TWDC Earnings

[ford91exploder]

A seasonal pass has entire months and holidays blocked off (not 100% which ones), but the standard annual pass has no blackout days.

DL's AP's except for premium tiers have blackout dates

 

[jakeman]

DL's AP's except for premium tiers have blackout dates

Anything like this pass for WDW?

Good thing she was asking about WDW.

I'm sure it's those same eagle eye observation skills that led to your disbelief of the financial report isn't it?

 

[RSoxNo1]

I missed the call but will try to listen to it later.

If my math is right, MM+ did increase MK daily FP capacity by about 9,000. Assuming 3 FP+ per person, that's Iger's 3,000.

MM+ did not increase MK daily ride capacity at all.

Iger is not lying; it's just how he views the product. Each FP is a "unit" and FP+ has the equivalent of about 9,000 more units per day to sell.

Again, Iger is not making this up or playing word games. He's just revealing how he thinks of FP+.

Actually, he's revealing how the data was presented to him. He's also revealing he has no clue how to interpret theme park data.

Senior management is seriously PO'ed about MM+ budget overruns, schedule delays, and quality issues. There are a lot of extremely well-compensated executives looking to not get crushed professionally by the MM+ train wreck. They simply presented a bullet point "Magic Kingdom daily capacity up by 3,000" to save their jobs and Iger had no idea how to question what the number meant.

In Iger's mind, MK's capacity is up.

Is it any wonder WDW is such a mess?

The argument to this is that the previous Fastpass system was under utilized and without "forcing" current guests to use Fastpass+ there's no reason to believe this system will be used any more or any less.

 

[RSoxNo1]

One of the early suggestions on these threads was that FP+ would be used to manipulate guest behavior into riding attractions that they otherwise might skip. (Something Disney has tried in the past with “bonus” FastPasses.)

The difficulty in reconciling this with FP+ is that most popular attractions cycle with all capacity used. Attractions such as Hall of the Presidents or Carrousel of Progress might have unused capacity during peak holiday season (as Iger specifically mentioned) but they don’t have FP+. Therefore, it’s challenging to envision how this could be used to claim that Disney was “able to accommodate about 3,000 more additional guests in the Magic Kingdom per day thanks to MyMagic+.”

MM+ does not increase the physical size of MK. It does not add ride capacity. It does not increase restaurant space. It might let guests enter the park a few seconds faster but when MK is in a phase closing as happens during peak holiday season, faster entry into the parks is not a factor.

One possible interpretation of the “3,000 more additional guests” claim can be reached by taking into account what Iger discussed next, namely FP+.

“What we are seeing there is substantially higher utilization of that product among our guests than we saw with the traditional FASTPASS. By the way by a wide margin.”

When comparing FP+ vs. FP, FP+ is able to accommodate about 3,000 more guests than FP. However, this is only because FP+ robbed capacity away from Standby lines.

The net gain of FP+ is 0, a concept that Iger did not disclose during the call, presumably either because he wanted to convince analysts that MM+ is beneficial or because he simply failed to grasp the concept of where FP+’s “substantially higher utilization” came from.

Something else I've considered is increased staff. Simply put, WDW reportedly has hired additional CMs to support MM+. Might the claim of 3,000 more guests accommodated simply be a reflection of more employees on hand (as a result of MM+) that allow for more guests to enter the park? In other words, is MK's capacity at least partially determined by a minimum CM-to-guest ratio?

I also immediately went to the increase in staffing. This could justify the increased capacity. Having said that, it sounds like this is more of a theoretical increase instead of an actual increase.

 

[flynnibus]

The argument to this is that the previous Fastpass system was under utilized and without "forcing" current guests to use Fastpass+ there's no reason to believe this system will be used any more or any less.

The idea every person gets THREE assignments when requesting their first... that alone will boost FP requests.. even if it means FPs people don't use. But Disney is hoping that by having a FP, you are influenced to stay and use it.

 

[Rasvar]

THIS is what bugs me about the OFFICIAL attendance figures, I've talked to a bunch of people who have visited Disney recently and the resorts are GHOST TOWNS empty parking lots, QS restaurants with no lines, Buses being empty or no more than half full.

Yet Disney tells the tale of 79% full resorts and only 5% of rooms being 'out of service'

At the same time, the period between MLK and Presidents Day has become what seems to be the slowest time of the year. WDW has filled so many other periods with special events that what was slow time now isn't. This seems to be the only period not filled in by an event and is now the maximum slow time. it is now the period I suggest people go to the parks if they aren't a pool/water park person.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The idea every person gets THREE assignments when requesting their first... that alone will boost FP requests.. even if it means FPs people don't use. But Disney is hoping that by having a FP, you are influenced to stay and use it.

Right that is the motivation from their end to booking everything at once. That seems to be the driver here instead of guest demand.

 

[flynnibus]

Right that is the motivation from their end to booking everything at once. That seems to be the driver here instead of guest demand.

Call it 'influencing the guest' - just how they influence you all over the place. From how tickets are priced, to DDP offerings.