Disney! Wheeee!

[tifosi77]

Huh, I don't think we get the extended hours thing at DLR/DCA. Resort Guests get the early entry benefit, but that after hours thing actually sounds like a really great perk to avoid the worst of the mid-day heat in FL. Between generally being more tolerable weather and overall less crowded, that seems like it would be more worthwhile to spend the $$ on that as opposed to Genie+ and ILLs throughout the day. I'd use the day to boot around and eat the food and hop on the occasional 30-minute standby attraction.

There are several 'After Dark' ticketed events throughout the year (May the 4th, Grad Night, etc), but those are open to the public on a limited first-come-first-served basis. I didn't know this year was the Company's first officially sponsored After Dark event for Pride last month until the day after the thing. We would've loved to go to that, and all the local vloggers I follow had nothing but positive things to say about the night.

[nocera]

The ticketed After Hours events have been going on for some time at WDW. We attended one of the first ones in 2018 on our last visit. It was incredible. Every ride was a walk on, except 7 Dwarfs Mine Train (which was new-ish at the time) had about a 15 minute wait.

The Deluxe extended evening hours is different from the ticketed After Hours events and is included in the price of your ticket. If we were there for our usual 7 days or so, I would've skipped out on park tickets and did the ticketed After Hours event instead on that day. It's definitely worth the cost, assuming it's still as limited as it was in 2018.

[LITT]

we did the MK christmas party last year and it was great. my kids were 3 and 18 mo at the time. so many more character opportunities than normal which we spent the whoel time doing, actually. the ride lines were non existent. we also made dinner reservations the other night they had the christmas party at skipper canteen right as the park was closing. we received a personal escort out but was really cool walking around with no people around.

this year they have a hollywood studios christmas party which im pretty excited about checking out too (we won a trip so all of our expenses are paid up to a certain amnt)

[nocera]

Are you going in 2024? Genie+ is going to be simplified, supposedly removing the need to get up at 7 am to book lightning lanes but details aren't available yet. Also the dining plan is returning and park passes are finally going away. I would assume that means that park hopping prior to 2 pm will also return. It should make things easier.

[LITT]

we are going dec 2023

im not a huge fan of the dining plan - i feel like you are forcing yourself to eat meals you may not necessarily eat; however, on promos when you get a 'free' dining plan, thats a little bit different

i also dont think park hopper in its current iteration is worth it. to the point illustrated above, you waste probably an hour of your day. with the additions they are making to many of the parks, they are turning in to whole day affairs. it makes more sense, imo, to go to an afterhours ticketed event rather than park hop if the timing happens to work out

[Stoosh]

The Disney parks are quite obviously ridiculous things for childless adults to indulge. Which is exactly why they're so fun, if you're willing to give in to it.

Yep. From my own experience, I first went to the parks in 1987 at 11 years old and didn't make it back until last year. It wasn't until around 2002 that I really started getting the desire to go back, and that was thanks to annual trips my parents started taking with my aunt & uncle for Epcot Food & Wine. They would go to the other parks, but EF&W was their thing (they jokingly remember when it was just a 4-6 week festival). My wife & I spent the last 20 years kicking that trip down the road because real-life reasons got in the way.

We were finally able to book it last year and we were immediately hooked. We don't have kids due to medical considerations, but we're both very much big kids at heart. Our first night there in December, we had tickets to the Christmas Party event in Magic Kingdom. I definitely remember walking around there - the first time I'd been back in 35 years - and thinking a few times, "Yeah, I completely get why people fall in love with this." Same thing with seeing Spaceship Earth and the World Showcase pavilions lit up at night.

I can't quite put my finger on what it was that hooked us. I think I can best describe it as a uniqueness and charm that the parks and resorts have, to the point that some of them have a very "second home" feel to them. This has become our primary destination for our travel. We're looking at future trips just to enjoy the resorts.

We're set to go back in late November for a few nights, staying at Pop Century, and then roll into the Disney Wish cruise in very early December. I can't wait for both. It's funny...when we went last year, I was excited for the whole trip but I REALLY wanted to see Galaxy's Edge. This time, I'm looking even more forward to spending more time at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and EPCOT. We're going to hit Hollywood Studios for one evening, but I really can't wait for the other parks.

[tifosi77]

The 'Eras' studio water tower desk lamps were back in stock on shopDisney last week, so I ordered one. (When they were first released, I had one in my online shopping cart, but they sold out before I completed checkout) It arrived today.................. the outer packaging had clearly been dented and punctured, and the inner product packaging showed clear signs of corresponding damage. And, of course, it was much more 'rattle-y' than I would've expected. Sure enough, I open the thing up and it's in like 11 different pieces.

Woohoo

So I submitted a claim to UPS, and requested a replacement from shopDisney. One of the remaining b&m stores is just up the way from our house in Camarillo, maybe a 30-minute drive; if they have them in stock I might just head out there to pick it up instead of having another item busted up in shipping. They're limited release items (mine was marked 1102 of 3000), so however it's handled I hope I can get a replacement.

[nocera]

If it makes you feel better, they're still in stock here: https://www.shopdisney.com/walt-disney- ... 35523.html

[shoeshine boy]

https://nypost.com/2023/07/10/disney-th ... et-prices/

[nocera]

"Empty" is incorrect but it's the NY Post so the headline isn't surprising. What it should say is "lowest since 2019 not counting COVID restrictions." And even these "empty" parks result in wait times for the big rides of 65-90 minutes easy, with some getting closer to 100-120 minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if people avoided July 4th craziness and instead chose to go the week before (like us) or the week after. I wish the parks were "empty" when I was there.

But yeah, the attendance is down but I don't think cost is 100% to blame. Disney has always been expensive. I think it has more to do with revenge travel finally dying down. Adding to that is a TON of people went to WDW during the 50th anniversary to experience all of that new stuff. With the anniversary celebration now finished, there's naturally going to be dip in attendance. Disney is accounting for this and mentioned it in their most recent earnings call. It's also insanely hot in Florida. Attendance is now being spread out more evenly throughout the year. There's no such thing as an off-season anymore and part of that is because a lot of people don't want to deal with the Florida summers. Cost obviously plays a role but I think it's more that you're getting less for your buck than the actual price hikes. If the price hikes still included perks like Magic Express, free fast passes, dining plan, etc, then the complaints would be less. It's the the prices increased AND they removed a lot of what made it feel "special" is the problem. I think the company is aware of this and under Iger, you'll see more of those things returned to the parks. Although, with as much money as they have to be making from Genie+, I'm not sure we'll ever see a return to the true free fast pass system.

[nocera]

Side note: I don't think we should ever return to the fast pass system as it used to be. Instead, I'd like to see Genie+ scratched completed, including individual Lightning Lanes. Each guest given 1 free fast pass per day, with major e-tickets excluded. And then sell a true skip-the-line ticket, with premium pricing. I'm talking an additional $150-300 per ticket. With that express pass, you can skip every line once at any time. No more scheduling fast passes on an app, no more having your nose in your phone all day at the parks trying to get your next ride. Make it premium and skip the line of every ride (once) whenever you want. Making it a premium cost would mean less people using it, the stand-by lines would then move quicker, and everybody would be happier. Universal does this with great success. Disney needs to follow.

[NAN]

I was going to echo what nocera said. Friends have recently been there, and "empty" is completely wrong description. We'll be there at the end of August for a few days before we ship off on our Disney cruise, and while I wish it would be "empty", the park predictors are showing it's going to be pretty busy.

[nocera]

Yeah when Journey of the Little Mermaid routinely saw 35-45 minute waits during every day of my stay, "empty" is not the word I'd use to describe it.

[CBear3]

Right, they're doing average ride time wait, which could be a horrible predictor because are they adding the lines at a meet and greet and all those tiny things?

[tifosi77]

Despite having what will probably end up being four of the top 10 grossing films in 2023, it is likely that TWDC will not have a feature film released in 2023 to top $1 billion in boxoffic, after several years running of having multiple such titles. (That still feels like an absurd number to say in this context)

D+ is hemorrhaging subs, and ESPN is firing on-air talent like there's no tomorrow. This hit weirdly hard, I have to say, because ESPN and DPEP were the two main areas of the Company to escape much of the ongoing staff cuts. And for it to be happening when DPEP is now a little less golden goose-y is sort of jarring. (And yes it is true they were expecting attendance drop offs this year.... but not like what has been seen.)

There's also talk that Disney might be shopping all of its TV assets. This would be monumental for a number of reasons, not least because Hulu is facing a drop-dead date in its ownership arrangement. Disney operates D+ and Hulu as one combined service in a lot of other markets around the world, and they'll probably end up doing the same thing here, but they still have to buy out Comcast's 1/3 stake in the service before doing so.... and they don't really have a choice in doing it, either, as I think there's a deadline of 2024 for that acquisition. That's a big spend in this era of belt tightening.

The main thing that I really do have sort of a lingering dread over is the thought that TWDC would be acquired outright by something like Apple. I want no part of that.

Iger just extended his contract through 2026 fwiw. But it really is a s**tty look for a guy who makes $25 million a year and who just laid off 7,000 rank-and-file employees to now come out and say WGA expectations are "unrealistic".

[NAN]

What do you think is driving a lot of this tif. From the outside, it looks like Disney rules the world and keeps striking gold.

Are they overextended, cost of doing business getting too expensive (I mean they continue to shell out hundrends of millions of dollars for sports), post pandemic stuff, a mix?

[tifosi77]

The money coming in hasn't kept pace with the money going out. The Company only operates on like a <10% margin, and at times has dipped below 5%. That's verging into restaurant territory, and is thin enough that it cannot endure fluctuations in the ratio of hits:misses on big ticket items.

They wagered a huge amount on streaming, and after the initial 3-year run (remember, when D+ launched one of the key products was a three-year subscription that locked in your launch price) the support in the form of subscribers has been steadily drying up. They've overspent on the cost of content to fill these platforms, and too much of it has been poor quality that people don't want to pay for. Look around at the non-theatrical stuff on D+...... how much of it is the same as what was available on launch day?

There are other factors, but that seems to be the thing most people gripe about.

[Gabe]

I work on property at WDW in one of the corporate offices. Been a few times to the parks this summer. I can tell you that empty is not how I would describe the situation. Without a Genie+ you are going to wait a long time for the most popular attractions.

[nocera]

Source of the post They've overspent on the cost of content to fill these platforms, and too much of it has been poor quality that people don't want to pay for.

As someone who has watched every Marvel and Star Wars show... yep.

[nocera]

By the way, Flight of Passage currently has a 150 minute wait. Damn empty, those parks.

[Dickie Dunn]

I really have no idea where this should go, but since this is the Disney topic: Iger's short return as CEO has been extended two years to the end of 2026 and he's talking big about selling off linear TV assets and cutting the volume of Marvel and Star Wars productions. I have a feeling he's going to end up doing a lot of stuff out of necessity that if Chapek did the same thing he would be crucified for.

[tifosi77]

It's a good thing you're here DD. No one's posted that yet. Certainly not today, six posts up.

.....................

[tifosi77]

D+ was sort of Iger's swan song; after a tenure spent broadening the Company's IP portfolio, this was going to be a way to deliver content directly to consumers in a way that kept Disney relevant in a new segment. In the years leading up to launch he was unequivocal that short term losses would be substantial as the company produced content to fill the service and gain subs, and to build out and deploy the necessary technology. But as time has gone on, that spend has not translated into longer term prospects. And the "time has gone on" bit was Chapek's tenure, which is why he was fired over a weekend on his way to Dodger Stadium to introduce Elton John. Coupled that with the fact that he did not exactly embody the top of the Wooden pyramid (ex. the best are at their best when their best is what is needed).

One of the things Chapek did was reorganize the Company and created a new division called Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution - DMED - which was my segment when I was hired. (I don't know what division Gabe works for) But DMED separated creative from business on the digital side of things, and from a content point of view sort of steered the ship into the ice. Public shareholders notwithstanding, Disney is sort of the last 'independent' major studio, with no external pressure from a corporate overlord, and the creation of DMED sort of inserted that dynamic into the middle of the Company's structure in a segment (streaming) and at a time (post-D+ launch) when it was least useful. It was such a dimwit strategic idea that the Chairman of that division (Kareem Daniel) did not see sunset on the first full day of Iger's return; DMED was blown up within a few weeks, and much of 2023 has been spent unf**king that mess. (I have like three or four Power Points from when I was onboarded with DMED watermarks that are sort of quaint now in retrospect.)

[Dickie Dunn]

It's a good thing you're here DD. No one's posted that yet. Certainly not today, six posts up.

.....................

Who has time to scroll up?

[nocera]

Again, the story is that attendance is down from last year and lowest since 2019 (not counting Covid) NOT that the parks are empty, but this is the first article that I've seen mention that Universal is dealing with the same thing. So, it's not go woke go broke Disney or due to pricing. Like I said above, it's probably more due to revenge travel cooling down and nobody wants to bake to death in Florida in the summer. Also currently looking at a 115 minute wait for RnR coaster, 95 for Slinky Dog and 7DMT, 85 for Space mountain, 80 for Toy Story Mania and Runaway Railway, 75 for Rise, Peter pan, and Smuggler's run, etc. So lower attendance definitely doesn't mean the park looks or feels empty.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/13/business ... index.html