On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace

[Jrb1979]

Disney projects now routinely surpass $100 million. Disney could buy 10+ big B&Ms for the price of TRON and Guardians of the Galaxy.


And Disney spent twice as much as Herschend did for Time Traveler despite Branson being further inland, having more difficult terrain and having higher labor costs compared to Central Florida

I would take all 10 of those B&M's over TRON and Guardians.

 

[peter11435]

I would take all 10 of those B&M's over TRON and Guardians.

And we know that. Disney isn’t for everyone.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

FWIW, yesterday (Saturday, August 8) appears to have been the busiest post-reopening day so far at the Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios Florida, and Islands of Adventure.

I was at the MK, and the line for Carousel of Progress filled the elevated holding area, then went down the ramp, back to the Buzz Lightyear M&G location, and then over toward the Buzz Lightyear building, with a couple of switchbacks. We waited 3 shows to get in.

I think you meant to type something else and it came out Carousel of Progress. It wasn’t that way before the pandemic. Are they giving out free cupcakes or something as you watch the show?

 

[peter11435]

Yes, Disney Parks are the pinnacle of theme park greatness; none of them have any cheap carnival rides at all in them. Oh wait

The list of mediocre attractions goes on and on. Pull your pretentious head out of your posterior. I promise once you realize many regional parks in the states are better than Disney, life will be better for ya!

Parks need a variety of offerings and mixed content. Are you seriously saying that dumbo is at the same level as this?

Now find something at a regional park that is on the level of these or the attractions within them..

 

[peter11435]

I think you meant to type something else and it came out Carousel of Progress. It wasn’t that way before the pandemic. Are they giving out free cupcakes or something as you watch the show?

Only seating every other row and less than half the seats in those rows will do that.

 

[MonorailCoral]

Yes, Disney Parks are the pinnacle of theme park greatness; none of them have any cheap carnival rides at all in them. Oh wait

The list of mediocre attractions goes on and on. I promise once you realize many regional parks in the states are better than Disney, life will be better for ya!

C'mon man! Those ride operators don't have a half-empty (or half-full?) Michelob hidden behind the control console. (Or maybe they do.) And I've yet to see unkempt beards standing there...The CM women know how to keep it clean.

I kid! I kid!

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Only seating every other row and less than half the seats in those rows will do that.

Forgot about that but still. Wow

 

[peter11435]

Forgot about that but still. Wow

There’s also a higher percentage of park guests experiencing something like COP now because wait times are generally shorter around the park so guests are doing more than before. They are looking for other things to do because they have already done everything they would have typically done.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

There’s also a higher percentage of park guests experiencing something like COP now because wait times are generally shorter around the park so guests are doing more than before. They are looking for other things to do because they have already done everything they would have typically done.

I get it and thanks. I’m just having a hard time thinking of these people, talking here about 10 minute waits on all the big attractions would say let’s go wait 30 for CoP. Whether they ever saw it or not. I need to stop trying to figure what goes through people’s minds.

 

[peter11435]

I get it and thanks. I’m just having a hard time thinking of these people, talking here about 10 minute waits on all the big attractions would say let’s go wait 30 for CoP. Whether they ever saw it or not. I need to stop trying to figure what goes through people’s minds.

Even waiting three loads at COP really shouldn’t have been much more than 15 minutes.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Even waiting three loads at COP really shouldn’t have been much more than 15 minutes.

I was counting the breakdowns.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Agree that we've seen that business philosophy occur. But my hot take would be that they started at a certain baseline. They upped prices and cut experiences so that profit margins are that much higher. If the current pandemic and the lower crowds means that people aren't buying "respite from crowds" that that's just less revenue coming in. But the same basic revenue as before (your more basic tickets, whatever hotel rooms they sell, food/merch) is still in place. I don't see how that makes them "worse" off than before, just returning back to lower revenue per guest numbers - something Wall St won't like, I guess, but not exactly meaning that the parks will shutter.

The baseline has shifted. They’ve finally somewhat realized that the parks do need new offerings to keep people happy and coming but return on investment has become significantly worse during Iger’s years. They need even more people to come in order to justify increasingly more expensive attractions. Smaller visitation can’t justify attractions costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Something like the Epcot Festival Center is a massive vanity project employing a high cost starchitect firm on top of Disney’s high costs all justified by the belief that crowds will remain and pay up charges.

Disney is terrified of Wall Street’s response to the parks because leadership doesn’t really understand the business, so they don’t know how to defend it. It’s why we saw Disney go into an all out panic every time there is a little blip in attendance.

I would take all 10 of those B&M's over TRON and Guardians.

And that is fine but it’s still rather irrelevant.

 

[MonorailCoral]

I get it and thanks. I’m just having a hard time thinking of these people, talking here about 10 minute waits on all the big attractions would say let’s go wait 30 for CoP. Whether they ever saw it or not. I need to stop trying to figure what goes through people’s minds.

Probably the same reason I always made the movie in France a mandatory stop:

Air conditioned, dark...Power nap time.

 

[Brer Panther]

So how long exactly are we going to be stuck with Iger?

 

[marni1971]

Regarding theme park attendance, it's important to remember that, historically, attendance often drops prior to the opening of major attractions. For example:

• Universal's attendance dropped 12% the year before Wizzarding World of Harry Potter opened.

That was an expected figure for Universal in the dark ages. Potter basically saved USO. Had Potter not turned things around one viable option on the table was to close.

 

[drizgirl]

Probably the same reason I always made the movie in France a mandatory stop:

Air conditioned, dark...Power nap time.

Add in fear that anything nostalgic could disappear before their next trip, and I'd wait too.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that I like how Disney has run the park in the Iger years (and late Eisner years). But the doom and gloomers on here keep suggesting that the day of reconing is coming soon and the parks will collapse and... I just don't see any evidence of it. My prospective is that people on these boards want that to happen so the parks can go back to how thing used to be (I want it too!) but I don't see it happening.

This perfectly encapsulates my view. I'm also not personally thrilled with the direction in which the parks have gone in recent decades. Still, I think there's a lot of wishful thinking going on in all these predictions of doom. This whole thread seems to have begun from exactly that perspective of "at last!"

I'm not clear, for example, how they have mismanaged the parks to the point of backing themselves into a corner where they can't adjust prices and offerings for a changed post-pandemic economic reality. The chase for endless growth being described in here certainly doesn't sound like an Iger or Eisner thing, but rather standard business practice for publicly traded companies under neoliberalism. If that changes, they seem in a fine position to course correct and remain profitable rather than collapse in ruins.

 

[lazyboy97o]

This perfectly encapsulates my view. I'm also not personally thrilled with the direction in which the parks have gone in recent decades. Still, I think there's a lot of wishful thinking going on in all this predictions of doom. This whole thread seems to have begun from exactly that perspective of "at last!"

I'm not clear, for example, how they have mismanaged the parks to the point of backing themselves into a corner where they can't adjust prices and offerings for a changed post-pandemic economic reality. The chase for endless growth being described in here certainly doesn't sound like an Iger or Eisner thing, but rather standard business practice for publicly traded companies under neoliberalism. If that changes, they seem in a fine position to course correct and remain profitable rather than collapse in ruins.

The problem is not knowing your business well enough to know what to cut so that you can become leaner and more agile.

 

[lewisc]

The problem is not knowing your business well enough to know what to cut so that you can become leaner and more agile.

I read, during the slump after 9-11, AK was a mistake. The $$$ to feed and take care of the animals greatly reduces savings if the park is closed several days a week.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I read, during the slump after 9-11, AK was a mistake. The $$$ to feed and take care of the animals greatly reduces savings if the park is closed several days a week.

Careful opening of certain gates allow some of the animals to feed themselves. And, as a bonus, less overall mouths to feed.