Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<For the 2008 first quarter, Six Flags said in-park spending rose 13 percent, while Cedar Fair reported a 27 percent increase. Thomas Staggs, CFO for The Walt Disney Co., said during the company's first-quarter conference call that per capita spending at Florida's Disney World rose 3 percent, while it jumped 8 percent at California's Disneyland.>> Source: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/06/05/ap5085166.html" target="_blank">http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap...166.html</a> I'm not saying there are no problems with housing or gas prices. But I think the projections of WDW's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Those rumors about WDW closing a couple of parks for one day each week?? Give me a break. Though I probably wouldn't mind having a little of whatever that guy was on. The people who are most hurt by gas prices right now aren’t big WDW spenders anyway. They stay off-site, carry in their food, and buy their souvenirs at the outlet stores. WDW doesn’t make much (if any) money from those folks anyway. Those who stay at Disney resorts, eat at Disney restaurants and spend significant amounts on Disney merchandise aren’t going to let the increase in gas prices keep them from going to WDW. Who knows? Maybe WDW will pick up a moderate increase in revenue. Once the WDW big spenders find out that they don’t have to battle Ma and Pa Kettle and the kids for a spot in the Soarin’ line, they might just visit more than usual.
Originally Posted By sharon2 ^^^You nailed it..$100 a month more for gas is NOT going to ruin MY good time. Vacation is essencial!! Disney is essencial!! I spelled it wrong oh well. Not having to wait in line, priceless!!
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP Around here, where I live (about 75 miles from DL) parkhoppers are a common radio give away. I noticed today that the local oldies radio station is no longer giving away 4 parkhoppers when you are caller X. They are giving away 4 parkhoppers and a $50 gas card!! For some reason that made me laugh. On the other hand, a roughly 150 mile round trip in the family SUV is going to take about $50, so they know their market.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: Well, a course the sky's a fallin', Trippy!! It's just that some folks ain't ready ta hear it, yet. But the last thing ya needs ta be worried 'bout is what's goin' on with Walt Dizzy Whirl. Better be more worried 'bout what's goin' on behind the Shadow Gover'ment that's in control a things. I hates ta say it, but I gotta go out on a limb, anyways, an' warn ya that Life as ya always knowed it is goin' away. An' it's happenin' so fast even us Cauldron gals is surprised!!!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I'm not saying there are no problems with housing or gas prices. But I think the projections of WDW's demise have been greatly exaggerated.>> I don't recall anyone writing WDW's obit yet. Some spirits just refuse to admit the country is in the crapper. Well, you can stick your fingers in your ears and scream 'I can't hear you, I can't hear you' all you want, but it doesn't change reality. <<Those rumors about WDW closing a couple of parks for one day each week?? Give me a break. Though I probably wouldn't mind having a little of whatever that guy was on.>> You're referring to Kevin Yee's recent column, and while he sure doesn't need me to defend him, I'll tell you that his information was accurate. He didn't say Disney was going to close parks a day a week, just that it was a contingency. Guess what? He's right. And it has been a contingency since 9/11/01. And if gas keeps going up, I think you may well owe him an apology come 2009. I sure hope it doesn't come to that. But I truly believe the current Administration's only goal before leaving is to start a war against Iran, so they'll certainly do nothing do help our economy. <<The people who are most hurt by gas prices right now aren’t big WDW spenders anyway. They stay off-site, carry in their food, and buy their souvenirs at the outlet stores. WDW doesn’t make much (if any) money from those folks anyway.>> Bull. I guarantee you I've spent far more at WDW over the years than you have and by multiples and I have no DVC timeshare. I may not be a 'whale' on a trip by trip basis, but on a yearly basis? I know I'm in the top 10%. I have already nixed one trip due to the costs associated with rising fuel (because AGAIN gas is simply one thing that rises because of oil, not nearly the only one). <<Those who stay at Disney resorts, eat at Disney restaurants and spend significant amounts on Disney merchandise aren’t going to let the increase in gas prices keep them from going to WDW.>> You're simply wrong. You're making a blanket statement that would be as incorrect as saying no one's going to go to WDW or they're going to have to close etc ... plenty of those folks are not going to go, while others will still do so. <<Who knows? Maybe WDW will pick up a moderate increase in revenue. Once the WDW big spenders find out that they don’t have to battle Ma and Pa Kettle and the kids for a spot in the Soarin’ line, they might just visit more than usual.>> More likely they'll notice dirtier parks that are staffed by far fewer CMs resulting in unnaturally long lines, they'll notice restaurants, shops and attractions closed for no apparent reason, heck they might even notice that it sure feels hot as hell inside supposedly AC'd buildings ... and then decide they've had enough of a company that charges a premium price and then rewards people who visit in bad economic times by cutting back left and right. But that's just my opinion based on what I saw from 2001-04.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I too sense a straw man argument here. Nobody is saying that WDW is going to close. The jist of what most people seem to be saying is that if energy prices remain high and/or continue to rise, there could be a big impact at WDW in terms of attendance and revenue, and that it's likely that resort management will have to make some serious changes in order to deal with them. Another thing to consider is that WDW has to return *increases* in earnings each and every year (if not quarter) regardless of what the economy is doing, and more or less regardless of what attendance is doing. So, whatever that goal is, even if revenues are flat, they need to reduce costs in order to meet the earnings growth targets. Add in a slight decrease, even something small like 5%, and that means they have to go 5% further in cost reductions than they otherwise would have if revenues had been flat. When this happens each and every year, there is a cumulative effect.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Another thing to consider is that WDW has to return *increases* in earnings each and every year (if not quarter) regardless of what the economy is doing, and more or less regardless of what attendance is doing. So, whatever that goal is, even if revenues are flat, they need to reduce costs in order to meet the earnings growth targets.>> Sorry. IMHO it will not affect the parks. Why? In years while the TV division of Disney really sucked the parks still did well. In years while the Movie division of Disney really sucked the parks still did well. In years while Disney did really stupid stuff on the Internet the parks still did well. And you want to know something? The Walt Disney Co. isn't run by a bunch of idiots (I had more descriptive words in mind but then remembered that I was not in WE). Year in and year out, when everything else the WD Co tried was not working very well, the parks always held their own, even if they didn't make a bundle of money. But more important than that, the Disney parks are the public face of the Disney Company. There are a bunch of people that never go to a Disney movie. There are a bunch of people that have no idea that Disney has any connection to ABC or ESPN. But there are darned few people who don't know that after a World's Series or a Super Bowl someone from the winning team is going to announce that they are going to freaking Disney World!! Do you think Disney could ever possibly be stupid enough to give up a franchise like that? No way!! Disney will support their Theme Parks and keep them running like the economy is great no matter what. Sure, they may sponsor some surveys to try and determine what they might be facing (though I have my doubts about the validity of those claims too). But if you think they would EVER close any one of their theme parks for even one day of the week you are so danged far out of touch that there is no way I can help you. I'm not being a pie-in-the-sky wide-eyed optimist. I just know that there is absolutely no way in heck that ANY company would let their premiere brand go to hell. Anyone who would think otherwise has spent too many years listening to Dubya and thinking that he will actually have a lasting effect on the U.S. Take my advice folks... buy stock like crazy while the prices are CHEAP. Once that idiot is out of office Consumer Confidence will skyrocket and the economy will be well on the road to recovery.
Originally Posted By dshyates "Take my advice folks... buy stock like crazy while the prices are CHEAP." People can't even afford gas for thier cars. And their houses are in forclosure. How on earth are they gonna expand their portfolio when they are chosing between food and gas? <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/27/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?postversion=2008062717" target="_blank">http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/2...08062717</a>
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<"Take my advice folks... buy stock like crazy while the prices are CHEAP." People can't even afford gas for thier cars. And their houses are in forclosure. How on earth are they gonna expand their portfolio when they are chosing between food and gas?>> Whatever. You want to stay poor all your life; I can't do much about that. But it doesn't take much to start accumulating considerable savings. Start with $50 per month. That's what we started with. So now you are going to say you can't afford $50 per month. Do you smoke? That's $150 per month. Do you go to movies? Between two tickets, a couple of boxes of popcorn and a couple of drinks you are talking $35 a shot. Go twice a month and that is $70. Ever drink at a bar or restaurant? Darned easy to spend at least $20 per week or $80 per month having a beer after work a couple of times a week. So don't tell me you can't save. You maybe don't want to, and that is fine. I didn't either, until my wife and I were both out of work at the same time for 5 months with a mortgage, two car payments and two kids. We made it through, and I vowed I would never again put my family in a position where we were at risk like that. So you can piss and moan about how tough things are right now, or you can do something about it. I’ll guarantee you one thing… no one on these boards has been poorer than we were at one time. I’m probably pissing you off. Relax. I was pissed off too when our financial planner told us the same stuff. Yea, I know. You can’t afford a financial planner. And you never will be able to if you don’t talk to one now. You can almost always find one who will start out by working on the commission they get from selling various financial products. We started with a financial planner at a very low point in our lives. That was when we really needed one. The choice is yours.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I'm sorry. I've revealed more about myself than I ever intended and I've gotten preachier than I ever intended. I just hate to see people get all bummed out. I've been in about the worst place a person can ever be and still made it out the other side. I just don't EVER want people to give up. Do you REALLY want to let G.W. Bush do that to you?? I'll go away for a couple of days now. See you later.
Originally Posted By dshyates I appreciate the words of encouragement. I have recently (past 5 years) been in a downward spiraling whiling vortex. I have pretty much lost everything. 5 years ago I a married homeowner with 2 kids and 2 dogs working as an editor in the suburbs of Denver. I lost my job because the business I worked for suddenly closed its doors. Since then we went through a forclosure. We moved back to WV to be close to family (bad move), the stress of everything resulted in a divorce, she got the kids. I started working as a photog for CBS and was making half of what I was making in Denver. Well they recently cut some staff, and once again I am unemployed. I live in my parents garage. I have never been in a situation like this. But there is nowhere to go but up form here. I have learned a lot about myself, and more importantly I learned a lot about other people. We weren't in one of those sub-prime mortagages. We were just sold on a house that if things remained the same or improved everything would have been fine. But losing my job wasn't really in the plan. The company I was working at was all blue skys ahead because they were wooing a big contract, they promised the world, and 2 days after they signed the "big" contract they declared bancrupcy and shut the door in some sort of illegal trickery in trying to skate with the 1.2 million from the contract. We all showed up at work 2 days after the big celebration to find the doors locked and a note on the door. I worked for these people for 7 years and they had 2 days prior discussed the big raise I was going to get. Liars. Anyway, you gotta put your behind in the past. I have resumes out from the great lakes to Miami. I will be working again soon. making a lot more than I made in WV. As a single guy, I can put myself in the cheapest living situation imaginable. Then the sky is the limit. I have several side project ideas that may be gold mines. OK, maybe not a gold mine, but if some bozo can make a living making and selling "How its Made" to a national cable channel, then I will be OK. I have 3 series ideas that I think will sell to specific cable chamnnels like Logo and others. I am fully aware that given my skill set in video production, that is where I'll have to go. And I also know I'll never get above 60K shooting or editing for someone else. The only money in video is content. You have to own the product. So after I get out of the woods and back into a viable production community, I can start networking for the few talent sets I don't possess myself (graphics and such). You'll find the low end graphics guy at the station will make you a Title Card for a six pack. So soon I will be getting my LLC in whatever state I end up in and go from there. If properly prepared I can shoot a pilot in a weekend (editing would take a week in my spare time) to start shopping around for dist. and sponsors.
Originally Posted By X-san ***I noticed today that the local oldies radio station is no longer giving away 4 parkhoppers when you are caller X. They are giving away 4 parkhoppers and a $50 gas card!!*** WOOHOO!!!! I gotta start calling into those places!! I had no idea!!!!
Originally Posted By X-san dsh, I like your optimism. We need to talk. We might be able to help each other (assuming you're not limited to projects in the U.S., although I'm not averse to doing some creative work in America as well so either way...let's talk). Dave www.myspace.com/davehaskell (haven't got a friend invite from you yet, have I??)
Originally Posted By dshyates "I like your optimism" Its all a fascade. That really is my plan aboveand its what I keep telling myself, but my head isn't in a good place right now. I honestly feel that if it wasn't for my 2 beautiful daughters, I'd know the secrets of the Universe. Oh, I don't do myspace, but I did visit your page and I'll see your Blue Devils and raise ya'. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnbyIMMm9PM" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...yIMMm9PM</a> And to answer your questions from the other day, I played quads, and I don't remember your friend Thom, but his name does sound familiar. I only marched with the for 1 year before I aged out. It was just something I really wanted to do. You'ld be surprised what you can forget in 25 years. I only remember about 3 people I marched with in High School, and I marched with them for at least 4 years. I don't really remember much about it but a lot of gym floors, frozen lasagne, hot sun and WINNING!
Originally Posted By X-san You played quads for that group!? Way cool! Who were the teachers? Do you remember the instructors' names at all?
Originally Posted By dshyates Nope, George Hopkins is the only one I really remember. But I just pulled out my old Garfield Style Check sheets and and timing ex. and they all have Th. Hannum at the top, and I have letter to "Members of the Garfield Cadets Percussion Section". From Jan.'83. And it is signed Thom Hannum, so my guess is he was my instructor. I wish I had marched with them longer. You know how first years tend to group together. And I was a lot older than most first years so I just sort of did what I was supposed to and read a lot. One reason I'm guessing I didn't interact with Thom as much as some is the quads players actually read music, and the Snare line was all taught by rote. So we sort of were left alone if we were getting it. He spent a lot of time showing the snare players what to do. He just gave us the music, and adjusted stick height and showed us the tricks.
Originally Posted By dshyates Oh, and a George something or other I believe it started with a Z did the marching routines. He was some sort of Star. Or at least everyone else thought so. We won so they could be right. But i didn't like the music choice that we went with. We did almost all of the Berstien Mass. But it was the first year Garfield debuted the periennial favorite Rocky Point Holiday. That one I love.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney RT, I'm glad you didn't go away and I totally understand what you are saying/doing. People are acting like WDW is in trouble, not anyone in particuar or necessarily even on this board. But there are people who talk that way.
Originally Posted By dshyates "George Zingali?" That sounds about right. His routines were really difficult. As best I remember he sort of invented that super flowy, swirly, lines on the field don't help, kind of routines.
