Park attendance/performance down?? Iger vs. anecdotes??

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Was surprised to see this given what some bloggers and forums have been saying about attendance recently...


From live blog...

11:22

Bob says that theey are seeing a relatively "healthy consumer" in the United States. The performance of the domestic theme parks has been strong and they have seen no slow-down.​

http://www.laughingplace.com/w/feat...5th-annual-communacopia-conference-live-blog/


ETA: Also re: Zika...

11:45

Bob Iger reiterates that Walt Disney World has not seen an impact due to Zika concerns.​

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Lower attendance does not always equal lower profits or performance.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Lower attendance does not always equal lower profits or performance.

I generally interpret "seen no slowdown" as attendance-related as opposed to net profit related, but perhaps not in this case...

 

[WayTooExcited]

From what I understand, Disney is trying to spread out the crowds. Instead of EVERYONE going in the summer, they're creating deals for people to go during the fall and winter months. Obviously it seems like attendance is down, but I think at the end of the year they're going to see around the same totals as far as attendance.

Maybe. This is just what I think and what has kind of been explained to me by my brother-in-law.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

True, maybe they have been successful at spreading out the attendance over the traditionally slow months.

The other big issue they are having is the economic downturn in South America and issues in Britain, but he's referring to consumers in the US.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

True, maybe they have been successful at spreading out the attendance over the traditionally slow months.

The other big issue they are having is the economic downturn in South America and issues in Britain, but he's referring to consumers in the US.

I don't agree with that interpretation of what he's saying -- the following is about performance of US THEME PARKS -- not just a US consumer: The performance of the domestic theme parks has been strong and they have seen no slow-down.

I've really only heard bloggers posit about a measurable impact due to SA economic downturn -- I wouldn't call that confirmed by any means, unless there's evidence I'm not aware of (entirely possible!!).

 

[gmboy95]

i tend never to take anything a CEO says regarding the bottom line seriously....it is his job to paint as rosy a picture as possible to the public, while saving the difficult conversations for the board

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

i tend never to take anything a CEO says regarding the bottom line seriously....it is his job to paint as rosy a picture as possible to the public, while saving the difficult conversations for the board

Rosy picture and lying are different things. To say they see no slowdown if that isn't true would bite him later. Would not be smart.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Anecdotal evidence isn't proof either. We don't know how much of his assessment is based on the hike in prices.

 

[gmboy95]

Rosy picture and lying are different things. To say they see no slowdown if that isn't true would bite him later. Would not be smart.

its an exercise in word-craft.....as stated before, an attendance drop, does not necessarily mean a drop in revenue. If i were Disney, i would not be concerned with the immediate bottom line issues, i would be concerned that when the economy turns sour as it will inevitably do again, the people that are your bread and butte folks may not be there as you may priced them out. Thats when the bottom line will get effected

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Anecdotal evidence isn't proof either. We don't know how much of his assessment is based on the hike in prices.

Anecdotal evidence is ALL bloggers et al have! Iger has actual data... hopefully those inform his statements.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Yeah, but what he says does not necessarily mean "higher attendance." You are asking how there can be no slow-down when all the bloggers say attendance is down.

Depends on how he's measuring a slow down. Doubtless he's been apprised of some kind of statistics. Bloggers aren't observing the same things in the same way.

 

[mom2rtk]

i tend never to take anything a CEO says regarding the bottom line seriously....it is his job to paint as rosy a picture as possible to the public, while saving the difficult conversations for the board

Plus, I think performance = profits in Igerland.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

its an exercise in word-craft.....as stated before, an attendance drop, does not necessarily mean a drop in revenue. If i were Disney, i would not be concerned with the immediate bottom line issues, i would be concerned that when the economy turns sour as it will inevitably do again, the people that are your bread and butte folks may not be ther you may priced them out. Thats when the bottom line will get effected

I wouldn't personally worry about this, as popular as it is on blogs and forums. Sincerely doubt they're even close to that happening. But we don't have data to confirm or disprove any of this, obviously. They've weathered downturns before -- no reason for me to think from what I've seen from this company that they wouldn't do it again.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Doubtless he's been apprised of some kind of statistics. Bloggers aren't observing the same things in the same way.

Exactly. Thus my title, "Iger vs. anecdotes".

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Plus, I think performance = profits in Igerland.

Well, that is important. Those profits rolling in is what allows Star Wars land, Avatarland, etc to be built... however slowly...

 

[Accident]

I personally would say the levels of crowds are getting closer to what it was before the popularity of frozen bringing people to the world for several years.... The attendance is going to be down versus last year, last year was a beast as far as crowds, especially with the fall quarter when osbourne lights was doing it's final season. so many people came to experience them 1 more time..

I also think that more people are doing some day trips to universal making resort usage steady or increasing but park attendance not matching, but it's hard to tell if park attendance is matching because we only hear the vs last years beast crowd numbers.

 

[mom2rtk]

Well, that is important. Those profits rolling in is what allows Star Wars land, Avatarland, etc to be built... however slowly...

Agreed!

But Iger and the bloggers can both be right. Attendance can be down while profits are up.

Although I'm quite sure Iger would like to have attendance up allowing for even higher profits.

 

[gmboy95]

I wouldn't personally worry about this, as popular as it is on blogs and forums. Sincerely doubt they're even close to that happening. But we don't have data to confirm or disprove any of this, obviously. They've weathered downturns before -- no reason for me to think from what I've seen from this company that they wouldn't do it again.

I remember what it was like after 9/11 for about 4 years....it was middle class folks that helped the parks recover from what was crisis level downturn complete with abandoned construction and shut down hotels.....the way they conduct themselves lately is IMO, disrespectful to those people like myself who kept coming when not alot of others were

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Agreed!

But Iger and the bloggers can both be right. Attendance can be down while profits are up.

Although I'm quite sure Iger would like to have attendance up allowing for even higher profits.

Certainly, attendance COULD be down and profits up. I think I have seen reference to per customer revenue increasing which would be consistent.

COULD also be that crowds are being spread better throughout the year, and overall attendance isn't down.

His statement about no slowdown struck me as an attendance description, but that COULD be no net profit slowdown.

Also note his comment re Zika... another thing I've heard posited by some bloggers and forums... suppose this could be IMPACT on ATTENDANCE or on PROFIT... either way, good news if one cares about the company's and parks' success

11:45

Bob Iger reiterates that Walt Disney World has not seen an impact due to Zika concerns.​