Predictions! Secret WDC Project — August 22 @ D23

[Spash007]

With being in the smaller hall, I think it lends itself to be more of a good PR/CM feeling announcement, than anything actually exciting. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole reason they even are calling it a "secret project" is to get the buzz going to get some steam away from Uni. If they just announced a panel on environmental initiatives, nobody would even bat an eye.

 

[PorterRedkey]

Yeah, Up with People definitely wasn't Disney.

"UP! with people" is a pitch for the next Disney live-action film.

 

[Mac Tonight]

Watch the whole thing be about some new recycling procedure that they'll implement at the parks to now be zero emissions.

 

[Tom P.]

I would say there is about a 99.5% chance that this announcement has nothing to do with the theme parks.

 

[pdude81]

Could the train station from the airport be considered a secret project? And what I assume would be the switch to DME bringing you from there to hotels instead of straight from MCO. By now I expected to at least hear about where this was going to go.

 

[capsshield]

My first guess is about the 50th anniversary preparations. This could easily fill an hour and enhance the Epcot and parks presentations by letting them focus on Paris, DCA, and the other parks around the world. It's big enough to fill the hall and time. Also the media will blast it everywhere regardless of hall size. But in a private showing it gets the proper attention it might not get mixed in with all the other announcements.

 

[Progress.City]

If it is

One thing is certain, anything that would require a substantial amount of money (like the $75B used to purchase Fox) would have been brought up on the call. So whatever it is, it will probably fit within current budgets.

Did the announcements of the other four parks "fit within" then-"current budgets" when those were announced?

 

[britain]

If it is

Did the announcements of the other four parks "fit within" then-"current budgets" when those were announced?

If I recall correctly, in the past they’ve vaguely told the financial press that they will be “increasing investment in the parks,” or “decreasing the amount of investment in the parks as large projects wrap up.”

But I really just meant that HUGE investments like buying another company or starting an airline (yeah right) would be something that definitely would have an unnatural impact on the balance sheet and they’d be obligated to give investors a heads up. (Now if the secret project is “We’d LIKE to do this big ambitious thing, but there will be lots of hoops to jump through,” then the financial disclosure can come later.)

They could announce a modest “big” project (like a couple billion for a new park) without letting the financial press know first.

 

[Progress.City]

I would say there is about a 99.5% chance that this announcement has nothing to do with the theme parks.

I would say the opposite since D23 is about the theme park business.

 

[peter11435]

I would say the opposite since D23 is about the theme park business.

No it isn’t

 

[Spash007]

I would say the opposite since D23 is about the theme park business.

Isn't it about Disney in general, with only a panel on the parks/resorts? And this panel is a completely different panel, which makes me think it's not about the parks (or else it would be part of the parks panel)

 

[Tom P.]

I would say the opposite since D23 is about the theme park business.

No, it isn't. D23 is about Disney as a whole.

 

[Progress.City]

If I recall correctly, in the past they’ve vaguely told the financial press that they will be “increasing investment in the parks,” or “decreasing the amount of investment in the parks as large projects wrap up.”

But I really just meant that HUGE investments like buying another company or starting an airline (yeah right) would be something that definitely would have an unnatural impact on the balance sheet and they’d be obligated to give investors a heads up. (Now if the secret project is “We’d LIKE to do this big ambitious thing, but there will be lots of hoops to jump through,” then the financial disclosure can come later.)

They could announce a modest “big” project (like a couple billion for a new park) without letting the financial press know first.

Also, it's a little weird that that they would say it's a "secret project". I don't remember any time they warned us ahead of time before an announcement. It's also odd this came after Uni's third park announcement. So, it's logical that the Disney announcement is in response to the Uni one.

 

[Progress.City]

Could the train station from the airport be considered a secret project? And what I assume would be the switch to DME bringing you from there to hotels instead of straight from MCO. By now I expected to at least hear about where this was going to go.

No. Because of the public element

 

[FullSailDan]

They are buying Nintendo to continue the trend of capitalizing on Universals investment without doing any work.

 

[Parker41056]

Also, it's a little weird that that they would say it's a "secret project". I don't remember any time they warned us ahead of time before an announcement. It's also odd this came after Uni's third park announcement. So, it's logical that the Disney announcement is in response to the Uni one.

Totally agree about the 'weirdness' of saying a secret project... I mean that really is an odd move by Disney so yes, this is in response to Epic announcement.. Oh, how could would that have been.. Instead of secret panel, Disney said they had an EPIC announcement...

 

[Bairstow]

After the Shanghai debacle? I'm no insider, but the chances of Iger green-lighting another international theme park are about as likely as Ellen's Energy Adventure being rebuilt.

The Japanese market for Disney parks is far from saturated, but then that's OLC's call.

 

[Tom P.]

After the Shanghai debacle? I'm no insider, but the chances of Iger green-lighting another international theme park are about as likely as Ellen's Energy Adventure being rebuilt.

CONFIRMED: Secret announcement is the rebuilding of Ellen's Energy Adventure!

 

[bartholomr4]

Wasn't the purchase of a bunch of orange groves in central Florida labeled a "Secret Project"? Gotta think there is an easter egg planted in the "Disney Secret Project" Label.... If there is a new park, its gotta be Anaheim.... To easy to expand the current foot prints of the Florida parks (or re-purpose greatly under utilized space i.e. Epcot)....

 

[mgf]

I suppose it's the nature of this board being WDW-focused, but a lot of folks here are being extremely myopic. It's unlikely to be anything Parks-related at all, much less an expansion or fifth gate at WDW. The Walt Disney Company is so vastly larger than the theme parks, and they've already got a huge slate of Parks announcements scheduled. There's simply no way anything with the budget of a fifth gate wouldn't have been mentioned in an SEC filing or earnings call by now, and leaked six ways from Sunday on Internet message boards. I've said before that my bet is on some new twist on AR/VR, either in the consumer space or retail experiences like the Void, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Hey, not all of us! I guessed international expansion of Hulu and/or Disney plus. At present, Hulu is not operating in a single international market despite having launched nearly 12 years ago. [1] It also took Netflix about 12 years to launch its first international streaming service; however, Hulu has not even announced plans for international expansion nor would it be a first market entrant like Netflix. Hulu is the fastest growing domestic streaming video service, but it will continue to trail in total subscribers because of its failure to tap international markets. [2]

Figure - Growth in Netflix Subscribers [3]

Hulu's hesitance to expand internationally because of overseas competitors has led to a self-perpetuating competitive disadvantage. The market will continue to recognize demand internationally and firms will continue to seek to fill that demand. The longer Hulu remains on the sidelines, the more crowded the field becomes.

I can keep going. I just wrapped an entire semester in my MBA strategy course analyzing the acquisition of Hulu and the launch of Disney+. I have literally produced over 100 pages on the subject.

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[1] "Why can't I use Hulu internationally? - Hulu Help." https://help.hulu.com/en-us/cant-use-internationally.
[2] "Hulu Is Already The SVOD Growth Story of 2019 | Decider." 26 Jun. 2019, https://decider.com/2019/06/26/hulu-is-already-the-svod-growth-story-of-2019/.
[3] "Netflix (NFLX) International Business Dominates Growth - Bloomberg." 18 Jan. 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-a-foreign-accent-as-international-dominates.