Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Just in from the WDTC ... projected WDW resort occupancy for the month: 35%. Now you know why all those cuts have been made (and so many others are being planned), all those offers are in the pipeline and why so many CMs won't be having happy holidays. Just an FYI, but most hotels and resorts don't make money until they sell out 60% of their rooms and Disney is used to load levels in the 80s most months.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad I hope the numbers improve. The problem is that with the economy the way it is, Disney will feel they have to cut back further and can justify any service shortcomings on a lack of income. This is where someone has to have vision and the confidence to stick to their vision. Then the question becomes, will the board and stockholders allow the vision to continue or will they clamor for a new leader because their stock price has declined in the short term. I think this is the primary problem because nobody in publicly owned companies can see past the short term unless the founder is still in charge. Only the founder can calm the masses and say we're doing this my way and unfortunately Disney's founder is no longer with us.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey One of my fellow teachers just returned from a Thanskgiving week trip, and she said it wasn't really crowded at all. Without FastPass, their longest wait for an attraction was 35 minutes. Thanksgiving week is traditionally one of WDW's busiest weeks, so you know people are hurting.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad Yea, we were there the first week of Nov. and by the end of the week we weren't even using fast passes. There was just no need and I'm sure things are even worse now. I never thought I would find myself wishing more people would go to Disney. I do hope this turns around because things that are cut back quickly seem to take forever to return.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Just in from the WDTC ... projected WDW resort occupancy for the month: 35%.>> Wow. They could mothball half the resorts and wouls only have 70% occupancy.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Maybe President Bush needs to make another speech like after 9/11, to tell us to continue spending money and take trips to Walt Disney World. That might work.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I think this is the primary problem because nobody in publicly owned companies can see past the short term unless the founder is still in charge. Only the founder can calm the masses and say we're doing this my way and unfortunately Disney's founder is no longer with us. >>> Even having the founder in charge doesn't protect against chasing the next quarter's earnings. There are quite a few examples of prominent company founders of publicly-traded companies being fired by their shareholders for not meeting their expectations.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy It's a interesting figure, but no real source to back it up with. What's the comparison data from last January, or the average January occupancy over a span of years, during the last recession? What's the projected occupancy at the other Orlando-area hotels, nationwide? It's no secret that the economy is headed into dire straits. Unemployment is nearing its highest rate in 15 years and looking like it will hit early 1980s levels if the trends continue. Why should it be surprising that people are not going on vacation? Does anyone honestly believe that WDW would be immune to the economic slump? Frankly, I'm surprised things have held up for this long. What's the difference between this year and last? Overseas visitors are now in a recession, too, and the effect of the weak dollar has pretty much played itself out. If not for the foreign tourists, most of 2007 and 2008 would have been abysmal for U.S. tourist destinations.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Maybe President Bush needs to make another speech like after 9/11, to tell us to continue spending money and take trips to Walt Disney World. That might work.>> If he sends everyone a voucher for a gov't paid trip it might work. It might even cost less than the Citibank bailout.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I hope the numbers improve. The problem is that with the economy the way it is, Disney will feel they have to cut back further and can justify any service shortcomings on a lack of income. This is where someone has to have vision and the confidence to stick to their vision. Then the question becomes, will the board and stockholders allow the vision to continue or will they clamor for a new leader because their stock price has declined in the short term. I think this is the primary problem because nobody in publicly owned companies can see past the short term unless the founder is still in charge. Only the founder can calm the masses and say we're doing this my way and unfortunately Disney's founder is no longer with us. << I think you hit the nail right on the head CDD. The WDC no longer has leaders like Walt, and Roy Disney. I just don't get a sense of passion for the parks. I very well could be wrong though, I certainly hope so.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Maybe President Bush needs to make another speech like after 9/11, to tell us to continue spending money and take trips to Walt Disney World. That might work. << Don't get Spirit going!!!!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Even having the founder in charge doesn't protect against chasing the next quarter's earnings. There are quite a few examples of prominent company founders of publicly-traded companies being fired by their shareholders for not meeting their expectations. << That's very true, but the Disney Corp. with Walt at the head, and Roy as the money man was a completely different scenario from the corporate world we have today.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> If he sends everyone a voucher for a gov't paid trip it might work. It might even cost less than the Citibank bailout. << It would be money better spent also!
Originally Posted By MPierce I noticed a particularly visious attack against you Spirit,by some Jerk named CBOMB on another forum. They sure can be mean over there!
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Yup. Things sure are sucking in Orlando. <<With all the reports about an ongoing recession, analysts believe that Orlando will finish the year up 9.1% over 2007. Otherwise, domestic travel is expected to finish 2008 with a 1% decline.>> Source: <a href="http://www.greatorlandodiscounts.com/blog/2008_10_01_archive.html" target="_blank">http://www.greatorlandodiscoun...ive.html</a> (Yea, it's just a blog. But at least I LIST A SOURCE.)
Originally Posted By MPierce I almost feel like it's my patriotic duty to give the mouse a fistful of my money now. I certainly hope the Parks don't go into a complete panic mode. I'm most afraid of them loosing good CM's. It's just a very well themed Park, with out the heart, when you take away the exceptional CM's.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Yup. Things sure are sucking in Orlando. <<With all the reports about an ongoing recession, analysts believe that Orlando will finish the year up 9.1% over 2007. Otherwise, domestic travel is expected to finish 2008 with a 1% decline.>> Source: <a href="http://www.greatorlandodiscoun...ive.html" target="_blank">http://www.greatorlandodiscoun...ive.html</a> (Yea, it's just a blog. But at least I LIST A SOURCE.) << I don't believe Spirit wants to list his source. Maybe we could hold him down, and beat his feet with a rubber hose. That might be effective evidentually, but I'm afrais we could possibly loose any further inside information from Spirit. '08 was turning into an OK year right up until the economy took a nose dive. Let's see if that blog has a rosey projection for the 1st Q. of '09?
