Merchandise Shortage

[Lilofan]

You understand my point…which is the same in about 90% of the posts these days…

they’re not the gap…they’re selling the total package. “Divide and account” is not wise. Just for them.

wdw is primarily a cash cow because of the extreme profitability of the merch…all BS aside. Happy people buy stuff they never needed at huge profitability in quantity.

…oops…did I give away “the secret”?

Reminds me back in the day when hundreds of fellow guests used to sleep outside the DHS Main Entrance during Star Wars Weekends. Some wanted to be the first in line to go to the huge temporary tent structure behind Tower of Terror / RNR Coaster in the mornings with some buying thousands of dollars worth of limited edition SW merchandise only to resell at higher prices. I got a kick out of one year , SW actress Carrie Fisher showed up at her autograph signings under the influence

 

[lazyboy97o]

Businesses are not charities. Every individual shop or restaurant at WDW should be profitable. If it isn't, then yes, it should be closed/consolidated and no, that's not heartless, spineless, careless, etc. That's life. That's business. If you ignore taking on water, you're going to sink.

Was Walt Disney World not a business for its first several decade? Was Disneyland Paris not a business when it opened with an antique car dealership on Main Street, USA? Theme parks aren’t a mall made up of tenants, they are a single business for which a single admission is sold because it is viewed as a single experience. Retail venues also have the ability to be more than just retail, they can provide experience capacity that gives people a place to go and see something small for a brief period of time.

 

[Hakunamatata]

You understand my point…which is the same in about 90% of the posts these days…

they’re not the gap…they’re selling the total package. “Divide and account” is not wise. Just for them.

wdw is primarily a cash cow because of the extreme profitability of the merch…all BS aside. Happy people buy stuff they never needed at huge profitability in quantity.

…oops…did I give away “the secret”?

Excellent point. After we did the experience, while walking out of the empty park after hours, my kids asked why do they offer this experience after park closing. I walked them through the math. 20 people x $220 x 4 groups an hour x 12 hours = $211200. I then went on to explain that while the CMs are doing end of day closing ops, they can continue to run this purely revenue generating source with little additional overhead cost.

If my math is correct, this one experience brings in close to a million dollars every five days and that does not include the additional peripherals available to purchase.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Excellent point. After we did the experience, while walking out of the empty park after hours, my kids asked why do they offer this experience after park closing. I walked them through the math. 20 people x $220 x 4 groups an hour x 12 hours = $211200. I then went on to explain that while the CMs are doing end of day closing ops, they can continue to run this purely revenue generating source with little additional overhead cost.

If my math is correct, this one experience brings in close to a million dollars every five days and that does not include the additional peripherals available to purchase.

You are correct…it’s almost pure profit because they (likely) have near zero additional operational overhead…that’s the beauty of if that I had to explain 386 times on the Dis (I’m sure it still hasn’t sunk in for some)

how do you stop it? Recognize it simply as block pricing/reselling the day ticket and say “no”…

people need that “experience” or the ball will continue to roll downhill.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Was Walt Disney World not a business for its first several decade? Was Disneyland Paris not a business when it opened with an antique car dealership on Main Street, USA? Theme parks aren’t a mall made up of tenants, they are a single business for which a single admission is sold because it is viewed as a single experience. Retail venues also have the ability to be more than just retail, they can provide experience capacity that gives people a place to go and see something small for a brief period of time.

It’s a 100% just a philosophy shift…and certainly not a good one for the customers or Disney

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Reminds me back in the day when hundreds of fellow guests used to sleep outside the DHS Main Entrance during Star Wars Weekends. Some wanted to be the first in line to go to the huge temporary tent structure behind Tower of Terror / RNR Coaster in the mornings with some buying thousands of dollars worth of limited edition SW merchandise only to resell at higher prices. I got a kick out of one year , SW actress Carrie Fisher showed up at her autograph signings under the influence

Of course she did…she struggled her whole life with that. Always respect that she owned it/shed light on it.

she also landed at LAX with about 9 drugs in her system…it didn’t get much play.

that was NOT a 60 year old look. And a real tragedy for both her and the IP.

ok…now I’m depressed

 

[John park hopper]

You are correct…it’s almost pure profit because they (likely) have near zero additional operational overhead…that’s the beauty of if that I had to explain 386 times on the Dis (I’m sure it still hasn’t sunk in for some)

how do you stop it? Recognize it simply as block pricing/reselling the day ticket and say “no”…

people need that “experience” or the ball will continue to roll downhill.

So many things have been converted to pure profit resort parking fee

 

[Goofnut1980]

I wish they would bring back the days of the unique merch at specific locations. Like Muppets had the store at HS. Places like Disney Days of Christmas and Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe were the only places that really carried Christmas merch. It would honestly be easier to fill a couple locations, than spread the items over the 40 square miles.

When we were around the beginning of December, it was slim pickings everywhere.. Kinda pathetic to be honest.

The size of Disney, there is no reason they haven't partnered with airline cargo planes to move items into the country. Yes, it costs more, but the negative press you receive would be much less than only making a lower sales margin on goods.

 

[Lilofan]

You are correct…it’s almost pure profit because they (likely) have near zero additional operational overhead…that’s the beauty of if that I had to explain 386 times on the Dis (I’m sure it still hasn’t sunk in for some)

how do you stop it? Recognize it simply as block pricing/reselling the day ticket and say “no”…

people need that “experience” or the ball will continue to roll downhill.

There is a company called PureStar. The company has clients ( hotels ) to outsource laundry operations to them. In turn, hotels turn what used to be the laundry operation areas into more hotel guest rooms etc which increases profit to the hotels.

 

[Goofnut1980]

So many things have been converted to pure profit resort parking fee

I know, this is sort of disgusting.

"Hey, we know we dont have trams that only takes 2 people to opperate (because we are short staffed due to not paying our employees enough), so please why don't you pay $50 to park closer to the entrance by 1,000 feet. That will save you time."

It's ridic!

 

[John park hopper]

Guests are too fat so we are charging you more and giving you less food. We care about our guests health Ha Ha Ha---But look over here we are selling 6 dollar Mickey ice-cream and 7 buck pretzels 12 buck buckets of popcorn

 

[Lilofan]

Guests are too fat so we are charging you more and giving you less food. We care about our guests health Ha Ha Ha

The bottom line is in many industries is that customers will pay more to get less and do it again, again and again.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So many things have been converted to pure profit resort parking fee

What’s more concerning to me is that they have begun to push things as “for profit” that were fine in the long-standing model and being ok as revenue neutral.

particularly tickets. These upsells make them look greedy when they used to just look “not cheap”…that is so damaging longterm.

but all these armchair low educated “economists” scream it’s all “market function”…as if the place didn’t turn a profit before 2016…

it’s so stupid…and will end up costing more in the long run. But the Bobs will be gone and/or dead…so bread and circuses for everyone!!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I wish they would bring back the days of the unique merch at specific locations. Like Muppets had the store at HS. Places like Disney Days of Christmas and Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe were the only places that really carried Christmas merch. It would honestly be easier to fill a couple locations, than spread the items over the 40 square miles.

When we were around the beginning of December, it was slim pickings everywhere.. Kinda pathetic to be honest.

The size of Disney, there is no reason they haven't partnered with airline cargo planes to move items into the country. Yes, it costs more, but the negative press you receive would be much less than only making a lower sales margin on goods.

That was killed even pre-Bobs…they didn’t start that fire

pressler and evil mike. Everything bulk ordered for higher margins…that combined with internet shopping makes the park shopping look worthless. They can’t control themselves.

so I don’t fault the Bobs…it’s not like they started building parks in the land of their sweatshops that is culturally incompatible just to kiss the butts of the oppressive controlling regime

 

[Hakunamatata]

I know, this is sort of disgusting.

"Hey, we know we dont have trams that only takes 2 people to opperate (because we are short staffed due to not paying our employees enough), so please why don't you pay $50 to park closer to the entrance by 1,000 feet. That will save you time."

It's ridic!

Trams dont take just two people to operate. You have CMs directing people at the tram stops and trying to keep them from crossing that yellow line. You also have CMs at the Drop off/pick up location park side. You also have maintenance CMs, maintenance costs, and an additional layer of administrative on top of that. So its not as simple as the payroll for two CMs per tram.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The bottom line is in many industries is that customers will pay more to get less and do it again, again and again.

…then the customers need to not follow the tail in front of them over a cliff.

the human brain is the most puzzling, ingeniously designed thing in world history

harness it and use it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Trams dont take just two people to operate. You have CMs directing people at the tram stops and trying to keep them from crossing that yellow line. You also have CMs at the Drop off/pick up location park side. You also have maintenance CMs, maintenance costs, and an additional layer of administrative on top of that. So its not as simple as the payroll for two CMs per tram.

All that costs a couple tickets per hour to operate

 

[UNCgolf]

Businesses are not charities. Every individual shop or restaurant at WDW should be profitable. If it isn't, then yes, it should be closed/consolidated and no, that's not heartless, spineless, careless, etc. That's life. That's business. If you ignore taking on water, you're going to sink.

So you're saying you absolutely hated the way Disney theme parks were run until the past couple of decades?

Having stores that fit the theme was a huge part of the experience and done intentionally, even with the knowledge that they may not turn a profit -- it has an effect on guest satisfaction and other metrics. While I'm not saying this was true for Disney because I have no idea, it's very possible that having a "show" store that's not profitable actually increase profits overall because it drives people to spend more money elsewhere.

When it comes to something like a theme park, it's not that useful to look at the profitability of individual retail locations because there are so many other factors at play that don't exist when you're talking about a regular store elsewhere.

For a long time, Disney intentionally built "show" stores to fit the theme and enhance the overall park experience. They no longer do that.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So you're saying you absolutely hated the way Disney theme parks were run until the past couple of decades?

Having stores that fit the theme was a huge part of the experience and done intentionally, even with the knowledge that they may not turn a profit.

I don’t think that’s what Tony means…

but if you look at it from the overhead view…even suggesting that the last 8 or so years is 1/5th as enjoyable as the previous 40 is laughable in near every way, Tiger

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

I don’t think that’s what Tony means…

but if you look at it from the overhead view…even suggesting that the last 8 or so years is 1/5th as enjoyable as the previous 40 is laughable in near every way, Tiger

But even assuming for the sake of argument your point about the comparison of the last 8 years as compared to the previous 40 is true, does anyone (and by that I mean the majority of customers) really know or care? Are there parents/young adults in the 20-40 year old range making buying decisions based upon a comparison of what services were available at Disney prior to when they were even born? It’s completely outside their knowledge base, their experiences, or their decision tree.

That’s not to say that someone in that demographic might not think Disney offers good value now for the cost, but that decision is based on what Disney is offering now vs what competition is offering, not what Disney was doing decades ago.