Bob Iger on DeSantis, Prices & Low Crowds at Disney World, Challenges & Optimism
Following his 2-year contract extension, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke with CNBC’s David Faber about the future of Walt Disney World and Disneyland, streaming services, legacy media, as well as potential sales or acquisitions. This post will recap some of the highlights will interjecting our ‘between the lines’ commentary.
The backdrop of Iger’s interview was the chilly mountainside in Idaho, where Iger is making a return for the investment bank Allen & Co.’s annual conference in Sun Valley. The summit is a veritable who’s who from Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Wall Street, sometimes referred to derisively (or lovingly, I guess, depending upon the audience) as “billionaire’s summer camp.” It’s frequently a hotbed for mergers and acquisitions, with handshake deals struck among media and tech titans.
In fact, former CEO Michael Eisner famously made the deal for Disney to acquire Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion back in 1995 at Sun Valley Resort. That’s often viewed as the first megadeal made at the conference, cementing its reputation as the place for media moguls to talk M&A. This is all relevant because it’s widely expected that CEO Bob Iger will spin off declining businesses to pay down debt and create a leaner, more focused Disney. M&A experience also likely plays a major role in Iger sticking around through 2026.
That’s as good of a jumping off point as any, and Faber was quick to ask about Iger extending his contract even after telling the interviewer back in February that he would not. Iger said that Disney has “gotten a lot done very quickly” and pointed to significant cost reductions, significant restructuring, major personnel changes, and dealing head-on with the biggest challenges and looking for opportunities.
Iger indicated that he is “quite pleased” how much Disney has accomplished in a short period of time, but noted that there are a lot of challenges, that the market has to cooperate, and post-COVID recovery remains ongoing. He went on to say that he’s “extremely optimistic” about the company and its assets, but that the challenges are greater than he had anticipated, including some “self-inflicted” damage.
When pressed about what he meant, Iger said that the disruption of the traditional television business is the most notable. This was something Disney saw coming years ago, but the decline has been sharper and faster than anticipated. To that point, Iger stated that there’s necessary “transformative work” to be done to ensure cost structure reflects the economic realities of the business that includes disruption.
He also said that Disney needed to assess “no growth businesses” like linear and see what opportunities exist. When asked specifically, Iger went on to suggest that Disney could sell ABC, FX, NatGeo, and other cable networks because they “may not be core to Disney.” He said it wasn’t a matter of creativity, but the business and distribution model for linear is “definitely broken.”
Iger also distinguished ESPN from the other cable networks, and said Disney was thinking differently about it. He said Disney’s position in that ESPN is very unique and a great brand. “We’ve had a great business, and we want to stay in that business. That said we’re going to be open minded there too. Not necessarily about spinning ESPN off, but about looking for strategic partners that could either help us with distribution or content, but we want to stay in the sports business,” Iger explained.
Based on both his comments during the interview and the way Disney has restructured to silo off ESPN from the other divisions, it’s pretty clear that Iger has something up his sleeve with ESPN. There has been a ton of speculation about Apple acquiring Disney, but I think that’s off-base. My bet is that there’s a Disney-Apple deal for ESPN on the horizon. Not necessarily a sale, but a big deal that makes ESPN, for all intents and purposes, part of Apple TV Plus.
Apple TV+ has already started to test the waters with live sports, and clearly has an appetite for more. They lost out on the bidding war for NFL Sunday Ticket to Google (YouTube), which was a big blow. Sports would be hugely beneficial to Apple and they have the money to burn on a major acquisition or strategic partnership.
One of Apple’s many problems–beyond just a lack of sports content–is brand recognition and coverage quality (Friday Night Baseball on Apple is awful). ESPN would instantly address that. Plus, I think Iger is more inclined to make a deal with Apple than anyone else–the marriage between Disney and Apple makes sense. I have zero insight beyond intuition and gut instinct, but I think an Apple-ESPN deal happens. (I do not think Apple–or anyone–will acquire Disney outright.)
Iger also addressed Hulu, and offered the strongest ‘confirmation’ to date that Disney’s plan is to acquire Comcast’s stake in the streaming service (there’s already a long-standing agreement for this transaction in 2024, but Iger previously said he’d reevaluate that). According to Iger, Disney is better off with Hulu than without it, and the tentative plan is for Hulu to be available starting the end of 2023 as part of the Disney+ streaming service.
Given that this is a theme parks blog, many of you may not really care about cable networks, streaming services, and so forth. However, Iger addressing those disruptions and reducing Disney’s debt load is absolutely a necessary prerequisite to future growth of Walt Disney World and Disneyland. To that point, let’s switch gears…
When asked earlier in the interview–during the portion about disruption and challenges–where Disney was doing well, Iger was empathic about the future of Walt Disney World and Disneyland. “There are other elements of the business that I have huge optimism about, for instance, Parks & Resorts which is just a tremendous business for us,” Iger said.
He continued: “We’re invested significantly and the investments we’ve made over the years are really paying off today. Shanghai Disneyland is a great example of that, [as is] the Star Wars Land…I’ve really believed in the future of that business. We actually have opportunities there to turbocharge that growth.”
With only a few minutes left on the clock, Faber returned to the topic of theme parks, bringing up reports that there have been slowdowns at Walt Disney World. Faber asked whether the DeSantis vs. Disney feud in Florida is now having an impact on attendance. “No, no, we see no sign of that at all,” Iger responded.
Iger then laid out all of the reasons why attendance around Independence Day was lower, saying that the temperature was about 100 degrees and 99% humidity on that day. He added that “Florida opened up early during COVID and created huge demand and didn’t have competition because there were a number of other places, states that were not open yet.”
Iger continued: “If you look at the numbers in Florida in 2023, or just recently versus 2022…the state of Florida has been down. We actually track hotel tax revenue across the state, which is a matter of public record, and there are counties in Florida that had been down 6, 7% recently. We also know that our competitors are discounting in that state. So there are some near-term issues in Florida that I don’t think had anything to do with politics.”
On some of these points, Iger is 100% correct. Hot weather likely was a contributing factor to late June and early July crowds. Florida seeing “revenge travel” earlier and thus it being exhausted sooner is absolutely a fair point, and one that has been brought up here previously. It’s also true that hotel occupancy tax collections are down in many major tourist hubs around Florida. Universal and other competitors are discounting.
And as we’ve said before, there is very little reason to believe politics is having any material impact on attendance or revenue. When you look at the data for Walt Disney World, Universal, and the state as a whole, there just isn’t much to support that narrative. A lot of readers contested that when it was our assessment, but perhaps you’ll believe it when coming from Iger? (Again, this is not to say it’s not causing people to change vacation plans on an individual level; but to whatever extent that’s happening, it more or less nets out to nothing material.)
However, this is also not the whole story. It wasn’t just the hot Independence Day weekend that was slower, it’s been all dates since Easter (year-over-year). Not only that, but hot and humid summers are not exactly a new-for-2023 phenomenon in Central Florida. Competitors are discounting more, but Walt Disney World is discounting more aggressively, too. Not only that, but Disney has brought back Annual Passes and ticket deals to boost bookings. Despite hotel occupancy tax collections being down, TSA data still shows strong numbers of inbound travelers to Florida.
Obviously, Iger is doing a wide-ranging interview and doesn’t have the time to get into granular detail on all of this–I’m just happy he hit the points he did! Had he dug into the details more, I suspect Iger would’ve said that the discounts have been necessary to maintain those strong inbound numbers–thus explaining lower occupancy tax collections–and that data also suggests more people are heading to outdoor and non-urban destinations like the beaches, state parks, etc.
As for the particularly slow Independence Day weekend, the sharper drop there could’ve been explained by a mix of particularly brutal weather and, more importantly, ticket blockouts from July 1 to 4 that were unnecessarily aggressive. (Crowd levels have already rebounded from the lows for those dates.)
Faber asked whether Iger was concerned about the attendance decline at Walt Disney World, and Iger indicated that he was not–that it was due to a tough comparison last year with pent-up demand, and that long-term, the business is healthy. Iger was then questioned about whether higher prices were one of the issues. He was pretty clear on that: “Pricing is not an issue. We addressed some of those issues.”
“I don’t know when the last time you visited Walt Disney World, but I’d say it’s where the Disney brand lives in his most sublime form. I believe that it’s an incredible experience. It’s a very, very popular business and product and it’s very successful and we’re not wringing our hands over it,” Iger continued.
Obviously, Iger is going to spin and minimize where possible. I think the situation is a bit worse than he lets on, but still ultimately a healthy and natural correction so long as Walt Disney World makes the necessary adjustments to address guest satisfaction and lure back disenchanted fans.
With that said, Iger’s assessment of pent-up demand is definitely correct and his points about pricing are at least somewhat correct. (Due to all of the discounting, prices have effectively already decreased as compared to last year. This alone suggests that pricing was/is an issue, at least to some extent. But even that could be a story about pent-up demand and free-spending consumers in 2021-2022, and people taking a “break” from theme parks after spending big on them the previous 2 years.)
The topic then turned back to DeSantis, with Faber offering some “bait” with quotes from DeSantis.
Iger stuck to the familiar script: “So far what we’ve said publicly is that we are concerned that he has decided to retaliate against the company for a position the company took on pending legislation in that state. And frankly, the company was within its right, even though I’m not sure it was handled very well, it was within its right to speak up on an issue constitutionally protected right of free speech, and to retaliate against the company in a way that would be harmful to the business was not something that we could sit back and tolerate.”
“And so, we have filed a lawsuit to protect our First Amendment rights there and to protect our business frankly. The other issues that you referenced, the last thing that I want for the company is for the company to be drawn into any culture wars. You know, we’ve operated for almost 100 years as a company making product that we actually are proud of in terms of its impact on the world. I joke every once in a while we’re there to manufacture fun.”
Iger was then asked about neo-Nazis demonstrating outside the Walt Disney World gateway last month. “That was horrifying quite frankly and it’s concerning to me that anyone would encourage a level of intolerance or even hate that…could be turned into some dangerous act of some sort.”
He went on to say that he didn’t want to engage beyond that, “except to say that it’s it’s not our goal to be involved in a culture war. Our goal is to continue to tell wonderful stories and have a positive, positive impact on the world. You know, we are a preeminent entertainer in the world. And we’re proud of our track record there. The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing children quite frankly is preposterous and inaccurate.”
The substance of the interview more or less wrapped up there, with Iger’s concluding remarks conceding that Disney has “a lot of work to do” but that his team is confident that it’s doing “the right work at the right timetable.” He’s also confident that Disney’s board is doing well, and stated that the succession planning process “is not going to stop–it’s going to continue and it should.”
Iger ended with reassuring words: “There’s so many things that we have to do and so much that we know we will do and can do and we’re optimists like, you know, I talk about optimism is a major quality of a great leader. No one wants to follow a pessimist. We’re optimists about the future of this company. We’ve gotten at the work already. We know what we have to do. There’s light at the end of the tunnel in in the most challenged businesses, and there’s an unbelievably bright future for the businesses that are less challenged.”
Ultimately, it was a mostly good interview. Although not a ton of time was spent on Walt Disney World and Disneyland, that was to be expected. As we’ve pointed out repeatedly, the immediate pressing concerns are all on the other side of the company. Addressing those is a necessary prerequisite to significant investment and expansion in the parks. Stated differently, Disney needs to pay down debt–ideally by shedding some media baggage–before it can turn its attention to Walt Disney World and Disneyland. The two things are absolutely and undeniably intertwined.
So from that perspective, this interview hit all the right notes for me. Iger was sober and realistic about the struggles and challenges faced by linear and streaming, teasing sales of cable networks and also some sort of strategic partnership for ESPN. Iger also talked up the theme parks and his optimism for the future of Walt Disney World and Disneyland, suggesting (yet again) that he is sincere about betting big on their futures. That’s more or less everything that I wanted to hear.
One final note that’s beyond the scope of what we typically cover, Iger did have arguably one unforced error in discussing the writer’s strike when he said their union has unrealistic expectations. That is already the ‘big’ clip from this interview making the rounds on social media, with many juxtaposing Iger’s comments with his huge salary. This is like the 5th time this has happened with media executives, and while I can understand their desire to address and put pressure on the issue, the optics are awful.
Beyond that, I was frankly shocked that Iger spent 2 full minutes essentially repeating the same, substance-less sentiment. He could’ve instead broken down the financial performance of linear, streaming, and other segments to illustrate the rapid decline in entertainment profits (not to be confused with revenue) over the last decade.
I’m not going to weigh in on this contentious fight beyond that, and also to say that social media is not real life. The concerns of certain outsized online voices are not the same as those of average American consumers, and definitely not of investors. Regardless, Iger could’ve chosen his words more carefully, presented his case in a more compelling manner, or, ideally, said nothing at all.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
OUR THOUGHTS
What’s your reaction to any of Iger’s statements about selling off networks, entering a strategic partnership on ESPN, acquiring Hulu outright? What about the explanations he offered for lower crowds at Walt Disney World? Still think that it does have to do with politics or prices? Thoughts on Disney extending CEO Bob Iger’s contract through 2026? Think he can turn things around by then? Do you believe Iger is sincere in his optimism about future expansion at Walt Disney World and Disneyland? Thoughts on anything else discussed here? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the Walt Disney Company’s future? Think things will get better in 2024-2025? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
“Friday Night Baseball on Apple is awful”
It really is! The pre-game discussion looks like they are stuck in a non-descript 1980s hotel conference room. The sideline reporters are terrible, and the in-game coverage is so pathetic that if there is a game I’m interested in, I watch it on mute. Some of the stats that they show are weirdly interesting, but the overall package is crummy.
Disney’s recent movies, really since 2019 Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4, have been a let down and not so popular. Maybe except encanto. Luca was good but not a theatrical release. Some of this is a chicken and egg debate certainly with the other points made in the post and comments. Compare this to the other studios’ animated films: spiderverse, bad guys, puss in boots, superpets, minions, sing 2,trolls 2, croods. (Honorable mention to non-animated films pasddington 2 and Lyle crocodile). It is clear which recent lineup kids (especially boys) prefer..
Excellent article, Tom (as always, the best Disney blog out there). I think people are too concerned about Disney’s fortunes (or misfortunes). The company has been up and down over the last 100 years. After Walt and Roy, there was a period of disastrous animated films (Disney films in general). Then the Renaissance happened with The Little Mermaid. Even after that, there was a bad patch before Frozen. As for the parks, DIsneyland Paris was a disaster when it opened and Disneyland Hong Kong wasn’t much better. But, in 2019, Disney had a record year. Fortunes will go up and then go down…and then go up again.
Agree w/all that Tom…maybe except I prefer more rides than nighttime or once/daily experiences-that ultimately makes crowds converge rather than disperse. @James and Mike…Universal’s only strong suit on prices is the included unlimited express pass with their deluxe resort stays-otherwise they do the same things with upcharges and park ticket pricing. At the end of the day, the patrons at either will only be where they are by preferring the ride types (more thrills at Universal), nostalgia (Disney has a 20 year headstart on the parks there) or love of IP represented. I can’t wait for Epic in 2025 but I fully expect to pay through the nose if I stay at Helios!
Yes, you are correct. Our Universal experience was enhanced by our stay at Royal Pacific and the included express passes. We weren’t huge fans of Royal Pacific, it was just ok. Not great and not bad. Location and included perks provided the value.
I too am most interested in Helios, but maybe once I see the price tag I’ll change my mind!
I should say, overall, our whole family does feel Disney has broader appeal to us than Universal. Also, the resorts, shopping, and food at Disney are definitely better. It’s just that we aren’t finding value at Disney right now unfortunately. Universal was fun, but had its limitations for us. Next year, we aren’t doing any theme park vacations. For the same money as Disney, we can go to a super nice beach reaort instead, so that’s what we are planning. Haven’t been to a Disney park since 2019, not sure when we will again.
KenR – The number of people that the announcement impacts should have no bearing on the fact that it helps those people out. Those needing wheelchairs are a small percentage of the population, but those who don’t intrinsically understand why wheelchair ramps are made and don’t get angry about them just because they aren’t for us. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ might not be offensive to you, but it sounds like you can recognize why it offends others. Why waste energy getting upset about something that hurts no one and makes more people feel welcome?
Patrick- Thank you for your kind words. <3
Don’t shoot the messenger here, I’m just gonna tell it like it is from what I see and hear in my conservative red state. (And keep in mind that literally half the country falls into that political demographic.) A lot of people are disgusted by Disney right now. And the reason is Disney’s front and center position in the culture wars. Iger says that Disney doesn’t want to be involved in such a culture war, but the content they’ve recently produced screams otherwise. I for one hope they come to their senses. And by the way, I don’t believe for a minute that the low attendance over the July 4th weekend was due to hot weather. People plan their vacations, book reservations, buy airfare and tickets well ahead of any weather forecast for a given weekend. Perhaps fewer locals visited, but locals would probably be the only ones changing their vacation plans a few days out when they see the weather forecast. A lot of people just don’t wanna fork out thousands of dollars for a vacation that just isn’t magical for them anymore. Whether it’s Disney nickel and dime-ing or Disney offending the more conservative clientele, the company has lost the trust of millions. I’m a DVC member, annual pass holder, and longtime Disney fan. I want to see the company return to it’s glory days. But I don’t see that happening unless they make some big changes. Soon.
I’m also from a conservative red state. Disney is poison right now. A few years ago, I had many family members and coworkers who went to WDW often and rushed out to see the next Disney movie in theaters. They haven’t been to the parks in years and the last Disney movie they saw in a theater is Frozen 2. I’m DVC and a Disney fan too but I keep my trips and anything Disney related to myself because it’s such a toxic subject now.
“A lot of people just don’t wanna fork out thousands of dollars for a vacation that just isn’t magical for them anymore‘——
This….
We are long time regulars. Getting ready to cancel this year’s trip. We’re going to Maine instead. We’re all excited about this, where sadly the Disney trip was easy (because we’ve done it so many times)- but no joy in planning this year. The nickel and dime philosophy, and indifferent cast members the past few trips- ruined it. We’re over it.
Disney+—have don’t watch it (it came with Hulu).
There’s also the unfortunate consequence for Disney of the reverse in choosing travel. I’m from a much bluer state, and seeing many of my friends and acquaintances choose to avoid Florida as a whole due to the state politics. There are plenty who love Disney and appreciate that Disney has been inclusive long before the current issue, but don’t want to give their business to the state of Florida. Personally, I’m looking at Disneyland as our next Disney destination instead of WDW.
Well said, Cathie!
As a family we have been visiting WDW since 1977, and up until January, 2020 we enjoyed every visit (even with the prices going sky high). We still have a few old “E” tickets in the scrapbook. Our initial thoughts for when Bob Iger returned we expected things to begin to straighten out, but sadly, no.
He seems to have taken all this LG….. to the brink. Most of us poor plain people went to WDW for the fun and enjoyment, we were entertained, fed (we loved the WDW dinning plan) and usually had a very comfortable room with very nice extras. Unfortunately all that has changed. The parks are no longer as fun as they were, the cast members are not as friendly, and when you pay for an “A” seating at the Hoop – Dee – Do show and they put you upstairs with no one else but the waiters, you start to see a trend. The man at the ticket stand could have cared less that we paid extra for our seats, he just wanted to know if we could climb steps.
One of the final straws is with the older movies. Don’t get me wrong, we loved all the movies, except for a few that one individual or another didn’t like, but to remove dialogue that was acceptable when the movies were made to adhere to some present day adult/child that gets their feeling hurt if you say boo, is unacceptable. The intolerance of many people today is only being reflected by Iger and his team.
The people that are actually offended or who feel excluded by the words Ladies and Gentlemen boys and girls in a friendly announcement are such a minuscule and insignificant portion of our population and I do wonder why Disney thought it a good idea to remove the words. Seriously! Having to wave and say “Friend” out of fear of offending someone who doesn’t want to hear the words “boy or girl”. Getting rid of Zip a Dee Doo Da is just extreme. And it shows that senior management is clearly out of touch and is catering to a fringe minority.
Great article. My fascination is that Disney has no new rides (not walk through attractions) under construction in any of its domestic parks. Knowing how long it takes them to build a new ride, we’re looking at several years before anything new opens domestically. When was the last dry spell like this across both the CA and FL resorts simultaneously?
Thankfully the international parks are a completely different story and that’s where I’ll be focusing my Disney visits for the next few years.
“When was the last dry spell like this across both the CA and FL resorts simultaneously?”
Pre-2013, when New Fantasyland opened.
Frankly, this is also my biggest concern. Walt Disney World is slowing down right as a development cycle is winding down, rather than using the momentum from that cycle to coast into the next plateau.
My expectation is that Disney pulls from the playbook of the last downturn, which (hopefully) means more perks, seasonal events, and entertainment. If they actually do that, I won’t be all that disappointed about the lack of new rides. I’d actually prefer good (new!) parades, nighttime spectaculars, and well thought out special events. Of course, that’s a very big “if” at this point.
Maggie, well thought out and spoken as always. I personally never even would have noticed or known about that change if it weren’t brought up in these comments. If it ruins the park for someone they could just stop going, no announcement needed.
I really don’t understand the focus on the removal of ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ that I’ve recently seen in these comments. It wasn’t even an accurate phrase anyway – my partner is neither a lady nor a gentleman, and neither is anyone who would stomp on their right to be included just so they can hear a particular greeting. Nothing of value has been lost there, and it’s also not on-topic in any thread it’s brought up in.
I did enjoy this read though Tom, and I think you’re spot on. I was dreading the comments section for things like this but actually it’s mostly been enlightening so far.
Maybe this particular thread on some level proves Tom’s point that the culture war stuff is 0 sum? In case no one noticed for every person on one side of these issues there’s someone else on the other side. It’s difficult to find the actual issues when you decide what you want to believe then find the news to support it instead of the other way around.
totally agree! I miss the Kiss Goodnight at the end of the night at MK. It started with “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…” I guess that’s why they cancelled it. Or it was because the ending song was a medley combining “zipadee do da” mixed with “your dreams come true. Very sad .
Given that it sounds like both Disney and Comcast have the ability to force a sale of Universal’s share of Hulu to Disney, I guess it’s down to haggling about the price. Thankfully, it’s looking like Iger’s looking at thinning out the herd of channels to pay for that; at the very least I think Hearst could conceivably want the other half of the A&E networks. Throw in a possibly overpriced ABC due to network nostalgia, and Parks and Resorts could actually be in okay financial shape, which is good because Bob Iger Wants Big Theme Park Expansions.
Universal is a division of Comcast
“ I like how Disney fired Gina for her views, yet cry when they get similar treatment, seems hypocritical to me.” You do realize that Gina was not punished by the GOVERNMENT for her views, right? She was (and is) free to say generally whatever she wants without punishment from the government. The same is true for Disney and that is the basis for their lawsuit. The right to freedom of speech in the constitution has been interpreted to include corporations (which was actually largely the basis for the SCOTUS decision in Citizen’s United ~10 years ago that allowed corporations the ability to spend virtually limitless amounts of money in election advertising). You may think that corporations should not have freedom of speech, but that doesn’t mean that the law agrees with you. You’re comparing apples to oranges.
Dead on. A company can fire at will.as long as it isn’t doing so because of a protected class (the new CEO.is anti,-Semitic and fires three highs performing employees who are Jewish). Most people don’t understand that censorship only refers to government censorship which is what DeSantis has been up.to in FL.with school and public libraries, catering to Moms for Liberty.
Citizens U cited gave corporations a right to.freedom.of Super h without government retaliation. Chapel made a very mild statement and the Governor retaliated and then was stupid enough to.boast about it. I read the filing. The first 20+ pages are quote after quote in which Ronnie D brags about Bri going Disney to.its knees by cancelling g Teddy Creek. Other companies are taking g conventionbusiness elsewhere.
Politics is having g a definite effect on Florida tourism. A number of major conventions have gone elsewhere specifically because DeSantis has made the climate there hostile to business, according g to.an article I read on WaPo. I won’t be surprised if more pull.out, and if some companies reconsider aging there. Bluntly, if Ron can stick it to.the 3d largest employer and single largest taxpayer in the state, he can do it to any corporation which dares disagree with him. He is screwing the state by costing them convention business, which includes not just the convention centers and hotels, but local bars and restaurants and stores and airlines and ride share companies. Disney already cancelled 1.3billion dollars investment in housing and 2,000 jobs.
How much more can FL afford to.lose because their governor hates LGBTQ people,parents who want their kids to learn accurate history,and people who use libraries? The state is gonna start feeling those losses soon. He won’t care because he can’t run for a third term until someone else has a term. By then , FL.will have hemorrhaged money and jobs and I doubt he will win.
Thanks for writing this up, I was waiting for your review.
This is off topic, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on medium to long-term ramifications of hotter summers and/or longer and more extreme heat waves. My going assumption has been that there isn’t much difference between 95 and 97 degrees in Orlando, and visitors that have been able or willing to deal with the heat previously will continue to do so. I was surprised to hear Iger bring up the weather.
That’s beyond my expertise.
My guess is that heat waves (like this) would have a bigger impact, as there’s a growing population of locals and AP holders who can simply stay home when the weather is worse. Hotter weather over time seems like something to which people will adjust.
The flip side to all of this is that, up until this week, the weather was relatively nice in Anaheim. I’m slightly surprised that more people from the Southwest (AZ, NV, TX, etc.) didn’t take impromptu getaways to CA in late June and early July.
The bottom line is that Disneyworld has out priced itself for the middle class. They are also losing die hard fans who can’t be bothered with the nickel and diming any more. Politics probably plays a minor role.
Epic Universal us around the corner and Disney has nothing to compete with it. Expect massive discounts 2025 and beyond.
We were just talking about this the other night. There is almost nothing Disney can do to get us back into their parks as our next Florida parks visit will most likely be Epic Universe. My son has LOVED Disney, but after our first Universal visit this year, he has fully converted away from any desire for the Disney parks.
All of the expansion plans Disney has for new attractions is years off, if it even happens, and based off IP that holds no interest to us. Other than visiting for nostalgia sake, there’s very little to pull us back. Nostalgia isn’t worth that much $ either. One day at June for a visit at Hollywood Studios would have cost our family of four $600 just for tickets. Not happening. Iger may think it’s a tremendous experience, but not for $600 a day. I am thankful to make an above average salary, but they must be marketing to a higher income level than me. We cannot afford those prices. It’s sad.
I am glad to be validated in my opinion that Friday Night Baseball on AppleTV is so bad as to be nearly unwatchable. I don’t know how they do it, actually.
What’s really wild to me is that it hasn’t really improved that much since launching. Apple has to know it’s a problem, as there has been plenty of feedback from baseball games about how bad it is. Other streamers have had similar issues and found that simply writing big checks for broadcasting talent isn’t enough to give their broadcasts the polish and feel of ESPN, Fox, CBS, etc–but Friday Night Baseball is far and away the biggest offender.
Partnering with ESPN in some fashion would fix that.
We turn down the volume on the tv, cue up the radio broadcast and play with the pvr a bit until they are mostly coordinated. Not ideal but so much better than the full Apple TV Friday Night Baseball Experience.
I was shocked when I saw the comments about the writers’ strike. That was a very un-Iger-like error when he could have repeated the same “we hope to work out a fair deal and get everyone back to work” spiel the studios have been spinning for months.
Also, I don’t see a protracted strike by the writers and actors doing anything to help Disney get its media business into profit. Which probably pushes any major announcements and investments in the parks further down the road.
It’s pretty clear the studios are going to start being more blunt with the writers based on recent interviews, letters, etc.
Maybe that approach will work, but it strikes me as tone deaf. They’d be much better off focusing on the shifting financial landscape and trajectory of the media business. Nobody wins if this drags on, except maybe Netflix.