TWDC 2QFY16 Earnings Call Thread

[ford91exploder]

So if only 1 guest comes next quarter but spends $1 Bil they will be happy? What about all those empty rooms? That would be money lost. And operating all of those attractions, restaurants and other places on a daily basis would be meaningless as well.

You actually want BOTH income AND attendance to go up. If they both are going in opposite directions then something will snap soon.

Gods they would be ecstatic if that actually occurred, That would approach Wall St's ideal company which consists of a BoD no employees and customers who give the company money for no goods or services delivered.

 

[Andrew C]

You actually want BOTH income AND attendance to go up.

Would you want attendance to continue to increase right now when the parks are already overcrowded during most months as it is, and the new areas do not start to open until next year? Disney is obviously responsible for this current state, but I am thinking that it doesn't change the fact the answer to this question is "no, let's flatten out attendance at least for now"

 

[xipetotec]

Oh gee, let's make cuts and increases in the US parks and then be stunned at lackluster attendance. I'll be curious to see how much attendance drops in the months to come with all the latest cuts/increases.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I don't buy the holiday calendar at all....

The alignment of the New Years and Easter holidays definitely affects the Q1, Q2, and Q3 numbers.

In addition, the 365-day calendar does not line up neatly with 52 weeks in a year, meaning Disney occasionally has a 53-week year, noticeably affecting the numbers reported by Parks & Resorts.

 

[raven]

Would you want attendance to continue to increase right now when the parks are already overcrowded during most months as it is, and the new areas do not start to open until next year? Disney is obviously responsible for this current state, but I am thinking that it doesn't change the fact the answer to this question is "no, let's flatten out attendance at least for now"

Again, parks are crowded because Disney has closed huge areas of their parks and have yet to expand giving guests more areas to roam. This has nothing to do with attendance increasing because obviously, by the report, attendance is down.

 

[lebeau]

based on his comments...it is intentional..

 

[Andrew C]

Again, parks are crowded because Disney has closed huge areas of their parks and have yet to expand giving guests more areas to roam. This has nothing to do with attendance increasing because obviously, by the report, attendance is down.

That is kind of my point. They don't want to see big increases in attendance at the moment. They want to moderate it due to some of the facts you mention here. They have nowhere to put them.

 

[raven]

That is kind of my point. They don't want to see big increases in attendance at the moment. They want to moderate it due to some of the facts you mention here. They have nowhere to put them.

My point too. Disney's fault. Can't count that as a "plus."

 

[Speedy71]

WDW should never stop growing and improving. While the new parade was nice, new fantasyland was well just hi-ho-hum and I can't think of anything else big that just drew people in.

I'm hoping someone is keeping an eye on Uni and what they are accomplishing and in a short amount of time. While some of their new attractions aren't top of the line (in my opinion) they are new attractions and they are growing at a fast rate while Disney just sits on the pot

You'd think they would want to keep the title "The happiest place on earth"

 

[BubbaQuest]

...
The $1.5B redo of DCA is a drop in the bucket compared to what 15 years of neglect has done to WDW. We're $4B in already (Pandora included) and they haven't even touched the MK or Epcot and the 50th is coming up.

They are going to need $4B more...

Couldn't agree more. It's great that Disney is finally investing in new attractions, but they have 10+ years of deferred maintenance that also needs to be addressed.

Pandora should be great (fingers crossed), but in the meantime Epcot will be nothing but an Elsa meet-n-greet and DHS will be a wasteland with a "coming soon" center. Pandora alone is not going to convince me to book a week long vacation.

The real head scratcher for me is SWL at DL. The new land (beyond the berm) may be able to expand guest capacity, but none of the rest of the park is ready to handle that increased capacity. Main Street is already a mess and the bathrooms are overflowing on a daily basis. DL needs massive infrastructure improvements. Not sure how that is going to happen if Disney's only strategy is to increase prices and reduce staff.

 

[stretchsje]

Thats what I got..... I'll look at crowd levels to see if anything is going on there.... I'm sure @ParentsOf4 will have the detailed financial analysis later

It might be equally interesting to track Universal. This week's report (http://blog.touringplans.com/2016/05/10/universal-crowd-calendar-report-april-24-to-30-2016/), like many others recently, show actual crowd levels surpassing TouringPlans' expectations (and much higher than last year). Even with WDW attendance being down, Orlando tourism is still at record levels, correct?

 

[Speedy71]

I don't buy the holiday calendar at all.... they will say anything to make it sound better

I'm like you I hope they've found their ceiling

And that's my problem there shouldn't be a ceiling. IMO what they are doing is wrong.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Attendance down at D

Adding on here: SeaWorld had lost attendance in the first quarter of this year, and is facing serious losses.

 

[Speedy71]

that's not what will happen for the majority IMO... some can only go during the summer months when kids are out of school so they will either pay more, or not go at all

IMO universal has more exciting things to offer then WDW.

 

[ford91exploder]

Oh gee, let's make cuts and increases in the US parks and then be stunned at lackluster attendance. I'll be curious to see how much attendance drops in the months to come with all the latest cuts/increases.

I'm expecting significant drops especially around the Holidays when Disney finds out just how many people visited WDW at Christmas JUST to see the Osborne Lights.

 

[draybook]

I was going to comment about these statistics but it was recently brought to my attention that I'm one of "those people" who only have negative things to say....

 

[ford91exploder]

Attendance down at D

It might be equally interesting to track Universal. This week's report (http://blog.touringplans.com/2016/05/10/universal-crowd-calendar-report-april-24-to-30-2016/), like many others recently, show actual crowd levels surpassing TouringPlans' expectations. Despite WDW attendance being down, Orlando tourism is still at record levels, correct?

Correct - the attendance is Disney's problem and to an extent SeaWorld who are still recovering from the 'Blackfish' debacle.

 

[betty rose]

according to Bob, it seems like it is their strategy to moderate attendance moving forward...so I assume a drop isn't a surprise...

This excuse from Bob, sounds like....when someone makes a mistake, and says quickly "I meant to do that" Someone with his ego, can never admit to a mistake.

 

[Speedy71]

Oh gee, let's make cuts and increases in the US parks and then be stunned at lackluster attendance. I'll be curious to see how much attendance drops in the months to come with all the latest cuts/increases.

I actually want this to happen it will tell Disney to pull their heads out of their .

 

[betty rose]

Translation - He knows the company's gonna crash and he intends to be gone before it does so his successor gets the blame.

You forgot to add...and he gets the big bonus!