Is disney parks and resorts for sale?

[PirateFrank]

I wonder about that.
The largest individual shareholder is Steve Jobs. As a member of the board he would have to approve the deal, so he wouldn't have an issue with it.

The bulk of the remaining shares are held by investment firms and giant funds. Most people who own shares either don't even know it, or really don't care about the parks so long as their shares increase in value.

Only the serious fans who also own shares might have an issue with it.

Not that it's happening, of course....

Of this, I disagree...

Here's the thing....unless my powers of observation suck...and are even worse when I'm in the world....Disney's P&R majority customer is apple-pie america. Being from New York, I love going to WDW, if not for one reason, that I feel like a male super model. At home, I constantly look in the mirror and go "crap, I need to lose 30 or 40 pounds"....down in disney, I feel skinny.

To me, it seems like the majority customer of WDW is middle, apple pie, fly-over-state, gun-carrying america. Sure, there are the hordes of NYers and Ma$$holes that descend on WDW in late august...but so long as I'm not in the world during those times, it seems to me that the heartland is WDW's biggest customer (and if not, second only to Brazilian vacation tours).....

Im not sure Middle America is ready to accept a saudi-owned WDW ... Hell, I'm from NY, and *I* wouldn't accept it....regardless, I really think the previous poster that envisioned the headlines of "Saudi America buys Main Street" isn't even remotely close to how much this would create a shock wave of brand rejection....

The worst thing that Disney could do to both the measurable goodwill on TWDC's balance sheet and the resulting hit to the P&L directly related to Parks and Resorts....would be to sell a majority stake to not only an international interest, but one based in a culture so counter to american values that we as a country are involved in an undeclared war with.

Such a sale would be disastrous for this company. I for one, can not believe that Bob Iger (whom I thought was doing an 'ok' job, especially following the ing on Walt's grave that Eisner had done after Frank Wells died) or Steve Jobs would *ever* do such a thing to this company.

And to that point, I sincerely hope that because it's just so outlandish, it either never actually materializes or is pure bull#@$% to begin with.....

....because to consider the reality of such a thing, is frankly, horrifying....

 

[CaptainJackNO]

I obviously disagree, but at least you acknowledge that I'm Canadian...

And disagreement and discussion is what makes this forum a great place. I always enjoy your posts, Montymon. I consider it an honor to disagree with you, for once. :wave:

 

[CaptainJackNO]

Of this, I disagree...

Here's the thing....unless my powers of observation suck...and are even worse when I'm in the world....Disney's P&R majority customer is apple-pie america. Being from New York, I love going to WDW, if not for one reason, that I feel like a male super model. At home, I constantly look in the mirror and go "crap, I need to lose 30 or 40 pounds"....down in disney, I feel skinny.

To me, it seems like the majority customer of WDW is middle, apple pie, fly-over-state, gun-carrying america. Sure, there are the hordes of NYers and Ma$$holes that descend on WDW in late august...but so long as I'm not in the world during those times, it seems to me that the heartland is WDW's biggest customer (and if not, second only to Brazilian vacation tours).....

Im not sure Middle America is ready to accept a saudi-owned WDW ... Hell, I'm from NY, and *I* wouldn't accept it....regardless, I really think the previous poster that envisioned the headlines of "Saudi America buys Main Street" isn't even remotely close to how much this would create a shock wave of brand rejection....

The worst thing that Disney could do to both the measurable goodwill on TWDC's balance sheet and the resulting hit to the P&L directly related to Parks and Resorts....would be to sell a majority stake to not only an international interest, but one based in a culture so counter to american values that we as a country are involved in an undeclared war with.

Such a sale would be disastrous for this company. I for one, can not believe that Bob Iger (whom I thought was doing an 'ok' job, especially following the ing on Walt's grave that Eisner had done after Frank Wells died) or Steve Jobs would *ever* do such a thing to this company.

And to that point, I sincerely hope that because it's just so outlandish, it either never actually materializes or is pure bull#@$% to begin with.....

....because to consider the reality of such a thing, is frankly, horrifying....

I totally agree with you, my pirate friend. No way this nation, especially given world affairs in the last 15 years, goes for such a move.

Disney hits home like family. We're not talking about Wal-Mart, Sears, or AT&T. DIsney is what we grew up with. Most Americans have an emotional attachment to the DIsney Company. People would have a cow and it would be a MAJOR news story and black eye for the Disney Company should this play out in a possible sale, even for a portion of the company.

If you guys wanted Eisner out, this should make you hang from the rafters. And, not because this is a Saudi. Because DIsney parks should be owned and operated within the U.S. by the Walt Disney Co. Walt would spin in his grave if there were ANY truth to this rumor.

Dare I say this would be Anti_American.......:lookaroun

 

[SMRT-1]

I just had a few spare minutes to read that thread over at Laughing Place. That is hilarious. Talk about jumping to wild crazy conclusions. The basis of the whole things appears to be a crazy conspiracy back-theory, some twitter postings, that have no way to be validated. A sighting by a Boardwalk concierge, and then a whole lot of wild assumptions. Having read the source of it, I'm even more certain it is total fiction. At least the original poster got a lot of attention that he so desperately craves.

i can't even read it...his posting style makes me want to throw up. :hurl:

 

[Fractal514]

I totally agree with you, my pirate friend. No way this nation, especially given world affairs in the last 15 years, goes for such a move.

Disney hits home like family. We're not talking about Wal-Mart, Sears, or AT&T. DIsney is what we grew up with. Most Americans have an emotional attachment to the DIsney Company. People would have a cow and it would be a MAJOR news story and black eye for the Disney Company should this play out in a possible sale, even for a portion of the company.

If you guys wanted Eisner out, this should make you hang from the rafters. And, not because this is a Saudi. Because DIsney parks should be owned and operated within the U.S. by the Walt Disney Co. Walt would spin in his grave if there were ANY truth to this rumor.

Dare I say this would be Anti_American.......:lookaroun

I wasn't aware that the average American had a vote in the shareholders meetings.

 

[The Duck]

Imagine that, a corporate pow-wow in WDW. They apparently know where to find the best fireworks. There are probably a littany of topics being discussed. My guess is that they are just meeting to discuss/set the general direction of the company for the coming years. As the board, I would expect to see this every so often. In fact I'd be more concerned if this didn't happen on a regular basis.

Logic on a discussion board. Thanks for the breath of fresh air. Anyhoo... I'm not getting MY panties in a bunch over this. This is far too much speculation and conspiracy theory for me. Wake me when it's over.

 

[maxairmike]

I wasn't aware that the average American had a vote in the shareholders meetings.

They don't. But, would you want to deal with 150+ million (potential) customers that are severely ticked off, and every non-Disney owned press outlet pilling on and driving the frenzy as much as possible? I think 50% of the population might even be a bit conservative considering the age range of the various people who grew up with Disney being a major part of their childhood/parenthood and basically thought of as a part of their "American heritage."

Of course, this isn't to say that I really believe this is happening, but I think those underplaying the public relations disaster angle are missing it completely. If it were ever to happen, it would be huge, and the backlash would be unprecedented.

 

[wizards8507]

Imagine that, a corporate pow-wow in WDW. They apparently know where to find the best fireworks. There are probably a littany of topics being discussed. My guess is that they are just meeting to discuss/set the general direction of the company for the coming years. As the board, I would expect to see this every so often. In fact I'd be more concerned if this didn't happen on a regular basis.

It's not the meeting that's significant so much as the location. Corporate headquarters are in Burbank and most of the Board are located out in LA. Also, the board meetings are usually pretty public (not the content thereof, but at least that one is happening).

 

[The Duck]

i can't even read it...his posting style makes me want to throw up. :hurl:

I can relate. :hurl::hurl::hurl:

 

[wilkeliza]

I would have to imagine that if Disney was looking to sell the parks or WDW resort in particular they wouldn't be shelling out so much money for massive expansions. I would put money on it that the board and major players in the company were at the WDW resort and parks for just a walk through. Some people are using the argument that HQ is in CA but for any good corporation to work the major heads should know exactly what is going on at every point of the company. I'm sure at least one of these walk-throughs happens every year and just goes unnoticed. I know if I was a major player in a company like Disney I would do at least one major walk through of each park each year.

 

[PirateFrank]

I wasn't aware that the average American had a vote in the shareholders meetings.

This is actually the point I was making in my post that you seem to miss....


If Disney's P&L takes a serious hit, the shareholder's are going to notice. I firmly believe that if Disney's P&R is majority owned by a foreign interest from a saudi entity, that the P&L will take a hit.

So drawing a correlation from D&R's customers to TWDC's shareholder's is a very relevant statement, given the above.

Just food for thought.....

I do not think that P&R customer dissatisfaction (given the fact that a large percentage of P&R customers are also customers of whatever TWDC distributes) is mutually exclusive from TWDC dissatisfaction....

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Dare I say this would be Anti_American.......:lookaroun

As distinctly un-American as stopping in the middle of the row?

 

[CaptainJackNO]

As distinctly un-American as stopping in the middle of the row?

LOL.....Especially stopping in the middle of the row....:ROFLOL:

 

[CaptainJackNO]

I wasn't aware that the average American had a vote in the shareholders meetings.

If public pressure is great enough, don't you think the shareholders will notice?
Remember the pressure on Eisner? Think that had anything to do with outside pressure?

 

[misterID]

Personally, I don't think anything will change. No one is buying anything, at least of any great significance. But I seriously doubt that "if" it did happen, people would stop going because a middle eastern Prince bought P&R in protest, or whatever reason. But the number of people who would stop going would be very, very small. There would be an outcry at first, but people would get over it. We have short attention spans, anyway.

But if OLC took over P&R, I'd be there the first day with a big welcome sign.

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

This has nothing (directly) to do with shareholders of the Walt Disney Company. The Board of Directors is management, not ownership (even though yes, many of them happen to be shareholders). The Prince's interest in Disney is a 10% share in Euro Disney, S.C.A., not the Walt Disney Company. I don't know that he holds any shares of DIS directly.

Sorry for the mixup. When I wrote that it was late at night and for some reason I wrote down shareholders instead of board of directors.
:hammer:

 

[toolsnspools]

It's not the meeting that's significant so much as the location. Corporate headquarters are in Burbank and most of the Board are located out in LA. Also, the board meetings are usually pretty public (not the content thereof, but at least that one is happening).

Headquarters being in Burbank is exacly why they would do this sort of thing in WDW. It's an "offsite" meeting for them. I would guarantee a tour of the FLE has been on the agenda. Heck, I bet they have visited WWOHP as well. After the attendance numbers from last year, they have to be paying attention to what's going on at Uni. Hopefully they are mulling over large scale improvements at the other WDW parks. All the recent examples show that park improvements = better attendance numbers.

 

[bjlc57]

Well let me say this then..

in the past , I have written about "tipping points".. points where, raising prices no longer get you more profit , but certainly less customers..


MAYBE,, just maybe, Disney HAS REACHED THIS POINT..

and may be now the Bean counters don't know how to fix it..

with the price increase this year, they walked away from the "Magic your way formula".

and other posters here claim to be reading the Disney balance sheet, saying that while other areas of the Disney empire have come back, the parks have not..

and yet, there was a price increase and this year it came early.


its a matter of economic equation. any business is only so elastic. including Disney world. have they crossed the line? I personally don't know..

but this IS NOT A SIGN OF GOOD THINGS.. maybe, holding the price line would have been much more appropriate instead of the continuing mechanical Raising of the Price point..

but this is not a good sign no matter what happens.. its not.. and anyone who believes it is, is lying only to them selves..

 

[Duckberg]

As Disney is a publicly traded company with shareholders to answer to, the likelihood of the theme parks being sold without that news leaking out is absolutely 0%. Shareholder rules would stipulate that any such deals if they were taking place that affects such a significant portion of the company's operating income would without question require a formal announcement at the very minimum that they are exploring strategic alternatives aka spin off or outright sale. Shareholders especially large ones do not appreciate or tolerate clandestine back room deals without their knowledge, so the likelihood of this being anything other than a meet and greet to bring in another country or propose another park is nil

GOOD points!

 

[NoChesterHester]

in the past , I have written about "tipping points".. points where, raising prices no longer get you more profit , but certainly less customers..


MAYBE,, just maybe, Disney HAS REACHED THIS POINT..

and may be now the Bean counters don't know how to fix it..

with the price increase this year, they walked away from the "Magic your way formula".

and other posters here claim to be reading the Disney balance sheet, saying that while other areas of the Disney empire have come back, the parks have not..

and yet, there was a price increase and this year it came early.


its a matter of economic equation. any business is only so elastic. including Disney world. have they crossed the line? I personally don't know..

but this IS NOT A SIGN OF GOOD THINGS.. maybe, holding the price line would have been much more appropriate instead of the continuing mechanical Raising of the Price point..

but this is not a good sign no matter what happens.. its not.. and anyone who believes it is, is lying only to them selves..

You make an interesting point, but we don't need to jump to the conclusion that "this isn't a good sign."

Since when is a 20% profit margin unacceptable? If attendance (minus recession) grows 3-4% per year and you continue to get 20+% profit your revenue grows by 3-4% per year. Not bad at all.

What is worrisome is when you start losing market share to your competitors. UO has never really been a real challenge, but now three of the four parks at WDW lost market share and UO gained significantly. THAT my friend makes a difference and very well may be the tipping point you are referring to.

The parks are a business, but will never have the potential for profit that the TV and movie business has. You just can't make $800 million in profit on new attendance in a three month period (Pirates 4). It does provide an extra connection to the brand however that most companies wish they had.