News Disney’s Fiscal Full Year and Q4 2024 Earnings Results Webcast

[BrianLo]

They will never deliver the 10% mandate at this rate.

There’s an 187% gross tonnage increase in the Disney Cruise line fleet by next December you are overlooking.

 

[JoeCamel]

There’s an 87% gross tonnage increase in the Disney Cruise line fleet by next December you are overlooking.

He put cruise and parks in the same basket so that statement would be true, if each segment was held to the mandate it would show how the parks have stagnated. Fulfills his vision that parks are a mature business but keeps the investors happy by comingling the revenue. I never said Bob is not smart and knows how to manipulate the bottom line he wouldn't have lasted this long if he didn't.

 

[BrianLo]

He put cruise and parks in the same basket so that statement would be true, if each segment was held to the mandate it would show how the parks have stagnated. Fulfills his vision that parks are a mature business but keeps the investors happy by comingling the revenue. I never said Bob is not smart and knows how to manipulate the bottom line he wouldn't have lasted this long if he didn't.

I don't disagree. WDW is not growing 10% annually in an organic manner, even if they legitimately wanted it to. WDW has matured from a length of stay perspective. Which doesn't mean his treading water first ten years was an acceptable approach to WDW either.

True Growth will come from Cruises, Disneyland Resort has potential. If they actually exhaust that domestically they'll need to look at another location. International is pretty easy to grow 10% between Shanghai and Paris build outs; well before the next CEO would need to look at new locations.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I just finished listening to a summary of the call and it’s pretty impressive numbers across the board, as a Disney fan I hate that their nickel and diming is resulting in increased guest spending and great numbers, it’ll just encourage them to continue to raise prices, while offering less, and adding new micro-transactions wherever they can.

I was genuinely hoping for them to report attendance was down so they’d have no choice but to bring back more entertainment, more perks, better service, etc. No chance of that with these results.

Good news for the investors, bad news for park fans.

And very interesting given Universals drop in visitors from their last report.

 

[Lilofan]

Awfully quiet around here for a Fiscal Year report...

Nothing but a few crickets chirping. Disney will be fine. Can be better though .

 

[Nevermore525]

I honestly was expecting international to pick up domestic slack, but it is the other way around. Epic seems to really just be impacting Universal likely in both a major downside (today) and major upside way (next year).

Don’t know of any impacts to Shanghai/Hong Kong offhand, but I wonder if the Paris Olympics had a negative impact on that resort and was part of why the international numbers were down for the Quarter.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Don’t know of any impacts to Shanghai/Hong Kong offhand, but I wonder if the Paris Olympics had a negative impact on that resort and was part of why the international numbers were down for the Quarter.

I would have thought HKDL was still enjoying a bit of a bump from the opening of World of Frozen and the shift back to a 7-day week.

Paris, on the other hand, seems to have had a very quiet summer which would make sense in terms of accounting for at least a significant amount of the decline for international parks. In general, the resort is kind of in an odd place at the moment with the Studios and Disney Village under significant construction as they crawl toward a 2026(!) opening of the expansions to 'Disney Adventure World' ( ).

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

The current data really makes me wonder if Epic would have any negative impact on Disney whatsoever.

I still theorize the biggest loser will be Universal Studios Florida - that park needs love.

This is my thought as well. USO will be the loser when all the dust settles.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Which I can’t understand anyone ever skipping AK. It’s the most stunning, best themed park in North America. I’d skip DHS any day.

But I guess it goes to show, people are motivated by rides more than anything else.

I love AK. It might be my favorite park to just walk around and enjoy. It is however, if I needed to cut a park out of a trip, generally the one I would.

Simple reason is that one of AK's main features, and the one that most not familiar with WDW see as its main focus...animals, is the one thing that is most easily reproducible in other areas.

It's not an apple to apple comparison, but being in NJ, i have access to the Bronx Zoo. People in the mid Atlantic region can go to the national zoo, you have the San Diego Zoo out in California, ect. Again its certainly not the whole thing, and I still say flight of pandora might be the most amazing theme park experience ever made, but you have those options. For a family who is planning on going to WDW and not doing tons of research, or needs to make fincial choices, its easiest to say, well we can see X animals at other places.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

I would have thought HKDL was still enjoying a bit of a bump from the opening of World of Frozen and the shift back to a 7-day week.

Paris, on the other hand, seems to have had a very quiet summer which would make sense in terms of accounting for at least a significant amount of the decline for international parks. In general, the resort is kind of in an odd place at the moment with the Studios and Disney Village under significant construction as they crawl toward a 2026(!) opening of the expansions to 'Disney Adventure World' ( ).

I wonder how the Olympics impacted the Paris summer. Did that suck in a lot of your tourism attendees and did it serve a a barrier to international people who might have booked trip to park but just generally stayed away due to rises in prices and craziness due to the demand for Olympics.

 

[Nevermore525]

Just listened to the earnings call and the Paris Olympics were listed as a reason for the downturn internationally. It was the last question asked.

 

[Nevermore525]

Which I can’t understand anyone ever skipping AK. It’s the most stunning, best themed park in North America. I’d skip DHS any day.

But I guess it goes to show, people are motivated by rides more than anything else.

I love AK too and could spend a full day there.

My issue is one that Disney created with the hours of operation. They’ve neutered Pandora from how it was advertised when guests have limited ability to experience that land after dark. It’s great during the day, it’s even better at night and to basically relegate it to the Holiday season is a let down. I hope after Tropical Americas opens they extend things again…

 

[monothingie]

Yeah. Historically Disney has typically been between 80-90%

Just going back off the last 20+ years of annual reports there’s only one instance where they were at a reported 90% hotel occupancy.

2003 - 77%
2004 - 78%
2005 - 83%
2006 - 87%
2007 - 89%
2008 - 89%
2009 - 87%
2010 - 82%
2011 - 82%
2012 - 81%
2013 - 79%
2014 - 83%
2015 - 87%
2016 - 89%
2017 - 88%
2018 - 88%
2019 - 90%
2020 - 43%
2021 - 42%
2022 - 82%
2023 - 85%
2024 - 85%

Occupancy numbers mean nothing when you shutter large portions of your resort hotels.

 

[Nevermore525]

Occupancy numbers mean nothing when you shutter large portions of your resort hotels.

Good thing those are still counted among the available cash room nights as part of their calculation for occupancy %.

“Available hotel room nights include rooms temporarily taken out of service.”

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1744489/000174448924000276/dis-20240928.htm

 

[monothingie]

Good thing those are still counted among the available cash room nights as part of their calculation for occupancy %.

“Available hotel room nights include rooms temporarily taken out of service.”

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1744489/000174448924000276/dis-20240928.htm

So does temporarily out of service mean entire sections of Coronado, PO, AKL, Pop, AOA that never reopened post pandemic?

Or is it a room that is out for a day because the shower doesn't work?

I'm betting that it's the latter.

 

[Nevermore525]

So does temporarily out of service mean entire sections of Coronado, PO, AKL, Pop, AOA that never reopened post pandemic?

Or is it a room that is out for a day because the shower doesn't work?

I'm betting that it's the latter.

You can go with whatever you want to. Just pointing out how Disney reports it and their data.

Fiscal 2019 which had 90% occupancy had 10,030,000 available cash room nights

Fiscal 2024 had 10,193,000 cash room nights.

The addition was Riviera resort and there were additional DVC conversions/additions which any rooms booked by DVC aren’t counted towards cash room nights.

 

[monothingie]

You can go with whatever you want to. Just pointing out how Disney reports it and their data.

Fiscal 2019 which had 90% occupancy had 10,030,000 available cash room nights

Fiscal 2024 had 10,193,000 cash room nights.

The addition was Riviera resort and there were additional DVC conversions which any rooms booked by DVC aren’t counted towards cash room nights.

The available room nights includes DVC resorts. The occupancy rate in the report does not differentiate cash room, its counts it as the whole domestically and internationally.

 

[Nevermore525]

The available room nights includes DVC resorts. The occupancy rate in the report does not differentiate cash room, its counts it as the whole domestically and internationally.

Available hotel room nights are defined as the total number of room nights that are available at our hotels and at DVC properties located at our theme parks and resorts that are not utilized by DVC members.

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1744489/000174448924000276/dis-20240928.htm

Any DVC bookings are not included in the counting for available room nights.

 

[peter11435]

Occupancy numbers mean nothing when you shutter large portions of your resort hotels.

You keep saying this but it’s not nearly as extensive as you seem to think.

 

[monothingie]

You keep saying this but it’s not nearly as extensive as you seem to think.

@PREMiERdrum seems to have better information on this than you.