News Dismal Q3 Earnings

WDW Pro

Well-Known Member
It was a huge expense that did not generate the associated increase in admissions. The opening caused people to delay trips as evident by the dramatic down turn in admissions... with no 'kicker' to offset them after the fact.

Summer blackouts are not new - yet DL experienced downturns in attendance like it hasn't seen in well over a decade. The park was a ghost town for nearly a month. That's almost 10% of the year...

That is a drag on the numbers.

You've nailed it. However, you're conversing with individuals who won't come off their narrative, so good luck with that pleasure.
 

bartholomr4

Well-Known Member
It seems some youtubers are running with conspiracy theories that Lucas collects royalties and that’s why disney didn’t go OT.

Disney bought lucasfilm wholesale.... if it didn’t own the rights outright that would have been materially significant to disclose IMO. And they didn’t.

And he took the payment in stock. He is one of the largest Disney shareholders and have seen the price appreciate from 37.56 to the current price. So his $4 billion dollar sale to Iger is now worth over $15 billion dollars. To think Disney would kill off the franchise so they wouldn't have to pay Lucas a royalty is hard to swallow.
 

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
And he took the payment in stock. He is one of the largest Disney shareholders and have seen the price appreciate from 37.56 to the current price. So his $4 billion dollar sale to Iger is now worth over $15 billion dollars. To think Disney would kill off the franchise so they wouldn't have to pay Lucas a royalty is hard to swallow.
African or European?
 

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
Hate this phrase, but this is fake news to spur an agenda. I've been to both domestic parks this fy quarter 3 and they're doing just fine. Just cuz they're sent people walking on top of one another (the new norm) people think the parks are doing poorly. Sad really. Park attendance is still almost unbearable, just less than it's been the last half decade or so.
 
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Brad Bishop

Well-Known Member
The spin on this, from Iger, on this board, and otherwise, is pretty amazing.

Before SWGE opened:
- STAR WARS IS HUGE!! THERE'S NO WAY THIS CAN FAIL!!!

After opening:
- Oh, everyone was scared away by the huge crowds.
- Disney over did it by black-out days for APs, etc.
- It'll come around...

I can buy off on the first week and numbers being down because everyone was scared off by the crowds.. Well, sort of... Why didn't this happen at Harry Potter in Universal? When has it ever happened before where a park builds something huge and no one shows after the first day? It doesn't happen. Even Pandora at DAK, a few years later, still has longer lines than STGE (2 months out) from what I've been hearing.

Even after that first week, when it was well known that the parks were empty the numbers still didn't pick up. That, to me, is telling. You can argue, "Well, a lot of them are AP holders so they're just waiting.." Hold on, I thought SWGE was HUGE and there was no way it could fail!!

How many excuses do you have to come up with before you finally arrive at, "Huh.. Perhaps all of this was a big misstep. Maybe DL isn't worth $150/day even with SWGE. Maybe SWGE doesn't meet guest expectations with focusing on new characters.."

Interestingly, I don't think the same thing will happen at DHS and for the same reason that DHS and even Epcot have been successful for so long: They're nearby to the MK. Take DHS or Epcot and put them anywhere else where their ticket is completely separate and not in close proximity to the MK and those two parks would have failed 20 years ago. I don't think that at DHS, outside of the first day or so, that SWGE will be swamped but I think it'll (DHS) be busier than normal just because of the, "Well, we already have the park hopper tickets...."

Take DHS off the park-hopper list and that park is going to be as quiet as Sea World, even with SWGE.
 

WDW Pro

Well-Known Member
Hate this phrase, but this is fake news to spur an agenda. I've been to both domestic parks this fy quarter 3 and they're doing just fine. Just cuz they're sent people walking on top of one another (the new norm) people think the parks are doing poorly. Sad really. Park attendance is still almost unbearable, just less than it's been the last half decade or so.

You're right, Iger lied purposefully to hurt Disney.
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
I can buy off on the first week and numbers being down because everyone was scared off by the crowds.. Well, sort of... Why didn't this happen at Harry Potter in Universal? When has it ever happened before where a park builds something huge and no one shows after the first day? It doesn't happen. Even Pandora at DAK, a few years later, still has longer lines than STGE (2 months out) from what I've been hearing.

Even after that first week, when it was well known that the parks were empty the numbers still didn't pick up. That, to me, is telling. You can argue, "Well, a lot of them are AP holders so they're just waiting.." Hold on, I thought SWGE was HUGE and there was no way it could fail!!

DLR is a fickle mistress...
 

LSLS

Well-Known Member
Just saying that 3% below target for 1 quarter is hardly panic room fodder, more like "this won't be a big issue and will be resolved shortly" after AP blackout is lifted.

None of that means that the parks being down in attendance is fake news. You can't say they are where they should be because of your personal anecdotes when the CEO admitted the attendance was down. Sure the parks less crowded is a good thing for consumers, but that is not something Disney wants or plans for. You can come up with all sorts of reasons, but the bottom line is that Disney misread the opening. Time will tell if it's the whole land (and possibly the franchise, which no, I don't subscribe to), or just the opening.

I do agree it won't send them into a panic unless they see the trend continuing into Q4 or they look down for the year, but I think you are kidding yourself if you don't think there is some concern. I gotta admit, I'll be SUPER curious what the DHS attendance figures are at the end of the year as well. Won't be a perfect science or anything, but should be very interesting to look at.
 

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
"This is fake news. As proof, here's anecdotal evidence."



You're overselling the reaction. The results can still be a major concern without "panic." I'm sure they're waiting to see what happens after the AP blackout is lifted before really considering changes. It's still not a good look to open your heavily-hyped expansion and have attendance drop.

But again, the AP blackout was a purposeful move made by Disney because they expected demand to be so high that they'd need the space for guests with single or multi-day tickets. It's tiresome to hear people argue that Disney WANTED attendance to drop for the Galaxy's Edge opening. Certainly their shareholders didn't.

Read thread title. This is hardly "dismal". 10% is sell off territory, but all the doomsayers on here that think there is any real issue with the parks are just kidding themselves and generating fake news to facilitate their bloodlust for Disney.
 

eddie104

Well-Known Member
Read thread title. This is hardly "dismal". 10% is sell off territory, but all the doomsayers on here that think there is any real issue with the parks are just kidding themselves and generating fake news to facilitate their bloodlust for Disney.
I can’t wait till this fallout from Star Wars is over.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
A decline in growth is not the same as no growth.

A decline in profits is not the same as no profits.

A comparison of a particular quarter one year to the same quarter the previous year -- whether it is more or less -- does not mean the whole year will have the same more or less relation to the previous year.

Extrapolation of trends based on a single datum does not a reliable trend make.
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
A decline in growth is not the same as no growth.

A decline in profits is not the same as no profits.

A comparison of a particular quarter one year to the same quarter the previous year -- whether it is more or less -- does not mean the whole year will have the same more or less relation to the previous year.

Extrapolation of trends based on a single datum does not a reliable trend make.

This is not the thread for logic. take a side and defend it until your death.
 

WDW Pro

Well-Known Member
Just saying that 3% below target for 1 quarter is hardly panic room fodder, more like "this won't be a big issue and will be resolved shortly" after AP blackout is lifted.

When Easter weekend is included in this Q3 and wasn't in the last one, yet it still went down... you'd better believe its panic time at DLR (not so much at WDW).
 

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