Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[WDW1974]

Wow.. you can't even see the noose before you hang it.. You repeat the same mistakes over and over. Yes, the world revolves around your posts . When in reality... I've been leading the home ship because the wife is in WDW for the half marathon and I've been setting up and working this event since Thursday.. http://www.virginiapinball.com/news and handling a gymnastics meet.. AND a pony club event. But you knew none of this and even after I've TOLD you I'm not around.. you still throw horse @%$# around like my appearance or not has to do with your posts. Get over yourself. I've been out working with real people, real friends, and making a real impact until past 3:30am the last three nights.. after playing dad all day long.

Hopefully everyone sees this for exactly what it is.. the fact that lack of any knowledge what-so-ever never stops you from making accusations or inferences that you have absolutely nothing to stand on. You talk about echo chambers in twitter.. you should take a look at that distortion field around yourself.

Yes, Flynn, take a statement about your penchant for posting after me and ignore the whole SUBSTANCE of the actual post. That is so unlike you ... oh wait, actually it is just like you.

I am surprised you have any time for your kids or wife or friends considering your online time here, but good to know you have a life. I never suggested otherwise.

I'm more interested in your work then pinball and ponies, as you seem so fascinating I am sure you must work in some fascinating field where you're likely overcompensated, but I am sure that's just me.

 

[Bolna]

I can only tell you that Disney is aware of the problem, it isn't just a few very isolated incidents and that they wish we wouldn't talk about it ... not that it's going to wake up a lazy reporter like Jason Garcia or one of the O-Town TV affiliates.

Yes, the poster on the DISboards who first encountered that got told by Disney's technical support that she is not the only one with that problem but that they have no idea what causes it.

Damn, I do look great on a red carpet!

And we are supposed to believe that without any pictures?????

 

[WDW1974]

Yes, the poster on the DISboards who first encountered that got told by Disney's technical support that she is not the only one with that problem but that they have no idea what causes it.

As near as I can tell from what I was told this afternoon, Disney doesn't know itself how many people this is affecting. Gee, why does that not surprise me.

And we are supposed to believe that without any pictures?????

You know I am a private Spirit. I never would allow such items to fall onto Disney fan forums. But feel free to ask @Lee ... he has seen pics of me on said carpets and even holding some of the awards with the winners.

Yeah, top one percenters rule!!! Crush everyone else (I am kidding here, but I feel the need to say it because of some people's lack of intellect!)

 

[ScoutN]

Spirit, I believe you posted something along the line of welcoming discussion here, and so please forgive me interjecting something that may be perceived as off topic, but here goes:

Anyone watch the Daytona 500 today? There is a car # 95. Driver is named Scott Speed.

Why isn't Disney sponsoring this car??? To me, this would be a no brainer, and certainly a better way to spend money than other projects....

Lightning McQueen was car #95. And he says...Speed...I am Speed....

So, Disney people who are secretly reading this...please get on it. You are passing up a golden opportunity!

Speed was fired from his team two or three years ago. Never won a NSCS race. Hardly posted a finish that is relatively decent. He flopped in NCSC from F1. THAT would be a dumb move.

 

[Monsterfan99]

In general I am on the side of minimum wage increases. However, playing the devil's advocate with this WDW example above I can see how higher wages for entry level employees can lead to problems. Employee wages and benefits are a big part of the expenses of WDW. Let's say Disney decided to pay their front line CMs more money and raised their pay. If you kept everything else constant they would need to raise those already high ticket prices to keep up with the higher salaries. Sure, they could just reduce profit margins or the CEO could agree to forego a bonus but in the real world neither would happen. They would raise prices to compensate. The guests would bear the burden of the increase. For some its a reason to gripe, but they can still afford it, but maybe it prices some people out or maybe some just go into more cc debt to still go. Neither is a good outcome. If the price increases are steep enough then attendance drops and maybe they end up laying off workers. The same cast members they tried to help by increasing wages are now out of a job. Obviously there are a lot of ifs in there, but it makes a case for how wage increases can hurt a business and directly impact the very people they are meant to help.

Look at the most recent contract WDW signed with the (worthless) union for 20,000 employees. $650 1 time bonus ($750 if you made under $8.50) and an up to 3% raise a year (full time and part time.) However, healthcare cost went up then too by a ton to the point of making less a check because of it. None of this mentions the huge amount of seasonal, CPs and international program folks who never see a raise from starting rate at the time they are working ($7.80 currently.) Last time I checked the resorts turned a record profit even with those increases and yet they want to lay off 10%.

 

[HMF]

I just hope he is not sitting at home, seriously depressed.

He wouldn't be the only one.

 

[Longhairbear]

I'm waiting for all the details of the top brass holed up in DAK lodgings,most likely a DVC Grand Villa, throwing a temper tantrum over NGE.
That would be wicked cool.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yes, Flynn, take a statement about your penchant for posting after me and ignore the whole SUBSTANCE of the actual post. That is so unlike you ... oh wait, actually it is just like you.

What SUBSTANCE? All I see is increasingly trollish behavior towards somebody you see as a threat towards your little walled city here.

 

[GoofGoof]

Look at the most recent contract WDW signed with the (worthless) union for 20,000 employees. $650 1 time bonus ($750 if you made under $8.50) and an up to 3% raise a year (full time and part time.) However, healthcare cost went up then too by a ton to the point of making less a check because of it. None of this mentions the huge amount of seasonal, CPs and international program folks who never see a raise from starting rate at the time they are working ($7.80 currently.) Last time I checked the resorts turned a record profit even with those increases and yet they want to lay off 10%.

Totally agreed. I wasn't implying that WDW's price increases were because they pay their employees too well. I know that's not the case. My only point was that prices skyrocketed even while employees got squeezed. Imagine how much prices would go up if all those seasonal and other employees who get no pay raise at all were upped to a hypothetical minimum wage of $10 per hour (a 28% pay increase). The likely result would be steeper price increases and more layoffs. They may let profits decrease a little, but no corporation is going to just eat that expense increase. It is going to be passed on to the consumer. I personally would still go if ticket prices went up 15 or 20% to accommodate these wage increases (maybe less frequently), but how many others would be priced out? We read in here all the time people saying they couldn't afford a trip without free dining or deep discounts. Those people would probably be priced out.

 

[thehowiet]

What SUBSTANCE? All I see is increasingly trollish behavior towards somebody you see as a threat towards your little walled city here.

I actually found 74's post about some of the things that happened with the MM+ test at DAK to be full of substance and can't wait to hear more, especially with regard to the information he is currently holding back for the sake of his source. That's just my opinion though and you're certainly entitled to have your own.

Based on what we are hearing about how the test went, I wonder what the next steps are and also wonder how quickly they'll be able to fix the problem of guests being able to see the personal information of other guests. Anyone happen to know when the next round of testing will occur?

 

[MattM]

No it was second or third in revenue generated. I just believe they are going to sell a minority stake in the parks and just take the revenue and not be involved in the day to day running of the parks. Its a real shame to because the Florida property could be so much more if they would exploit some of the other areas besides the theme parks.

Has Parks & Resorts ever been the largest segment in TWDC?

 

[culturenthrills]

In 1960, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was about 20-to-1.

In 1980, that number had risen to about 30-to-1.

As recently as 1990, the number was under 60-to-1.

In 2011, the ratio stands at 231-to-1.

Would you rather have today's economy or the 1960s economy?

I know what CEOs' answers would be.

Disney started offering hopper tickets that included all attractions with the opening of Epcot in 1982. Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, followed by DAK in 1998. The following 10-year spans compare median household income with ticket prices, assuming a WDW vacation in 1982 was 3 days (2 days for MK, 1 day for Epcot) and grew by one day as each park was added.

1982
Median Household Income: $19,004
3-Day WDW ticket ($35) price-per-day: $11.67
Ticket/income percentage: 0.0614%

1992
Median Household Income: $29,448
4-Day WDW ticket ($130.46) price-per-day: $32.62
Ticket/income percentage: 0.11076%

2002
Median Household Income: $41,620
5-Day WDW ticket ($243.89) price-per-day: $48.78
Ticket/income percentage: 0.11720%

2012
Median Household Income: $50,054 (estimated)
5-Day WDW ticket ($484.58) price-per-day: $96.92
Ticket/income percentage: 0.19362%

What's obvious is that even the ticket price-per-day has grown tremendously since 1982. In addition, WDW has grown (which is good), meaning that the length of a "full" WDW vacation has grown as well, making it even more difficult for families to afford WDW. Of course, families can simply buy three-day tickets today but, as we all know, today's WDW tickets are heavily front-loaded. Today's WDW comes out significantly less favorable (in terms of cost) when comparing a 3-day ticket in 1982 to a 3-day ticket in 2012.

A 2012 3-day base ticket (i.e. no hopping and no water parks) costs $257.73. Even as recently as 10 years ago, a 3-day Ultimate Hopper (which included hopping & water parks) cost $164.01, or $209.89 adjusted for inflation. Of course, as noted above, a 1982 3-day World Passport (included hopping) cost $35.00, or $83.50 adjusted for inflation. That's less than a one-day base ticket in 2012.

If you don't like those examples, then consider a more recent one:

In 2005, a 10-day Magic Your Way ticket with park hopping, water parks, and "No Expiration" cost $377.00.
In 2012, the same ticket cost $672.00.
That's a compound price increase of 8.6% annually.
That's a price difference of $295.00

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, $377.00 in 2005 is equivalent to $444.41 in 2012.
That's a compound price increase of 2.4% annually.
That's a price difference of $67.41.

Even in the last 7 years, with no new theme parks and few park additions, WDW prices have skyrocketed out of control.

And you wonder why people are going to Universal, SW, BGT and Legoland instead of WDW. We let our AP's expire last year and don't know if we will ever get them again because of how much the keep jacking up prices. We still have our UNI AP's though.

 

[MattM]

And shouldn't that be the case?

Isn't that common sense?

We live in a nation where many people feel there shouldn't even be a minimum wage.

Having no idea what you do or how much you make, how about we just cut your salary by 56% (just a number)? Too high? OK, how about a flat 40%? You still OK with that? Or would you have an issue if you made $1 less than what you are supposed to/have been?

Here's my beef: Everybody screams for higher wages. Fine. Then what are businesses going to do? They're going to raise prices. Milk, break, eggs, clothes...they're all more expensive. Then what happens? People complain about how much prices have gone up and wages need to be raised. It's a vicious cycle that will never end. Add on top of that the new gov't mandated health insurance rules, and cadillac plan taxes that will go on top of that, and prices will continue to skyrocket. How do you brake that cycle?

And to be honest Mr. Spirit, the way this President has been hiking taxes on us big bad evil 1% (which I'll bet you're not too far from that either, especially since we keep lowering the bar on what "wealthy"is) my salary is going to be reduced by a percentage very similar to a number that you have mentioned. That money will be made up somewhere, be it by staff reductions or price increases. But this President is going to have to learn that businesses are not going to eat these costs. Results never work out well when you hate the employer but love the employee.

 

[GoofGoof]

Has Parks & Resorts ever been the largest segment in TWDC?

I have been loosely following the stock since the mid 90s and to my knowledge not in that time. After the ABC merger, what is now called the media network segment has been larger than the P&R segment. Back in the 90s the studio segment (I believe they called it creative content) was larger than P&R too. In modern times based on both revenue and operating income P&R is a distant second to Media Networks but more than double the studio segment.

 

[MattM]

I have been loosely following the stock since the mid 90s and to my knowledge not in that time. After the ABC merger, what is now called the media network segment has been larger than the P&R segment. Back in the 90s the studio segment (I believe they called it creative content) was larger than P&R too. In modern times based on both revenue and operating income P&R is a distant second to Media Networks but more than double the studio segment.

That's what I thought, too. So really the state of WDW has nothing to do with the shareholders report.

 

[MattM]

Not trying to be a butt-insky here nor will I tey to speak for MattM. I just wanted to tell you what I got out of the statement.....That the person who signs the back of the check are usaually the people who want a raise and the person who signs the front understands/knows what the cost are giving said raise. Even some of the biggest companies have minimum wage workers. ANy increase of wages/benifits are a direct result in profits and the ability to operate. Saying it" wouldnt hurt no one if the minimum wage was $9 or $10 ) is just mistaken.

Lets take a small mom and pop ice cream store. They have three or four kids working. You increase the mimimum wage a few bucks and your actually are adding another employee in actual cost....which could be the difference to staying open and operate. The buisness no longer is profitable and they close. Now the first three or four kids have no job. There are probably millions of small buisness's like this all over the country. What about the person who might have worked for Mc D's or Walmart for a few yrs and have worked thier way up a bit to maybe a asst. manager. They make $10.00 an hour. You raise minimum wage to $10. Now that employer has to raise the asst. mgrs wage. It has a ripple effect. Just for the sake of full disclosure...I am not a small buisness owner who employs minimum wage workers. Also anyone who is in favor of a minimum wage increase can not deny that if there was an increase there wouldnt be a direct effect on the cost of living....Which effects everyone. To those people who are barley staying afloat will find themselves sinking below. What do you tell these people? I am not defending the minimum wage as @WDW1974 says...I am just giving another point of view. I think that just saying....go ahead and raise the minimum wage a few bucks...is being short sighted. That it will not make the difference people think it will. That it could actually have a negative effect in some way.

This is as good as I could have said it. It's easy for people who don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, wrapped up in the business they've created (or didn't, depending on who you ask *BONUS POINTS*). Then government tells you what to do with the money you risked and you are branded as evil if you don't want to do it. To that I say go start your own business and pay people what you want. Start your own business and compete with me. If you beat me, then your way is better. If all my employees leave my business for yours, then more power to you. But that doesn't happen. Really, people just want to tell you what to do with your money and your business.

But this will get me branded as a right wing extremist, I'm sure. But this is an internet message board, and it really doesn't bother me.

 

[MattM]

And a lovely Oscar Sunday to all MAGICal members. Alas, the Spirit isn't on the red carpet. He is home wearing a lovely Emmys tee and thinking that he'd like to do Oscar some day.

But he also has more information regarding the recent exec test of MM+ at DAK Lodge. Unfortunately, he can't tell everything he knows as to protect the source.

Let's start with the very bad. While some execs/management were able to check in with relative ease (they all did advance check in to begin with, but that didn't seem to matter), others -- including two big names in the fan community -- had nightmares. One had to go through the process over half a dozen times before the reservation held.

Now, some good: for the first day the MAGICBands did exactly what they were supposed to do (with the exception of tap to pay, which only worked internally at the Lodge and nowhere else).

And the bad: the bands were supposed to be coded to allow for every aspect of MM+ until midnight on the day of checkout. Unfortunately, the bands all assumed everyone was checking out at midnight on day of arrival and stopped working.

Some more bad: folks that weren't ever supposed to be part of the test got wind of it and attempted to insinuate themselves into the test. They were not successful.

Yet more bad: the tap to pay function never functioned across property for the length of the test.

Even more bad: some execs had issues with the itinereries they booked online being different when they attempted to pull up their FP+ schedule.

This fits in (sorta) with what has been happening -- what Disney has internally called 'software glitches' (they won't acknowledge this problem even exists and let's face it, who exactly in O-Town media is asking questions?) whereby people are logging on to Disney's site and pulling up the private info for other guests. And this is NOT a few isolated incidents, although no one knows to what extent it has happened. In other words, while it isn't the rule, it isn't the exception either.

I waited over a half hour for a relatively modest line for a beer at Fantasmic this weekend. Why? The swipe to pay system wasn't working, and if you had the band they were trying to give you a hard time if you wanted to just pay with cash or cc instead. Ended up being one of the best beers I'd ever had.

 

[Walt 1901]

Has Parks & Resorts ever been the largest segment in TWDC?

I do not know for sure if it ever has, but I thought that I had read somewhere that the constant revenue from Disneyland in the mid fifties help to keep the company more solvent then the up and down revenue from the Movie or Animation division. I think the media division is taking over that part in the company and like I said they can get the same revenue from the parks by letting someones else run the them. I think the big sticking point is going to be that Disneyland and WDW are such a symbol of Americana that there may be a big backlash if they sold it to a Chinese company or even on in the middle east.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

I would think that in the 70s the P&R Division (created in 1971) was the main reason for keeping the company alive and not go bankrupt/out of business since the other divisions weren't really racking up the revenues/profit necessary to be a healthy company. So I would say in the 70s it was the biggest/largest segment.

 

[Walt 1901]

Here's my beef: Everybody screams for higher wages. Fine. Then what are businesses going to do? They're going to raise prices. Milk, break, eggs, clothes...they're all more expensive. Then what happens? People complain about how much prices have gone up and wages need to be raised. It's a vicious cycle that will never end. Add on top of that the new gov't mandated health insurance rules, and cadillac plan taxes that will go on top of that, and prices will continue to skyrocket. How do you brake that cycle?

And to be honest Mr. Spirit, the way this President has been hiking taxes on us big bad evil 1% (which I'll bet you're not too far from that either, especially since we keep lowering the bar on what "wealthy"is) my salary is going to be reduced by a percentage very similar to a number that you have mentioned. That money will be made up somewhere, be it by staff reductions or price increases. But this President is going to have to learn that businesses are not going to eat these costs. Results never work out well when you hate the employer but love the employee.

I understand your argument, but I think that that last line should be more to the fact that people need to realize that employers need employees as much as employees need employers. Every officer of the TWDC makes close to 15 to 16 million dollars a year. The question is why do cuts always come from the low wage employees or that the consumer has to pay for the increase. As mention in a previous post I manage a small family hardware store and with the lack of snow in the Chicago area sales have been slow. To offset the lose of income I have been working 12 hour days to reduce the payroll expense, but the owner of the store hasn't been paying himself since November. So if a small business can hand out cost cutting measures at the bottom and the top why can't a big company like Disney.