Bean Counters and shortsightedness

[starlite_]

disney store closure is gonna hurt that also. for us, when our boys were little, we'd go to the movies at concord mills near charlotte, after the movie, we'd walk the 100 yards in the mall to the Disney Store, and boom, there are all sorts of things from the movie we just saw.

(i cant tell you how many lightning mcqueens we have hiding around our house)

every time we went to the mall, movie or not, we went to the store, and almost every single time, it was crowded with a line to buy things.

to me, closure of the disney store was another "bean counter" move. Sure they get more profit margin off of the target stuff, but why cant they do both? the disney store offered a little bit of magic to its base, that helped push you to booking that vacation.

I dont have the numbers in front of me, so i admit i could be talking out of my butt, but i do not think the disney store was losing money.

You get that generation by taking them to the movies, then taking them to a "mini emporium".

They've cut the little things.

Agree! We would go to the Disney Store every time we went to the mall. Half the time we would not buy anything, but what it did do is keep the love for Disney alive. That giant pile of plush toys was heaven.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Agree! We would go to the Disney Store every time we went to the mall. Half the time we would not buy anything, but what it did do is keep the love for Disney alive. That giant pile of plush toys was heaven.

Still bothers me that i can't bring my daughter, those stores were something to look forward to as a kid, the marketing alone was worth it for Disney IMO. I would have liked it if they did a pop up store in Target, not just an aisle

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I don't know any 12 or 13 year old that has ever been into Disney. That's the "I'm too old for it" phase. I should know.

The too old for it phase hit a little later for my kids more like 15-16. Even then a whole lot of Disney Chanel was still on in my household. I feel like I could write a Ravin Symone show better than AI could.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Agree! We would go to the Disney Store every time we went to the mall. Half the time we would not buy anything, but what it did do is keep the love for Disney alive. That giant pile of plush toys was heaven.

100% agree my kids loved it when they were younger. They would save their allowance for months for a chance to go to the Disney Store.

 

[starlite_]

The too old for it phase hit a little later for my kids more like 15-16. Even then a whole lot of Disney Chanel was still on in my household. I feel like I could write a Ravin Symone show better than AI could.

I think I was back on the Disney wagon by 15 haha. Took a bit longer for my sibling but they got back on eventually haha.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I don't know any 12 or 13 year old that has ever been into Disney. That's the "I'm too old for it" phase. I should know.

Around then was when I was really into video games and was being introduced to anime. Those two things took over my middle school and high school days. I still went to Disney parks but it wasn't my #1 interest.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Around then was when I was really into video games and was being introduced to anime. Those two things took over my middle school and high school days. I still went to Disney parks but it wasn't my #1 interest.

Probably not the #1 interest for most kids, doesn't mean they don't like it, or would turn down a trip

 

[Smugpugmug]

Probably not the #1 interest for most kids, doesn't mean they don't like it, or would turn down a trip

I didn't say or imply that in my post.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I think I was back on the Disney wagon by 15 haha. Took a bit longer for my sibling but they got back on eventually haha.

My 17 year old is mostly interested in girls..........all the girls of the world it seems

Funny things those darn hormones are! The barbie movie was high on his list last weekend for some reason too?

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I didn't say or imply that in my post.

sorry, that wasn't aimed at you. i was connecting other dots, my bad

 

[ChipnDale79]

Still bothers me that i can't bring my daughter, those stores were something to look forward to as a kid, the marketing alone was worth it for Disney IMO. I would have liked it if they did a pop up store in Target, not just an aisle

that was the point i was trying to make earlier

 

[RivShore]

Still bothers me that i can't bring my daughter, those stores were something to look forward to as a kid, the marketing alone was worth it for Disney IMO. I would have liked it if they did a pop up store in Target, not just an aisle

With the talk of an ESPN partnership with Apple, maybe we will see Disney pop ups in Apple stores.

 

[RivShore]

Because the youngest generation grows up not caring and their parents feel like they are wasting money when the kids are indifferent to Disney.

Frozen was the last true mega hit that influenced pop culuture some. What was before that? Something needs to hook the kids and Disney has not really had that hook recently.

Disney tried to pivot? to Marvel/Star Wars but I'm not sure that was a wise decision in the long run As they lost their core audience along the way.

If I had a nickle for every time someone made assumptions about the younger generation...

In the world of business and economics, usually history is a decent predictor of future results. I don't think there is enough data to jump to the assumption that this generation is the one that deviates from 50 years of history and all of that history had ebs and flows in the popularity of the IP generated during those years. But if your crystal ball has perfect accuracy, i have some questions for it. LOL

 

[Brian Noble]

the marketing alone was worth it for Disney IMO.

It would appear that Disney thinks their marketing dollars could be better spent elsewhere. And this is a company that spent a cool $7.2 billion-with-a-B on ads in 2022, so there are lots of marketing dollars.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/685554/walt-disney-ad-expense/

 

[Rileygirl]

Current generations are building more nostalgia for Nintendo than Disney. Yes I think it’s going to be a problem.

Girl, you are still on this board! Nice to hear you!

 

[Rileygirl]

Just as an aside, why does everyone always have to rag on the "bean counters"? I'm a bookkeeper, yes, I count the beans. The company I've worked for for over 30 years is in the process of shutting down, privately owned and the boss is in his 80s, it's time. It's just the boss and the bean counter. We were a small business, at our height a little more than 100 employees in 2 states. I would tell someone they had to stay in these hotels because we were a government subcontractor and would be reimbursed for them. Why can't the company foot the difference? Do you want to get paid? Do you possibly want a raise next year? Do you like the profit sharing plan? A profit can't be shared if there is none. The beans have to be counted. If we don't count them, there could be too many and then we are throwing away the excess, thus losing the money we spent on those beans. Of worse yet, if we don't count them there might not be enough and you aren't going to get your coffee or soup or whatever we make with those beans. It's a balancing act and always done in the background and always be people who rarely have any skin in the game. Trust me, because we were a government sub, that meant my department was a cost center. We made no money (outwardly) for the company. Thus we got the smallest share of any profit sharing, the smallest, if any, raises because the profit center employees felt it unfair they had to share with us. Yet we were the people behind the scenes talking to the head's of departments and making the hard decisions. I even had managers telling me their people were upset because I told them you can't buy purple pens instead of red because they are more expensive. I don't care if your editors think purple are prettier, you want to throw your part of the profit sharing toward them? No, hmmm, then who is going to pay the difference. It's a silly example but on a small scale the same as do we replace a ride or continue to service it for another year or two to get the most out of it (that is assuming that servicing it is putting no one in danger).

Disney is a publicly held company, their first responsibility (whether it's liked or not) is to their stockholders. If they don't make any money, those stockholders are going to vote from someone who can. It can be argued if they don't please the customer then they aren't going to make the money to please the stockholder but no one knows what goes on behind the scenes in the little rooms the bean counters are sitting in. Walt may not have totally known what it meant by going public but I'm sure Roy did (after all he was a bean counter).

Rant over.

The thing is, I had the utmost respect for Disney bean counters. I have been around a long time and have seen their brilliance. I understand that Harvard studies the Disney bean counters and dissect their strategies in the economics programs.

But I suspect they (bean counters) are tearing down what took 50 years to build up due to a shortsightedness- but it’s Disney executive that is making the mandate more Money from the parks because they are hemorrhaging elsewhere.

 

[wabbott]

Just as an aside, why does everyone always have to rag on the "bean counters"?

I'll take a stab at this. DIS is and has always been in the business of selling fantasy storytelling. And they're purty damn good at it so far. Carefree, dreams, youth, love, happily ever after, and so forth.

Accounting and other hard sciences are the antithesis of that fantasy. Hard work, focus, diligence, discipline, sacrifice - all the things that human animals historically have had to do to lift themselves up out of the swamp.

Adulting ain't fun. But it has to be done, otherwise the human race won't progress.

 

[Rileygirl]

I have just read through this thread, and while many valid points were made, I think my original post might be misconstrued.

In the past ( in my opinion) Disney parks in Orlando (I have no knowledge, experience or idea of any of their other parks) was like a pyramid. And the base was always growing, with a wider range of folks who came to Disney, brought their kids, and shared the love and magic - creating a new generation of even more people who wanted to bring their children.

Now, the pyramid is inverted. (In my opinion). Less people are going to Disney, the next generation is not exposed to the wonder of Disney, it’s much harder to make a wonderful trip experience because of all the booking shenanigans, less service, longer lines, unhappy cms - I know I am talking to people who know how to book- but newbies find it frustrating- bigger families are even exponentially harder to book, and the PRICE is making it an unattainable dream for a huge percentage of the population.

And, from reports widely available, Disney has to milk every penny it can out of the parks in order to sustain all its other endeavours.

My position is, the Disney exec has its hands wrapped around its golden goose and is slowly strangling it. And you can see it by the lower volume of people at what is one of their peak travel times.

It’s just what I think.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I have just read through this thread, and while many valid points were made, I think my original post might be misconstrued.

In the past ( in my opinion) Disney parks in Orlando (I have no knowledge, experience or idea of any of their other parks) was like a pyramid. And the base was always growing, with a wider range of folks who came to Disney, brought their kids, and shared the love and magic - creating a new generation of even more people who wanted to bring their children.

Now, the pyramid is inverted. (In my opinion). Less people are going to Disney, the next generation is not exposed to the wonder of Disney, it’s much harder to make a wonderful trip experience because of all the booking shenanigans, less service, longer lines, unhappy cms - I know I am talking to people who know how to book- but newbies find it frustrating- bigger families are even exponentially harder to book, and the PRICE is making it an unattainable dream for a huge percentage of the population.

And, from reports widely available, Disney has to milk every penny it can out of the parks in order to sustain all its other endeavours.

My position is, the Disney exec has its hands wrapped around its golden goose and is slowly strangling it. And you can see it by the lower volume of people at what is one of their peak travel times.

It’s just what I think.

Disney+ subscription numbers paint a different picture, there are still plenty who find value in Disney, i think streaming itself is causing huge waves in the media marketplace.

 

[Rileygirl]

Disney+ subscription numbers paint a different picture, there are still plenty who find value in Disney, i think streaming itself is causing huge waves in the media marketplace.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Disney+ is not making money, in fact it’s bleeding money (read this a while ago but can’t site source as I don’t remember- so is this factually true? Anyone?). So yes, media Disney fan base may be ok or growing. But funding for their new shows and movies are coming from the parks, hence the problem.