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

[MickeyMind]

I thought that was going to be the case too. We went to Poly, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, Riviera, Boardwalk (via Beach Club). When we went to Riviera I even asked the guard about it and his response was so enthusiastic "No we want you to come here, you can even pool hop!" I was blown away, I really think they just want guests. And no we didn't pool hop.

I tried the Riviera today, guy at the gate said I can only come in if I was staying at a Disney hotel.. see that right there is what I don't understand, I'm a local, why can't I just pop in to go eat something? Take my temperature before walking in, heck search me if you need to, but if you have the parking space available, why not let me in and spend money there?

 

[Chef Mickey]

Not to be disagreeable to the pile on here, but...prior to the virus, Parks were the best part of Disney’s business, posting growth nearly every quarter since the recession of 2008-2009. The data is there and irrefutable.

Call me a Pollyanna, but you’re all going to be mistaken if you think this persists much after a vaccine comes, which will happen, possibly by end of 2020.

People will QUICKLY forget and pent up demand to get the *** out of their houses will rule 2021 and beyond. Disney Parks will be packed again, mark it up. Disney will also get every cent back over time. This is temporary, even if it lasts 18 months.

Disney will have an awful quarter, but it’s only been about 4 months of hell with signs of recovery already. Parks are open, sports are coming back, and things will pick up again.

 

[monothingie]

Not to be disagreeable to the pile on here, but...prior to the virus, Parks were the best part of Disney’s business, posting growth nearly every quarter since the recession of 2008-2009. The data is there and irrefutable.

Call me a Pollyanna, but you’re all going to be mistaken if you think this persists much after a vaccine comes, which will happen, possibly by end of 2020.

People will QUICKLY forget and pent up demand to get the *** out of their houses will rule 2021 and beyond. Disney Parks will be packed again, mark it up. Disney will also get every cent back over time. This is temporary, even if it lasts 18 months.

Disney will have an awful quarter, but it’s only been about 4 months of hell with signs of recovery already. Parks are open, sports are coming back, and things will pick up again.

It comes even sooner than that. Once interstate travel restrictions are rolled back and you can once again come and go with out self quarantining. That was the unexpected fly in the ointment to many reopening plans.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Do theme park cm furloughs work like other furloughs where they bring you back in seniority order?

or is disney doing a flat out layoff---no coming back

The furlough can last till next March for layoffs start up ( according to the Union agreement )
Non Union roles can start up now.

 

[Archie123]

Not to be disagreeable to the pile on here, but...prior to the virus, Parks were the best part of Disney’s business, posting growth nearly every quarter since the recession of 2008-2009. The data is there and irrefutable.

Call me a Pollyanna, but you’re all going to be mistaken if you think this persists much after a vaccine comes, which will happen, possibly by end of 2020.

People will QUICKLY forget and pent up demand to get the *** out of their houses will rule 2021 and beyond. Disney Parks will be packed again, mark it up. Disney will also get every cent back over time. This is temporary, even if it lasts 18 months.

Disney will have an awful quarter, but it’s only been about 4 months of hell with signs of recovery already. Parks are open, sports are coming back, and things will pick up again.

Ok Pollyanna. Rose colored glasses look good on all of us but parks are empty and may have to reassess the strategy of keeping open as they currently are, sports are barely happening and those that are are having huge issues...looking at you Miami Marlins and things will pick up again but not until 2021 at the earliest.

 

[rk03221]

Does anyone know of any FT union cm getting laid off? I used to work there and know many cms but haven’t heard anything on social media about how they are doing

 

[Chef Mickey]

Ok Pollyanna. Rose colored glasses look good on all of us but parks are empty and may have to reassess the strategy of keeping open as they currently are, sports are barely happening and those that are are having huge issues...looking at you Miami Marlins and things will pick up again but not until 2021 at the earliest.

I was just at the parks for 10 days. I saw it...plenty of people were there. Again, we are in the early stages. Disney telegraphed that they will be opening with VERY small capacity, like in Shanghai to refine process, gather data, and train staff. You don’t have a pulse on demand because Disney has artificially suppressed it in this early stage and it isn’t known.

Sports are having issues? You literally posted the ONE major issue that hasn’t even stopped other baseball teams from playing and the NBA just reported zero cases in the Disney bubble. Sports are happening bro, there are games on right now. NFL is happening.

Doom and gloom all you want. It’s all going to come back, as usual. Can’t stop American business. Mark it up. It’s happening.

 

[UNCgolf]

Even Universal lags way behind Disney in the food department.

Universal has atrocious food compared to Disney. There are some solid restaurants in CityWalk, but the stuff inside the parks is almost inedible. Had a couple of the worst meals I've ever had anywhere in the Universal parks back in 2017.

 

[UNCgolf]

It comes even sooner than that. Once interstate travel restrictions are rolled back and you can once again come and go with out self quarantining. That was the unexpected fly in the ointment to many reopening plans.

I don't think that's actually stopping people. Those restrictions aren't easily enforced (in most states) and most people (especially among the people willing to travel right now) will just ignore them.

 

[Archie123]

I was just at the parks for 10 days. I saw it...plenty of people were there. Again, we are in the early stages. Disney telegraphed that they will be opening with VERY small capacity, like in Shanghai to refine process, gather data, and train staff. You don’t have a pulse on demand because Disney has artificially suppressed it in this early stage and it isn’t known.

Sports are having issues? You literally posted the ONE major issue that hasn’t even stopped other baseball teams from playing and the NBA just reported zero cases in the Disney bubble. Sports are happening bro, there are games on right now. NFL is happening.

Doom and gloom all you want. It’s all going to come back, as usual. Can’t stop American business. Mark it up. It’s happening.

Based on other reports and updates from actual insiders the parks are empty. And just wait for the NFL season lol. Let’s see the cluster that awaits them. And sorry but you say doom and gloom and I say realism based on facts of what’s really going on across the country. But hey USA!!

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

If WDW is Chili’s, what is Sea World?

Taco Bell

 

[monothingie]

I don't think that's actually a big deal in stopping people. Those restrictions aren't easily enforced (in most states) and most people will just ignore them.

I’ll just disagree and leave it at that.

 

[UNCgolf]

I’ll just disagree and leave it at that.

I'm pretty sure most of the states within easy driving distance of WDW don't even have any self quarantine requirements, which is really what I meant. I live in Georgia and there aren't any checkpoints or anything like that when crossing state lines. I know it's different in some states, but they're generally much further away from WDW.

I have no interest in visiting WDW at the moment, though.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Based on other reports and updates from actual insiders the parks are empty. And just wait for the NFL season lol. Let’s see the cluster that awaits them. And sorry but you say doom and gloom and I say realism based on facts of what’s really going on across the country. But hey USA!!

They are not crowded...so what? I just said it was indicated as part of the plan on the last earnings call and I was there 10 days.

I don’t have to be a USA cheerleader. The results of our businesses speak for themselves. US companies are the most resilient, profitable, and have better ideas than any in the world. Disney will be just fine. That’s what we are talking about here.

Your speculation on what will happen with the NFL doesn’t mean anything. They are planning the season...that is huge.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I haven't been to Sea World since the 90s, is the general park upkeep trash there? I know they don't have elaborate Disney quality attractions, but that isn't necessarily correlated with having poor upkeep and cleanliness. Busch Gardens (Tampa and Williamsburg) was always generally very well maintained for example when I visited.

I was there a couple years ago working in the park for a day, I didn’t have too much free time but I did ride the penguin ride (my first trackless experience... yay?) and visit the manatee area. The park seemed to be in good shape and clean and the animal employees are very friendly and passionate about their jobs.

The big negative in atmosphere is all the games / fun zones that just feel six flags. To be fair, even Dollywood has this in some areas but at sea world it just feels extra gross to me.

Several years ago (like 2005 era?) the sea world shows were really top notch. blue horizons, odysea, Clyde & Seymour, and Beleive were really well done.

 

[UNCgolf]

They are not crowded...so what? I just said it was indicated as part of the plan on the last earnings call and I was there 10 days.

The plan was to have lowered capacity, but they were expecting to max out that capacity. They're not even coming close, which is why attendance is a serious problem.

 

[hopemax]

Not to be disagreeable to the pile on here, but...prior to the virus, Parks were the best part of Disney’s business, posting growth nearly every quarter since the recession of 2008-2009. The data is there and irrefutable.

Call me a Pollyanna, but you’re all going to be mistaken if you think this persists much after a vaccine comes, which will happen, possibly by end of 2020.

People will QUICKLY forget and pent up demand to get the *** out of their houses will rule 2021 and beyond. Disney Parks will be packed again, mark it up. Disney will also get every cent back over time. This is temporary, even if it lasts 18 months.

Disney will have an awful quarter, but it’s only been about 4 months of hell with signs of recovery already. Parks are open, sports are coming back, and things will pick up again.

The growth you see post-Great Recession was pretty light. MK had less growth from 2007 to 2011 then they had from 2011 to 2012. So if that took 4 years to break out of a plateau...With the way unemployment is looking, we're going to be talking about a lost decade, between the years with the virus and the years to recover from the virus.

People may want to get out of their houses and travel all they like. But first people need a home and for the first time in a very long time, we are talking about that not being a given in class levels above poverty level. This kind of shock might do some things we didn't foresee, like forcing the rest of the "baby boomers" out of the job market to provide jobs for younger folks, forcing some people back to one income households because people can't afford childcare. The tax implications we know are coming. Stuff that's going to be a drag on discretionary spending.

There will be some winners after all of this, but if they are anything like we are hoping to be, there are going to be a lot of places competing to earn our travel dollars. WDW better be willing to compete on quality and price. We already have had our trips to Tokyo and Hawaii delayed, but if Europe is cheap, any of those could beat out WDW easily.

 

[Chef Mickey]

The plan was to have lowered capacity, but they were expecting to max out that capacity. They're not even coming close, which is why attendance is a serious problem.

Parks have only been open for 2 weeks, at least all 4 parks.

Everything a problem now, but it’s day by day. My bigger picture is demand WILL return for Disney parks. It’s insane to think it won’t because there is no evidence anything but the virus is hindering it and that’s short term.

 

[Chef Mickey]

The growth you see post-Great Recession was pretty light. MK had less growth from 2007 to 2011 then they had from 2011 to 2012. So if that took 4 years to break out of a plateau...With the way unemployment is looking, we're going to be talking about a lost decade, between the years with the virus and the years to recover from the virus.

People may want to get out of their houses and travel all they like. But first people need a home and for the first time in a very long time, we are talking about that not being a given in class levels above poverty level. This kind of shock might do some things we didn't foresee, like forcing the rest of the "baby boomers" out of the job market to provide jobs for younger folks, forcing some people back to one income households because people can't afford childcare. The tax implications we know are coming. Stuff that's going to be a drag on discretionary spending.

There will be some winners after all of this, but if they are anything like we are hoping to be, there are going to be a lot of places competing to earn our travel dollars. WDW better be willing to compete on quality and price. We already have had our trips to Tokyo and Hawaii delayed, but if Europe is cheap, any of those could beat out WDW easily.

I stopped reading at lost decade. You are waaaayyyy too negative and are doing way too much predicting. Park capacity was already too crammed and profits increased every single year.

Arguing the parks weren’t successful enough is just a silly argument, because it’s disproven with the annual reports. I’m too lazy to put it all together for you, but operating margins, operating income, and revenues from parks did extremely well the last 10 years, setting records every year since the last recession.

You are predicting 10 years and the virus has only been a thing for Disney for FOUR MONTHS.

 

[mkt]

Taco Bell

Don't insult Taco Bell like that.

Sea World is Del Taco.