Interesting article about Disney's future

[DizMe]

https://www.frommers.com/trip-ideas...s-are-in-a-lot-more-trouble-than-people-think

 

[OKW Lover]

Such a poorly researched story. I was especially amused about no new attractions are being built. One word answer - Tron

 

[dreamer17555]

That is an extremely well written article and hits the nail on the head. Disney is clearly not interested in investing in the parks, what they are doing to the resorts turning them into generic spaces should be a crime, and with a recession looming they should be very concerned. I don’t quite understand how they can’t see the oncoming train about to hit them. I know park attendance is very high but a recession with those Revenge-travel dollars drying up should be on their radar as a sign that this won’t last.

 

[dreamer17555]

Such a poorly researched story. I was especially amused about no new attractions are being built. One word answer - Tron

Did you read the article? They mention both Tron in FL and Mickey and Minnies runaway railroad coming to California but nothing planned for after that and considering how long it takes disney to build an attraction what a problem that is. It took five years for guardians and six years for Tron. They don’t even have something planned and Epic universe is scheduled to open in the meantime.

 

[TeamRiley]

So, one of the problems is that the parks are so crowded that Genie+ is selling out by noon? How exactly is that a problem for the money side of Disney?

The other problem is that families are actually willing to go into debt just to be able to take a trip to Disney? Again, how is that a problem for the money side of Disney?

This article means nothing. The problem at Disney is the same as everywhere else... They cannot hire enough staff. Once the recession hits and more people need jobs, as well as less people jamming into the parks, things will shift. These kinds of articles have been being written for decades, and they are always crap.

 

[mom2rtk]

Such a poorly researched story. I was especially amused about no new attractions are being built. One word answer - Tron

The article specifically mentions in the spring which means once that and MMRR are open.

 

[mom2rtk]

So, one of the problems is that the parks are so crowded that Genie+ is selling out by noon? How exactly is that a problem for the money side of Disney?

The other problem is that families are actually willing to go into debt just to be able to take a trip to Disney? Again, how is that a problem for the money side of Disney?

This article means nothing. The problem at Disney is the same as everywhere else... They cannot hire enough staff. Once the recession hits and more people need jobs, as well as less people jamming into the parks, things will shift. These kinds of articles have been being written for decades, and they are always crap.

The problem for Disney is that all the parks revenue is being sucked up by other parts of the company.

The problem with people buying on debt is that when the economy crashes people stop buying. When you are left with only high income customers they have higher expectations than what Disney can deliver.

 

[Boopuff]

After reading the article, I find it so sad that the company has disregarded the importance of imagineers. I also can't fathom why Epcot has been torn up for as long as it has. Heck they build entire buildings in less time! And Tron... what the heck!! Get moving already! Disney really goofed by not taking the initiative to make Star Wars an independent 5th gate.

 

[dreamer17555]

This article means nothing. The problem at Disney is the same as everywhere else... They cannot hire enough staff. Once the recession hits and more people need jobs, as well as less people jamming into the parks, things will shift. These kinds of articles have been being written for decades, and they are always crap.

It’s not that they don’t have people who will work it’s that they don’t want to pay to have adequate staffing. And I am not talking about pay raises.

My daughter is a CP, she’s in the college program, those kids can be scheduled anywhere from 30 to 60 hours a week and they cannot say no but she has several CP friends who are getting scheduled the bare minimum 30 hours a week and even then being released to go home early on shifts. They could staff the parks adequately if they wanted to. They don’t want to.

 

[TeamRiley]

The problem for Disney is that all the parks revenue is being sucked up by other parts of the company.

The problem with people buying on debt is that when the economy crashes people stop buying. When you are left with only high income customers they have higher expectations than what Disney can deliver.

That will never ever happen. it is all supply and demand. For instance, right now Disneyland has capacity for 85,000 people. Average day is around 50,000. For simplicity, lets just assume that each person is paying $200 for a day in the park. At 50,000 guests at $200 per, that is 10 Million a day to Disneyland.

If Disney raises prices to make improvements, you would think that they would lose money. Not necessarily. If prices go up attendance goes down, but the overall inflow per day can still be maintained at 10 Million.

The other thing to consider is that there is a certain fixed cost to Disney per guest. They have to hire more cast members, more servers, more hosts etc. If the cost goes up a bit, and attendance drops, but the overall inflow is still 10 Million, the fixed costs drop because there are fewer guests - free money for upgrades.

It is not A+B=C. Disney will never fall into the traps that all these armchair analysts love to expound upon.

 

[mom2rtk]

That will never ever happen. it is all supply and demand. For instance, right now Disneyland has capacity for 85,000 people. Average day is around 50,000. For simplicity, lets just assume that each person is paying $200 for a day in the park. At 50,000 guests at $200 per, that is 10 Million a day to Disneyland.

If Disney raises prices to make improvements, you would think that they would lose money. Not necessarily. If prices go up attendance goes down, but the overall inflow per day can still be maintained at 10 Million.

The other thing to consider is that there is a certain fixed cost to Disney per guest. They have to hire more cast members, more servers, more hosts etc. If the cost goes up a bit, and attendance drops, but the overall inflow is still 10 Million, the fixed costs drop because there are fewer guests - free money for upgrades.

It is not A+B=C. Disney will never fall into the traps that all these armchair analysts love to expound upon.

Parks make tons of profits already. Problem is they are being siphoned off to pay for other parts of the company.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Such a poorly researched story. I was especially amused about no new attractions are being built. One word answer - Tron

They are pointing out the attractions that are coming are clones, they are pointing out that once they open (relatively soon) there isn't much else going on to entice people. Plus they did use the wording "of substance"

At this point I don't think we can be like "go Disney Tron is opening up soon!" I mean sure it looks like a cool ride and I think the nighttime ambiance is going to be awesome but the excitement has been soured I think for a lot of people by just how long it's taking. In May 2022 when we were there there was an astounding amount of dirt there. Plus no amount of delays early on in the pandemic can account for an attraction that was set to be open in August 2021 (announced in 2018) but is now opening sometime (recent hint march or april) in the spring of 2023! You give them a pass...for a while..and then after that nope.

I feel somewhat similar (not as much though) towards Universal with Fast and Furious. That ride was also delayed from its initial opening announced and unfortunately the issue primarily for that is it's not a good attraction.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They cannot hire enough staff. Once the recession hits and more people need jobs,

I used to think though that the Disney company would smooth things over if they had full levels of staffing but trickles of things over time (pre-pandemic too) lead to a different story. Disney hasn't really been a theme park operator in terms of full smoothness for a while. Even if they had employees on the books doesn't mean they will also choose to utilize those employees to the fullest of their employment. Things like running only one side of something (which they have done over time with Space Mountain), delaying an attraction ever so much in the morning from opening, etc.

If a recession hits what do you think happens to people's traveling habits? They tend to turn downward. Couple with the fact that airline travel pricing is high, hotel pricing is high, experiences are high in cost already and inflation all of which are newer-ish things at once to be happening. If the travel industry is impacted companies within that sector aren't just going to hire people just because people need the jobs.

One of the first things to go when times are rough are leisure travel.

 

[disneyseniors]

Just my 2 cents
I agree with the Fromme article completely, and it saddens me too.

 

[DLgal]

That article is spot on in everything it says.

 

[rangerxenos]

It’s not that they don’t have people who will work it’s that they don’t want to pay to have adequate staffing. And I am not talking about pay raises.

My daughter is a CP, she’s in the college program, those kids can be scheduled anywhere from 30 to 60 hours a week and they cannot say no but she has several CP friends who are getting scheduled the bare minimum 30 hours a week and even then being released to go home early on shifts. They could staff the parks adequately if they wanted to. They don’t want to.

THIS!

 

[starlite_]

I will say that I don't understand why folks get ... cranky ... when there are no new attractions every year minimum at every single park. I simply don't get it, it's like they want the parks to be full of construction walls all the time. It's an insatiable need and very weird to me.

And it's a cycle, construction: complain about walls. No construction: complain about lack of construction. Construction: complain about IP. It's impossible to keep folks happy.

 

[DLgal]

I will say that I don't understand why folks get ... cranky ... when there are no new attractions every year minimum at every single park. I simply don't get it, it's like they want the parks to be full of construction walls all the time. It's an insatiable need and very weird to me.

And it's a cycle, construction: complain about walls. No construction: complain about lack of construction. Construction: complain about IP. It's impossible to keep folks happy.

No one said every year. But 10 and 6 years to build 2 coasters is over the top ridiculous. They just have no urgency with anything.

 

[Mle8308]

Great article. Hopefully corporate Disney is paying attention.... It's not about new attractions to me, it's how they upkeep the current ones and how guests are valued. This line from the article really struck me "Older generations may mourn what the brand used to represent, but younger ones who don't know any different will accept the shadow as the genuine article." It's so true.

 

[Pluto468]

Thanks for posting. Very interesting article and I agree with their views.