Originally Posted By itsme Nintendo has not done well at all with the last 2 generation consoles against Xbox and Playstation. Yes they finally did with the Wii but they took a huge gamble and went after a market that does not really play games to win it and most people were shocked at well it has done. And most "gamers" usually will put it last as far game play with this generation. If you feel Toyota is doing well and are going to use how they are performing against their peers with how they are doing right now, if you do the same for Disney they are absolutely crushing the competition and you really cant say anything bad against what they are doing cause they are doing much better against their competition then Toyota is.
Originally Posted By MPierce Well the numbers are out for Disney's 3Q. Total profits are down 26%, and revenue is down 7%. The parks, and Resorts faired better. Here's a quote from a Disney rerpresentative. >> Parks and resorts revenue fell 9 percent to $2.75 billion as guests spent less, but Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said in a conference call with journalists that the company was "pleased with the attendance overall." <<
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Well the numbers are out for Disney's 3Q. Total profits are down 26%, and revenue is down 7%. The parks, and Resorts faired better. >> Hard to say how much better. The 3Q results this year included the heavy attendance Easter holiday. Last year, Easter fell in the 2Q. So, even with the Easter boost, this year's 3Q was down 9% on revenues. In an apples to apples comparison, you might expect a double digit decline without that holiday impacting the top line.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I've started another thread (cause you can never have enough threads bashing Disney management now can you?) But I'm still trying to figure out how these numbers are anything but good to great in REAL terms (i.e. non-Wall Street). The company made a (expletive withheld) of money for the quarter. But rather than focus on the particulars, I just want to focus on the fact WDW's attendance didn't drop at all. No gain. But no loss. In these times that is fantastic news, yet all you get is cost-cutting (which is really CM cutting and quality cutting). I haven't looked at August hours yet -- because I am not planning on being there -- but I do know resort load levels are expected to go up with free dining back as usual. So what are we gonna have soon ... DAK dropping back to 9-5 (it recently went down to 9-6) ... will TPFKaTD-MGMS go to four nights of 7 p.m. closings and two nights of Fantasmic? How many midnight closings do we have vs. 10 p.m.? If people are spending $$$ in these godawful times to visit WDW, then they have an expectation of getting their money's worth. August is still summer (weather-wise it is the most miserable month of the year in Florida) ... Disney should provide them the best quality it can. DL is 8-midnight nightly. DCA is 10-9 nightly. They have a new fireworks show at DL, a revamped EP at DCA and a plussed Fantasmic too. Of course, their attendance also was up 10% too.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I guess again they decided to play games again with hours at last minute. Tomorrow was scheduled as midnight close, so they actually are taking away an hour even if they added it to tonight. I can tell you the schedule for next week changed just in the last few weeks to add at least an hour to every day -- added 2nd Fantasmic shows on all 3 days it is running ( was only going to run twice as of a month ago ) - and EMH at MK now go to 2AM instead of 1 AM ---
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << But rather than focus on the particulars, I just want to focus on the fact WDW's attendance didn't drop at all. No gain. But no loss. >> If you did focus on particulars you would see that this year's 3Q had Easter. Last year's did not. The only way attendance could even hold up was by counting two of the busiest weeks of the year vs. last year when those weeks did not exist in the quarter. Even the Disney press release notes this comparison.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^I did notice that ... but thanks for pointing it out. Still, Disney was able to take advantage of those busy two weeks to hold even with last year's quarter. For someone with a rep as a Disney basher, I think they did very, very well to not suffer any drop -- Easter or no Easter. And again, this is also what I saw on my recent trip. Plenty of people are there. This isn't post-9/11 into 2003 ... or 1991 or 1979 etc ... they are getting VERY healthy crowds considering the state of the economy.
Originally Posted By hopemax FWIW, prior and on my June trip, I asked my Mom what she knew about attendance at the MK. The answers were pretty much "We're beating our daily projections most days." And while I was there, I think it was in the 52-55K range. She also said they staffed way up for Fourth of July because they were afraid they would be slammed, but it turned out it wasn't nearly as busy as they staffed for. This was causing some problems in the management level because "they wasted money." But like every one and every report seems to say, spending is way, way down.
Originally Posted By barboy ///Commercially Toyota is still performing better than most of it's peers/// OUCH!!! Beacuse just down the freeway a few miles from me sits NUMMI, a Toyota plant, which is on the brink of closing. So if Toyota is hurting what does that say about the others within the oligopoly?
Originally Posted By barboy ///Harry Potter-land may be forcing Disney's hand in Florida./// ///I do wish that Harry Potter land would put a sting in Disney;s behind./// Potterland, while certainly ambitious for Universal, is just too insignificant when compared to WDW. The entire park(IOA) didn't adversely affect the mouse so why would one single 'land'(which I admit will be mind blowing) within IOA get Disney to move or rethink/change its direction. At best Disney would view Potter as a slight distraction, send a rep or two to check things out up the road on I-4 and then continue on with business as usual.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<She also said they staffed way up for Fourth of July because they were afraid they would be slammed, but it turned out it wasn't nearly as busy as they staffed for. This was causing some problems in the management level because "they wasted money." >> I can tell you that I felt they were woefully understaffed on crowd control CMs at MK on July 3rd. Total chaos and disorder. <<But like every one and every report seems to say, spending is way, way down. >> I wonder if the absurd price points have a part in that. Would it kill them to offer a $3 hot dog? A $5-6 value meal at QSR? A tee that didn't cost $20-35? And let's not even get into full-serve gouging ... I mean dining!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I wonder if the absurd price points have a part in that. Would it kill them to offer a $3 hot dog? A $5-6 value meal at QSR? A tee that didn't cost $20-35? And let's not even get into full-serve gouging ... I mean dining! Absolutely the biggest rip-off at WDW now is Food, and Beverage. Ain't that DDP grand! Look how much money we saved!
Originally Posted By sjhym33 I just had an eye opening experience this week. I took my darling wife to a Rays/Yankee game in Tampa. She is a Yankees fan. I married her anyway. At the stadium a Hot Dog was $6 and to add the fries was another $5.00. A Hamburger alone was $8.00. Cotton Candy was $5 and a small beer was $8.00. Lemonade was $6. I guess I can never complain about Disney food again.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo This is what I have often said. It is not the prices that annoy me, disney is often in line with sports events and pricing. the issue is the continual drops in quality while raising prices. I don't mind paying premium prices when I get a premium product. Sadly the main premium products Disney have are the ones that have been around for a while, while new offerings in the last 10 years (unless they are DVC related) have not been premium.
Originally Posted By MPierce A baseball game last about 3 hours, and can cost as much as a ticket to WDW. I refuse to pay the price for the jacked up prices at the ball park, so it's only fair that I refuse to pay the jacked up prices at WDW. I certainly don't think normal people would want to pay ball park prices for food for a whole week, but it doesn't seem to bother them to do so at WDW.
Originally Posted By serendipityaey We are going to WDW next year because of HP land. We want to spend a day at universal but the rest will be at WDW and there's no way we would be going if it wasn't for HP. It's way too far and MK is not comparable enough to DL for us.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Absolutely the biggest rip-off at WDW now is Food, and Beverage. Ain't that DDP grand! Look how much money we saved!>> For me, it has been great. I stopped getting my DDE Card (although someone else may have taken possession of it and claimed it as her own). I stopped planning my trips around Disney dining. I'm much more selective when I do eat Disney food (about 85% less than just 2-3 years ago) and often do so only when CM pals are getting great discounts. And I've discovered how many great locales there are on WDW property that Disney doesn't own or operate. So, yeah, DDP has been magical for me.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<A baseball game last about 3 hours, and can cost as much as a ticket to WDW. I refuse to pay the price for the jacked up prices at the ball park, so it's only fair that I refuse to pay the jacked up prices at WDW. I certainly don't think normal people would want to pay ball park prices for food for a whole week, but it doesn't seem to bother them to do so at WDW.>> I hate comparing ball games or the like to Disney because I don't think it's a fair comparison. I'd rather just compare Disney to other theme park dining locations (try Mythos at IOA or Sharks Underwater Grill at SW) or just to itself. Jiko (a favorite of mine) opened just eight years ago. Not an entree was over $26 and they had numerous items under $15 or at that level. Now, not one is under that. I won't eat there again unless the meal is discounted ... and the 20% no longer does it for me. Recently read a great story on how restaurant operators and chefs in SoFla say the era of the $40 entree is history ... yet at WDW they're pushing on ahead. Take a look at how many entrees are over $30 a la carte. You're supposed to look at entrees in the $20s as 'deals ... well, I don't.
