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How long can parks survive with zero revenue?

I am particularly interested in how parks like Drayton will be coping in this situation. We all know they are not in the strongest financial position. Yet the zoo still needs running. So that will be a constant drain on finances without and incoming money.
 
I’d guess we will know by the end of the year, how many of the smaller parks rely on things like school groups end of year etc. That must make an ok amount to keep them going.
 
bluesonichd said:
Disney stop paying 100 thousand employees and tell them to collect welfare , then the small parks have no chance of staying afloat

https://www.ft.com/content/db574838-0f40-41ce-9bcd-75039f8cb288
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America is doing it differently to us so it is hard to compare.
In the UK if staff are no longer needed, they can be furloughed and the government pay the employer 80% of their wages so they can pay the employee.
In the US if a company furloughs an employee they can claim unemployment benefit ($600 federal due to Covid plus their normal state benefits). Most companies are also keeping healthcare benefits for their staff even while on furlough though.

So in the UK companies are encouraged to keep staff on the books and pay them, then get the money back from government. In the US staff need to claim welfare directly from the government.
 
I feel sorry for anyone in America. The way their country is set up is a terrible deal for the working class normally, but in time of crises they really have no leg to stand on. If you lose your job you can lose everything, healthcare included.
 
So here is a somewhat mind blowing piece of news. Disney released their first quarter financial results yesterday and unsurprisingly they look a huge hit to their profits; $1.4 billion. That was made up of many things across the whole business by $1 billion of that was the lack of income from their parks and cruise division. And this is with most of the parks operating at the start of the three month period (the US parks and DLP did not close until mid-March)!

Staggering to think just how much money Disney make from their theme parks.
 
Thankfully, Shanghai Disneyland reopening on 11th May might recoup some of these losses, but it is rather mindblowing to think how much money is being lost right now at Disney's other parks.
 
Matt N said:
Thankfully, Shanghai Disneyland reopening on 11th May might recoup some of these losses, but it is rather mindblowing to think how much money is being lost right now at Disney's other parks.
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At the Disney owned parks (Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris) they have lost revenue (ie the profit they could have made if open) of $1billion over two weeks. Over their financial quarter to 28 March, revenue dropped by 10% and income by 58% and thats with the parks open for most of the quarter.
From https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/walt...id-19-on-the-dpep-segment-to-be-1-billion.htm

As Shanghai is only part-owned by TWDC it may not bring in that much really, its a lot less relevant to the company compared to the other three parks.

Also notable that Virgin Atlantic and British Airways axed their Gatwick operations, where most Orlando flights depart, the UK to Florida tourism market is changed for years and years to come.
 
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Disney have also confirmed a $900million reduction in CapEx for 2020.

How that plays out in terms of cancelled/delayed projects I don’t know.
 
AT86 said:
Disney have also confirmed a $900million reduction in CapEx for 2020.

How that plays out in terms of cancelled/delayed projects I don’t know.
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Most expectations are that almost finished projects (Ratatouille at Epcot, Tron at Magic Kingdom) will be finished soon and open in 2021. Some may have small delays (Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot). Others will be put on hold (Epcot futureworld rebuild, Disney Studios Paris expansion) for a while to save that money. Some things such as Star Wars hotel may sit half finished for years to come. Anything that hasn't started (Spaceship Earth re-do) won't get started.
 
jon81uk said:
Also notable that Virgin Atlantic and British Airways axed their Gatwick operations, where most Orlando flights depart, the UK to Florida tourism market is changed for years and years to come.
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Apparently Virgin are moving all of their London operations to Heathrow, so I'd imagine Orlando flights will move to there, and quite a few also depart from Manchester; Manchester is where my family and I always fly to Orlando from.

Virgin has said that they anticipate demand recovering by 2023 and Walt Disney World has been made a forecast of former visitor figures returning by 2022 in a very worst case scenario, so I wouldn't suggest that this should impact Orlando too much in the very long term.
 
Matt N said:
Apparently Virgin are moving all of their London operations to Heathrow, so I'd imagine Orlando flights will move to there, and quite a few also depart from Manchester; Manchester is where my family and I always fly to Orlando from.

Virgin has said that they anticipate demand recovering by 2023 and Walt Disney World has been made a forecast of former visitor figures returning by 2022 in a very worst case scenario, so I wouldn't suggest that this should impact Orlando too much in the very long term.
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Yeah I think long-term it will pick back up, but it could be a number of years. Even if Virgin fly from Heathrow to Orlando it might only be one flight a day or every other day.

I was going to plan a trip for next year (Autumn 2021) for my birthday and Disneyworld's 50th, but I don't see the parks offering the full normal experience so I'm putting it off for a few years. I expect many others will too.
 
jon81uk said:
Yeah I think long-term it will pick back up, but it could be a number of years. Even if Virgin fly from Heathrow to Orlando it might only be one flight a day or every other day.

I was going to plan a trip for next year (Autumn 2021) for my birthday and Disneyworld's 50th, but I don't see the parks offering the full normal experience so I'm putting it off for a few years. I expect many others will too.
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I think by Autumn 2021 you should be good! Most people predict that a vaccine will be widely available by then, probably before then. The likes of Chris Whitty and Dominic Raab have thrown around "the end of this year" as the date for when a vaccine could begin to come into play.
 
Matt N said:
I think by Autumn 2021 you should be good! Most people predict that a vaccine will be widely available by then, probably before then. The likes of Chris Whitty and Dominic Raab have thrown around "the end of this year" as the date for when a vaccine could begin to come into play.
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Oh my concerns are Disney cost-cutting not covid and social distancing.
I've done the Florida parks several times before, so if there are new rides delayed its not worth it, or if certain attractions are still closed, or no Fantasmic performances. The cost-cutting and construction delays may be felt for several years, similar to the effects of low tourism following 9/11.
 
Cedar Fair announced their Q1 results - the numbers:

For the first quarter ended March 29, 2020, Cedar Fair’s net revenues totaled $54 million compared with $67 million for last year’s first quarter ended March 31, 2019. The decrease in net revenues for the period was the direct result of a 239,000-visit decrease in attendance and a $3 million decrease in out-of-park revenues, both shortfalls due to COVID-19-related park closures beginning March 14, 2020, through the end of the quarter.

Prior to the mid-March disruption of operations, attendance was up 149,000 visits, or 19%, and revenues were up more than $8 million, both increases primarily driven by a record start to the 2020 season at Knott’s Berry Farm, the Company’s only year-round park. During the last two weeks of the quarter, with no parks in operation as a result of COVID-19, the Company estimates it lost 388,000 visits and more than $20 million in revenues when compared with the same two-week period a year ago.
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Press release
 
Tim said:
I feel sorry for anyone in America. The way their country is set up is a terrible deal for the working class normally, but in time of crises they really have no leg to stand on. If you lose your job you can lose everything, healthcare included.
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Can understand why Americans need health care. My mum only fainted in Walt Disney World but they wanted to take her to hospital in celebration in a ambulance to see if she banged her head. The bill was roughly £2500 and she had to put it on the credit card and claimed it back on the travel insurance.
 
I was having a think about a comment I posted on another thread. Could this lockdown have bigger financial implications to Merlin then first thought?. Regardless of when they will reopen if you have 30odd attractions in the uk and you get zero income for a minimum of 5 months that can’t be good in the long run. When you think about the cost they will still have to shell out for everyday can’t be cheap.
 
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