Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[alissafalco]

well let's put it this way... it wasn't long ago Uni was the low many on the totem pole with not much excitement... so IF the pendulum has truly swung, why couldn't Disney "come back" with their new projects down the road just as Uni apparently has?

Every single person on this board would be excited and happy if that were to happen. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the path that WDW is going down. Why do think so many people on this thread are unhappy with what's going on?? For the sake of being unhappy?? No.

 

[alissafalco]

Because it is an extremely well diversified company. Focus here tends to be on WDW, and that's fine, but there is much more to the greater Walt Disney Company (or, $DIS for @GiveMeTheMusic I kid I kid)

Take a minute and breeze through their 10k, which in its most basic sense, is just a statement that shows how a company makes their money (not trying to be snarky, but I think it would truly give an idea of the scope of the company):
http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/reports/q3-fy13-form-10q.pdf

Not that it couldn't happen, but I think you probably have a better chance of getting struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day.

We were talking about the parks weren't we??

 

[MattM]

We were talking about the parks weren't we??

Well, it was kinda hard to tell. You mentioned parks, and then you mentioned:

once successful large companies shutting their doors, why do you think Disney is "magically" untouchable??

So I guess I'm not completely sure which one?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Because it is an extremely well diversified company. Focus here tends to be on WDW, and that's fine, but there is much more to the greater Walt Disney Company (or, $DIS for @GiveMeTheMusic I kid I kid)

Take a minute and breeze through their 10k, which in its most basic sense, is just a statement that shows how a company makes their money (not trying to be snarky, but I think it would truly give an idea of the scope of the company):
http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/reports/q3-fy13-form-10q.pdf

Not that it couldn't happen, but I think you probably have a better chance of getting struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day.

Question: How is goodwill, as it appears in the assets section of the 10k, calculated?

 

[Beholder]

IF NextGen did contain elements of underhanded data-mining, and these elements were kept quite intentionally, and eventually the truth was finally revealed, how many people would even care? We have stories of the NSA watching our phones, stories of drones being used in the U.S. on its citizens, and not to mention the TSA and its "methods", but no one is giving up their phone, Internet, or have stopped flying. Sadly, I think people have been/are willing to give up freedoms in exchange for entertainment. I have no data, numbers or stats to back up my thoughts, but I truly believe that is the case now. Freedom, as a responsibility, for many people, just isn't worth it.

Freedom, declining by degrees.

 

[KevinYee]

Reporting hard news to a fan community isn't easy or everyone here would be doing it. Folks that claim to do so as a job or as a secondary vocation (like @KevinYee ) would be hard-pressed to come close to the stories I have broken on this site from UNI's massive expansion to George Kalogridis taking over as WDW Prez To NGE diverting funds and delaying attractions etc...

As the KevinYee in question, let me nod my head in agreement. His level of insider access has been staggering, and his hit/miss ratio immaculate.

 

[MattM]

Question: How is goodwill, as it appears in the assets section of the 10k, calculated?

Page 53, if memory serves.

 

[WDWDad13]

'74 providing good news isn't debatable at all. Regardless of whether you like his opinions or choice of words, the news he provides is generally very consistent and accurate.


They could. Leadership and/or ideas on how to conduct business can indeed change. That's not to say Disney will change, their massive egos present a huge obstacle for such a thing, but it's probably not completely impossible. But a major worry at this point is that next gen is eating into budgets that would go to said big new projects they have planned. Possibly delaying, dumbing down or perhaps even canceling them entirely...

Obviously this can and often does happen with any project, it's quite often that plans get scaled back or canceled regardless of what else is going on. But having a 2+ billion dollar ongoing disaster with a good chance of completely crashing and burning upon arrival is hardly going to do the projects any more favors either. The board after all wants them NOT to spend money on the parks.

Still I don't rule out miracles (or rather extreme luck). No one here wants WDW to be any less than a stellar place that is consistently getting world class new rides and attractions. Unfortunately that is not seeming like the current reality until something major changes. And were I a betting man, I wouldn't risk money on the assumption that there will be anytime soon.

NextGen is gonna crash and burn huh?

 

[Wikkler]

Thought this image might be appropriate...

 

[AEfx]

We have stories of the NSA watching our phones, stories of drones being used in the U.S. on its citizens, and not to mention the TSA and its "methods", but no one is giving up their phone, Internet, or have stopped flying.

I've given up flying unless absolutely necessary.

I love flying, or I used to - but I don't like starting and ending a trip being treated like a criminal in my own country, packing around government regulations and insane fees at the airport, but to be honest my last straw was the liquid thing - if I can't even bring my own drink with me on the airplane, sounds like it's not a big deal, but it was the straw that was just too much for my weary back.

That said, I understand your point - though I think it's not so much "giving up freedom for entertainment" (and having a cell phone is more of a safety thing than for entertainment) but more of - a) we pretty much always assumed they were looking at everything anyway (was anyone actually surprised?) but more importantly, b) people are struggling to keep food on the table and the bills paid, their families safe, and trying to work towards at least keeping what we have, while holding the slim hope that it will get better.

Personally, I've been on the Internet for nearly 20 years - and my rule has always been I'd never put up a picture, or say anything, etc. that I wouldn't be comfortable being on the front page of a newspaper. That doesn't mean I think any of it was right, but surprise was not one of the emotions that came after the news came out.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

"Escape From Tomorrow" has a distributor and release date.
http://www.slashfilm.com/disney-set-tale-of-madness-escape-from-tomorrow-gets-october-release/

 

[WDWDad13]

Thought this image might be appropriate...

Yep and all those birds are flying to Uni for Harry's Butterbeer Bliss

 

[Beholder]

I've given up flying unless absolutely necessary.

I love flying, or I used to - but I don't like starting and ending a trip being treated like a criminal in my own country, packing around government regulations and insane fees at the airport, but to be honest my last straw was the liquid thing - if I can't even bring my own drink with me on the airplane, sounds like it's not a big deal, but it was the straw that was just too much for my weary back.

That said, I understand your point - though I think it's not so much "giving up freedom for entertainment" (and having a cell phone is more of a safety thing than for entertainment) but more of - a) we pretty much always assumed they were looking at everything anyway (was anyone actually surprised?) but more importantly, b) people are struggling to keep food on the table and the bills paid, their families safe, and trying to work towards at least keeping what we have, while holding the slim hope that it will get better.

Personally, I've been on the Internet for nearly 20 years - and my rule has always been I'd never put up a picture, or say anything, etc. that I wouldn't be comfortable being on the front page of a newspaper. That doesn't mean I think any of it was right, but surprise was not one of the emotions that came after the news came out.

Totally agree, I guess my point though (didn't do great job making it) was that given the choice of giving up the cell phones, flying, etc., or giving in to the fact we give up a little more privacy as time goes by, most of us will give up the freedoms. I still have my smart phone, I still go on line, and flying isn't something I'd shy away from if necessary. It's just too bad that's it's one or the other.

 

[1023]

Question: How is goodwill, as it appears in the assets section of the 10k, calculated?

If you are referring to the Lucasfilm acquisition on page 10, it's in the paragraph below the figures.

Intangible assets primarily consist of intellectual property based on the Star Wars franchise with an estimated useful life of approximately 40 years.

The goodwill reflects the value to Disney from leveraging Lucasfilm intellectual property across our distribution channels, taking advantage of Disney's established global reach.The goodwill recorded as part of this acquisition is not deductible for tax purposes.

 

[IHeartArt]

"Escape From Tomorrow" has a distributor and release date.
http://www.slashfilm.com/disney-set-tale-of-madness-escape-from-tomorrow-gets-october-release/

Thank you so much for linking this. I've been interested in this film ever since I've heard about it, and my hype's only built with every review that's been put out. Looking forward to this, amazed that it's actually getting distributed, and quite happy Disney's not stopping it!

 

[muteki]

"Escape From Tomorrow" has a distributor and release date.
http://www.slashfilm.com/disney-set-tale-of-madness-escape-from-tomorrow-gets-october-release/

Great, I was really looking forward to it but haven't seen anything about it since first hearing about it here. Wonder what was in the 15 minutes cut?

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

I just thought of something that would be even cooler. On the 25th they could do an overlay where the trees have all been cut down and they have built a shopping center. How much of an ecologically laden message would that be?

Put it in DAK and lace some safety nets under it, and you've got theme park GOLD my friend!

 

[the.dreamfinder]

If you are referring to the Lucasfilm acquisition on page 10, it's in the paragraph below the figures.

Intangible assets primarily consist of intellectual property based on the Star Wars franchise with an estimated useful life of approximately 40 years.

The goodwill reflects the value to Disney from leveraging Lucasfilm intellectual property across our distribution channels, taking advantage of Disney's established global reach.The goodwill recorded as part of this acquisition is not deductible for tax purposes.

I was referring to the assets sheet on pg 3 where the company's "goodwill" is valued at 27 billion dollars.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Because it is an extremely well diversified company. Focus here tends to be on WDW, and that's fine, but there is much more to the greater Walt Disney Company (or, $DIS for @GiveMeTheMusic I kid I kid)

Take a minute and breeze through their 10k, which in its most basic sense, is just a statement that shows how a company makes their money (not trying to be snarky, but I think it would truly give an idea of the scope of the company):
http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/reports/q3-fy13-form-10q.pdf

Not that it couldn't happen, but I think you probably have a better chance of getting struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day.

But if it wasn't for WDW, I'd care about The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) about as much as I care about Wal-Mart. (And, sadly, that comparison is becoming more appropriate every year; just ask @WDW1974 !)

For any company, it's shockingly easy for corporate leadership to manipulate business to produce good short-term results. Fortunately, TWDC leadership is not doing that to any degree greater than most companies.

However, since the only Disney thing I care about is the theme parks and since WDW is (was) my favorite theme park in the world, I tend to focus on what's been happening at WDW.

The news at WDW has not been particularly good: higher prices, quality cuts, along with few expansions compared to previous years. To top it off, the current leadership under Iger has made a series of major blunders in Orlando. Reiterating what I posted before:

• Losing the Harry Potter IP to Universal - Disney had the inside track on this and, for several reasons, let the deal slip away. If we all pretend for a moment that WWOHP as it exists today was at WDW, we wouldn't be having this discussion. The saddest part (from Iger's perspective) is that his bad decision let the competition back into the market. And for cheap. For perhaps no single better reason, WDW theme parks are paying the price for Iger's bad call on this.
• Heavily investing in NextGen - Iger really believed this was going to be a magical elixir that would cure all of WDW's woes. As of follower of Blue Ocean Strategy and having seen the poor financial investments in theme parks made by Eisner in his last few years, the inexperienced (when it comes to theme parks) Iger felt that a different approach was needed. On so many levels, the NextGen dog-and-pony show was exactly was he was looking for.
• Moving forward with New Fantasyland - Iger sunk close to half-a-billion dollars into "fixing" WDW's most popular land at WDW's most popular park. All this has managed to do is steal attendance away from WDW's other theme parks, making a bad problem worse.
• Pursuing Avatarland - The jury's still out on this one; Avatarland could be a success. But Avatarland was Iger's kneejerk reaction to having his head pounded into the wall by the Wizzarding World of Harry Potter. It may have sounded great to Iger in 2011 but, seriously, who really talks about Avatar in 2013?

Beyond WDW, the news is not particularly good either. Iger used to be viewed by Wall Street as the Golden Boy Who Could Do No Wrong. Now they are beginning to question some his of his acquisitions (did he pay too much for Pixar?), ABC is stumbling, John Carter and Lone Ranger turned out to be high profile duds, while Disney continues to buy back stock to prop up prices. Meanwhile, in Wall Street's eyes, Iger is spending on Parks & Resorts projects like a drunken sailor and they want cuts.

Iger now appears more and more like Eisner; someone who hung on for too long. Meanwhile, TWDC is beginning to fray a bit around the edges, looking eminently more "touchable" (paraphrasing @alissafalco ) then they did just a few years ago.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

But if it wasn't for WDW, I'd care about The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) about as much as I care about Wal-Mart. (And, sadly, that comparison is becoming more appropriate every year; just ask @WDW1974 !)

For any company, it's shockingly easy for corporate leadership to manipulate business to produce good short-term results. Fortunately, TWDC leadership is not doing that to any degree greater than most companies.

However, since the only Disney thing I care about is the theme parks and since WDW is (was) my favorite theme park in the world, I tend to focus on what's been happening at WDW.

The news at WDW has not been particularly good: higher prices, quality cuts, along with few expansions compared to previous years. To top it off, the current leadership under Iger has made a series of major blunders in Orlando. Reiterating what I posted before:

• Losing the Harry Potter IP to Universal - Disney had the inside track on this and, for several reasons, let the deal slip away. If we all pretend for a moment that WWOHP as it exists today was at WDW, we wouldn't be having this discussion. The saddest part (from Iger's perspective) is that his bad decision let the competition back into the market. And for cheap. For perhaps no single better reason, WDW theme parks are paying the price for Iger's bad call on this.
• Heavily investing in NextGen - Iger really believed this was going to be a magical elixir that would cure all of WDW's woes. As of follower of Blue Ocean Strategy and having seen the poor financial investments in theme parks made by Eisner in his last few years, the inexperienced (when it comes to theme parks) Iger felt that a different approach was needed. On so many levels, the NextGen dog-and-pony show was exactly was he was looking for.
• Moving forward with New Fantasyland - Iger sunk close to half-a-billion dollars into "fixing" WDW's most popular land at WDW's most popular park. All this has managed to do is steal attendance away from WDW's other theme parks, making a bad problem worse.
• Pursuing Avatarland - The jury's still out on this one; Avatarland could be a success. But Avatarland was Iger's kneejerk reaction to having his head pounded into the wall by the Wizzarding World of Harry Potter. It may have sounded great to Iger in 2011 but, seriously, who really talks about Avatar in 2013?

Beyond WDW, the news is not particularly good either. Iger used to be viewed by Wall Street as the Golden Boy Who Could Do No Wrong. Now they are beginning to question some his of his acquisitions (did he pay too much for Pixar?), ABC is stumbling, John Carter and Lone Ranger turned out to be high profile duds, while Disney continues to buy back stock to prop up prices. Meanwhile, in Wall Street's eyes, Iger is spending on Parks & Resorts projects like a drunken sailor and they want cuts.

Iger now appears more and more like Eisner; someone who hung on for too long. Meanwhile, TWDC is beginning to fray a bit around the edges, looking eminently more "touchable" (paraphrasing @alissafalco ) then they did just a few years ago.

I don't think you have any idea how much I look forward to reading your posts....all of them. Usually several times. You're one hell of a writer. And.... AND you make sense of things that can't really make sense but you find a way. Like all of the above.

Thank you.