Has Disney’s Strategies To It’s Loyal Customers Finally Caught Up With It?

[New Mouse]

To me it is the budgets that are out of control....

Elemental allegedly cost $200 million to make.

So far, it has made $311 million + worldwide.

There will be some marketing costs thrown in there. A $300+ million box office film should not be a flop. It's the cost structure that is out of control.

People are complaining about Little Mermaid. The budget there was allegedly $250 million to make. So far that movie has made $547 million. I would hope that doubling your production budget would allow your movie to make some money for the studio, yet people are calling the film a box office disappointment.

Both of these movies will likely have licensing opportunities. They'll sell CDs or albums that will be streamed. There are some toys and shirts and other things that should add to the bottom line.

Ant Man Quantummania also had 200 million budget, has made 476 million at the box office. Most of Disney's failures have made tons of money, the cost structure is the problem.

The one that will likely be a flop is Indiana Jones....

Indiana Jones looks like it is heading in the direction of being a huge money loser for Lucasfilm/Disney. Budget may have been around $400 million, and so far it has only made about $300 million. To me going back to my earlier statements.... $300 million should be enough money to make a profitable movie.... but Disney's costs (and most other studios) are way out of control. Harry Potter, when it came out in 2001, and was known that it was to be one of the most successful films ever made cost $125 million in budget or about $215 million in today's dollars. Why anyone thought that Indiana Jones in 2023 would need to cost nearly double that amount and could be profitable is beyond me.... Hollywood spending is totally out of control.

Gotta pay them enough so they can feed their families!

 

[Disney Bobby]

I agree with the AP restrictions currently and in January…unless they increase from 5 to 10 .
Okay APholders has to make sure they have certain holidays and birthdays or family visits… Bingo I can’t survive with just 5 park pass reservations It is beyond stupid but Universal seems to be happy to invite me to visit.

It's ridiculously stupid. It's a park reservation. Something that wasn't even necessary before the pandemic. Not Super Bowl tickets. lol

 

[DodgerGirl]

If you look at the general picture in movies the one movie that was somewhat of a flop was Onward and when it released in theaters it was sure to be a huge hit but when the pandemic happened Onward had low expectations and was sent to Disney+ and you could tell that Onward was gonna be huge by the amount of merchandise they had for Onward but I think it did even better on Disney+ And the same thing with Soul and Soul had little merchandise too and when Strange World was released last year in theaters Strange World hurt Disney a lot because had they given Strange World proper promotion and chances to sell merchandise it would've done better. On the theme parks side I think what's hurting the parks aside from reservation systems and Genie+ is that most of the stuff that Disney Parks is made exclusively for the Chase Disney card members such as Chase exclusive character meet and greets and merchandise discounts when you use your Chase Disney card and park exclusive deals for Chase cardholders. And so it tells me that Disney Parks are attracting the Chase cardholders now. But I do agree that Genie+ needs to disappear because I don't know how it helps you and they should've designed it better. I can predict that next Disney will sell Lucasfilm and try to focus on 20th Century Fox and Disney Broadway will go broke and Marvel will improve itself with more movies because Marvel is their top focus and if Disney sold Marvel it would hurt them terribly

 

[namelessoracle]

From a micro econ perspective, the Disney "factory" might be too large in Orlando... it creates excess demand for labor to the point of inefficiency. All the talk of a 5th gate at WDW are probably pure fantasy when it seems clear that Disney already doesn't want to pay the marginal rate for labor.

Iger just this past week said the parks still have lots of room to grow financially (which seems at odds with closing Galactic Starcruiser and not paying market rate for housekeeping, etc.) and with Universal's new park concept in Texas, I wonder if Disney isn't intimating that a Texas expansion is just around the corner.

Then why does Universal get away with paying more?

I think the issue is that for everything they need, they have competitors in the area eating their supply. If you are a kid who wants to work ride lines, Universal pays you better, and has lower expectations of you. (The employees at Universal joke about how they have an easier attendance policy and can have a different tone with guests than what Disney expects). If you do house cleaning, there is plenty of hotels. If you do construction, plenty of projects. If you do food, plenty of restaurants. Plenty of pools that needs life guards, though they cant even get Typhoon Lagoon to capacity anymore, so no wonder they dont re open Blizzard Beach.

The real reason is the parks are one of the major profit centers, and paying more eats into the profits. Wall Street will not like "we are reducing profits on our parks" so they dont raise the salaries.

As far as Igers comment goes, this is strictly true as long as they have a single day where all parks are not at capacity. (preferably not with annual pass guests, but they got backed off that for now)

 

[Summer2018]

Corporate greed
https://www.facebook.com/reel/175927478688021?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw

 

[bryaalre]

Then why does Universal get away with paying more?

With the latest contract negations a few months ago, Disney now pays equal to Universal and more than Universal by the end of the year.

 

[Tigger's ally]

With the latest contract negations a few months ago, Disney now pays equal to Universal and more than Universal by the end of the year.

Yeah, they go back and forth with their contracts depending on when they expire.

 

[Dcgc28]

Corporate greed
https://www.facebook.com/reel/175927478688021?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw

What’s her net worth lol isn’t it like 25 million? Why don’t she sell some of her stuff and help pay our bills?

 

[gmi3804]

What’s her net worth lol isn’t it like 25 million? Why don’t she sell some of her stuff and help pay our bills?

It's not her job to bail out companies who need to pay their employees justly. And what she's worth is NOYFB.

 

[Jwaire]

It's not her job to bail out companies who need to pay their employees justly. And what she's worth is NOYFB.

I'm sure Bob Iger feels the same way about his net worth.

There's enough money in the product for everyone to get paid, yet like every industry it's the little person that keeps getting skimped.

But Disney has to make money too and investors deserve a return on their investment. Owning a stock like Disney, an American icon, for 10 years shouldn't net you flat or negative growth when the S&P is up ~13% during the same amount of time.

Some of these projects weren't worth the cost, but if they produce less content that's less jobs for people too. I don't know what the answer is.

I just know She Hulk was not worth $225 million and Secret Wars was not worth $200 million either. They need to reign it in.

 

[Anjelica]

We live in Texas, so other than the humidity, it might be cooler than at home.

I have a few good friends down in Texas - y’all get ridiculously hot at times

 

[soniam]

I have a few good friends down in Texas - y’all get ridiculously hot at times View attachment 778616

Yeah, but that toasty sun beats freezing your booty off in the winter Well, most years it’s like that.

 

[gmi3804]

Yeah, but that toasty sun beats freezing your booty off in the winter Well, most years it’s like that.

I know you meant to be funny with that, but climate migration is a real thing throughout the entire world, and something that more and more people are considering.

 

[Disney Bobby]

I'm sure Bob Iger feels the same way about his net worth.

There's enough money in the product for everyone to get paid, yet like every industry it's the little person that keeps getting skimped.

But Disney has to make money too and investors deserve a return on their investment. Owning a stock like Disney, an American icon, for 10 years shouldn't net you flat or negative growth when the S&P is up ~13% during the same amount of time.

Some of these projects weren't worth the cost, but if they produce less content that's less jobs for people too. I don't know what the answer is.

I just know She Hulk was not worth $225 million and Secret Wars was not worth $200 million either. They need to reign it in.

It's the same story told a million times.

People want:
Everyone to get paid well
Products and services to be top quality
Products and services to be affordable
Companies to make a lot of money so they will pay dividends and their 401ks will grow

All those things can't happen.

 

[gmi3804]

It's the same story told a million times.

People want:
Everyone to get paid well
Products and services to be top quality
Products and services to be affordable
Companies to make a lot of money so they will pay dividends and their 401ks will grow

All those things can't happen.

Tell that to Costco.

 

[soniam]

I know you meant to be funny with that, but climate migration is a real thing throughout the entire world, and something that more and more people are considering.

I was specifically thinking of people in the north, where it’s typically cold in the winter. Whereas, Texas is typically warmer in the winter. I don’t take kindly to the insinuation that people in Texas don’t believe in climate change. I think you need to broaden your mind.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Disney has been forcing loyal guest out, while chasing quick new money since COVID….

The pool of new guest will to pay a lot of extra money has drying up.

The long time repeat Disney fans still have a bad taste in their mouth….

Couple that with our current economy,
The lack of ADR,
The dumb park reservation system,
And some less than magical cast members,

Disney has put themself in a position where they have some work to do.

 

[jade1]

Yeah, but that toasty sun beats freezing your booty off in the winter Well, most years it’s like that.

100% exactly why we moved from MN to Orlando.

It's not "most years", its every single year.

 

[jade1]

I'm still hoping for later/cooler night visits like the old days at WDW.

 

[ChipnDale79]

It's the same story told a million times.

People want:
Everyone to get paid well
Products and services to be top quality
Products and services to be affordable
Companies to make a lot of money so they will pay dividends and their 401ks will grow

All those things can't happen.

i mean..yes they can, its just people have a different idea of what "a lot of money" means.