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On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace
- Thread starter pheneix
- Start date
Btw I got a little gossip on the French restaurant at Epcot, tho it’s not earth shattering (also rumor warning. Grab your blankets because a *rumor* is being discussed).
Apparently WDW doesn’t care if the operating participant in France bails. From Disney’s POV, they can simply take Chefs back and turn it into a Ratatouille restaurant. I did ask if the 3rd party wanted it on running such a proposed restaurant. The answer, for now, is no. There is not enough demand for any Disney IP or the Chefs brand to run the restaurant. The Epcot hour cuts sealed that.
As far as the restaurant upstairs goes....
That one may be closed up for a while.
Apparently WDW doesn’t care if the operating participant in France bails. From Disney’s POV, they can simply take Chefs back and turn it into a Ratatouille restaurant. I did ask if the 3rd party wanted it on running such a proposed restaurant. The answer, for now, is no. There is not enough demand for any Disney IP or the Chefs brand to run the restaurant. The Epcot hour cuts sealed that.
As far as the restaurant upstairs goes....
That one may be closed up for a while.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
If I was making a guess?
They’ll do a VSP and just let the other reductions happen through normal attrition in bad times.
Those things make layoffs kinda pointless
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I could totally see that.
I think they switched partners with the last renovations and this outfit is bad??
No. But if a bunch of us started saying “yes” page views will jump thru the roof and more YouTube videos would follow.
WDWVolFan
Well-Known Member
Well I think that it’s safe to say we won’t see new attractions other than what’s being built now for quite some time...
Phil12
Well-Known Member
That's somewhat correct. Roy was the CEO in 1929 but he was never given that title until the year of Walt's death in 1966. Walt bought out most of Roy's share of the production company back in 1929. Both Walt and Roy shared the Chairman of the Board title starting in 1945. Roy ran the finances while Walt sneaked around behind his older brother's back to raid the studio coffers after the production company went public.
As a practical matter the employees and the public knew Walt as the head of the studio. And when Walt created WED, he lured the best and the brightest employees from the public production company to come to work for his private company. And WED used the studio facilities and office space at the studio rent free. In essence, Walt was a double CEO!
Roy had no part in WED until he finally engaged the studio attorney's to complete an exhaustive accounting to determine how much property and cash Walt had diverted to WED from Walt Disney Productions and Disneyland. That occurred in the two years just prior to Walt's untimely death.
Imagineer Figment
New Member
Walt was pretty business savvy, as well as a creative genius.
He didn't "lure" anyone to WED; he told whoever it was he wanted that they were going to work at WED and that they would like it. And he was right, as he often was.
He didn't "lure" anyone to WED; he told whoever it was he wanted that they were going to work at WED and that they would like it. And he was right, as he often was.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
This is what I paid for the first ticket I bought!Yep...I remember when the tickets were $52, the passes were $300, the rooms at port were $90 and the restaurants had an a la carte menu where you could get a $12 burger or a $14 pasta dish too!
hopemax
Well-Known Member
I have been wondering, through all of this, the 50th anniversary if we might see the return of the classic 5-day, non-expiring park hopper (at no extra cost). Or at least not expiring for the length of the 50th anniversary. Non-expiring would provide some confidence for people worried about picking specific dates and having to change them if there are still some virus fires, or employment related. If things are really bad, they can do the "buy 3 days get 5" promo that was so popular at Disneyland for so long (not sure if WDW committed to that as much as DL did).
But then I started thinking that I'm not sure how many current guests remember the classic 5-day, non-expiring park hopper.
But then I started thinking that I'm not sure how many current guests remember the classic 5-day, non-expiring park hopper.
Phil12
Well-Known Member
Oh, Roy did catch on. Back in 1953 Walt was sued by a shareholder for diverting funds from the studio to WED. The case was settled in 1955 rather than go to trial. And Roy always suspected that Walt would put his hand in the cookie jar again. But Walt was Roy's little brother and Roy let Walt do most anything.
But what Roy feared was another shareholder lawsuit. And if such a lawsuit went to trial, it would bring the entire company down. To avoid that, Roy got a group of lawyers to perform a full accounting to determine the extent of Walt's diversion of funds. It was during this period (about 1963 into 1964) that Walt and Roy stopped speaking to one another. You might want to read about the peace pipe: https://www.dizavenue.com/2017/02/the-time-walt-disney-passed-peace-pipe.html
The entire WED setup was chock full of conflicts of interest and Walt was involved in self-dealing. WED was the contractor that built Disneyland! Walt personally owned various attractions in the park including the train, monorail and the Tiki Room. He hired his own employees for those attractions. They were not part of the regular Disneyland CM's.
In early 1965 the studio bought WED along with the name. What was left of Walt's private holdings needed a new name: RETLAW. The assets of RETLAW went to Walt's family (such as the monorail, the steam train and the use of Walt's name and likeness) Disneyland bought the monorail in 1982 and other of Walt's privately owned assets.
But make no mistake. Walt didn't want to sell WED or the other property. He was forced to do so by Roy to avoid a very costly and embarrassing shareholder lawsuit. This was Roy's way of heading a lawsuit off at the pass to make sure that Walt's diversion of shareholder funds was settled internally without destruction of the company.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
They really should bring back the Junior level tickets for the US parks. Tokyo still has it.
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
Must admit that I struggle to see what Disney could have done to prepare better for this pandemic. Build less? Hire less people? Sell the parks?
It could be argued that they should have kept them closed longer, but are the preparations they've put in place for opening them really so incompetent? What do you think they should have done?
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Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
...good description. Very well done.
Only to account for 92-97% of the “stock rebound”...minor details staffed out to an unpaid intern at a branch office...I’m sureThe Fed dumping trillions helps, a little.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Just to clear it up...the post I originally quoted seems to be a cute way of saying “times changed” by bringing back when they had less overall crowding at times. So I gave prices from the “early to mid 2000’s”
I’m just saying the prices have gone up 300%.
That’s seems “normal” to me.
tirian
Well-Known Member
Quoted for truth.
tirian
Well-Known Member
Ticket prices have risen beyond inflation, but hotels are now outrageous—not to mention they’d cut monorail hours and bus schedules, and started charging for daily parking, long before Covid.Just to clear it up...the post I originally quoted seems to be a cute way of saying “times changed” by bringing back when they had less overall crowding at times. So I gave prices from the “early to mid 2000’s”
I’m just saying the prices have gone up 300%.
That’s seems “normal” to me.
Remember when every room at the deluxe resorts received nightly turndown service? And when they delivered packages directly to your room everywhere except the value resorts? Now you’re lucky to get chocolate on your pillow in a Club room at the Grand Flo, but you’re paying much more than even 10 years ago. Those clubs have much shorter hours and much less food too.
Anyone who thinks Disney resorts are worth half of their rack rates needs to travel more.
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
Again, though, what should Disney have done to prepare for the current global pandemic? What advice from experienced hands were they ignoring or not getting?
I don't mean to be argumentative, I just get a little frustrated when there are these assertions of a common sense that's never articulated. As best as I can tell, the current situation wouldn't be indicating to Disney executives that they should have been building more attractions and keeping prices reasonable. It would be making them think that perhaps Steve Jobs had a point that they should get rid of the parks. The only point against that is that they seem to have used the profits to diversify the company enough that a catastrophic scenario in which the parks have to close entirely doesn't wipe out their profits.
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