Kevin Yee- Parks close one day a week?

[culturenthrills]

it's really easy to say that the economy isn't in recession.. especially if you don't pay your own bills. when Daddy is paying the bills, the economy is never in recession.

but if you buy your own gas, and see that gas that was selling below $2 a gallon and now sells for above $4 per gallon and say there is no recession, well isn't that much of a stretch?

or that the price of flour has quadrupled this year. but gees what's a measly bag of flour have to do with anything. all it makes is bread, and cake and noodles, pasta, and what not. hardly something important. just the food of life..


or that the price of corn is at an all time high.. and that people are now stealing corn from Silos using 18 wheelers because the price is so high..

But come on what's corn good for? hardly anyything.. with the exception that if its not made out of flour its made out of corn.

but that has no effect on the economy. Zero.


CNBC today said that the dow was at either a quarter low, or from January to now, LOW.


but of course, that means next to nothing.

and it doesn't as long as Daddy is paying the bills.

but when your house payment is between $700- $1200 per month.. that extra $200 per month for gas is nothing.

or that extra $100 for food.

but add that $300 PER MONTH extra.. plus your house payment, and the increase in Heat and electric because those too are gas and oil dependent. not counting your other bills.

yep.. no recession here.

everyone who really believes that STAND ON YOUR HEAD.

That may be one of the best descriptions of what is happening I have read. Some people have to realize that what may be happening on Wall Street is not the same as how it effects the average American.

 

[JimboJones123]

They had corn at 6 for a $1 at Kroger this week. Just sayin'.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Recesion is a clearly defined financial term, which as far as I am aware neither the US or UK meets at present. However several pundits have warned that their is the risk of a media driven turn down in consumer confidence which if un checked could lead to a recession.

The question is what has the Murdoch owned media to gain by being one of the greatest drivers of this on both sides of the Atlantic. Of course regime change is a bit too far fetched................................

 

[DisneyCane]

it's really easy to say that the economy isn't in recession.. especially if you don't pay your own bills. when Daddy is paying the bills, the economy is never in recession.

but if you buy your own gas, and see that gas that was selling below $2 a gallon and now sells for above $4 per gallon and say there is no recession, well isn't that much of a stretch?

or that the price of flour has quadrupled this year. but gees what's a measly bag of flour have to do with anything. all it makes is bread, and cake and noodles, pasta, and what not. hardly something important. just the food of life..


or that the price of corn is at an all time high.. and that people are now stealing corn from Silos using 18 wheelers because the price is so high..

But come on what's corn good for? hardly anyything.. with the exception that if its not made out of flour its made out of corn.

but that has no effect on the economy. Zero.


CNBC today said that the dow was at either a quarter low, or from January to now, LOW.


but of course, that means next to nothing.

and it doesn't as long as Daddy is paying the bills.

but when your house payment is between $700- $1200 per month.. that extra $200 per month for gas is nothing.

or that extra $100 for food.

but add that $300 PER MONTH extra.. plus your house payment, and the increase in Heat and electric because those too are gas and oil dependent. not counting your other bills.

yep.. no recession here.

everyone who really believes that STAND ON YOUR HEAD.

Again, Nobody is saying everything out there is roses BUT you can not re-define a recession to fit your doom and gloom needs. The $100 food increase is only a "forced increase" if you are already eating only cheap foods like rice and pasta. If you eat more expensive things or eat out somewhat frequently the $100 can be offset by eating more cheaper food and not eating out as much. And speaking of food prices a lot of the increases are due to the retarded decision to start using corn to make ethanol for fuel.

If the extra $200 in gas is killing you than make some changes to drive less. Carpool to work or take a bus. Get all of your weekly errands done in one trip. Don't drive the kids to school, let them walk or take the bus. Lord knows how much gas is wasted these days with the soccer moms all going to pick up their delicate children at school.

Daddy hasn't paid my bills in a very long time. If that comment was directed at me, I've been paying my own bills for many many years now (well over a decade). In fact, my parents in their early 60's work pretty low paying retail jobs but still manage to live in a nice house, eat and have some entertainment money to go on vacation once or twice a year. They do this by managing their money and saving where they can.

YOU CAN'T REDEFINE WHAT A RECESSION IS JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT THERE TO BE ONE. Buck up. Get a second job if you have to. America was built on hard work and dedication not whining because everything is so tough and waiting for the government to raise taxes on the "rich" to give some money to you.*

*I put "rich" in quotes because somehow making $200,000 a year means you are "rich" even though it doesn't cover much more than regular living expenses in many areas of the country (parts of the northeast, west coast and Florida)

 

[jt04]

Recesion is a clearly defined financial term, which as far as I am aware neither the US or UK meets at present. However several pundits have warned that their is the risk of a media driven turn down in consumer confidence which if un checked could lead to a recession.

The question is what has the Murdoch owned media to gain by being one of the greatest drivers of this on both sides of the Atlantic. Of course regime change is a bit too far fetched................................

It IS all media driven for the most part, which in turn prompts the media's "sheep" to act accordingly, including some on this site. That is the only way there will be a recession is if the too many sheeple fall for the propaganda. I have experienced a recession and we are nowhere close to what a recession is. I'd love to see the malcontents reaction if there really was a recession. It would almost be worth it just to hear them whine!

Murdoch wants an "in" if Obama wins so he is going along with the "doom and gloom" that is all part of getting Obama in the White House. Of course if he was to win all the news stories would then be how utterly great everything is. Including from the tools and lackies on this site. (They know who they are).

Long live Britannia!

Be a "Mover and a Shaker" not a "Loser and a Taker"!

 

[disneydiva72]

They would lay off employees before they would close a park. Its a business, as much as many of us love it and its a "fantasy world" its a business......employment line here come the Disney employees!

 

[The Mom]

Could everyone please read and respond to opposing POVs without resorting to name calling? Please stay on topic, without getting into playing a blame game. If not, this discussion, which is starting to turn into a political argument, will be closed or disappear. Thank you.

 

[joel_maxwell]

This is a common "not looking at the big picture" error. The thing that will keep people from vacationing is not the extra $100 it will cost them in gas to drive there, it is the extra $200, $300, $400+ that they are having to spend every month on gas. Most families are lucky to put away a few hundred dollars a month for things like vacations and when that few hundred extra dollars is now having to be spent on gas cuts are going to have to be made.

not to mention driving to see your friends a few states away and seeing a concert :drevil:

 

[koppite_rob]

Last week I paid £1.399 a litre for diesel.By my calculations thats $10.4171/US Gallon.
Yet when I booked my November break to WDW I struggled to get the days & flights I wanted because they were already booked.
So I guess there are plenty of Brits still making the escape to get away from our current tax,tax,tax island.

My personal view is that until oil reaches $200 a barrel additional operating costs will be absorbed by the business,much like inflationary costs are being absorbed by retailers at the moment.

Just need to stop all these greedy futures traders artificially inflating oil costs for their own personal gain,get the tax reduced and the economy will bounce back.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Should people stop buying things "just in case" they lose their job in the future?

OMG, YES!

This is one of the problems, no one plans for the future anymore. How many people truly have enough savings for 6 months to a year of paying bills in case of an emergency?

 

[Mick G.]

The Mom is right -- Back to the main point:

- Would it make sense for WDW to close DHS and AK one day per week, to cut costs, should the economy worsen?

Personally, this sounds like a reasonable plan to me, should the situation arise. The 2 parks would almost certainly be closed on different days, so guests would still have their choice of 3 theme parks, more than at any other Disney Resort. And it's not unprecedented. Wasn't Disneyland closed on Mondays and Tuesdays early on?

This sort of planning is probably a "what-if" exercise. What if something happens that causes the price of gas to spike, like a big refinery accident, another Katrina-sized hurricane, or a tax on carbon from Congress? There are lots of things that could raise the price of gas even higher, and the WDW crew should be considering ways to cope, just in case. We all should, really.

Mick [from the Home Office]

 

[jsfra209]

I just don't see this as a possibility. Park attendance is going up up up. The economy stinks, but people are still finding money for WDW. :zipit:

 

[RSoxNo1]

I don't doubt for one second that this contingency plan has been thrown around as a result of any economic studies that Disney has done. I also know with absolute certainty that several other cost saving measures have also been thrown around. I don't have inside information, I do have common sense. The parks have seen an increase in attendance over the past few years since 9/11, but not every park has reached pre 9/11 attendance levels. What I expect as the principle cost saving measure for the parks would be a slow down of expansion. I'm not sure what the budget is for the Space Mountain or Star Tours refurbishments, but I'm guessing they will not be in excess of the $80 million number I heard for Toy Story Mania. It seems like 2009 will be used to lay the groundwork for new attractions in the event that their is a demand. Clearing out things like Soundstage 1 can be done now, without an addition being built for several years.

There are a variety of things that Disney will need to look at to determine how any ecnomic downturn has affected them. The sign might not be as clear as a drop in their attendance if Universal and/or Sea World conversley a rise in their attendance. The biggest sign for Disney would be a decrease in attendance in all of the Orlando Theme Park's attendance, not just Disney's.

Kevin Yee clearly stated in his article that what is more likely to happen is a decrease in the attendance at some of the lesser attractions in the area. I would think that the first hit that Disney is going to take is with their water parks and not their 4 main parks. It certainly isn't an optimistic time for family vacations, but I feel that Disney is position better than any other company on the planet.

 

[pheneix]

For what its worth, one only needs to see the park hours Disney has posted for the 2nd half of the year to know that congencies are already being set in motion. From what I'm hearing changes will be happening in the "Adventureland opens at 11am today" variety after Labor Day.

 

[DisneyJoe]

The parks have seen an increase in attendance over the past few years since 9/11, but not every park has reached pre 9/11 attendance levels.

I believe all US Disney parks have reached and exceeded pre 9/11 numbers, based on a few reports I just found using Google, and I'm comparing 2007 numbers vs 1998 numbers.

 

[The Mom]

Again, could we please stay on topic, ie, what WDW may or may not do in response to the economy, rather than argue about the economy, which keeps leading the discussion into the political arena, and has resulted in name calling.

Thank you.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

What will they do when global warming floods all of Florida? Does oor Kev say anything about that.

 

[bugsbunny]

Here' a good dose of reality in this toilet economy, it was announced that Delta and United were removing like a total of 60 planes from service because of cost cutting. And I recall reading that approx. 9% of flights to Orlando are now cut.

From Philly, it will cost me almost 1100 to fly USAir or about 800 via Air Tran for my family in December. Not even 2 years ago I was paying 129 a seatfor the same time of year.

I booked Air Tran just yesterday and already I got the last unused row left on the plane. There were only a few single seats left after that.

This economy stinks and WDW might not have a choice if the 50% who fly to get there either can't afford the plane or there simple isn't one.

 

[KeithVH]

I'm thinking this whole thread deserves a typical FARK headline.

EVERYBODY PANIC!

 

[Legacy]

Here' a good dose of reality in this toilet economy, it was announced that Delta and United were removing like a total of 60 planes from service because of cost cutting. And I recall reading that approx. 9% of flights to Orlando are now cut.

From Philly, it will cost me almost 1100 to fly USAir or about 800 via Air Tran for my family in December. Not even 2 years ago I was paying 129 a seatfor the same time of year.

I booked Air Tran just yesterday and already I got the last unused row left on the plane. There were only a few single seats left after that.

This economy stinks and WDW might not have a choice if the 50% who fly to get there either can't afford the plane or there simple isn't one.

If the plane is packed than people are traveling.