News Disney CEO Bob Chapek reiterates his belief that park reservations are now an essential part of Disney's theme parks business

[TrainsOfDisney]

As you point out, there are simply too many other employers paying a dollar or more for hourly and more importantly, treating others a lot better.

Exactly. And for people living in central Florida, unless WDW is next door it’s going to be a hassle to get to and from work. Everybody is hiring right now so why not go and work for chik-fil-a vs. cosmic Rays or Michaels instead of the Emporium. Will be way easier to get to and from work and probably a way better work environment cause you don’t have bosses freaked out about all these weird Disney rules and budgets.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

They could still add to their current parks and create a new one. Look at what Universal has done recently. It's doesn't need to be a choice between the 2 things. Disney too, was still adding things to their parks in the 70's-90's while coming up with ideas and even constructing other ones.

They can’t even get rides open in time for parks that already exist, could you imagine what would happen if they took up a new park. Disney has shown in recent years that they simply can’t build as fast as Universal.

 

[JoeCamel]

They can’t even get rides open in time for parks that already exist, could you imagine what would happen if they took up a new park. Disney has shown in recent years that they simply can’t build as fast as Universal.

Not only that but the available labor pool in Orlando is limited. The days of hungry grove workers looking for a better situation are long gone and the cost of living in the area is much higher than service work can pay for so it is hard to staff what they have let alone another gate. This is not just a covid casualty but a systemic issue that makes unskilled (oh, a day of training?) labor short in the area.
Not going to get cheaper to live there and the low wage pool looking to move up is gone

 

[celluloid]

I am really interested to see in the labor pool situation when Epic universe expansion occurs. There will be some heavy competitiveness as the growth rate of the area is not quite the same as what will be needed.

 

[doctornick]

I am really interested to see in the labor pool situation when Epic universe expansion occurs. There will be some heavy competitiveness as the growth rate of the area is not quite the same as what will be needed.

Question: will it adversely affect Sea World? I often wonder about their situation and they seem most at risk of being cannibalized by the new park (and they seem to have suffered the most from Uni's ascension over the past 1-2 decades). how is there employment package compare to Uni or WDW?

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I don't know if building a fifth gate would provide much ROI, especially considering how much it would cost to build and the ongoing operational costs.

The other parks already lag behind MK in attendance -- are we sure a new park would really change anything? It might just lower attendance even further for the other parks without actually creating longer trips or any significant increase in overall business.

Plus, a new park under current management would probably consist of 5 or 6 attractions total.

Yes, I really don't think they would get much out of a 5th park and having to staff a whole new park while they struggle to staff all the facilities they already have would likely be a massive headache.

Regarding Universal's expansion, Disney does have some significant advantages that it could lean on if it wanted to. Uni basically has to open new parks to compete with Disney at this point, but Disney already has a critical mass of theme parks that have good bones and most of which are under-built that they could expand. If over a few years around EU's opening they expanded two of the parks with headline attractions and perhaps a new land that become must-see's in Orlando, then it might become harder to drop one of Disney's parks from the vacation and it might be Uni struggling to convince guests to add an extra day or re-orient their vacation from WDW to Uni.

The curious thing here is that Disney has actually been investing a lot of money over the past few years to build new attractions. Beyond Galaxy's Edge, though, I'm not sure any of these additions really move the needle much beyond moving the parks a little closer to offering what they should have been already offering to soak up demand and occupy guests for a day or so. The amount of money they've been dropping on Epcot is particularly interesting to consider as I'm not sure when it's all finished the park will be that much more appealing to visitors or harder to drop from the itinerary than it was previously. At least my impression is that it will still be a park mainly powered by the constant festivals rather than a compelling attraction line-up. This is where I'm kind of surprised they're thinking of Encanto for Magic Kingdom rather than a pretext for a new Colombia pavilion.

 

[harryk]

Disney CEO Bob Chapek reiterates his belief that park reservations are now an essential part of Disney's theme parks business

In a wide-reaching interview, Disney CEO Bob Chapek talks about streaming, theme parks, the meta verse - and even his new beard.

www.wdwmagic.com

No matter how he justifies it. He is wrong.

 

[JD80]

Park reservations never bothered me. I'm about to go on my third trip in the last 18 months and they were never an issue. However, I can see it suck for AP holders, locals and people who like to be spontaneous.

However looking at availability, everything is green for the next week. So you could mostly do whatever you want.

But I definitely do not like how rigid everything is getting. Toss reservations in with how much you have to be a Project Manager to fully utilize Genie+ it's hard to relax when you're on vacation.

Reservation system isn't a big issue - but the cost of hotels, park capacity, crowds etc. are really the issue. As everyone says, they need to expand the capacity at AK/DHS and finally finish Epcot (and add 2-3 more attractions).

Only way a 5th gate would spread crowds around is if it was actually a great park with a lot of new attractions. Both DHS/AK don't have enough to do to drag people away from MK. Epcot is a construction pit with some incredibly aging rides.

 

[Andrew25]

Universal is saving their attack on Disney for whenever their demand drops significantly.

No need to increase marketing spend when the hotels have been booked solidly throughout the year and the parks are ridiculously busy.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There is no reason why WDW will not remain MOBBED as ever.
The folks with money will still have money and will still show up.
There is no inflation or recession for folks with money and there are plenty of them.

For the 10 billionth time…it’s not a luxury enclave. Disney fans like to believe that for their ego.

People will still go…but my hunch is that attendance will take a much larger hit that it ever has if a recession were to settle in.

 

[Ayla]

Park reservations never bothered me. I'm about to go on my third trip in the last 18 months and they were never an issue. However, I can see it suck for AP holders, locals and people who like to be spontaneous.

However looking at availability, everything is green for the next week. So you could mostly do whatever you want.

But I definitely do not like how rigid everything is getting. Toss reservations in with how much you have to be a Project Manager to fully utilize Genie+ it's hard to relax when you're on vacation.

Reservation system isn't a big issue - but the cost of hotels, park capacity, crowds etc. are really the issue. As everyone says, they need to expand the capacity at AK/DHS and finally finish Epcot (and add 2-3 more attractions).

Only way a 5th gate would spread crowds around is if it was actually a great park with a lot of new attractions. Both DHS/AK don't have enough to do to drag people away from MK. Epcot is a construction pit with some incredibly aging rides.

Remember, there are different "buckets" that reservations are from, so availability differs depending on what type of ticket you have (AP or not) and where you're staying.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If that’s the right answer Disney should have never bought any additional property after the first small parcel of land that was the OG Disneyland.

It’s never gonna sink in.

You’re debating the history of wdw - specifically - with someone who has no idea what it is or the business model.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Remember, there are different "buckets" that reservations are from, so availability differs depending on what type of ticket you have (AP or not) and where you're staying.

I still think reservations are a big move towards killing APs without admitting it

 

[Andrew25]

Question: will it adversely affect Sea World? I often wonder about their situation and they seem most at risk of being cannibalized by the new park (and they seem to have suffered the most from Uni's ascension over the past 1-2 decades). how is there employment package compare to Uni or WDW?

SeaWorld is struggling with staffing at the moment and Universal is too, but not as much. It'll be interesting to see how hiring ramps up with 2 new hotels being built, whole new park, and everything that comes with expanding the resort (call center, logistics, etc.)

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney CEO Bob Chapek reiterates his belief that park reservations are now an essential part of Disney's theme parks business

In a wide-reaching interview, Disney CEO Bob Chapek talks about streaming, theme parks, the meta verse - and even his new beard.

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

View attachment 675891

Notice the fine print…

“*families from Seattle why are you here? You should be in Anaheim California with the unfavorable attendance mix!”

 

[Disstevefan1]

Notice the fine print…

“*families from Seattle why are you here?

Great question. We gotta ask Bob.

 

[GimpYancIent]

For the 10 billionth time…it’s not a luxury enclave. Disney fans like to believe that for their ego.

People will still go…but my hunch is that attendance will take a much larger hit that it ever has if a recession were to settle in.

Yes, definitely not a luxury or high end thing.

 

[flynnibus]

then it might become harder to drop one of Disney's parks from the vacation and it might be Uni struggling to convince guests to add an extra day or re-orient their vacation from WDW to Uni

UNI is not positioning themselves to simply be an 'add-on' to a Disney vacation... they are trying to be your primary reason to visit. This is clear in their pricing structure and model. UNI is VERY expensive to visit for just two days.. more so than Disney, especially when compared to 'part' of a Disney vacation.

No, Uni is targeting to make you decide to make your vacation be a UNI vacation, not 'spend a day at Universal...'. EU is them putting the pedal to the medal and go from 2nd to trying to be 1st in terms of draw. They didn't have the scale before to really fill out more than 3 days.. this will push them up to that 5 day level where someone can spend a significant number of nights at a Uni hotel and still have 'more to do...' next time that helps bring back repeats.

The curious thing here is that Disney has actually been investing a lot of money over the past few years to build new attractions. Beyond Galaxy's Edge, though, I'm not sure any of these additions really move the needle much beyond moving the parks a little closer to offering what they should have been already offering to soak up demand occupy guests for a day or so.

And this really points to the problem that Disney faces with their 'treading water' level of managing their size. Besides GE, Pandora, and New Fantasyland, the attractions don't really move the needle on the large scale in terms of expanding what their draw is. Operationally they are losing utilization with under performing attractions, they spend crazy money adding new attractions that aren't really high capacity, and in terms of expanding the idea of what people are coming for... they basically are just staying in place.

Lands like Pandora and GE are game changers in expanding the scope and draw of a park... but spending $400+million on a single roller coaster that guests can only ride once a day doesn't shift the game board in anyway.

Disney is spending market leading dollars but not getting market shifting results. They have been adding, but they have not really been growing as much as they've been spending.

 

[fgmnt]

Not only that but the available labor pool in Orlando is limited. The days of hungry grove workers looking for a better situation are long gone and the cost of living in the area is much higher than service work can pay for so it is hard to staff what they have let alone another gate. This is not just a covid casualty but a systemic issue that makes unskilled (oh, a day of training?) labor short in the area.
Not going to get cheaper to live there and the low wage pool looking to move up is gone

I've brought this up in some thread here, but this is not a problem Disney can solve themselves unless they commit to low cost housing and subsidized transportation/core service access for CMs. This is a core problem with the American economy, immigration legislation and patterns, and the built environment and tax schemes of the state.

Every Disney adult moving down to Central Florida to do their goofy email job from home and go to the parks in their free time both adds demand to everything that person wants and needs (unfettered access to the parks and a Publix to shop at) while further squeezing the labor pool that person takes for granted to support their life.