News Dismal Q3 Earnings

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I was just talking to my husband about the films and some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on. One of the things I've noticed about Iger and co. is that they seem to mis-read guests and fans on a pretty consistent basis. My hope is that if Episode 9 doesn't do well, that they take a good, long look at who is in charge of Lucasfilm and how the source material has been handled. There IS a way back for the film franchise if they can find the right people to pull it off and do a hard reset in terms of what is canon and what isn't. Fans WANT Star Wars to be awesome...but what we've gotten so far is a bunch of stuff people used put their own personal stamp on the films instead of people who love the franchise and want to see it continue past their own employment. Fans are showing their displeasure with their wallets, definitely, but they will come back if given a reason to do so.

Just my two cents.

People wanted to know how the hero’s lead since May 25th, 1983...

We all did. Where did it go?

...you get one shot at that.


There’s not a lot that can be done now. I say try to mimic Star Trek and go to serials as a way to character build. It has worked pretty well in recent years.

Hindsight is painful for Star Wars. The original 3 would have worked perfectly in the late 90’s...George blew it.

Prequels would have worked now...but Disney Brought the original 3 back and it hasn’t worked really at all...not washed with a “long term agenda”

They were backwards...basically.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes it is.

GE opened May 31. The third quarter ended June 29.

Then attendance was down before the blackouts were in and the excuse is invalid.
And so is “people are waiting for SE:GETABETTERNAME...

But here we are and they aren’t there.

I was tinkering with the Disneyland app an hour ago...5 PM PST...wanna know how many hours the wait for millennium EU is??

 

[peter11435]

Then attendance was down before the blackouts were in and the excuse is invalid.
And so is “people are waiting for SE:GETABETTERNAME...

But here we are and they aren’t there.

I was tinkering with the Disneyland app an hour ago...5 PM PST...wanna know how many hours the wait for millennium EU is??

Explanations are not excuses.

Knowledge is power.

The sky isn’t always falling.

Most Disneyland AP’s are still blocked out.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

People wanted to know how the hero’s lead since May 25th, 1983...

We all did. Where did it go?

...you get one shot at that.


There’s not a lot that can be done now. I say try to mimic Star Trek and go to serials as a way to character build. It has worked pretty well in recent years.

Hindsight is painful for Star Wars. The original 3 would have worked perfectly in the late 90’s...George blew it.

Prequels would have worked now...but Disney Brought the original 3 back and it hasn’t worked really at all...not washed with a “long term agenda”

They were backwards...basically.

I disagree on the one shot part...the X-men reboot, and especially the huge number of different versions of Batman come to mind. Still can't believe they went with Ben Affleck...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I disagree on the one shot part...the X-men reboot, and especially the huge number of different versions of Batman come to mind. Still can't believe they went with Ben Affleck...

The original 3 characters and antagonists are tied to who played them...unlike X-men or even Batman.

Star Wars is like the garden of eden...don’t get kicked out. There’s no going back

 

[Villains0501]

I disagree on the one shot part...the X-men reboot, and especially the huge number of different versions of Batman come to mind. Still can't believe they went with Ben Affleck...

Yes, but look at how well recasting Han Solo went over at the box office...

It’s sad but true. They had one shot to get the band back together and they blew it. As I’ve said before, Episodes 7, 8, and 9 should have been a slow, deliberate changing of the guard, then 10, 11, 12 could have been all about the new guys. Somewhere, we missed a step (and about 30 years worth of exposition).

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Yes, but look at how well recasting Han Solo went over at the box office...

It’s sad but true. They had one shot to get the band back together and they blew it. As I’ve said before, Episodes 7, 8, and 9 should have been a slow, deliberate changing of the guard, then 10, 11, 12 could have been all about the new guys. Somewhere, we missed a step (and about 30 years worth of exposition).

I agree 100% with what I made bold. And yes...the films were inextricably tied to the original cast, but I don't think it's too late to fix things going forward (aside from characters dying, of course, and the loss of Carrie Fisher cannot be overstated as a huge blow).

 

[GoofGoof]

“Hours and limitations are subject to change by the issuer at anytime”

Check your ticket

It would be “impractical” - of course

If I bought a premium annual pass to avoid blackouts and then they decided to let the masses in it would be “impractical” for them to remove my annual pass from their rear end

I suppose they could just give a refund to all the premium pass holders but you know they aren’t going to give cash back.

 

[WDW Pro]

Yes it is.

GE opened May 31. The third quarter ended June 29. The land was reservation only until June 24.

Stock valuations are not only based on earnings reported, but on predicating patterns used to gauge the future via predictive models. Inferences are made by stock holders judging the stock's worth (and in mass, this creates the market) as to the current and future likely outcomes.

 

[Villains0501]

I agree 100% with what I made bold. And yes...the films were inextricably tied to the original cast, but I don't think it's too late to fix things going forward (aside from characters dying, of course, and the loss of Carrie Fisher cannot be overstated as a huge blow).

I hope you’re right! I think we’ll likely see a cool down in ST material after IX and perhaps a return to some prequel-era films/literature. It must feel like whiplash at Lucasfilm. First, everyone hates the prequels and the ST does its best to repudiate them. Now, everyone wants a McGregor Obi Wan film and a return trip to Coruscant. Strange how these things go in cycles. It’s like poetry...

 

[peter11435]

Stock valuations are not only based on earnings reported, but on predicating patterns used to gauge the future via predictive models. Inferences are made by stock holders judging the stock's worth (and in mass, this creates the market) as to the current and future likely outcomes.

Lol. I’m well aware of how that works.

The comment (and this thread) are about the third quarter results. Which only the first few weeks of Star Wars impacted. That’s a fact and should be pretty simple to understand.

If you’re trying to gauge the future but refuse to look at all variables affecting the present than you are doomed for failure.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Only the first few weeks of the land being opened fell during the quarter being discussed.

Ah, that’s right, their third quarter ended June 30.

 

[monothingie]

Explanations are not excuses.

Knowledge is power.

The sky isn’t always falling.

Most Disneyland AP’s are still blocked out.

I agree the sky isn’t falling, but aren’t the blackout dates for 2019 only marginally more restrictive than the 2018 dates?

I just think hi expectations and the way it was played in the media coupled with price hikes that turned people off.

 

[WDW Pro]

Lol. I’m well aware of how that works.

The comment (and this thread) are about the third quarter results. Which only the first few weeks of Star Wars impacted. That’s a fact and should be pretty simple to understand.

If you’re trying to gauge the future but refuse to look at all variables affecting the present than you are doomed for failure.

It's not simply about third quarter results. Anyone paying attention knows that attendance has been and continues to be down. If you're only looking at Q3 in a preterit sense, without noticing the present, you're not as savvy as the market. Personally, I think you're just employing a cynical strategy to win a forum argument rather than to reflect how the stock market actually works.

 

[GoofGoof]

Lol. I’m well aware of how that works.

The comment (and this thread) are about the third quarter results. Which only the first few weeks of Star Wars impacted. That’s a fact and should be pretty simple to understand.

If you’re trying to gauge the future but refuse to look at all variables affecting the present than you are doomed for failure.

It was really only 1 week of full operation since they had the reservations until June 24. While the blackout hurt raw attendance numbers and some ancillary sales like food or parking it’s not like they are losing ticket sales unless some guests get fed up and decide not to renew.

For WDW I’m sure there was some dip in attendance due to people delaying trips until after SW:GE opens. That always happens with any major new land but hotel numbers were strong so not sure how big the dip was.

 

[monothingie]

It's not simply about third quarter results. Anyone paying attention knows that attendance has been and continues to be down. If you're only looking at Q3 in a preterit sense, without noticing the present, you're not as savvy as the market. Personally, I think you're just employing a cynical strategy to win a forum argument rather than to reflect how the stock market actually works.

The only information we have about the present is anecdotal at best. While I would probably tend to agree that right now things aren’t as good as expected, I can’t quantify that and make an accurate or correct comparison.

 

[peter11435]

It's not simply about third quarter results. Anyone paying attention knows that attendance has been and continues to be down. If you're only looking at Q3 in a preterit sense, without noticing the present, you're not as savvy as the market. Personally, I think you're just employing a cynical strategy to win a forum argument rather than to reflect how the stock market actually works.

I know how the stock market works and I also understand that this discussion is about more than just the third quarter. That said many(most) or the factors that affected the third quarter are still impacting the present. But none of that is relevant to the post that started this discussion which you claimed was false, but was clearly fact. I wasn’t implying anything more about current or future performance. Just explaining why only a few weeks were mentioned as that was all that mattered in this particular report.

 

[starri42]

They could have lifted the limit...at any time.

Not at any time, only when it was funny.

 

[Thelazer]

So is it to soon to say that maybe, just maybe there are not as many star wars geeks out there as the merchandise folks thought.
Or those who are super geeks and work at the compay, in those design and development roles, might need to start paying attention to other things and perhaps not think that just cause they like it, EVERYONE will. I dunno, I mean I know a few 5 year olds.. they couldn't care less about GE.. but you ask them about Blippi or Ryan's Toy Review.. they know all about that.

 

[UNCgolf]

So is it to soon to say that maybe, just maybe there are not as many star wars geeks out there as the merchandise folks thought.
Or those who are super geeks and work at the compay, in those design and development roles, might need to start paying attention to other things and perhaps not think that just cause they like it, EVERYONE will. I dunno, I mean I know a few 5 year olds.. they couldn't care less about GE.. but you ask them about Blippi or Ryan's Toy Review.. they know all about that.

Star Wars is pretty obviously one of the largest franchises ever, so I don't think that's the issue.

I think the issue is that they threw all their eggs into the new trilogy basket. I understand why they did that -- it's Disney's trilogy and what they planned to build on for the future, so of course that's what they want to highlight in the park. But I think the original trilogy has a much larger fan base, especially with the sequel trilogy being somewhat divisive. I think the majority of Star Wars fans would have preferred a park with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker to one with Kylo Ren and a Millenium Falcon that doesn't involve Han Solo or even Lando Calrissian. Even a land based on Naboo from the prequel trilogy (despite how bad they were) may have been preferable if only because it could have been stunningly beautiful with really interesting architecture and water features. I think Disney just miscalculated.

With that said, I still don't think Galaxy's Edge is going to be a failure. I imagine it will be packed pretty quickly and stay that way for at least the near future.