means.

If "cut" means the project is scrapped, I don't that's likely at all. I think that they're looking down the street at Universal and while Disney is well in the lead with regards to guests, can you imagine the day when one of Universal's parks beats attendance at WDW? DHS's numbers are within reach for Universal. The big thing DHS has going for it right now is, "because it's here." There aren't many people traveling to WDW for DHS. They're going to MK, EP, or even AK. DHS is, "Well, since we're here." If it were on it's own Universal would have passed their numbers long ago, I think.

If "cut" means that the grand plans that they have for Star Wars Land will be trimmed back because of costs (not just at WDW), then, yes, I think that's probably pretty likely. It's a matter of "how much". Every project like this seems to have things cut out of it so that's kind of a baseline. The real question is whether or not they'll cut even beyond that because of a foreign property. They did it with Tomorrowland being revamped in the early 1990s. It still sits half finished 25 years later. How did they never get back to that in a 1/4 of a century?

My guess is: Something Star Wars will be built and it'll probably be less than we expect or hope for because they need to trim costs to cover for SDL (Iger's "legacy").

Also, Disney CEO's building their "legacy" parks isn't such a good idea, IMO.

As I've said WDW will be lucky to get the Cantina and a X-wing spinner under the Iger regime, Contrary to what people think I WANT MORE, I WANT MUCH MORE AT WDW, I'd love to be able to have an attraction where one could run the trench or dogfight (think cockpit simulator on a KUKA arm). It's just that I'm realistic enough to know I'll never get it while Iger is in charge.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

CMs resort wide have been told about cuts because of Shanghai and managers are letting anyone who wants to leave early for the day do so, almost everyday now.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I know right. Instead of using their resourses on the highly successful American parks, they just have build another park in china. And if it flops, this will only be the begining of the cuts.

The cost issues surrounding Shanghai Disney Resort are not entirely unique to China. All of Disney's building projects for the last several years have become wildly expensive. These are problems fundamental to how Iger has been running Parks and Resorts, not just his legacy building on the Chinese Mainland.

 

[Horizons1]

What does that mean exactly? Is that supposed to be a cut or is it supposed to be funny? I don't keep up with this generation of kids that like to use pictures because theyre not smart enough to know how to use words.