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

[brb1006]

[Pokes head into thread, sees participants]

Uh, did someone leave the time machine on again? It really runs up the electric bill folks.

[Ducks out of thread]

2020 just keeps on giving.

 

[Lirael]

2020 just keeps on giving.

If it could stop giving us the modern equivalent of the 12 plagues though, that would be grand

 

[BlackCauldron]

It’s not quarantine- flights are grounded, effectively banning us leaving and we are banned from entering the US.

Consensus over here is that nothing will change hugely this year.

Correct. Sorry, I should have been clearer. Most foreign visitors can't come at all. Domestically, a growing number of states will make you quarantine upon return from FL. And then, of course, FL requiring tri-state visitors to quarantine on arrival. It's a mess.

 

[Nottamus]

There is also internal Travel restrictions, quarantines, etc.

My wife's employer started a policy that if she travels to one of the hot spot states, upon return, she has to stay home for an additional 14 days, with no pay.

Its harder for people outside of the state of Florida to get there and back safely, and efficiently.

We cancelled a November trip we had booked this year due to ...well, the pandemic, the state of Florida, but mostly, it was a 2 week planned trip, and we didnt want to spend 2 weeks at Disney with a smaller percentage of attractions and places to eat open and operating.

 

[brb1006]

See? I said months ago I was planning to fire @TheRealBobIger, and nobody believed me. Start packing Bob!

Hi there, I'm Bob!

Even I think this is a terrible idea!

I'm picturing pheneix and PhotoDave learning about the sudden "Bob Iger" and "Chapek" Accounts and reacting like this.

"Back in my day, this site had actual information and took our stuff seriously. What is with these sudden accounts?"

 

[PhotoDave219]

It’s not quarantine- flights are grounded, effectively banning us leaving and we are banned from entering the US.

Consensus over here is that nothing will change hugely this year.

Correct. Us, as Disney fans have known how bad this could be when on JANUARY 25 Shanghai Disneyland closed.

That should have been the sign to circle the wagons and get our public health Stuff together.

Instead..... *looks around* ..... we’re discussing the ultimate what-ifs because they’re no longer out of the realm of possibility. Because we didn’t get our (stuff?) together when we had a chance.

The most guidance we have is how the company reached after 9/11. Now imagine that as a speed bump compared to what we have now.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Please do not turn this into another Covid thread. Thank you.

So.... what you’re saying is i really didn’t miss anything in the past 3 years?

 

[Mouse Trap]

Please list the productions occurring.

In Atlanta? Universal is active with two films and 20th Century has staff on the ground as well. If cameras are rolling I'm not sure, but there's certainly a sizable amount of production crew (for COVID staffing standards). Netflix is setting up for Stranger Things, but definitely still early.

That's all I know of for the big names, but tracking production schedules isn't my job and surely missed a few. There's some indies here and there too.

Elsewhere in the world there's much more excitement going on. Shang-Chi is back on in Australia.

 

[crispy]

I wonder what Miss Dolly would say to this post...

Dolly ain't nobody's fool! Dollywood does require masks. We live in TN and are season passholders. We were there a few weeks ago, and everyone was wearing mask without issue. The parks were not filled like they normally would be in the summer, but there was still a decent crowd.

We just booked a short trip, and there are hardly any cabins available anywhere. Although there are plenty of hotels and motels in the Great Smoky Mountain area, a lot of tourists stay in cabins where it is fairly easy to isolate. We have a cabin booked near a lake where we can fish and hike. While we are there we plan to visit Dollywood one day, go tubing, and go to the Great Smoky Mountain National park. Other than Dollywood, it is really easy to social distance when visiting that area.

As for TWDC, this may be what is needed to right the ship although I am not hopeful. Bob Iger's picture should be in the dictionary under the word "hubris." Screw that jerk and his minions. Yes, this pandemic was unprecedented, but the economy always cycles, and they should have been better prepared. Good times don't last forever. They have repeatedly price gouged their guests just because they could. They leveraged the company to buy IP that wasn't on brand. They built theme parks they had no business building just to feed one man's ego. I hate that good employees will get screwed, but a lot of this falls directly on the head of company leadership. I don't feel sorry for them.

 

[mkt]

Detroit and Orlando are not comparable.

If Orlando becomes Detroit, it will be because all of America will have become that as well.

The reason for their collapse is irrelevant- Both are major US cities devoted to a single industry. The difference is that Detroit was a reasonably high wage city, and Orlando is a low wage city.

As far as America becoming Detroit, unless things change, that’s a possibility.

 

[Lilofan]

And that impacts more than people imagine. I mean, a american tourist going to Orlando might go and buy park stuff but he's not going to go nuts anywhere else. A brazilian tourist will, however, walk through those Outlets, Walmart and Best Buy like they're the second coming of Jesus Christ*. Meaning parts of Orlando that aren't the parks itself will suffer more from a lack of international tourists.

*or at least they did when the dollar wasn't worth 6 times the BR currency, so even if the USA reopened, say, tomorrow, shopping from Brazilians would still take a dive regardless.

There are luggage stores in a number of malls in tourist Orlando that cater to Brazilians. They buy so much stuff while on vacation they need to buy more luggage for the trip home.

 

[brb1006]

So good to see some of the "greats" back on this forum!! I'm looking forward to reading any and all details y'all are willing to share. It's been a long time since we had an actual interesting thread around these parts that actually gives us juicy content to discuss.

I agree, I was slowly starting to get tired of threads by WDWPro (no hard feelings), there aren't like the old informative threads Spirit used to post ages ago.

 

[mkt]

That's false. He is almost a billionaire and in his early 70s. He's going to ride off into the sunset and maybe do consulting appearances if he feels like it.

Hardly.
The more centrist Dems love him, members of the party in California have asked him many times to do so, and he’s privately spoken about the possibility.

It might not happen, but given the world we live in, much stranger things have happened.

 

[WDW Pro]

If it could stop giving us the modern equivalent of the 12 plagues though, that would be grand

At least we all get to roleplay ninjas from the neck up.

Correct. Sorry, I should have been clearer. Most foreign visitors can't come at all. Domestically, a growing number of states will make you quarantine upon return from FL. And then, of course, FL requiring tri-state visitors to quarantine on arrival. It's a mess.

It's a giant, political mess. New York currently has 3,872 COVID deaths per million residents. New Jersey has 1,782. Florida? A minuscule 276.

Testing in the United States is dwarfing all other nations, meaning positive results dwarf all other nations. Simultaneously we're seeing a shocking phenomenon where sun belt states have rising cases regardless of their prior strategies (looking at you, California). But we're much better now st treating the disease, hospital capacity has been fine, and every sane state in the nation has elected not to use the Cuomo Murphy "kill all the elderly" approach.

There is also internal Travel restrictions, quarantines, etc.

My wife's employer started a policy that if she travels to one of the hot spot states, upon return, she has to stay home for an additional 14 days, with no pay.

Its harder for people outside of the state of Florida to get there and back safely, and efficiently.

We cancelled a November trip we had booked this year due to ...well, the pandemic, the state of Florida, but mostly, it was a 2 week planned trip, and we didnt want to spend 2 weeks at Disney with a smaller percentage of attractions and placed to eat open and operating.

It's no surprise to me that we're seeing an exodus of people who can get out of certain states doing so. Mortgage rates mean anyone not locked into a location are exiting in record numbers. Florida isn't seeing that occur. Population centers are going to look very different in 12 months.

 

[Lilofan]

Hardly.
The more centrist Dems love him, members of the party in California have asked him many times to do so, and he’s privately spoken about the possibility.

It might not happen, but given the world we live in, much stranger things have happened.

Money is that it will not happen. He's expressed that openly.

 

[Lilofan]

The reason for their collapse is irrelevant- Both are major US cities devoted to a single industry. The difference is that Detroit was a reasonably high wage city, and Orlando is a low wage city.

As far as America becoming Detroit, unless things change, that’s a possibility.

America becoming a Detroit? It's not April Fools day yet.

 

[deWild]

A question:

If Disney's financials are cratering such that there will be massive layoffs or sell-off of part of the company, then how can they afford to make all the 'woke' changes that is claimed to be coming since that will require huge outlays of money?

Debt.

 

[Lilofan]

Debt.

Billions of borrowed debt

 

[WDW Pro]

In Atlanta? Universal is active with two films and 20th Century has staff on the ground as well. If cameras are rolling I'm not sure, but there's certainly a sizable amount of production crew (for COVID staffing standards). Netflix is setting up for Stranger Things, but definitely still early.

That's all I know of for the big names, but tracking production schedules isn't my job and surely missed a few. There's some indies here and there too.

Elsewhere in the world there's much more excitement going on. Shang-Chi is back on in Australia.

So two movies maybe and a Netflix series might sometime in the future.

Yep, that's dead.

Dolly ain't nobody's fool! Dollywood does require masks. We live in TN and are season passholders. We were there a few weeks ago, and everyone was wearing mask without issue. The parks were not filled like they normally would be in the summer, but there was still a decent crowd.

We just booked a short trip, and there are hardly any cabins available anywhere. Although there are plenty of hotels and motels in the Great Smoky Mountain area, a lot of tourists stay in cabins where it is fairly easy to isolate. We have a cabin booked near a lake where we can fish and hike. While we are there we plan to visit Dollywood one day, go tubing, and go to the Great Smoky Mountain National park. Other than Dollywood, it is really easy to social distance.

From what I've heard, places like Tennessee, Montana, West Virginia, etc, are seeing skyrocketing tourism dollars. Remember, many people are still taking vacations, they're just adjusting. Make sure to ride the Wild Eagle once got me (or Thunderhead which is likely the best wooden roller coaster in the nation).

 

[Lilofan]

So two movies maybe and a Netflix series might sometime in the future.

Yep, that's dead.



From what I've heard, places like Tennessee, Montana, West Virginia, etc, are seeing skyrocketing tourism dollars. Remember, many people are still taking vacations, they're just adjusting. Make sure to ride the Wild Eagle once got me (or Thunderhead which is likely the best wooden roller coaster in the nation).

With West Virginia experiencing a boom, WV better start upgrading the local Motel 6, Fairfield Inn and Econolodge etc for future guests.