Disney Profits - Just Whistling A Happy Tune

To no ones surprise, when Bob Iger announced Disney's 3rd quarter profits last week he was forced to deliver the typically boring numbers data with a smile that would rival the best day of any of his cast of Disney characters. Yes, Bob is a happy man these days as Disney profits set records and looks off into a very bright future.

Of course Bob, in the last quarter had The Avengers, a Disney released movie that pulled in somewhere around 1.4 billion dollars in box office receipts at last look. He also had a moderate success with Pixar's Brave - not the usual Pixar box office powerhouse but still a film that will turn over a profit. And both of these movies shape up well for their second lives when home video versions are released in various packages over the next few months. Home video sales is sagging badly as a national trend. Not when it comes these two movies. 

And all the investment into Disney Parks and Resorts is paying off. Attendance at the Disneyland Resort has been record setting this summer with the opening of Cars Land. A new cruise ship recently launched increasing Disney's fleet to four and the ships are booked to 94% capacity through the rest of this year. And with an improving economy, people are flocking to Disney parks and hotels without having to go the route of discounting which has been prevalent the last few years as Disney tried to keep the parks and hotels buzzing in a floundering economy.

For Disney fans there was a note of fear delivered by Iger as he made his rounds in the financial news media circles. Things are going so good that he made the remark (paraphrasing) "we believe there is room for some additional price elasticity". Basically, Disney believes there is room to implement additional price increases across the board without affecting the demand for the Disney products he delivers. He's probably right.

Bob can point to a bright future. Now that DCA is pulling in people, you can expect Disney to turn its attention to Disneyland itself with new attractions and minor improvements. Walt Disney World is finally starting to get some much needed buzz and attention as it prepares to open its new and improved Fantasyland with Animal Kingdom's Pandora (Avatarland) standing next in line. Iger's decision to purchase Marvel has turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving with a full slate of powerhouse movies in production scheduled to be released ahead of the return of Joss Whedon and his direction of Avengers 2 in 2015. Whedon will also develop a Marvel TV series for ABC in his spare time.

So its a great time to be Bob Iger as he closes out his tenure as Chairman and CEO at The Walt Disney Company. One can only hope that the next guy is taking good notes. 

The Razor's Edge Of Disneyland's Admission Pricing

Tilly at the Main St. Cinema Ticket Booth

Two feature articles came out this week on the two Disneyland websites I most often follow that seem to be such complete opposites of one another that it is hard to reconcile the two.

Author, Disneyland insider, and MousePlanet contributor David Koenig writes that Disney, delighted with the crowds this summer at the resort, are quickly formulating plans to increase admission prices to capitalize on the great reception of their recent park enhancements. They are possibly pointing to another increase by Christmas this year and another one before next summer's prime vacation season. You can read David's article here.

Yesterday's weekly In The Parks feature on MiceChat spent some time discussing that while Cars Land in Disney California Adventure continues to pull in huge amounts of guests, the crowd levels throughout the rest of DCA and especially over at Disneyland are quite manageable and seem to be a little flat. The comments seem to be based mostly on observation but since they are in Disneyland on a weekly basis, who am I to argue? MiceChat went further by putting up a poll as to the reason why the attendance would appear to be lackluster. The overwhelming majority point to high prices.

So which is it? "We're doing fine, let's raise prices" or "Uh-oh, maybe that last hefty price jump has bitten us in the rear". The one thing that is for certain is that Disney has a pretty good idea. All the data collected from survey takers, online surveys, and even in depth surveys taken of guests in the park in special rooms is not done just for the heck of it. Disney also has their hotel capacity and bookings well mapped as well as keeping tabs on the area hotels and motels (they are called "Good Neighbor" hotels for a reason). Disney also tracks the buying habits of various pass holders - those food and merchandise discounts are not given out to be nice. Disney wants to know how much you are spending along with where and what.

If I were a betting person (and I'm usually not) I would tend to go on the side of David Koenig. He is not someone prone to wild speculation or rumor in his Disneyland writings. On the MiceChat side pointing to flat attendance and manageable crowds, I think back to the trip my family made in July 2005 during Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration. You would have thought the place would have been packed during that time but it really wasn't. The blocking out of Southern California pass holders during several weeks of the summer just makes the crowd levels more bearable. We were certainly surprised.

One thing is for sure - the prices on annual passes will not go down. If there are additional price increases coming, I suspect the jump on AP's will be in smaller increments going forward. Same with daily admission price (does anyone take their family to Disneyland for one day anymore?) and the popular multi-day tickets. And I would guess that if things do slow down because of over-pricing, Disney is really good at various discounts on admission tickets as well as accommodations in their hotels.

I also know that if there is another increase before Christmas, the screams will be long and loud. Go out and read the Disney website message boards if you don't think so.

Hidden Mickeys In Outer Space

Mrs. DisneylandTraveler dropped this video on me. As all fans know, Disney will stop at nothing to insert "hidden Mickeys" everywhere they can possibly think of. Books have been written about the world of hidden Mickeys. So now it turns out that NASA photographs of the planet Mercury have found the latest hidden Mickey. A product of the creative minds at Disney? Well, I'm sure they would like to take credit for the interplanetary anomaly but the reality is three asteroids crashed into Mercury once upon a time and created Mickey Mouse in outer space. Enjoy the video from Jeanne Moos and CNN.

Bob Iger Names A New Number One For Studios Chief

For about the third time in 3 years, Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., has named a new Chairman for the beleaguered Disney Studios. Alan Horn moves over from a similar position as head of Warner Bros. Pictures where he oversaw production of some noteworthy franchises such as Harry Potter, The Matrix, and The Dark Knight. He gave the go-ahead from everything from Happy Feet to The Hangover. An impressive resume to be sure and also a pretty sure bet for Iger coming on the heels of the dreadful performance of former Chief Rich Ross that culminated in the John Carter disaster for Disney. Ross was a TV guy (like Iger) and never adapted as a Hollywood mover and shaker in the film industry. Horn is the complete opposite with connections everywhere.

Prior to his 12 years at Warner Bros., Alan Horn was a co-founder (along with Rob Reiner) of Castle Rock Entertainment which produced movies like The Shawshank Redemption, A Few Good Men, and When Harry Met Sally. Castle Rock also produced a TV series which I still continue to watch several times a week though its production ended years ago, a show about nothing called Seinfeld.

So Horn gets to control about everything on the movie side of the Disney company. He will oversee the activities and productions of the fairly autonomous and extremely profitable Marvel and Pixar Studios while trying to put Disney branded live action pictures and as well as the animated pictures back on a consistent even keel. He will also continue to oversee Disney's distribution of Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks live action pictures. Seems to be a lot on his plate and he seems to be the person to do it. Time will tell. Horn starts his new position on June 11.

DCA 'Letters' Find A New California Home

DCA Original Entrance - A Disney Photo

Well, Disney didn't have a use for them anymore. The semi iconic letters that stood in front of the Disney California Adventure entrance for 10 years have found a new home. News up here in Sacramento has Disney donating the letters that spelled out CALIFORNIA in the esplinade to a non-profit organization called Friends of the California State Fair, which in turn will install the letters on the California State Farirgrounds (Cal-Expo) sometime later this year. This years state fair has its run in July, so the installation will be done sometime after this years state fair.

The non-profit organization will have to pay for the shipping and installation of the letters donated by Disney so there will be some fund raising efforts surrounding this project. Although Disney park fans complained for years about the tacky entrance to the DCA park, people had no problem crawling all over the letters and having their pictures taken with the various pieces of the alphabet. In that respect, having the letters come to life in a new location should insprie some degree of nostalgia for northern California residents who attend the fair in future summers. A nice touch.

Sticker Shock - Disneyland's Jaw-Dropping Price Increase

I'm still trying to digest the news. I'm still in shock. I'm still running numbers trying to make sense of the math. As expected, Disney today announced a price increase ahead of their big summer season and the relaunch of the new and improved Disney California Adventure. I knew it would be big but somehow the actual news trumped the anticipation. Consumers of Disneyland just took one in the shorts, especially if you are an annual passholder.

Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I bought our first annual passes in November 2008. The price then was $269. Since we exchanged our parkhopper tickets, the annual pass price was pro-rated. Now here we are less than four years later and effective Sunday, May 20, the price of a deluxe annual pass is $469.00. Staggering. Even more staggering is the single day admission for a park hopper ticket - $125.00. For kids up to 10, it's $119.00. Kids! A three year old paying $119.00. This is madness. People will pay it.

What's really sad is Disneyland is no longer a park for Disney fans. Disneyland is a park for the upper middle class that still have a disposable income. Many of us don't. Every year, more and more children will never know what a visit to Disneyland is all about simply because mom and dad can no longer afford it.

MousePlanet posted this chart comparing last years price with the new price increase.

Ages 10 and older			Ages 3 - 9
Ticket	Old Price	New Price	% increase	Old Price	New Price	% increase
5-Day Park Hopper	$266	$290	9%	$246	$270	10%
5-Day 1-Park Per Day	$251	$260	4%	$231	$240	4%
4-Day Park Hopper	$249	$275	10%	$231	$255	10%
4-Day 1-Park Per Day	$234	$245	5%	$216	$225	4%
3-Day Park Hopper	$224	$250	12%	$208	$235	13%
3-Day 1-Park Per Day	$209	$220	5%	$193	$205	6%
2-Day Park Hopper	$173	$200	16%	$161	$188	17%
2-Day 1-Park Per Day	$158	$170	8%	$146	$158	8%
1-Day Park Hopper	$105	$125	19%	$99	$119	20%
1-Day 1-Park	$80	$87	9%	$74	$81	9%

Annual Pass	Old Price	New Price	% increase
Premier (DLR/WDW)	$749	$849	13%
Premium	$499	$649	30%
Deluxe	$379	$469	24%
Southern California*	$269	$329	22%
Southern California Select*	$199	$269	35%
Annual Parking Pass	$99	$129	30%

What's New in Disney News - Vol 4

A couple of things of note from Disney Parks Blog this past week.   It has been confirmed that June 15 will mark the resumption of the Pixar Play Parade at Disney California Adventure.  I gotta tell you that June 15 is shaping up to be one very memorable day in Disney parks history.  Almost makes me wish that somehow, Disney finds a way to broadcast the events around DCA's grand re-opening (like Walt did when Disneyland first opened).  Maybe with the internet, they will.  I could guarantee that they would have an audience.  Anyway, the parade has been on hiatus for quite awhile because of various DCA construction projects blocking the parade route.  Speaking of parade routes, DCA may now have the longest parade route of any theme park anywhere as the new route runs all the way from the Hollywood Tower of Terror to Silly Symphony Swings.  It would probably take me 20 minutes to walk that far myself.... Anyway, as I've said before, the Pixar Play Parade is a good one for young and old.  It's, as they say, "a crowd pleaser" with classic Pixar characters and a catchy musical soundtrack that I still get stuck in my head from time to time.  Some modifications have needed to be made on a couple of the floats to reduce their height.  The phony street car cables for the Red Car Trolley got in the way. 

It has also been announced that on April 30, the Plaza Gardens will be closed down to make way for the new Princess meet and greet.  The Plaza Gardens stage played host to big band performances from a bygone era from the likes of Count Bassie and Benny Goodman.  A lot of history went on in there.  Today, there are weekly swing dances and organized events for schools and groups but basically, the area is very much under-utilized. Disneyland real estate is valuable so something really had to done with the space.  The stage will remain with new Princess Fantasy Faire constructed around it. The plan is to use the space for the elaborate meet and greet during the day while allowing organized events and dancing to return at night.  We shall see.

Also announced this week is that June 14 will be the last day for Ariel's Grotto to offer World of Color Dinner Dining Packages.  The restaurant is currently used for Princess character dining for breakfast and lunch with the WOC dining packages for dinner. Apparently, the demand for princesses has now exceeded the demand for premium WOC dining which is kind of too bad.  On our trips to DCA, Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I have laid down the big buck for WOC dining packages including a very nice dinner at Ariel's Grotto (after several bad experiences there in the pre-WOC days).  We will pay for dining packages from time to time.  We just don't pay equally high dollars for character meals unless it to celebrate an occasion with a family member.  Right now, I no longer see us making it to back to Ariel's Grotto, at least not in the foreseeable future.  Now the new and improved Cove Bar upstairs and adjacent to Ariel's Grotto, that's a different story.  Some final memories of our dining experience at AG.

Appetizer Tower

Cioppino (my entree)

Tri-Tip with Mash for Mrs. DLT

Dessert Sampler

Iger And The Apple

Forget to mention that last week Disney CEO Bob Iger was given a seat on the Apple Board of Directors. The Steve Job's passing opened the position of Chairman of the Board which was given to a sitting board member opening up a new seat. Iger moved right in. Kind of surprising that Iger wasn't already on Apple's Board given that Steve Jobs was Disney's largest individual stockholder and a member of the Disney Board of Directors all of which he got when Disney acquired the Job's owned Pixar empire.

What does all this mean? I don't know except probably more apps for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Disney is just tapping the download app market which is quick, easy, and highly profitable.

Autumn In The Air

What's that old Phil Collins song? Oh yeah, "I can feel it - Coming in the air tonight - Hold on....".  What's coming?  Fall, Autumn, whatever you prefer to call it.  It's coming.  Like Phil, I can feel it.  Back here at the old homestead it was well in the 90's two days ago, dropped into the low 80's by yesterday, and by Monday, a mere two days from now, it will be raining and in the 60's.  Sounds like good Disneyland park weather to me.

Before we move on to October, Autumn, and our Disneyland march to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, let's take a quick look back.  October marks the start of month 5 of The Disney Lands.  Last month shattered records in the number of people who took the time to look at this blog.  In August there were 802 readers of The Disneyland Traveler.  In September, there were 1399 people who viewed this blog for some reason or another.  Again, I don't have the slightest idea of who reads this thing but I am grateful for everyone who does.  Maybe its the common bond of enjoying one of our favorite places and all things Disney or maybe you just fell in here by accident.  I do hope you enjoy at least some of the things you see.  In the end, hopefully there is some entertainment value.

On a couple of topics I covered last week, here are some follow-ups.

Regarding the carpet malfunction at Aladdin, performances of the show did continue albeit without the Whole New World flying carpet above the the audience.  Easily, the highlight of the show, but the show did go on even without the 'oooh's' and 'ahhh's' of the flying carpet.

Regarding Avatar theming coming to Disney parks.  More and more people in the know seem to think that Disney in Florida is making a big move to combat the popularity of Universal's Harry Potter park.  Disney 's Animal Kingdom needed something big (similar to Carsland in DCA) and having a land based on the biggest movie of all time seemed like a safe bet, albeit an odd choice to be sure.  The future of Avatar in Disney parks beyond Animal Kingdom will probably extend to the parks of China and possibly Japan.  No one seems to see anything remotely connected with Avatar showing up in California or Paris anytime soon.

What's New in Disney News - Vol 2

Return of the Lion King

Maybe it's surprising, maybe it isn't, but 17 years after it's theatrical premiere, Disney has released a 3D version of it's animated classic The Lion King to theaters and to everyone's surprise, the movie was number 1 at the box office this past weekend. The Lion King 3D was only to have a two week run in theaters ahead of it's new Blu-Ray/3D/DVD package available in stores next month but the 30 million dollars raked in by Disney this past weekend may convince them to extend the two-week limited engagement a bit. Cheers for return of The Lion King.

WDW Fined by OSHA for Accidental Death of Maintenance Worker

The government's workplace health and safety watchdog OSHA has levied a $69,000 fine against Disney in the accidental death of a maintenance castmember working on Animal Kingdom's Primeval Whirl wild mouse coaster.  OSHA found 4 violations in worker safety while investigating the accident. Primeval Whirl has been closed since last January but opened one of its two tracks this past weekend.

Speaking of OSHA, New Guardrails Added to Golden Horseshoe

While no one has said it was OSHA, Disney has quietly installed additional guardrails on top of the decorative railing on the second story of the Golden Horseshoe.  No one has ever fallen from the upper level but in these times, they aren't going to allow someone to tragically be the first.  Guardrails are also being installed on the upper level balcony of the Hyperion Theater in DCA.  No one has been allowed to sit in the first row of the balcony for quite some time as a safety precaution.

Rumor: World of Color Holiday Show

This would be something everyone would enthusiastically look forward to - Blue Sky Disney Blog is reporting that Disney testing a special World of Color show for the Christmas holiday season.  This is unconfirmed but makes a whole lot of sense and gives hope that the WOC spectacular can be seasonally changed and modified.