The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[ParentsOf4]

So far nothing new:

• MM+ will lead to earnings growth starting this quarter. He did clarify that it wouldn't have direct earnnings but be a driver of earnings growth.

There's a huge disclaimer missing from Rasulo’s remark. So huge that I’m tempted to call Rasulo deceitful if he doesn’t emphasize it at the next quarterly call.

Bear with me while I explain …

One of the reasons it’s so hard to pin down MyMagic+’s price tag is because its costs are buried everywhere.

When it comes to new theme park rides, most costs are brick & mortar related. These show up as capital expenditures (capex).

When someone asks, “How much did the New Fantasyland cost?” they typically have capex in mind.

Not so with MyMagic+. Yes, it has a lot of capex. However, its costs are also are squirreled away in traditional operating expenditures (opex) and also something Disney refers to as “Selling, general, administrative and other”.

So, when P&R Chairman Tom Staggs laughs at the notion that MyMagic+ “costs” over a billion, it’s because he’s mentally cherry-picking the costs in his reply. “Golly gee, when I’m asked about the cost of a cruise ship, they are asking about its capex number, so that’s what the question means, right?”

Never mind that corporate Disney buried MyMagic+’s costs all over the place.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, opex is up 6%, depreciation associated with capital investments is up 7%, but this funky “Selling, general, administrative and other” is down 2%.

What Rasulo is not being open about is that, like any project, these costs are down due to the simple fact that the project is complete.

If you don’t believe me, then please refer to the company’s most recent 10Q:

“Selling, general, administrative and other costs decreased $26 million from $1,422 million to $1,396 million primarily due to the absence of development costs for MyMagic+”.

For reference, this line item was up 29% over the previous 3 years.

Iger and Rasulo are going to tell you Parks & Resort Operating Income is up some terrific number because of MyMagic+.

What they are not going to tell you is that it’s up for the simple reason that they’ve stopped throwing money at MyMagic+.

 

[Smiddimizer]

And each of those prior developments opened a floodgate of misinformation. They each created a situation of more than before. We coped then and we will probably cope again.

If all we have to wait for is to cope, then I rest my case.

 

[Hula Popper]

However, its costs are also are squirreled away in traditional operating expenditures (opex) and also something Disney refers to as “Selling, general, administrative and other”.

Interesting...I see that Disney also puts the money it earns in to something Disney refers to as "Revenue." I wish they would just stick to the same terms as everyone else...

 

[marni1971]

So far nothing new:

• MM+ will lead to earnings growth starting this quarter. He did clarify that it wouldn't have direct earnnings but be a driver of earnings growth.

How late is this now on delivering what was promised?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Wife - "Well that was quick"
Me - "It's PhotoDaves Fault"

You pictured me while you were......????

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I wonder how much do they make from the hard ticket events?

 

[PhotoDave219]

How late is this now on delivering what was promised?

It's like exploring new world. Sometimes you find a new trade routes India, sometimes you find a new continent & give the locals blankets with smallpox and then sometimes you're searching for Atlantis. Again and again and again

 

[TeriofTerror]

There's a huge disclaimer missing from Rasulo’s remark. So huge that I’m tempted to call Rasulo deceitful if he doesn’t emphasize it at the next quarterly call.

Bear with me while I explain …

One of the reasons it’s so hard to pin down MyMagic+’s price tag is because its costs are buried everywhere.

When it comes to new theme park rides, most costs are brick & mortar related. These show up as capital expenditures (capex).

When someone asks, “How much did the New Fantasyland cost?” they typically have capex in mind.

Not so with MyMagic+. Yes, it has a lot of capex. However, its costs are also are squirreled away in traditional operating expenditures (opex) and also something Disney refers to as “Selling, general, administrative and other”.

So, when P&R Chairman Tom Staggs laughs at the notion that MyMagic+ “costs” over a billion, it’s because he’s mentally cherry-picking the costs in his reply. “Golly gee, when I’m asked about the cost of a cruise ship, they are asking about its capex number, so that’s what the question means, right?”

Never mind that corporate Disney buried MyMagic+’s costs all over the place.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, opex is up 6%, depreciation associated with capital investments is up 7%, but this funky “Selling, general, administrative and other” is down 2%.

What Rasulo is not being open about is that, like any project, these costs are down due to the simple fact that the project is complete.

If you don’t believe me, then please refer to the company’s most recent 10Q:

“Selling, general, administrative and other costs decreased $26 million from $1,422 million to $1,396 million primarily due to the absence of development costs for MyMagic+”.

For reference, this line item was up 29% over the previous 3 years.

Iger and Rasulo are going to tell you Parks & Resort Operating Income is up some terrific number because of MyMagic+.

What they are not going to tell you is that it’s up for the simple reason that they’ve stopped throwing money at MyMagic+.

Have I told you lately that I love you?
Seriously, I adore facts. And although they can be interpreted a multitude of ways, solid numbers make for my favorite facts.

 

[WDW1974]

Well then I do agree with you here. I had no issue keeping my phone on airplane mode for 10 weeks and very occasionally keeping in touch back home. It's nice to have, but easy to set aside. The addicted ones are those who can't seem to keep the thing charged for more than half a day, I usually only charge my phone every few days...

That's what I would consider normal. I don't like to shut off my family (well, I wish I could sometimes!) for weeks. But I put my phone in a safe on Day 2 of a 15-night cruise in May and didn't take the thing out until the night before we arrived in San Diego so I could charge it. ... My dearest Angie M sent a few quickee emails to both our fams and that was it. Amazingly, I lived just fine (I thrived actually!) without knowing what was going on in the world news-wise and what was going on in the Disney/UNI fan circles.

But I have some friends who can't put their freaking iPhones down to have dinner and it is rude and annoying and, yes, quite sure some are reading this now (but I am not passive aggressive since I have told them to their faces that I'd like to shove the phones up ...)

It's an addiction and this idea that it is acceptable needs changing. Again, that's leaving out the fact that people die daily in the USA due to accidents caused by drivers busy effing around with their toys.

You are right, it's not generational... I also don't get Twitter (completely off-topic) and I'm in the key demo. Heck when people try and convince me it's useful to Medical Education I role my eyes. Yes, there is a Twitter Circle-**** in the Medical field as well... I'm not kidding. Fortunately it's not so ubiquitously used in Canada as it is in the U.S. We can be grumpy about that social platform together.

But full-disclosure, I kind of want the Watch....

I will let @flynnibus pontificate on the uses and abuses of Twitter. I don't even enjoy reading the Lifestylers anymore as I just find it a waste of time and energy.

 

[WDW1974]

Have I said recently how much I truly hate The Disney Parks Blog?

 

[WDW1974]

To the few folks who sent notes asking how Universal's budget situation has effected the new resort hotel, the answer is not at all. One thing has nothing to do with the other.

But again, everything is perfect at UNI, you know just like it once was at Dizzy World.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 well, thursday is the big presentation for Paint the Night at HKDL, have you seen it yet?

I haven't seen the parade. I did see some pics and listen to the music (which I really like) last month when they held a media preview (are there Lifestylers in HK?) I intend to see it in person, so I don't want to see very much of it online.

 

[WDW1974]

Similar statements were made about the proliferation of newspapers.

I actually don't recall ever hearing about people being addicted to reading newspapers in the 'old days' ... I'd also argue that if that were the case, it might be the only addiction I could ever support.

Being addicted to electronic toys or being part of the collective isn't a healthy way to live and most healthcare experts would agree with me, I'm sure.

 

[WDW1974]

Oh absolutely not a replacement, you aren't equipping a family of 5 with 350$ watches to enter Disney, but it's pretty easy to program some of the functionality for it. I just thought it interesting that some core functionality technically overlaps with the purpose of the MagicBands.

Also Starwood (W Hotels) are using it for hotel rooms, as mentioned in the Keynote. W is their hipper 30's-something brand and easier to rollout with the number of hotels in that brand. Perhaps the chain as a whole will eventually use it across all their brands. SPG has a good relationship with Apple though, like Disney or Nike they usually pop up in keynotes as early developers for new feature sets.

Unless you mean RFID specific to Disney hotels... then I have truly zero idea.

I love staying at W Hotels ... truly ... when I am alone.

But they must have some freaky designers who think cutting edge hip hotel design involves no privacy for people when using the facilities or showering. I really want to meet the exec who says ''yes, all our high end clients love to have business associates back to the room so they can (blank) in front of them.''

 

[WDW1974]

59 days? Not saying it necessarily applies to you, but generally when one has to exaggerate (especially by a factor of 5) to make a point, the point is pretty weak. As for making the planet a better place, iPhone's are often traded in and recycled before being simply dumped. Can the same be said for a company that brainwashes people into buying multiples of the EXACT SAME product (Magic Bands) in whatever they decide the "Flavor of the Month" is?

Also...it's not like Disney doesn't also have a "we do everything better 'tude", however lately that attitude is painfully and blatantly unwarranted.

Sometimes hyperbole is warranted to illustrate the lunacy as play. Apple designs phones so you basically have to replace them every 18 months. I find that absurd.

I realized how ridiculous this was when at a WDW outlet store and saw it was selling iPhone covers for $3.99 (instead of the $30-35 it charges full price), but it was quickly explained to me that those are for the iPhone3 (you'd think this was tech from 1979 the way it was explained) and ''nobody has that phone now.''

 

[lazyboy97o]

Sometimes hyperbole is warranted to illustrate the lunacy as play. Apple designs phones so you basically have to replace them every 18 months. I find that absurd.

I realized how ridiculous this was when at a WDW outlet store and saw it was selling iPhone covers for $3.99 (instead of the $30-35 it charges full price), but it was quickly explained to me that those are for the iPhone3 (you'd think this was tech from 1979 the way it was explained) and ''nobody has that phone now.''

Apple did not create the model. Nor is there anything in the design that makes one "have" to replace them. Just like regular computers, new software is eventually not going to work on old hardware. Six years is hardly yesterday.

 

[WDW1974]

I don't have any trouble believing this. We had a blast in DA (and spent more than I had planned), but I was surprised to see how many shops had permanent overflow queues built that I doubt will ever be used. As someone mentioned, the one place that needs is the ice cream parlor!

(@Gabe1, I think you have Len Testa confused with Lou Mongello?)

Wonder how the UNI foamers will take this, but some of UNI's research has shown that people visiting DA feel it has too many shops and not enough attractions (how many minutes before the Twits who never read a word here will have this and be ROTFLTFAO while ignoring the pesky fact that UNI execs are concerned about this?)

I know I'm very much looking forward to the ice cream. Much more so than the shops (although I do think I should have an interactive wand in my hands! ... Tohmmmmy ... Tohmmmmy ... tell me you got that!?!!)

 

[WDW1974]

Apple did not create the model. Nor is there anything in the design that makes one "have" to replace them. Just like regular computers, new software is eventually not going to work on old hardware. Six years is hardly yesterday.

Create the model? I don't know my tech history, sorry. I do know they profit mightily on said model, right?

And while you may need an upgrade every now and then, plenty of people (not the hip kidz) are using six-year old computers to read this.

Perhaps, the seemingly planned obsolescence so intertwined with the Apple product isn't a great thing?

 

[WDW1974]

How many DVCers are also AP holders? Wasn't there a time when you got an AP or two for owning DVC?

You think I wouldn't sacrifice a fanboi or three for that kind of info?

No idea. And, no, DVC never came with APs. But for an early period (maybe the first 5-6 years?) you did get an annual allotment of park-hoppers. I need an old ... I mean longtime DVCer to help with this one.

 

[WDW1974]

When we bought in it was 10 years of free park passes for however many guests in the room, as many trips as we took. Best thing ever.

Are you sure?!?! That sounds not right at all. I know they included tickets, but unlimited? I don't buy that if you took six trips a year with 12 people in your villa that WDW included tix. for all.