Express Transportation starting Dec 7th

[flynnibus]

Oh, I forgot that Disney was a Non-Profit Charity that shouldn't pay bonuses or Big Salaries

You should look up the Robber Barons as that mentality suits you. And there is more than one way to be successful without a scorched earth policy.

It's not that people think the business should be a charity or pious.. it's that the company had a mantra and design that made it successful. This is not that ethos or vision.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Oh, I forgot that Disney was a Non-Profit Charity that shouldn't pay bonuses or Big Salaries

Wow... Missed the point by.... T H I S ....much!

 

[ParentsOf4]

They also were much better making the experience a one size fits all. Not a for a little more cash we can make your experience better then the "scum" that surrounds you. We can make it so you can literally run through the parks experiencing everything, at least cursory, while everyone else waits in hot lines for the privilege of getting a chance to experience things themselves. They still offer a lot of things, but, have made a cast system out of what used to be a fun day at a Family Theme Park. So just a minor change in your statement. The Disney of old was much better at treating people like everyone was equally important. That is the thing that I am having a problem forgiving Disney for, but, reality is probably that if they didn't have some of the up-charge stuff the entire burden would be at the ticket booth and huge numbers couldn't afford to go at all. The executives are certainly not going to give up their millions in bonus's so that the "unwashed" can have a good experience.

Oh, I forgot that Disney was a Non-Profit Charity that shouldn't pay bonuses or Big Salaries

You should look up the Robber Barons as that mentality suits you. And there is more than one way to be successful without a scorched earth policy.

It's not that people think the business should be a charity or pious.. it's that the company had a mantra and design that made it successful. This is not that ethos or vision.

Robber Baron mentality is exactly the right reference.

Disney has always been a for-profit business. It was for-profit when Disneyland opened in 1955, the Magic Kingdom in 1971, EPCOT in 1982, and Disney-MGM Studios in 1989. Yet it always put its customers first. When Disney called us "Guests", Disney meant it.

In 1980, one-day admission to the Magic Kingdom plus 12 Adventure book cost $19 with tax, or about $56 adjusted for inflation. Those of us old enough to remember thought $19 was a lot of money back then. Yet today a one-day Magic Kingdom ticket with tax for "value season" costs $112, double the inflation-adjusted price!

Nowadays we have $5 Mickey Ice Cream bars, $650 per day cabanas, $15 per day preferred bus service, $350 per hour VIP treatment, and numerous quality cuts. (The Disney of old never would have permitted non-functioning animatronics - it's bad "Show".)

For Walt Disney World's first 20 years of operation, Disney's Parks & Resorts achieved an average operating margin of 21.5%. (Despite 3 recessions, Stagflation, and an oil crisis along the way.) That means for every $1 you spent, Disney made 21.5 cents before tax.

Last year's domestic Parks & Resorts operating margin was 24.8%.

The price hikes, "special" offerings, delayed maintenance, and substandard service have managed to squeeze an extra 3.3 cents out of you.

Was it really worth it?

 

[flynnibus]

Disney has always been a for-profit business. It was for-profit when Disneyland opened in 1955, the Magic Kingdom in 1971, EPCOT in 1982, and Disney-MGM Studios in 1989. Yet it always put its customers first. When Disney called us "Guests", Disney meant it.

I think this says it enough. Disney was a for-profit business when they took the insane plunge to build Disneyland.. and again when they spent more than a billion dollars to build EPCOT (while also building another theme park for OLC). The 'disney is a business' answer does not justify the change in approach to customers... because it's always been a business.

I don't like comparing prices from before Eisner... because they knew the product was under priced and made those changes. But the Disney of the 80s even after adjustments was nothing like the trend of the last 10 years. And prices you can justify... but its the delivery of what you get, and the model that has shifted.

Sure I can squeeze a trip out of WDW for maybe 3500 bucks.. while my trips on DCL cost more like 7000.. but I feel like I get more than 2x the value out of the DCL vacation and I don't grit my teeth at every turn like WDW is devolving to.

 

[jt04]

Tried this the other day, and got a few questions answered. The majority of hardcore backstage is avoided in these rides. At AK, they even go way out of their way to avoid driving past Avatar. As of now, everything is at 30 min intervals, but guests are requesting shorter intervals to Guest Services. Many guests miss buses by a matter of minutes leading to an average set of guest feedback. Nothing is expected to be adjusted as of now, since this is just a trial run. Usage is minimal, and as of now, ops costs is barely below sales. The two most used stops are Studios and AK with MK coming in at a close third. Many guests have also inquired about the Springs. No plans to add that are happening due to the lack of security.

Interesting if this is already close to breaking even. I thought that would take much longer.

 

[orky8]

Robber Baron mentality is exactly the right reference.

Disney has always been a for-profit business. It was for-profit when Disneyland opened in 1955, the Magic Kingdom in 1971, EPCOT in 1982, and Disney-MGM Studios in 1989. Yet it always put its customers first. When Disney called us "Guests", Disney meant it.

In 1980, one-day admission to the Magic Kingdom plus 12 Adventure book cost $19 with tax, or about $56 adjusted for inflation. Those of us old enough to remember thought $19 was a lot of money back then. Yet today a one-day Magic Kingdom ticket with tax for "value season" costs $112, double the inflation-adjusted price!

Nowadays we have $5 Mickey Ice Cream bars, $650 per day cabanas, $15 per day preferred bus service, $350 per hour VIP treatment, and numerous quality cuts. (The Disney of old never would have permitted non-functioning animatronics - it's bad "Show".)

For Walt Disney World's first 20 years of operation, Disney's Parks & Resorts achieved an average operating margin of 21.5%. (Despite 3 recessions, Stagflation, and an oil crisis along the way.) That means for every $1 you spent, Disney made 21.5 cents before tax.

Last year's domestic Parks & Resorts operating margin was 24.8%.

The price hikes, "special" offerings, delayed maintenance, and substandard service have managed to squeeze an extra 3.3 cents out of you.

Was it really worth it?

I admire most of what you write, and am not nearly as good at reading 10Ks/10Qs as you are. But I believe you are really saying 3.3 cents per dollar on what looks to be $16.1B of revenue for Parks and Resorts. That is no small chunk of change. And if the C-suite doesn't really care about guest experience anyway, it's certainly not hard to see how the justify their decisions. One day, though, I think the piper will need to be paid, as for decades Disney invested in its parks/resorts, and for the last 10-15 years, management has instead focused on how best to squeeze that investment to produce more dollars. Eventually, the well runs dry as the product deteriorates too much for the general public to pay the ever increasing prices needed to support management's ever increasing margin on essentially depreciating of stagnating assets. Bob believes that won't be his problem, though.

But, feel free to correct me if I got something wrong.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I admire most of what you write, and am not nearly as good at reading 10Ks/10Qs as you are. But I believe you are really saying 3.3 cents per dollar on what looks to be $16.1B of revenue for Parks and Resorts. That is no small chunk of change. And if the C-suite doesn't really care about guest experience anyway, it's certainly not hard to see how the justify their decisions. One day, though, I think the piper will need to be paid, as for decades Disney invested in its parks/resorts, and for the last 10-15 years, management has instead focused on how best to squeeze that investment to produce more dollars. Eventually, the well runs dry as the product deteriorates too much for the general public to pay the ever increasing prices needed to support management's ever increasing margin on essentially depreciating of stagnating assets. Bob believes that won't be his problem, though.

But, feel free to correct me if I got something wrong.

Please note that I wrote:

For Walt Disney World's first 20 years of operation, Disney's Parks & Resorts achieved an average operating margin of 21.5%. (Despite 3 recessions, Stagflation, and an oil crisis along the way.)​

Disney faced some challenging times over those 20 years, yet they still managed to average 21.5%. Over those same 20 years, Disney had many years where the operating margin exceeded the previously mentioned 24.8% for the current year.

We currently are experiencing the best economic year since the Great Recession yet operating margin is only a few percent higher than what it averaged over 20 years during some challenging times. Looking at Iger's entire tenure (11 years), domestic Parks & Resorts operating margin has averaged 19.0%, below Walt Disney World's first 20 years.

In focusing on controlling costs and creating new upsell opportunities, Disney is performing worse than when it focused on customer satisfaction.

My professional experience is that as company executives becomes obsessed with profits, they loose focus on what made the business successful in the first place. Over the long run, this focus on the bottom line actually makes it more difficult to grow the bottom line.

Any bozo executive can increase prices and create upsells. Creative (and ultimately successful) executives know how to make money by making customers happy. It's what Walt Disney did when he opened Disneyland in 1955. It was a formula corporate Disney followed at its theme parks until the 1990s.

I know which types of executives I believe deserve big bonuses, and which types can be replaced with a thousand others just like them.

 

[Creathir]

Robber Baron mentality is exactly the right reference.

Disney has always been a for-profit business. It was for-profit when Disneyland opened in 1955, the Magic Kingdom in 1971, EPCOT in 1982, and Disney-MGM Studios in 1989. Yet it always put its customers first. When Disney called us "Guests", Disney meant it.

In 1980, one-day admission to the Magic Kingdom plus 12 Adventure book cost $19 with tax, or about $56 adjusted for inflation. Those of us old enough to remember thought $19 was a lot of money back then. Yet today a one-day Magic Kingdom ticket with tax for "value season" costs $112, double the inflation-adjusted price!

Nowadays we have $5 Mickey Ice Cream bars, $650 per day cabanas, $15 per day preferred bus service, $350 per hour VIP treatment, and numerous quality cuts. (The Disney of old never would have permitted non-functioning animatronics - it's bad "Show".)

For Walt Disney World's first 20 years of operation, Disney's Parks & Resorts achieved an average operating margin of 21.5%. (Despite 3 recessions, Stagflation, and an oil crisis along the way.) That means for every $1 you spent, Disney made 21.5 cents before tax.

Last year's domestic Parks & Resorts operating margin was 24.8%.

The price hikes, "special" offerings, delayed maintenance, and substandard service have managed to squeeze an extra 3.3 cents out of you.

Was it really worth it?

Supply. Meet demand.

Is Disney having an attendance issue? Are there few people coming?

Imagine how crowded the parks would be if it was the price of a Six Flags ticket?

 

[ParentsOf4]

Supply. Meet demand.

Is Disney having an attendance issue? Are there few people coming?

Imagine how crowded the parks would be if it was the price of a Six Flags ticket?

Or Disney could do what it did in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s when demand increased: build new theme parks.

Increasing attendance is not new. Attendance increased in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Neither is higher ticket pricing. Disney also increased ticket prices in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

What has slowed is construction at their U.S. resorts. Per theme park investment has plummeted:

But they have spent over $55 billion on stock repurchases since Bob Iger became CEO.

 

[njDizFan]

In focusing on controlling costs and creating new upsell opportunities, Disney is performing worse than when it focused on customer satisfaction.

This is the entire problem wrapped up in one neat concise sentence. thanks again @ParentsOf4.

 

[underemployedCricket]

Decided to investigate this while on vacation this past week. Invested in the length of stay. Cast could not give comments on times- other than every 30 minutes (unless the where working the actual area.....other wise times where spewed out so fast it sounded like greek. I intended to use from MK to Epcot to shoot fireworks and then return to Mk for EMH and to close that park. Upon arrival at MK bus was there, but was told by cast member last bus BACK to Mk from Epcot was at 9:10 I arrived there @ 8:40 asked cast member on the Epcot side when last bus was and was told 10 minutes after park closing- so that would be 9:40 hmmm....fireworks at 9:30 lasting more than 10 minutes made this an epic fail for me. I went to guest relations and at request recvd a full refund. I watch the fireworks, exited the park to the monorail returned to the Magic Kingdom and was through security and back to my locker by 10:15. It took me 20 minutes going the traditional way. I did voice my concern that the last park to close should be factored in not the closing time of the park you are leaving.....and consideration needs to be taken in for fireworks end time not park closing time....but that just my penny and a half. I was told too many times to count that this was in Beta.....Was also told the area of drop off at Epcot is the area they "take down" for EMS"...so there is a chance that this stop in the mix if that need arises. It didnt work for me and what my intentions where but could see how others might find it beneficial......when they really get thier act together with it. I was also told- you know they priced this LOW because it new. hmmmm.....if it stays expect a price hike quickly!!

 

[ford91exploder]

Or Disney could do what it did in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s when demand increased: build new theme parks.

Increasing attendance is not new. Attendance increased in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Neither is higher ticket pricing. Disney also increased ticket prices in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

What has slowed is construction at their U.S. resorts. Per theme park investment has plummeted:

View attachment 180053


But they have spent over $55 billion on stock repurchases since Bob Iger became CEO.

Which is why Wall St loves Iger, I feel bad for the next management team who is either going to need to sell P&R or spend that cash which used to go to stock buybacks to fix the issues with P&R which the deferred maintenance has caused

Why do I put a sale of P&R as an option because of the blaze of shareholder lawsuits which will occur when Disney needs to rebuild its parks and that's gonna cost a lot more than the paltry few hundred million the parks are getting now

 

[mikeh]

Tried this yesterday and LOVED it. I'd gladly pay for an AP option to this.

I fear I'll love it less and less should demand rise and Disney doesn't react with appropriate supply. If I have to wait 30 minutes for a second bus because the one in front of me is full, it's lost its appeal. That said, I'll wait an extra 10-15 minutes if a bus fills up in front of me.

 

[SorcererMC]

Any bozo executive can increase prices and create upsells.

"Any man can err, but a fool persists in his error." - Cicero

 

[WDWtraveler]

Photo update as of Sunday, Dec. 18. Express transportation location at Tomorrowland near the exit to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

 

[ford91exploder]

Tried this yesterday and LOVED it. I'd gladly pay for an AP option to this.

I fear I'll love it less and less should demand rise and Disney doesn't react with appropriate supply. If I have to wait 30 minutes for a second bus because the one in front of me is full, it's lost its appeal. That said, I'll wait an extra 10-15 minutes if a bus fills up in front of me.

It has one a $15 per day upcharge

 

[ford91exploder]

Or Disney could do what it did in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s when demand increased: build new theme parks.

Increasing attendance is not new. Attendance increased in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Neither is higher ticket pricing. Disney also increased ticket prices in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

What has slowed is construction at their U.S. resorts. Per theme park investment has plummeted:

View attachment 180053


But they have spent over $55 billion on stock repurchases since Bob Iger became CEO.

Just imagine what Disney could have done if they did an Apple and just kept that cash that they spent on share repurchases. They would have the funding to transition to a direct to consumer model for content for one

 

[Texas84]

My father is interested in this because he has to use a scooter and hates holding up the bus. Is this a good option for him?

 

[mikeh]

My father is interested in this because he has to use a scooter and hates holding up the bus. Is this a good option for him?

Absolutely. Normal Disney buses are used, so it is very accessible. Buses often arrive 10-15 minutes before their departure time and are forced to wait until their mark so if you're there early, you'll be settled in with plenty of time to spare before they even have to depart. That, combined with the lower crowds and cheap price make this a great option for anyone, including your dad/family

 

[EvilQueen-T]

The way things are going, I seriously wonder how soon we'll see a monetization of the FastPass+ system.

I'm only surprised they haven't already. Universal charges around $85 per person per day for both parks for their unlimited express pass aka fast pass. As an annual passholder who is fortunate enough to take occasional single day trips that just might kill it for me. It would be bad enough to pay that amount for a single vacation trip but not the way we do disney. It would just make the cost ridiculous.