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Walt Disney World: Non-Theme Park Discussion

venny said:
This is very much a product of the social media age. Can’t see such irrational behaviour occurring 15 years ago.

I wonder how much of the queue was constituted of lifestyles, vloggers and resellers, rather than “true” fans.
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I think that's a double whammy too ... I think social media accentuates people's desire to own this, so that they can share - but it's also cyclical in that that's how people people find out about it and want it. We're definitely living in a less rational age, hard not to be nostalgic for the 1990s.

It's pretty smart on Disney's part really, but I do struggle to understand the appeal ... says the guy with lots of rusting roller coaster bits in his garden, but would argue that's a bit different.
 
A rather interesting bill was passed in its early stages by the Senate yesterday to attempt to strip Disney and WDW of its 54 year old self-governing special district 'Reedy Creek' (Reedy Creek Improvement District, or RCID for short). The move has been seemingly spearheaded by Ron DeSantis - the current Florida governor - in response to Bob Chapek and Disney's backtracking and speaking out against the recent Florida 'Don't Say Gay' bill.

https://news.sky.com/story/florida-...ney-of-special-self-governing-status-12594856

If you wondered what RCID is exactly - it is effectively is a special form of government that allows Disney to control a number of aspects, services such as electricity, water, waste, fire and ambulance, and even collect its own taxes - but most notably controlling planning and construction permits - for a large area covering and surrounding WDW, which allows it to operate independently of Orange County and Osceola County.

RCID describes itself on rcid.org as:
One of the busiest places in America, the District’s boundaries include: 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 1 sports complex, 175 lane miles of roadway, 67 miles of waterway, the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, an environmental science laboratory where the continuity of water quality is monitored, an electric power-generating & distribution facility, a natural gas distribution system, water and wastewater collection & treatment facilities, a solid waste and recyclables collection & transfer system, plus over 40,000 hotel rooms and 100’s of restaurants and retail stores.
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The perhaps most interesting impact here of course is that of planning and permits - Disney pretty much has free rein under RCID to review and approve its own construction and planning permits, and the obvious downside of removing RCID is that those responsibilities would delegate back to the two counties that cover the area of WDW.

I'm actually quite intrigued to see how this plays out - especially as it feels like a direct attack on Disney by DeSantis, and the seat of Florida governor is also up for election later this year - so will the abolishing of RCID be seen through to completion given as it could just be an election power play by DeSantis too - or will Disney attempt to sue in response and fight the bill?

There is a lot of debate out there as to if RCID is appropriate or not - I can't say I have a clear opinion on if it is right, but I can't help but feel it certainly might make future construction and changes to WDW a lot slower (as if they couldn't be any slower right now anyway... cough cough Tron cough...) - and certainly aspects like highway and road maintenance at least seem to be far better than the county attempts too - there is quite often the joke when we go to Florida that you can tell 'when you're on Disney property' (AKA within the boundaries of RCID) as suddenly the road and surrounding landscaping suddenly gets incredibly better! 😆
 
It's a very interesting subject but definitely seems like point scoring by the current governor. I mean who would want land right next to them that they get zero say on, just because a big company occupies it? Where else in the democratic world would that be allowed? Disney will almost certainly try and challenge this if it goes through as they won't want to have to report it to the counties for permission to do everything.
 
If this goes through its being reported that apparently the $2b of debt that sits under Ready Creek would transfer to tax payers, which I can't imagine will go down well. There was alot of uproar from tax payers recently when public money has been approved to fund a large part of the the cost of the Kirkman road extension, linking the existing Universal report to Epic Universe. Also apparently for this to go through the majority of residents/landowners of Ready Creek have to approve it , there are about 100 residents/landowners according to the report I read today.
 
Can't imagine the local counties will be best pleased if this goes through seeing how they'll have take over the running and funding of a number of services (waste collection, and fire at the least) that Disney currency pay for themselves.
 
The most baffling thing to me is that this has all spiraled out of the Don't Say Gay bill and Disney rightfully pointing out it's such a 'backwards' piece of legislation.
No matter the Pros or Cons of the RCID this is clearly a result of a politician with questionable intentions trying to have their way. For that reason I can't help but take Disney's side.
 
It screams of political point scoring from DeSantis, especially with an election coming up. Power getting to his head and wanting to take on a big corporation like Disney all because they are against one of his backwards bills.

I'm sure there are some legitimate concerns about RCID however transferring a load of debt to the taxpayer does not seem like a good move. I've also read that Reedy Creek has its own tax on top of local property taxes, and that additional tax helps pay for RCID projects. If the RCID goes then so does this tax, menaing that Orange and Osceola Counties are going to have to find another way to generate this money to pay for all of the new services they suddenly have to provide. This would likely have to be done by an increase to property taxes for all properties in the two Counties. This could be as much as a 25% increase in Orange County.

It does sound like Disney will get a $163 million tax break from this move though, and these are the taxes that local residents will have to pay for instrad.
 
Historically (pre-covid) it was standard for them to go down to one Waterpark over the winter to allow for maintenance etc.

I guess the test comes in March, will they open both back up for the summer 2023 period?
 
Chapek has announced to leaders that TWDC will be tightening its belt in preparation for a potential recession, seemingly after the financial call and results last week that saw the company not perform well as expected, and the subsequent tanking of the share price.

The money saving measures includes a hiring freeze except for critical roles, and a full review of existing staffing with a view to reducing headcount and making some redundancies to save money. Also cutting non-essential travel and business meetings as well as conferences.

It's presumed at the moment (although not confirmed) that the parks and resorts recruitment for front-line positions will continue as Disney is still short of staff, however it's not known yet what else this reduction of spending will impact - will we see park funding cut back again (and those Epcot construction walls becoming a permanent feature?).

It seems a rocky time ahead for Disney as they can't please shareholders and they can't please their customers either...

Disney Leaders-

As we begin fiscal 2023, I want to communicate with you directly about the cost management efforts Christine McCarthy and I referenced on this week's earnings call. These efforts will help us to both achieve the important goal of reaching profitability for Disney+ in fiscal 2024 and make us a more efficient and nimble company overall. This work is occurring against a backdrop of economic uncertainty that all companies and our industry are contending with.

While certain macroeconomic factors are out of our control, meeting these goals requires all of us to continue doing our part to manage the things we can control-most notably, our costs. You all will have critical roles to play in this effort, and as senior leaders, I know you will get it done.

To be clear, I am confident in our ability to reach the targets we have set, and in this management team to get us there.

To help guide us on this journey, I have established a cost structure taskforce of executive officers: our CFO, Christine McCarthy and General Counsel, Horacio Gutierrez. Along with me, this team will make the critical big picture decisions necessary to achieve our objectives.

We are not starting this work from scratch and have already set several next steps-which I wanted you to hear about directly from me.

First, we have undertaken a rigorous review of the company's content and marketing spending working with our content leaders and their teams. While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine, we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company.

Second, we are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze. Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.

Third, we are reviewing our SG&A costs and have determined that there is room for improved efficiency- as well as an opportunity to transform the organization to be more nimble. The taskforce will drive this work in partnership with segment teams to achieve both savings and organizational enhancements. As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review. In the immediate term. business travel should now be limited to essential trips only. In-person work sessions or offsites requiring travel will need advance approval and review from a member of your executive team (i.e., direct report of the segment chairman or corporate executive officer). As much as possible, these meetings should be conducted virtually.

Attendance at conferences and other external events will also be restricted and require approvals from a member of your executive team.

Our transformation is designed to ensure we thrive not just today, but well into the future- and you will hear more from our taskforce in the weeks and months ahead.

l am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams. We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions. But that is just what leadership requires, and I thank you in advance for stepping up during this important time. Our company has weathered many challenges during our 100-year history, and I have no doubt we will achieve our goals and create a more nimble company better suited to the environment of tomorrow.

Thank you again for your leadership.

-Bob
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