What if this thing fails?

[KBLovedDisney]

Yes I know this will probably never ever ever happen and if it does, it is probably like 1 in a 1,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999.99 chance of being a possibility, but I had this thought just now.

Please be kind.
-------
With everything that has suddenly come through Disney World: Star Wars, Toy Story, major re-refurbishments, classic ride closures, rising costs and upcharges within upcharges

My question is this: What if TDC plan ultimately backfires and fails miserably? What would happen to the Disney franchise?

 

[KBLovedDisney]

I know I know, Disney will never die, but what if the company starts losing major profits because of recent changes? That is what I was getting at.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Yes I know this will probably never ever ever happen and if it does, it is probably like 1 in a 1,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999.99 chance of being a possibility, but I had this thought just now.

Please be kind.
-------
With everything that has suddenly come through Disney World: Star Wars, Toy Story, major re-refurbishments, classic ride closures, rising costs and upcharges within upcharges

My question is this: What if TDC plan ultimately backfires and fails miserably? What would happen to the Disney franchise?

What does TDC stand for?
I will say this, it looks like Disney is planning on pushing their customers to the cost brink. They can always lower prices or more likely add incentives to come to the parks. They should watch it though, Universal just ran a promo where you buy an annual pass and get 6 months free.
Edit addition: You wonder if they price themselves out of younger people and lose a generation. It's like baseball and other pro sports. They price themselves out of average family budgets, so less families go to games, less interest, lower ratings, half empty ballparks. Disney wont be empty today or in 5 years but it might lose attendance in say 20.

 

[s8film40]

Actually it's an interesting thought, I've thought about it many times. WDW will almost certainly fail at some point. What makes it interesting is WDW is such a large development. How do you wind down a business like that. Perhaps it would be a gradual thing with Disney selling off pieces at a time to stay afloat. Closing down the whole thing all at once would be a big change for the area, although by the time it comes to that I suppose there wouldn't be much business anyway. Then it leaves this giant hole in Central Florida for redevelopment.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

What does TDC stand for?
I will say this, it looks like Disney is planning on pushing their customers to the cost brink. They can always lower prices or more likely add incentives to come to the parks. They should watch it though, Universal just ran a promo where you buy an annual pass and get 6 months free.

TDC stands for The Disney Company (I think). I have seen it written as The Disney Organization or TDO as well on here.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

Actually it's an interesting thought, I've thought about it many times. WDW will almost certainly fail at some point. What makes it interesting is WDW is such a large development. How do you wind down a business like that. Perhaps it would be a gradual thing with Disney selling off pieces at a time to stay afloat. Closing down the whole thing all at once would be a big change for the area, although by the time it comes to that I suppose there wouldn't be much business anyway. Then it leaves this giant hole in Central Florida for redevelopment.

That is what I am thinking too in that it would be a very gradual effect if they happen to start failing. Something along the lines of merchandise sales going way down, party sales going down, ticket sales, etc.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Actually it's an interesting thought, I've thought about it many times. WDW will almost certainly fail at some point. What makes it interesting is WDW is such a large development. How do you wind down a business like that. Perhaps it would be a gradual thing with Disney selling off pieces at a time to stay afloat. Closing down the whole thing all at once would be a big change for the area, although by the time it comes to that I suppose there wouldn't be much business anyway. Then it leaves this giant hole in Central Florida for redevelopment.

They are morphing to something else. It used to be Disney had a different standard and way of doing business than say Six Flags. They sold stories not just rides. Well now they sell restaurants and beer to pull you in. I find it is not coincidental that they add alcohol to Magic Kingdom while closing all the kids clubs at the resort. One day they might morph into have the Main Street Medical Marijuana Dispensary, I am only half kidding with that. But it wont close just keep chugging.

 

[s8film40]

That is what I am thinking too in that it would be a very gradual effect if they happen to start failing. Something along the lines of merchandise sales going way down, party sales going down, ticket sales, etc.

My guess has always been that the first step would be for Disney to sell off the theme park division and simply license the characters and names pretty much like Tokyo. I would expect the parks to then rebound a bit under better management possibly buying a few or several more decades. It's still a big operation though and shutting something like that down is almost unimaginable. I guess either way The Disney company will probable be well out of the picture by then.

 

[castlecake2.0]

TWDC = The Walt Disney Company
TDO = Team Disney Orlando, which is the leadership team for Walt Disney World Resort

 

[KBLovedDisney]

TWDC = The Walt Disney Company
TDO = Team Disney Orlando, which is the leadership team for Walt Disney World Resort

Thanks!

 

[Chef Mickey]

There is risk in every decision a company makes, but Disney has the people and money to fix it if needed.

Things move rather quickly when profits are being lost.

Star Wars is not a risky bet, however.

 

[Nottamus]

It would be interesting to see...however it happens. Right now they are still growing, acquiring as many different ways to make money as they can...
....but eventually everything big that gets bigger, always fails. Sears & Roebuck Co.....Rome..

 

[KBLovedDisney]

There is risk in every decision a company makes, but Disney has the people and money to fix it if needed.

Things move rather quickly when profits are being lost.

Star Wars is not a risky bet, however.

Star Wars has a good solid franchise foundation with the movies that came out in the 70s and so forth.

But I truly wonder if the same could be said if they had made a land solely based on something other than Star Wars like The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. However, TPoC films haven't been doing so good versus Star Wars and from what I hear, Disney is talking about possibly rebooting this franchise because of how bad it is doing.

But I am curious how long Star Wars and Toy Story will hold up.

 

[mergatroid]

If Disney ceased to exist it would mean disaster for so many businesses in central Florida. Just look at 192 and International Drive and wonder how many of those businesses exist because of the theme parks. I imagine if Disney were really struggling the authorities would bend over backwards to facilitate any transitions or even help cover financially temporarily rather than see Disney World fail as a park.

 

[pax_65]

Disney is such a mammoth company, it is such a complex question. If you just focus on WDW... Star Wars Land is going to be enormously popular - so much so that I don't want to be anywhere near Orlando for the first few months the land is open.

People will still go to WDW. It's an incredibly popular vacation destination. The better question is, "What will happen to the loyalty Disney has built over the decades?"

For many of us, WDW is an important part of our vacation planning. It's almost impossible to eliminate it entirely but all the bad decisions and declining value is leading to less frequent trips and reduced spend on the trips we do take.

 

[networkpro]

If Disney ceased to exist it would mean disaster for so many businesses in central Florida. Just look at 192 and International Drive and wonder how many of those businesses exist because of the theme parks. I imagine if Disney were really struggling the authorities would bend over backwards to facilitate any transitions or even help cover financially temporarily rather than see Disney World fail as a park.

If anyone can remember driving down I4 in 2008 when the last major economic downturn was in full swing, there were plenty of shuttered hotels and for sale signs. Tourism generates 23% of the states sales tax revenue.

 

[DisneyDoctor]

Star Wars has a good solid franchise foundation with the movies that came out in the 70s and so forth.

But I truly wonder if the same could be said if they had made a land solely based on something other than Star Wars like The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. However, TPoC films haven't been doing so good versus Star Wars and from what I hear, Disney is talking about possibly rebooting this franchise because of how bad it is doing.

But I am curious how long Star Wars and Toy Story will hold up.

I think we can look at Pandora for that answer. Who would've though Avatar of all franchises would be as successful as it's been? Disclaimer: Pandora and TSL are NOT equivalents..

 

[Disstevefan1]

If the theme parks survived 9/11, they can survive anything.. That said, if at any time, the TWDC thinks its IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THEIR SHAREHOLDERS that the TWDC sell off the theme park division and simply license the characters, they would do it in a heart beat!

Its never about whats best for the theme parks or the theme park guests..

 

[DisneyDoctor]

It would be interesting to see...however it happens. Right now they are still growing, acquiring as many different ways to make money as they can...
....but eventually everything big that gets bigger, always fails. Sears & Roebuck Co.....Rome..

Theme parks and department stores aren't very equivalent, though. The internet killed Sears. I have a tough time seeing how anything could threaten WDW in that way.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Mammoth companies fail, they just fail bigger then small companies. They are still riding on the coattails of Walt, but, they are slowly pushing him and his memory out of the picture. That should be their biggest concern. They still provide a quality product, but, the cost of experiencing that just keeps going on and on. They have targeted money, money buys a lot of things but it will not keep a rich person going to the resort when the world is their oyster. They have complicated the process so much that you practically need month