Hey Ap'ers, how does it feel to know you are a contingency plan?

L

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
disneylandtour said:
So Christine McCarthy who, as far as I know, never visits the parks to enjoy them--only occasionally to evaluate them--sees people who actually likes the parks as a type of contingency plan. OK, I'm good with that. Nearly all of the people in the C wing at Disney if they left Disney would never think again about the parks. And they would certain not invest their free time, like we do, in exploring the parks on a board like this. They are mostly bean counters, button pushers, contract readers, and pitch men and women, and there is no way I would ever want to trade places with them. I'm much happier here.
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She should look in the mirror before commenting on smaller portion sizes for obese guests.
 
Casper Gutman

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Sir_Cliff said:
I understand what you're saying, but I do think it is a little unreasonable to expect that they can't say on an investor call that they have contingency plans for a recession such as reintroducing Annual Passes because it might be upsetting to some people. The attempt at humour about reducing portion sizes helping guests to control their waistlines was probably a bit much, but I don't think this kind of thing is unreasonable for this setting.
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An investors call is spin. It’s spin for a particular audience. The audience for a Disney investors call will be much different then the audience for most investors calls. For this and other reasons, a CFO for Disney might have to have the skill and knowledge to spin it a little differently. Part of Disney’s problem is that management doesn’t seem able to grasp that it is a very unique brand. If I’m an investor, I’d like to know that the executives at the company in which I’m investing actually understand the business and are able to tailor their approach to its brand.

And I’m sorry, the idea that most “investors” have the same level of specialized expertise as surgeons is silly.
 
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Disstevefan1

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
THIS JUST IN!
CPbene.jpg
 
Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
Casper Gutman said:
An investors call is spin. It’s spin for a particular audience. The audience for a Disney investors call will be much different then the audience for most investors calls. For this and other reasons, a CFO for Disney might have to have the skill and knowledge to spin it a little differently. Part of Disney’s problem is that management doesn’t seem able to grasp that it is a very unique brand. If I’m an investor, I’d like to know that the executives at the company in which I’m investing actually understand the business and are able to tailor their approach to its brand.

And I’m sorry, the idea that most “investors” have the same level of specialized expertise as surgeons is silly.
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I guess I am not quite understanding what was so insulting about Disney talking about having contingency plans for a recession on an investor's call. The language used doesn't seem overly technical, but it also doesn't seem offensive to me. What would have been a better way to respond to the question? Is the issue that she should have been generic in referring to introducing different types of passes rather than specifying Annual Passes so Annual Passholders past and present wouldn't be offended?
 
CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Casper Gutman said:
And I’m sorry, the idea that most “investors” have the same level of specialized expertise as surgeons is silly.
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The analysts who track Disney are hyper-specialized on a handful of companies. They're not just like surgeons, they're like surgeons who only have five or six patients that they operate on daily. "Investor" doesn't meant random retail investor who buys 20 shares on E-Trade. It means Goldman Sachs and MoffettNathanson and Credit Suisse.
 
L

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica said:
The analysts who track Disney are hyper-specialized on a handful of companies. They're not just like surgeons, they're like surgeons who only have five or six patients that they operate on daily. "Investor" doesn't meant random retail investor who buys 20 shares on E-Trade. It means Goldman Sachs and MoffettNathanson and Credit Suisse.
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Yes, those analysts some friends and family are very well compensated especially in their performance bonuses. The Wall Street daily grind for some is 9am-12midnight 6 days a week, live in studio apt close to office, family lives in the countryside , and Sunday is at times a travel day to the visiting state to meet with company CEO. Common is meeting all day with company exec, flying the red eye back to NYC, and straight back to the office after landing at JFK. It is not for the weary.
 
Casper Gutman

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica said:
The analysts who track Disney are hyper-specialized on a handful of companies. They're not just like surgeons, they're like surgeons who only have five or six patients that they operate on daily. "Investor" doesn't meant random retail investor who buys 20 shares on E-Trade. It means Goldman Sachs and MoffettNathanson and Credit Suisse.
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So the 20-share schlub is blocked from the call? Man, how’d we ever hear about it?
 
larryz

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
el_super said:
I'm actually a little surprised they haven't moved to transition to the APs/MKs to something more in line with an airline loyalty program, as I thought they would have last year.
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Are you kidding? Loyalty program members demand perks. Perks cost money.

Disney is jamming the parks without a loyalty program. Why would they fix what isn't broken?
 
J

JMcMahonEsq

Well-Known Member
Casper Gutman said:
So the 20-share schlub is blocked from the call? Man, how’d we ever hear about it?
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No one, including Captain said they are blocked from the call. They just don’t matter in the sense that you are not going to to change/dumb down/soften your presentation for them.

Also if someone on a financial calm can’t grasp the concept that you have different financial models for different market conditions, and doesn’t both understand and are assured by the fact that as a shareholder your Cdeck has a plan in place for changing conditions…then schlub doesn’t even begin to cover it.
 
Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
JMcMahonEsq said:
No one, including Captain said they are blocked from the call. They just don’t matter in the sense that you are not going to to change/dumb down/soften your presentation for them.

Also if someone on a financial calm can’t grasp the concept that you have different financial models for different market conditions, and doesn’t both understand and are assured by the fact that as a shareholder your Cdeck has a plan in place for changing conditions…then schlub doesn’t even begin to cover it.
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Yes, I am really struggling to see the issue. The phrasing doesn't seem that technical, so I don't know why that would throw people. The Annual Pass was always a loyalty program, so I'm not sure why people would be offended that Disney would talk about it as something they could use to bolster attendance in slow periods. It's as if people thought Disney was selling them annual passes because it really cared about them and wanted to see them as often as possible only to suddenly discover it was about money all along.
 
T

TQQQ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sir_Cliff said:
Yes, I am really struggling to see the issue. The phrasing doesn't seem that technical, so I don't know why that would throw people. The Annual Pass was always a loyalty program, so I'm not sure why people would be offended that Disney would talk about it as something they could use to bolster attendance in slow periods. It's as if people thought Disney was selling them annual passes because it really cared about them and wanted to see them as often as possible only to suddenly discover it was about money all along.
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It's the fact that they are eliminating the local/most loyal fans for the last 50 years because they do not make enough money off of them
 
Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
TQQQ said:
It's the fact that they are eliminating the local/most loyal fans for the last 50 years because they do not make enough money off of them
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Isn't that kind of Disney's problem, though? If them doing away with APs hurts business, that's a bad business decision rather than a personal affront. I guess I'm just not seeing why people take the phrasing of this comment so personally.

By the way, I come to this not as a staunch defender of current management but as someone who doesn't find the cost and hassle of a WDW vacation worth it and has no plans to return any time soon.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Sir_Cliff said:
Are people really offended that Disney is stating one thing they can do to respond to a hypothetical decrease in demand is introducing a type of discounted entry?
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I think we are collectively shaking our heads at the lack of couth and abrasive ness by the “management”

Thanks, Iger.

These people make Eisner look he was freaking sigmund Freud in breaking down the human psyche
 
mysto

mysto

Well-Known Member
Sir_Cliff said:
Isn't that kind of Disney's problem, though? If them doing away with APs hurts business, that's a bad business decision rather than a personal affront. I guess I'm just not seeing why people take the phrasing of this comment so personally.

By the way, I come to this not as a staunch defender of current management but as someone who doesn't find the cost and hassle of a WDW vacation worth it and has no plans to return any time soon.
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I agree, discounts during a recession is completely expected and normal.

I hate to try and speak for others, but I think the issue is the continuous "war on locals" that appears to be being waged. This report is just a little salt in the wound.
 

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