What's with the wait times!? (hint.. they're low)

[Curious Constance]

They'd be smart to *decrease* the single day tickets in the coming weeks for the reasons you bring up. Lower it by $10-15 after the 4th of July weekend through mid-August and see if it brings in those non-AP locals that have felt pushed away by the single day prices and AP crowd.

Yes! And start adding perks to multi-day tickets purchases, like free hopper ad ons or free MaxPass if you buy 3+ day tickets. Dude, if I’m interested in spending multiple days in your park stop nickel and diming me to death!

 

[WDW Pro]

At this point there's no way to dismiss the obvious. People are just not as excited about Star Wars at Disneyland as we were all led to believe.

You can blame the blackouts, the pricing, the fear of crowds, etc. But all that boils down to the basic fact that anybody could be choosing to go to Disneyland right now, and almost nobody actually is.

The suits have a real problem on their hands.

Ding ding ding. It's like if you were outside sweating and panting from heat, and somebody said, "You know it could be because we're on asphalt, or maybe because we wore the wrong clothes, or maybe our blood pressure is up..." And then you cut them off and say, "Or maybe it's summer?"

Always go with the clear and obvious answer rather than the strained efforts to keep a narrative.

 

[flynnibus]

This is the same deal. A few weeks isn't going to put hold to plans that are literally years down the line, especially for something that just opened. I mean sure if it really was a bust then they would shift course in some way, but we are probably talking after a year of it not performing. And its not getting attendance because people don't care about it (although plenty don't), but because so many were scared away. How many posts have people read on other boards saying they were going to steer clear of the park for the first few months because they were afraid of the crowds?

Its no reason to be 'scared' of the future. DCA being a dud is probably what got us so much in that resort today. Disney knows end of the day the only way to get people is to build high quality attraction and shows. Shanghai proved that in droves after DCA, WDSP and HKDL were duds at opening. They learned their lesson. They may not build another billion dollar land lol but honestly they never needed to do it either.

I don’t agree. This is a company that consistently shows it 1) can be very risk adverse and 2) willing to change plans on a short notice to avoid going deeper down the rabbit hole... even when major spend has already happened.

When they are already gun shy on a big commit, it doesn’t take much for the leadership to simply put plans on ice... knowing they can restart them at a later point in the future. They had a back for delaying spending until it’s really necessary (parking in DLR anyone??).

So if all of a sudden the park shows a radical change in forecasts and performance... you can count on Disney acting sooner rather than giving things more time to “even out” if the changes mean spending less or putting future plans on hold.

 

[flynnibus]

That wouldn't necessarily make a difference. Going private just takes Wall Street out of the equation. There are still stakeholders and a BoD involved that would demand a return on their investment.

Going private also usually means lots of cost cutting measures since you no longer have Wall Street backed funding.

Basically going private at this point would probably make things in the Parks a lot worse before it ever got better.

Except this is a very rich cash generating business. They don’t need huge credit lines to float themselves. It’s the big capital expenses in growth initiatives that would need that kind of long term funding. But again being such an established enitity with strong capital and cash flows would make financing viable... even if it’s not as simple as selling more shares.

Much like Disney in the early days... they had to keep the lenders happy... not drive daily ops to satisfy forever growth plans, etc.

The problem at this point is the parks are so big... funding a buyout is a big enchilada.. and what kind of approach would be made to the IP problem. Royalties could be excessive hindering things.

 

[flynnibus]

Bust out the BOGO offers they used to run for dca and I bet we’d see the flip real quick.

But 45-60mins for the headliners is pretty normal levels. It’s that everything else in the second and third tier not holding 20+min waits shows the weakness IMO

 

[shambolicdefending]

That's what makes the situation fascinating - having to give discounts to attract more attendance while simultaneously convincing people it's not as miserably crowded as the last time they came. ROTR can't open soon enough.

We're well into speculation territory here, but they made a conscious choice years ago to sell out in favor of high crowds and low-priced APs.

If they really believed all of the overpriced and crowded out tourists would come sprinting back for a half-finished Star Wars experience based on a few lukewarm new movies, their arrogance is beyond even what most of us suspected.

I'm sure there are plenty of crowded days in Disneyland's future. But will they be the same old SoCal AP crowds? It sure looks like it. And I'd say that is not what the suits were hoping for or anticipating.

 

[Curious Constance]

I’d be interested in knowing how the hotel occupancy has been lately.

 

[Disney Irish]

Except this is a very rich cash generating business. They don’t need huge credit lines to float themselves. It’s the big capital expenses in growth initiatives that would need that kind of long term funding. But again being such an established enitity with strong capital and cash flows would make financing viable... even if it’s not as simple as selling more shares.

Much like Disney in the early days... they had to keep the lenders happy... not drive daily ops to satisfy forever growth plans, etc.

The problem at this point is the parks are so big... funding a buyout is a big enchilada.. and what kind of approach would be made to the IP problem. Royalties could be excessive hindering things.

And its that cash generating business that has been keeping other areas of the company afloat. Remember it was mentioned to take the entire company private not just the parks.

And its not like they pay cash for everything. Just like a majority of companies out there they use funding sources to fund not only long term projects but also short term projects for all aspects of the company. If I remember correctly from the most recent call they have something like $37B in outstanding debt. If they went private my understanding is most of those debts would become due or would require making some arrangements with the creditors since there is no more stock collateral.

And like you said a buyout is an expensive endeavor. With only 10B cash on hand they would need to divest themselves of certain assets in order to finance the buyout. Which would require lots of cost cutting measures across the entire company, parks included, in order to make up any short fall from those divestitures. And I'd also imagine they'd sell off a couple of the foreign parks as well.

Bottom line my point was the Parks wouldn't be any better off just because they went private. In fact I'd imagine they'd be a lot worse in the short term.

 

[flynnibus]

And its that cash generating business that has been keeping other areas of the company afloat. Remember it was mentioned to take the entire company private not just the parks.

It was the parks they were shopping... not all of twdc.

I still think appeasing investors of similar mindset ( that you picked) is easier than appearing a public market you don’t control.

 

[Disney Irish]

It was the parks they were shopping... not all of twdc.

I still think appeasing investors of similar mindset ( that you picked) is easier than appearing a public market you don’t control.

I know what the company was doing previously in real life.

But the poster said:

What we need is for the WDC to become private

So I was responding to the comment in thread, not what the company was previously doing in real life.

 

[Touchdown]

If they are smart, they will grin and bear when it comes to APs this summer, all this talk about no crowds is going to push a lot of people to Flex passes. Once they get most of the AP crowd to buy into this, they will be able to manage attendance much easier and avoid super packed weekend and summer crowds.

I suspect we will see hotel discounts soon...

 

[TP2000]

I don't know how this is possible, and I've refreshed the App a couple times on my phone, but wait times for E Tickets seem to be actually decreasing as this week goes along!

At 4:00pm today, sunny and 75 degrees in Anaheim...

Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Star Tours, Incredicoaster - 5 Minutes
Submarines, Thunder Mountain - 10 Minutes
Soarin' Over California - 15 Minutes
Matterhorn Bobsleds, Guardians of the Galaxy, Indiana Jones Adventure - 20 Minutes
Hyperspace Mountain, Millennium Falcon - 30 Minutes
Grizzly River Run, Splash Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers - 50 Minutes

Now that I've had my nap, I have half a mind to have a light dinner on the patio and then drive over to Disneyland later this evening just to ride Millennium Falcon: Target Run for myself and see what all the fuss, nor non-fuss, is about.

 

[TROR]

I don't know how this is possible, and I've refreshed the App a couple times on my phone, but wait times for E Tickets seem to be actually decreasing as this week goes along!

At 4:00pm today, sunny and 75 degrees in Anaheim...

Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Star Tours, Incredicoaster - 5 Minutes
Submarines, Thunder Mountain - 10 Minutes
Soarin' Over California - 15 Minutes
Matterhorn Bobsleds, Guardians of the Galaxy, Indiana Jones Adventure - 20 Minutes
Hyperspace Mountain, Millennium Falcon - 30 Minutes
Grizzly River Run, Splash Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers - 50 Minutes

Now that I've had my nap, I have half a mind to have a light dinner on the patio, and then drive over to Disneyland later this evening just to ride Millennium Falcon: Target Run for myself and see what all the fuss, nor non-fuss, is about.

How likely is it for the park to be busy this Saturday? Thinking about making my trip a bit sooner.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

WDWMagic meetup at the failed Star Wars Land this weekend.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

WDWMagic meetup at the failed Star Wars Land this weekend.

I've been waiting for this moment my whole e-life.

 

[Happyrebster]

I get that you're joking; but the past few days have been some of the most pleasant Disneyland days I've enjoyed in years. It felt like "old times" with the reasonable wait times and smaller crowds. You could actually make spontaneous decisions about everything from snacks to rides. AND the weather is currently perfect. I would say that anyone who lives in Southern California and spending more time on the boards than in the parks is really missing out! We've been complaining about the crowds for ages. Now we are finally getting a reprieve. I really encourage everyone to enjoy it!

 

[TP2000]

I get that you're joking; but the past few days have been some of the most pleasant Disneyland days I've enjoyed in years. It felt like "old times" with the reasonable wait times and smaller crowds. You could actually make spontaneous decisions about everything from snacks to rides. AND the weather is currently perfect. I would say that anyone who lives in Southern California and spending more time on the boards than in the parks is really missing out! We've been complaining about the crowds for ages. Now we are finally getting a reprieve. I really encourage everyone to enjoy it!

I just finished dinner. I'm going to get changed and call an Uber and head over to Disneyland, just to go see Star Wars Land for myself for the first time.

I never imagined that this is how it would play out, as I assumed my first visit wouldn't be until a weekday this fall after the summer crush.

 

[Curious Constance]

I just finished dinner. I'm going to get changed and call an Uber and head over to Disneyland, just to go see Star Wars Land for myself for the first time.

I never imagined that this is how it would play out, as I assumed my first visit wouldn't be until a weekday this fall after the summer crush.

When you pass Splash Mountain or POTC or HM, give them a tip of the ole’ top hat from me and my two babies, k?

 

[The_Mesh_Hatter]

I just finished dinner. I'm going to get changed and call an Uber and head over to Disneyland, just to go see Star Wars Land for myself for the first time.

I never imagined that this is how it would play out, as I assumed my first visit wouldn't be until a weekday this fall after the summer crush.

Have a nice trip. I’m excited to hear your thoughts. Evenings at Disneyland have been a delight without worrying about queues and baffling crowds.

 

[shortstop]

I just finished dinner. I'm going to get changed and call an Uber and head over to Disneyland, just to go see Star Wars Land for myself for the first time.

I never imagined that this is how it would play out, as I assumed my first visit wouldn't be until a weekday this fall after the summer crush.

Just don’t forget to pick up that roll of paper towels while you’re there!