The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[dadddio]

You mean the numbers that show that P&R gross margins averaged more than 30% higher under Eisner than they have under Iger? That in the 8 full fiscal years that Iger has been in charge of TWDC, 7 of P&R's 10 lowest gross margin years have been under Iger?

Rule #1 in climbing the corporate ladder is: never tell the boss he doesn't know what he's doing.

When it comes to P&R, Iger and Rasulo don't know what they're doing.

I wasnt referring to your sprinkling of a few numbers. I was referring to your broad conclusions.

 

[gmajew]

Can I ask just one stupid question why is it not possible for everyone to enjoy and like both parks? Why do you have to hate wdw and love uni? In my eyes all the parks offer a unique and dofferent experience. And non of them would be around if it was not for wdw. Wdw has spent tons in upkeep the past few years along with misuse of some money but they are trying to better the parks maybe not at the rate we like but give them some credit. uni is doing the same thing after years of really not doing much they are spending like crazy now to build their parks. Both of these are great things for us the consumer.

Would I like starwars land today hell yeah but I also know it won't happen that fast and wdw takes a long time to roll things. Do I like that we are seeing some planning and rumors hell yeah and I know they will do something.

Uni will also slow down at some point and let their investment be recouped it is all business and we need to understand that.

 

[dadddio]

The results from the 10k show Disney wrong.

One wonders why you aren't heading up a multi-billion dollar corporation.

 

[SJN1279]

You're kidding, right? We've had three children and have found the child swap to be vastly better at Universal for years. They make it incredibly easy and attractions like Men in Black, Transformers, and Harry Potter they even have themed rooms with seats, televisions, and they allow you to see the ride vehicles while waiting. I can't think of any Disney attraction that does that. I've also found with my disabled father that the GAC system at Universal has always been superior.

Disney allows you have only part of the party wait in line, while the rest get a special fastpass for 3 people to experience the attraction later. Not taking your sleeping infant into an attraction is a marked improvement over Universal's system. I was able to experience each attraction twice using Disney's system as well.

 

[Goofyernmost]

He meant that she had budgeted $300, but only purchased 1 T-shirt because she didn't see anything else she wanted to purchase.

I actually have spent that much on souvenirs back when each area had theme specific items. I still have a hammered brass fireplace bellows that I purchased in Morocco a couple of decades ago - and it was made in Morocco! I went back and purchased another for a gift, but when I wanted a third, they were gone.

My daughter still has a kimono purchased in Japan, and we have a couple of teapots purchased there. I used to make multiple trips a year, so didn't purchase everything in one trip, but if I hadn't spaced them, I would have spent over $300.

You are, of course, correct. That's why you are "The Mom" after all! I read the word 'brought' as 'bought'. I stand corrected on that. I, however, have still not spent that much money total in Disney Shops in 31 years. Yes, dammit, I'm cheap! (all though, I prefer to call it "frugal")

 

[dupac]

@dadddio is your sole wdwmagic forum purpose to oppose everyone? You don't even offer well-thought-out counter points. You just make snide remarks. It's old.

I would say very few, if any, people here hate WDW yet love UNI. This isn't a UNI forum. You'll certainly find the reverse here, but some sort of fondness for WDW or TWDC brought the vast majority of posters here. Thinking that a company can do much better than it is or thinking another company executes better than the first is not hate. Not sure why it's seen this way.

 

[Cesar R M]

Good historical review. I do not think the greed will subside until the end of the reign of Iger. If he changed tactics now it would be a tacit admission he has been wrong for years. I doubt his personality would allow him to do such a thing.

People blinded by EGO will always end destroying what they claimed they were fixing.

 

[LondonGopher]

I do need to complain for a moment about something, though. We stayed at the Polynesian (first/last time that'll happen) and I bought a t-shirt from Boutiki. I know, I'm a noob, a rube, newbie, dumb, whatever, but I wanted it so I shelled out a disgusting $38 for it. It's been 13 months since it was purchased... it's stretched in parts (arms, chest, neck), shrunk in others (it was longer than it is now!) and the colors have completely faded. It looks positively awful after wearing it for about two hours. Lesson learned- no more tshirts from Disney parks/stores/websites.

I went to WDW with $400 in gift cards, $200 in cash, and a good chunk in my bank account. I came home with lots of money in my bank account (never touched it) and cash, and money left on one gift card which resulted in me withdrawing and going to the Disney Store to scoop up a few Animators dolls.

You are preaching to the choir! There's a brief conversation about this going on in the merchandise forum - here's what I said there and a bit more...

When we visited in 2012, our total souvenir haul from WDW consisted of: an imagineering DVD, a Darth Vader squeezy toy and a bag of salt-water taffy (the only taffy here is over the border in Wales - ) . When I compare that with some of my hauls from previous trips...when a visit to WDW was a real opportunity to get some lovely and unusual "international" homewares, in addition to fab gifts for rellies back home.

I can get (made in China) Mickey t-shirts at ASDA. Why would I pay five times as much to buy the same ones at WDW? And does it make anybody else bonkers that Disney, which to many people is "America", offers so little quality American-made merchandise?

A few years ago, DH and I took our then tractor-obsessed son to visit the John Deere Pavilion (ace, by the way) in Moline. We were welcomed and asked to sign the visitor book (as we had come from so far). After doing so, we were given wee bags with JD lapel pins in them. The bags were stamped with a big, black "MADE IN CHINA". Seriously?! That's what you give people who come to see one of the best known and best-regarded American-made products? Grr...and that's the feeling I had again at WDW in 2012.

More ride-, land-, park- and resort-specific merchandise that is made in America - that's what would get me to open up my wallet. But I must be in the minority?

 

[dadddio]

@dadddio is your sole wdwmagic forum purpose to oppose everyone? You don't even offer well-thought-out counter points. You just make snide remarks. It's old.

I would guess that you don't read all of my posts. That's good, I think, as it would be a little icky if you were putting actual effort into stalking me.

 

[dadddio]

I would say very few, if any, people here hate WDW yet love UNI. This isn't a UNI forum. You'll certainly find the reverse here, but some sort of fondness for WDW or TWDC brought the vast majority of posters here. Thinking that a company can do much better than it is or thinking another company executes better than the first is not hate. Not sure why it's seen this way.

People blinded by EGO will always end destroying what they claimed they were fixing.

I realize that there is no actual connection between these two posts, but their being right next to one another in the thread was somewhat amusing to me.

 

[dupac]

I would guess that you don't read all of my posts. That's good, I think, as it would be a little icky if you were putting actual effort into stalking me.

I agree, it would be icky!

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

You are preaching to the choir! There's a brief conversation about this going on in the merchandise forum - here's what I said there and a bit more...

---

More ride-, land-, park- and resort-specific merchandise that is made in America - that's what would get me to open up my wallet. But I must be in the minority?

No, absolutely not the minority. I was expecting (again, noob, rube, newbie, stupid, dumb, whatever) more theme specific merchandise and even consolidated all of my luggage items to one very full luggage, leaving the 'checked' bag practically empty just for the sole purpose of filling up on Polynesian stuff. I was hoping to score some awesome HM merch and something maybe from the (new, at the time of my trip) big top circus souvenir tent. I was sorely disappointed to find that, what little Poly specific merchandise there was (and I do mean little) was so vastly out of my spending range, I ended up settling on this lousy tshirt. Once again, lesson learned.

My homemade Lion King on Broadway tank top has held up infinitely better than the $38 tshirt I bought at WDW. And my tank is a $5 Old Navy tank top with simple acrylic paints and done with a stencil. It still hasn't faded, almost a year later, and it's worn weekly. I can't even wear the shirt I bought at WDW.

I'll have to check out the merchandise forum, I usually don't venture over there but you got me curious

 

[Stevek]

Last year in Epcot I managed to spend a whopping $65 on souvenirs. I went in with two fully loaded gift cards ($400) but couldn't find anything "authentic" enough that I actually could use, or wanted to buy. I ended up with a few handfuls of candy, because, well, lets face it, its candy a Mickey stein from Germany, and a cute little trinket box from Mexico. I *wanted* to spend more, I just couldn't find much that interested me or was a good enough value/price for me to buy it.

When we were then in March, knowing full well we likely won't return anytime soon, we easily spent $300 in Epcot (all Epcot branded items) and another $200 for generic Walt Disney World merchandise. I mean 4 sweatshirts alone between my wife and I were probably over $200. That being said, as a Disneyland local, I probably haven't spent $200 in total on merch over the past 5 years. We got caught up in the WDW moment...just like Disney wanted us to.

 

[Kman101]

I absolutely agree about merchandise. Terrible selection, and vastly overpriced. I was interested in some of the HM merch, but really, it's just too expensive. I also agree that many are looking for resort specific merchandise and there just really isn't any. They don't seem to have a clue in terms of merchandise. They're getting better because they realize nostalgia sells so that's why we're getting ride specific shirts and some merchandise. I was also vastly disappointed in the Tower of Terror merchandise. I'm willing to spend a bit of money but it's either too generic or too overpriced. I only bought a Heroes and Villains shirt on the 24 hour day because I was lucky enough to be gifted a gift card. It was $30. For a Hanes shirt. Granted, it DOES glow in the dark, but really? $30 for a shirt?

 

[Lord_Vader]

The entire Metro Orlando area averages about a 71% occupancy rate. Non-Disney WDW-area hotels average a higher occupancy rate, about 78%.

Excluding DVC, WDW hotels averaged an occupancy rate of about 76% last year.

WDW's hotel occupancy rate dropped by about 2% after the opening of Art Of Animation (AOA).

I suggest you view AOA as production line capacity. A company does not add capacity unless it thinks it will be needed. In the case of AOA, corporate Disney anticipated that MyMagic+ (MM+) would produce greater demand.

The decline in occupancy is partially explained by onsite guests downgrading from Disney's Moderate Resorts to experience AOA (resulting in lower occupancy rates there), AOA's badly priced 2-room "Family Suites", and the delayed rollout of MM+. Added together, AOA currently means lower margins for WDW.

The jury is still out on MM+. We need to give MM+ another 4 or 5 quarters to see how this aspect plays out.

I think Disney needs to completely rebaseline the pricing structure of all of its Value Resort Family Suites.

Finally, Disney needs to come up with a strategy (there are several possibilities) to improve occupancy at its Deluxe and Moderate Resorts.

Using your percentages...

TDO added 2000 rooms in 2012, the occupancy dropped 2%. So TDO sold (on avg.) 17,160 rooms per night in 2012 and 18,240 in 2013. In other words they added on average over 1,000 sold rooms per night and they did it with more expensive "Value" suites than moderate resort room and this was accomplished even though MM+ was running WAY behind schedule and not generating the expected results on time. How on earth is that a losing proposition from Disney's point of view?

The bean counters at Disney are not stupid, they do understand that adding to inventory increases the supply and if demand is not high enough will reduce the price you can charge.

 

[Kman101]

When we were then in March, knowing full well we likely won't return anytime soon, we easily spent $300 in Epcot (all Epcot branded items) and another $200 for generic Walt Disney World merchandise. I mean 4 sweatshirts alone between my wife and I were probably over $200. That being said, as a Disneyland local, I probably haven't spent $200 in total on merch over the past 5 years. We got caught up in the WDW moment...just like Disney wanted us to.

It's the opposite for me. As a WDW "local" (I live close enough but not right there), I don't really find much interesting merchandise to me but when I was in Disneyland years ago, I spent WAY more than I planned, basically "just because". So I get that.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

It's the opposite for me. As a WDW "local" (I live close enough but not right there), I don't really find much interesting merchandise to me but when I was in Disneyland years ago, I spent WAY more than I planned, basically "just because". So I get that.

Last time I went to Disneyland (gawd I miss that place) I got a handful of cool stuff. But I think my favorite souvenir has to be my Lion King parade photos. I recall getting some related merch but it's been lost since.

 

[Mike S]

I do need to complain for a moment about something, though. We stayed at the Polynesian (first/last time that'll happen) and I bought a t-shirt from Boutiki. I know, I'm a noob, a rube, newbie, dumb, whatever, but I wanted it so I shelled out a disgusting $38 for it. It's been 13 months since it was purchased... it's stretched in parts (arms, chest, neck), shrunk in others (it was longer than it is now!) and the colors have completely faded. It looks positively awful after wearing it for about two hours. Lesson learned- no more tshirts from Disney parks/stores/websites.

I bought a WDW 40th anniversary shirt 3 years ago and it's still fine. I have a ritual of wearing that shirt every time I spend a full day in Magic Kingdom and I've been there quite a few times since I bought it. I'll also point out that it and a special edition 40th anniversary vinylmation are the last things I ever bought at WDW. Nothing has really interested me since.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Hey @WDW1974

When you were talking about the renaissance Knott's is currently going through. I found the same on a recent trip to Kings Island outside of Cincinnati. It had gone through some pretty dark times under Paramount, with concrete and generic show buildings added in various places, plus a lack of upkeep and maintenance.

When CedarFair took over, they began a phase by phase lift of the park. Fixing up and refurbishing opening day attractions, as well maintaing the main mall and hub around the Eiffel Tower, which I might add, has "hub trees" that make the eiffel tower appear taller and farther away, as well as an assortment of flowers, shrubs, and topiaries.

CedarFair has also added some new rides, and brand new roller coaster complete with themed queue and building, plus it's landscaped.

I saw cast members maintaining the queues, and cleaning up spills and messes left by guests within minutes after they happened (By messes I mean they spilled food!)

It was a nice reprieve from going to WDW (after all I chose not to renew my AP at the end of 2011 and got an AP to Disneyland Paris instead).

It was especially nice seeing their interest in maintaining their classic attractions, as well a theme park that actually has greenery and hub trees in it...you know Magic Kingdom up until 2003.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Using your percentages...

TDO added 2000 rooms in 2012, the occupancy dropped 2%. So TDO sold (on avg.) 17,160 rooms per night in 2012 and 18,240 in 2013. In other words they added on average over 1,000 sold rooms per night and they did it with more expensive "Value" suites than moderate resort room and this was accomplished even though MM+ was running WAY behind schedule and not generating the expected results on time. How on earth is that a losing proposition from Disney's point of view?

The bean counters at Disney are not stupid, they do understand that adding to inventory increases the supply and if demand is not high enough will reduce the price you can charge.

The "sharp pencil guys" (as Walt Disney called them) have no control over economic forces. Nor did they anticipate the delayed rollout of MyMagic+, which even Iger had to backpeddle on in front of Wall Street.

Those running WDW are highly attuned to the concept of lean enterprise. It's why, for example, we've seen WDW decrease the number of varieties of french fries, eliminate printed napkins, reduce consumables in hotel rooms, defer maintenance, etc. Improved operational efficiency was one of the big selling points of MyMagic+. Current WDW management lives and breathes for improved efficiency.

Instead of improving efficiency, this is what has happened to the number of unoccupied rooms:

The number of unoccupied rooms is at an all-time high. The number of empty room nights now exceeds the post-9/11 economy, which had a debilitating effect on WDW's business.

Put another way, WDW now has the equivalent of a completely empty Grand Flordian, Polynesian, Port Orleans French Quarter, and Pop Century every night.

With Per Room Guest Spending (PRGS) at $267 in 2013, over 2.2 million unoccupied room nights represent a tremendous waste of company assets and over $500M in unrealized revenue annually.

The idea that those running WDW would intentionally increase room inventory so that the number of unoccupied room nights would increase simply ignores their behavior in all other aspects of WDW operation.