May 19, 2025 • 35 mins
Disney’s stock jumped 7 % after a blockbuster Q2— streaming gained a million subs, Thunderbolts opened #1 worldwide, domestic park profit climbed 13 %, and Bob Iger unveiled the first “authentically Disney, distinctly Emirati” Disney park on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. Philip and Scott unpack why Disney is leaning into the parks (finally), Disney's new quality-over-quantity pledge, and debate whether the glowing numbers are a trailing indicator before tariffs, weather, and China headwinds bite; and examine how licensing to Miral lets Disney tap 500 million potential guests without spending a dime of cap-ex. Plus, Scott shares on-the-ground LGBTQ insights from living in the UAE—and what other operators can learn from Disney’s risk calculus. Hear the Six Flags and United Parks earnings showdown (and Chicago’s new Harry Potter retail-tainment) in this week’s Unhinged on Patreon.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
From our studios this week in Los Angeles and Tampa.
This is Green Tagged Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip
and I'm doing as always by my co host Scott
Swinson Scott Swinton, creat Development. On Green tag we break
down the week's top theme park news and explain why
it matters to professionals. And this week we are discussing
the Disney earnings. They're so magical this time.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yep, yep, it's uh, I'm hearing I'm hearing the little
sparkle of Tinkerbell in the background. Or maybe that's just you, Philip.
I don't know, but it sounds as that we're going
to talk about some very exciting news from Disney.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It was so exciting.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know, sometime at these times sometimes my like fanboy
you know, overcomes the skeptic that I have become in
my old age. But for sure, you know, there was
almost nothing you can't you can point to almost nothing
negative in this earnings report, which is very pretty rare,
I mean for anyone, and the stock especially.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Quite honestly, especially for Disney recently.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
So yes, mm hmm, yeah, I mean, especially with the
with what but they've managed to turn every sector around,
and there's been positive news from every sector, and Wall
Street seems to agree because the stop popped seven percent
at the end of trading on the day of the earnings,
and the quick recap here is that revenue is up
(01:15):
seven percent. You know, Disney plus added a million new subscribers,
and they raise prices, their parks are up, and of
course they announced the partnership with Morale for Disney Abu Dhabi.
So I mean this was packed, Like this earnings call
was like packed release elements. I thought we could go
through each segment and kind of discuss each segment as
(01:37):
as a segment, you know, and then we'll end of
course with the big stuff for our audience, which of
course is the Disney Park. But so streaming was the
first segment up here. As I mentioned, it was up
a little over a million, almost one point four million
up at the time, and of course that comes after
they raised prices. They of course announced that they're doing
the ESPN direct consumer launches in a few months. And
(01:59):
also significantly, the big like nugget here for streaming is
that they announced not only is engagement up, but churn
is down and significantly that's a direct quote from Iger
on the call, and basically you think about it, that's
because they've been bundling all of these things together. So
I was just talking to my neighbor like last night,
(02:19):
and it was like he was saying that he was
getting rid of cable because at this point, you know,
Disney Plus, you know, it's expensive, but it's not as expensive.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
You know, as cable used to be.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
But now you get Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, and they're
going to roll out this ESPN make it available to
people with Disney Plus so they can just add it
as another bundle.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
It's integrated.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And so now it's like there's less strain on them
having to make you know, too much new content for
Disney Plus because now they have all this variety they
can bundle. So again we're back to the cable days.
I was to say, sounds kind of familiar. You know,
we've been saying it's the pendulum will swing back eventually.
It's it's all bundled.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It started as individuals, then it became bundled, and then
it broke up into individuals again, and now we're back
to bundling. And and I think that, you know, I
would love to say that it's human nature to make
things easy and and so bundling. I don't know why
they'd ever come away from bundling, But there's also it's
(03:21):
also human nature to try to find a bargain. And
if you feel if you're you know, if you've got
a bundle and you only watch Disney Plus and none
of that other stuff you really need, then after a
while you go, well, gosh, I wish I could just
get Disney Plus, and that way it would just be
you know, cheaper for me. And so this pendulum is
going to go on and on forever, and you know,
(03:42):
hopefully we'll be doing the show long enough to see
it come back the other way again, and we'll be
able to say.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
See told you so.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
It's uh, yeah, I it's that it's that constant need
for something new. It's that constant need for new, a
new news cycle, you know, a new a new fresh
way of presenting stuff. And we'll go from comfort to
value and back to comfort and then back to value
and it'll continue.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeah, well the approach.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Eiger did outline the approach because at this point Disney
Plus has been profitable for a chunk and it's a
big deal that that's become profitable because it was kind
of weighing down the company. And even though there are
still those critics you know that say that if Disney
were to divest to Disney Plus or it was a
separate company, you know that it would help the evaluation
(04:34):
to Disney because the parks are so profitable and Disney
Plus is like less. So so there's still you know,
this still chatter that goes around, but I think for
the most part, people have realized it's part of their strategy,
you know, the flywheel of Disney, so they get less
pressure to to divest than other companies like Comcast would.
But he talked about the three pronged approach, which first
(04:55):
enriched the product with more content, which is what we
talked about Hulu integration, that kind of stuff. Continued discipline
cost management, which has become a theme with this just
because of rising costs for production across the world. But
the third item is so fascinating, which is invest in
local content in international markets. And this has been something
(05:18):
that Netflix has taken the lead in doing, which is
producing content in the countries it's aim for, and then
it has this weird effect of being picked up in
other places because you know, it turns out that people
are okay watching stuff like squid games and items that
are not made for just you know, you know, not
(05:39):
in your language. You know, so people are more okay
with that than I guess maybe they thought so. You know,
Netflix has been doing this for a while, They've been
moving content to other countries. It's you know, they that
way they can target locals and also it's way cheaper.
And I think maybe Disney is maybe considering that direction.
They didn't say, but could be telling stories in other countries.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
There's also just in the in the travels that I've
done in the last couple of years, there's also a
growing interest in what does Disney look like in our country,
or what does what does entertainment in general look like
in our country. One of the things, for example, that
the Saudis are doing is they're there and we I
(06:22):
think we experienced this when we were there. They're creating
their entertainment sector so that it falls square in the
lap of the Saudi citizens, so that they can they
can enjoy it and embrace it and uh, but it's
also going to be a great encouragement to bring people.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
In from other countries.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
So yep, yeah, it's it's a it's I think it's
a very wise move. I think we are past the
point of well, I think most of the world is
past the point of being so terrified of other countries
and and and recognizing that we are a global community
that they are more doesn't bother them to watch, you know,
(07:04):
programming that may have been originally done in a different
language but has been beautifully overdubbed, and you know, because
it gives you a significantly more as you say, Netflix
has been doing this for years and some of the
some of my favorite stuff on Netflix actually was produced
in other countries or four other countries, and it just
makes it. It gives you a much more robust selection
(07:27):
to choose from.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yes, I'd agree with that, and I think that's exactly
what they are talking about. Plus again, if it's cheaper,
that means that they can get more of it. I mean, really,
they can produce more if they can keep the quality
the same, which I think they've proven. Netflix has proven
that's possible to do. Then it is cheaper, then it
gives them better reach. I mean, yeah, I'm sure they
didn't want to say it like they were going to
(07:49):
follow Netflix.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
But I think that's kind of what I took I
think that's what they're doing. Yeah, yeah, that's what I
take away.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. Netflix has proven that
it works, so why not.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So this is actually a point I was going to
say too when we got to parks that would do
it now it makes sense. But what was interesting to me,
you know, is that the parks were mentioned something like
five times more than they have been previously. And part
of that, yes, is of course, is the announcement with morale,
But I think the other part of it is now
that streaming is profitible, they can turn away from it
(08:21):
a little bit and kind of just refine it. And
the thing is that with streaming, they're never going to
be number one, like, they're going to be maybe two,
if not like three, And I mean they just can't.
They even can't outspend Netflix because that's Netflix is the
whole thing, and so they can't. I mean, they could
if they wanted to outspend them, but you know, the
(08:41):
shareholders would like revolt, right, so because their money is
best spent on the parks. And so I think there
that's part of it too, is it's like the thing
they can be the best in the world at is
the parks. It's not really Disney plus, and it's kind
of like, okay to take you know, Netflix's lead potential
and some of that strategy.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
We're just kind of like, now that.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
It's done, you can kind of move it aside of it, like, Okay,
it's profitable now, so let's hopefully does It's.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
The difference between we're going to be number one in
one industry or we're going to be number two or
three in three or four industries. And it just depends
on what your overall strategy is, your role financial strategy.
And they recognize that, you know where they get the
most bang for their buck is the parks right now.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Yep yep.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So moving on to the movie segment of the business.
So Thunderbolts opened number one worldwide and it has been
the best reviewed Marvel film in years. And they did
talk about their twenty twenty five slate Lelo and Stitch,
Fantastic four, is Utopia two, Avatar Fire and Nash and
Iiger said that they're twenty twenty five slate, in his opinion,
(09:49):
was as strong as twenty nineteen and the biggest part
about this or to me, the most interesting part about
the movie segment was his discussion about changing their kind
of like nor Star from quantity to quality basically, and
he said that iger address the recent turbulence in Marble's
output and strategy going forward. He acknowledged that in the
(10:12):
rush to feed streaming, we had to produce a lot more.
We've also learned over time that quantity does not necessarily
beget quality, and he admitted that we lost a little
focused by making too much, especially on the Disney Plus side,
and confirm that Marvel is now consuliating around fewer better projects.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
You might ask, I would.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Even go so far as to say safer projects, because
if you look at.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It, those are all safe. Yeah, these are all.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Very safe and there and the whole twenty twenty five slate,
with the exception of Thunderbolts, the whole twenty twenty five
slate is pretty much proven commodities, and it's it's let's
go back and do Let's go back and do a
lively loan stitch. Let's go back and do yet another
Fantastic four which has never flown. Zutopia, Let's do another
(11:03):
Zutopia that works. Avatar, Oh, that's huge let's go back
and do that. Plus that helps support the installations of
the parks.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
I think it's good to hear though that they're saying
we're back to folks on quality. And it's a little
bit like annoying because you we had this, We literally
had the same discussion on the show previously about how
like that they're kind of straining away from the quality
and if Disney doesn't mean quality, what does it mean? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
You know, that's that's its thing, and so.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Well, and I also think that this this ties back
to keeping the synergy between the movies and the parks
and the streaming and the parks, and that you know,
Disney for so many years and actually kind of pioneered
the concept of you know, let's let's have multiple streams
of where you can can interact with our ip or
interact with our product, and they had kind of gotten
(11:54):
away from that. They kind of became a bit siloed.
And it sounds like, you know, based on what he's
leading with, it's sounds like the plan is to kind
of shift back so that it's the product and you
can experience it in the movies, you can experience it streaming,
you can experience it in the parks, and I think
that's going to I think that's going to be beneficial
for them, because that's what made them, you know, let's
(12:15):
put them at the top of their game to begin with.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Yeah, I wonder if the reason they had been doing
the other titles or doing so many really was for
Disney Plus, Like, is that the real reason, or was
it because they were trying to experiment, you know, with
other types of content, or because of the organization of
the company.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I think I think they were.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I think they were trying you know, even as he
says here in the in the call, I think they
were trying to do they were trying to fill a
void of of ours. They were trying to get as
much out there because they didn't want, you know, invest
in Disney Plus where we have three movies that play
all the time, like the very beginnings of Home.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Box Office before it was called HBO.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
You know, it's I think I think it was to
fill well, I really believe that it was to fill
a certain void. And I think that they saw it
as here's our opportunity for growth, so let's grow. But
they grew in size, not necessarily in.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Quality, yeah, yeah, well I think yeah, let's move on,
let's see the next one. So Sports, we talked about
this a little bit, but in the sports segment, of course,
they're looking at launching the ESPN direct to consumer product
coming up pretty soon. But aside from that, the ESPN's
(13:34):
primetime TV viewership was up thirty two percent in the
eighteen to twenty to forty nine demographic, which actually is
that that's that's huge because that is like the golden
that's like the white Rhino of demographics, right, because that's
where you have the those people that segment, you know,
the especially the young men who spend money on a
(13:55):
bunch of stuff that they don't need. That segment is
so hard to reach nowadays because they don't do they
don't do it. Where else do they pay attention, you know,
podcasting really and so that that's a huge portion of it.
And they said it made ESPN's most watched Q two
in prime time ever and sports revenue was up twenty
(14:15):
percent for that quarter because of that. Operating income fell
a little bit though, due to higher programming and production costs,
which we talked about in the last learnings call, where
there's you know, there's contract need to renew, and there's
sports fees and whatnot that are getting in the way,
But I think that's going to be balanced out. They're
hoping with the influx you know, adding the ESPN direct
consumer might add influxes which will help offset some of
(14:38):
those costs. So that's the only cloud we had so
far was just higher programming and production costs.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
But like.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Again, you know, they already built into it. It's already
kind of like a plan to offset that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
So again it's they're acknowledging it and addressing it.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, so I think sport, the sports, anything else to
add on that.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
No, I think that's great. I think you hit it,
hit the the nail on the head on that one.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So then now we get to the parks segment, which,
as I mentioned, was the biggest part. There's a lot
here obviously, So on a on a macro sense, operating
income was up nine percent, and the US parks operating
income in particular was up thirteen percent. The record of
invested capital set record highs for it. Walt Disney World
(15:24):
bookings were up four percent in Q three and seven
percent in Q four.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Year of a year.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
You know that all these numbers are all positive, like
everything's on this chart, and I would say the only
thing I'm going to add here just for everyone to
just remember. I mean, I just still have to be
a skeptic, but just remember this is the Q one's earnings,
which means it's a lagging indicator. So we're looking at
previous numbers. So this was like before the terriffs, this
(15:50):
was before like all everything, and so we don't know
how much any of that is going to impact it.
I think Disney, after you you know, we go through this,
you'll see Disney is probably in the best position of
anybody you know anywhere. So but just to keep that
in mind, it is a lacking indicator. So they reiterated
again how they have thirty billion ear marked for Florida
(16:11):
and California expansions. They talked about that per cap spending
per guest is still elevated compared to the pre pandemic,
and that's thanks to new offerings and prices strategies. Of course,
he threw in that they're trying to monitor affordability, which
I think is not true based on my last few
Bitsits where you can't, like even with the annual bass
(16:31):
like you can't like step out with U spending fifty
dollars on you know, just whatever. So the only kind
of dark spot in all of this is that Shanghai
Disney Resort and other China exposed areas are seeing guests
tighten their belts, and so you're seeing lower per guest
spending even as attendance levels are recovering. And so that
also is a kind of an indicator. We knew that
(16:53):
going in, right we hadn't seen it into many range reports. Yes,
but we know that the Chinese economy is in a
tight spot right now and the government is trying to
assist with that. But that is reflected here and again
because this is a trailing indicator, you know, we're we'll
still see how it's going to impact how the rest
of the year is going to shake. It could get worse,
might get better, who knows. But overall they say that
(17:18):
global park demand or mains robust, and they're leveraging dynamic
pricing and seasonal events and Jennie Plus et cetera, et cetera.
Eiger emphasized, we already have more expansion projects underway domestically
in around the world that at any other time in
our history, and I think that's actually.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Drunk something have so much stuping out there.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
And they did kind of adjust their a little bit
of their their year of a year projection a tiny bit,
saying that the park's results will likely end at the
high end of the six to eight percent range given
the current trends. So that was their only hint that
things might be a little shaky. But so they kind
of adjusted their pretty injections a little bit. So there's
(18:05):
a lot there. Of course, they ended with the unveiling
of Disney Abu Dhabi, which I want to talk about,
but let's let's say that we'll do that next as
its own kind of segment. So, uh, based off all
these earnings and all the numbers, any, what do you think, Scott, Well, I.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Mean, you know, we've talked a lot over the last
couple of weeks about Universal, and we've talked about uh,
you know, their their earnings calls and how that all looks,
and and we've talked about how they have, uh the
reason they've been able to do such massive expansions is
because they had they basically just had money. They had
a cash they had cash flow, and they didn't have
(18:42):
to borrow any I think that it's interesting that that
Iger specifically chose to say we're doing more expansions than
at any time in our history, but not compared to
any other parks. Say, oh, I don't know, universal. So
I think that it was very important for him, as
with all these earning calls, to be politically uh, to
(19:02):
hit the right political buttons, and and to make certain
that people recognize, you know, we're not just sitting on
our resting on our laurels. We're we're actually continuing to
expand and continuing to grow.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
And it's true.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
You know, there's no argument that that is actually true,
but I just found it. I found that a very
interesting point to bring up, just to to keep people
aware that the parks are going to continue to grow
and we'll see, you know how that all, how that
all plays out.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
And then with the.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You know, there's a there's the new anniversary coming up.
What is it seventy at Disneyland.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Yes, the seventieth anniversary actually just started yesterday. I was
there for of course, of course, I was there for
opening night, and so we're what's what's felt like thirty
thousand other people all crammed into Main Street to you
know to watch. I had already seen the Paint the
Night for Aid previously because I somehow managed to be
(19:59):
there on preview night, even though I wasn't invited to
the preview night, but I was like randomly there in
the park, and so I got to see the paint
the night Float and the return of Wondrous. And I mean,
there's a lot planned for the seventieth, you know, I
think more than there had been for other festivals. And
I was talking with some friends about it. I think that,
you know, even just last month, it was kind of hard,
(20:23):
almost hard to justify a price to Disneyland because so
many things were down and then there's just no entertainment
at night. It was like, you know, you're going around,
You're like, you know, back in twenty nineteen, you know,
You're like, you know, kind of like back in my day,
there used to be shows at night and things called parades,
you know, and and so it finally feels like we're
getting back to that sense where now we have Paint
(20:45):
to Night happening twice a night, we have Fantasmic, there's Wondrous,
which is probably one of the better fireworks shows from
a narrative standpoint. You know, then there's the projection shows
in the castle, there's all the seven decoration, the walt
Amatronic will be coming in July and putting that in there.
They refurbished Small World. You know, There's and then on
DCA side there's the Pixar Pals Parade, a cavalcade thing
(21:11):
that runs throughout the afternoon. And then there's a New
World of Color and they have the openings, the pre
openings with the Muppets, and then they have the thing.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Where you choose who's going to lead them. I mean,
there's all. I mean, there's a lot of live entertainment
going on.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Well, and it sounds like just based on what I've seen,
that much of the much of the seventieth celebration is
leaning heavily into the live entertainment side. You know, I
think back, I think back to well Disney World doing
twenty fifth when they basically covered the castle. They made
(21:46):
the castle. It was a it was an installation versus
a show, and you know, they and again it was
before what they wanted was they wanted something that you
could see both day and night. And it was really before.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Mapping.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
You know, video mapping was a thing or a reasonable
or an affordable thing. So they invested so much in
covering the castle in foam, really carved foam, which is
what it was. But now that investment is in actual
shows and experiences. So it's an interesting shift because I
(22:23):
also think it's a more cost effective shift. You can
offer significantly more reasons to experience the seventieth, although I
will say the merchandise sales for the twenty fifth were
pretty crazy because everybody wanted the mechet of the castle
in its candy candy form, and that sold and continues
(22:44):
to sell on the secondary market for quite a bit
of money. So I think it's interesting that the shift
has happened, and I think it makes real good sense
considering where we are with our economy and what is
available and what costs more and what costs less. So
good investment.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yeah, about that a little bit last week about the
concept of you know, what what can you do? And
like sometimes the capital and I think Disney is balancing
these items out right. You have they do have planned
large capital investments, and they have kind of big projects
on the horizon, but they're also doing those renovations that
are important that I think people do forget about, you know,
(23:21):
like it's like I see it when I go to
the park and so I'm reminded, you know, but it's like,
really when we were there, like I said, it was
even last month of me, like everything was like everything
is down, you know, and you're you're like, oh my god.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
They just didn't make.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Sure it was They had to make sure it was
back for the seventieth so exactly, and know it really
and let's be honest, they're renovating on this side of
the world and they are building completely or we'll start.
We'll start very soon building completely on the other side
of the world because we got we cannot finish the show.
I mean, this is the elephant in the room we
got to talk about, uh, the the Abu Dhabi announcement.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yeah, so I'm gonna go very quick and then I
need to give Scott the floors for this. So basically,
I'm sure everyone listening knows, but yes, Disney has basically
that Disney is licensing its IP and so Morale is going.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
To fund, fund and run the Disney Abu Dhabi.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
And Iger said that there's roughly five hundred million income
qualified guests within four hours of this Park, and there's
been there's a lot of talk it's going to be
largely indoors, so I assume it's mostly indoors by what
they mean by that, it's going to be Iger promise
it'll be authentically Disney and distinctly and Maradi and oasis
(24:35):
of extraordinary Disney entertainment that also reflects the culture and
taste of the region. He talks about that it was
kind of very obvious that they would need to be
something there just because of the amount of people that
are in that region and because they're kind of missing
that region. You know, that's the If they put something there,
then it's Disney is accessible to so many more people
than any other kind of location. There's been a lot
(24:56):
of speculation about why they chose that. You know, there
was supposedly an offer from Saudi to do it, and
it was like a blank check offer. But if you
think about this, I think from a business standpoint, this
makes the most sense. And it's one of those things
it's like it's like Stephen King writes where he's like,
you know, conclusions to good stories should be surprising yet inevitable,
(25:18):
And I think, to me, this is exactly it. This
was surprising and that you read it and you were like, oh,
but then it's inevitable because of all these factors, like
who else, what other partner could they go with that
has experienced like Morale has really in that region, in
any of the regions in that area, And if you
look at where else they could have gone, like they
could have gone, yeah, Mexico, Chile, they could have gone
(25:39):
South Africa or any of those. But how many income
qualified guests that could actually get into the park are
there within those regions? And I would say not five hundred,
you know million. I mean, that's an enormous market of
potential for this park. And then even with Saudi offering them,
what I heard was a blank check, like they just
you know, however much you want. But you think about
(26:02):
the brand reputation still has to be good for Disney,
and Marale has proven itself, like Marale has made the
best version of every brand that they have touched. When
you think about I mean, it's like I think a
lot of people harp on the low guess, but you're like, y'all,
this is like the best SeaWorld in the world, Like stop,
you know, stop hating.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
It's the best SeaWorld, it's the it's the best Ferrari experience,
it's the best Warner Brothers experience. Yeah, and don't and
do not forget Yas water World, because it is an
amazing water park, probably probably my second favorite in the world.
I mean, it's it's pretty breathtaking.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
And and all of those, all of those.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Have expansions going on as we speak, some of them
and nounce, some of them not. But all of them
have expansions going on as we speak. And the you know,
I when I was there, I actually said, I sincerely
doubt that Disney will ever join in with the fun
here because Disney, nine times out of ten likes to
be in full control, and.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
So does Maral.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And you know, just to just to clarify, I know
everybody knows this, but Morale actually is the owner of
all the parks that I just mentioned, so SeaWorld, Ferrari,
Warner Brothers, and Yas water World, and they're all on
the same island. And what a Disney inclusion on Yas
Island is going to mean is.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Huge.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
It can't I can't begin to explain how much this
is going to be the tipping point for the success.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Of Yas Island in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, yeah, I just want to finish with just you know,
there's no there's almost no negative in my mind on
this in that like, it's not going to cost them anything,
it's just going to make them money. They know again
that mar All has a proven track record in that
region and everything, so they know it's going to be quality,
it's going to protect the brand, all that kind of stuff.
So I think that's where I think the main thing
(27:54):
that we saw, of course, was people talking about the
regions and their laws and rights actually concerning the LGBTQ people,
and Scott wrote an article about that for a tragedy magazine.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
So I want to let Scott discuss well.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
First of all, I would like to thank Tractions magazine
for coming to me because I feel as though I
shared a very fair assessment. The purpose in writing the
article was not to say there are no problems, turn
a blind eye. The purpose of writing the article was
to say, do your research, do your homework, because what
you think you know about that region and what I
(28:29):
experienced while I was there, what I thought I knew
before I got there, and what actually happened there were
very very different and you know, everybody has to make
decisions on their own. Do they want to go to
a country where there are certain laws in place? Do
they want I mean to be completely honest, do they
want to travel to different states within the US where
(28:52):
they know that certain laws are in place. I wanted
to I wanted to create a sense of this was
my experience while I went in Uae. Like I said,
only their five months I lived. I did live on
Yas Island, but I traveled to Dubai and various other
I traveled to Oman and various other parts of the region.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I've also done work.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
In Saudi So it's it was just to kind of
share with people my boots on the ground observations and
other people who have had boots on the ground there
and have different experiences. I completely respect that, and I'm
very eager, you know, I'd be very eager to hear
what those were if they were.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Differing from mine.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
But generally speaking, especially in regards to LGBTQ plus community,
because that's what Attractions Magazine asked me to write about.
My experience, there was a very welcoming one. I do
know that people that trans people still have some challenges
getting into the country, especially if they're coming to work,
(29:54):
be simply because the government does not necessarily recognize that
trans is a thing. But again, they're not the only
country and they're certainly not the only state. So you know,
we're fighting that battle in the US right now as well,
and so we have to and we also have to
(30:16):
take into consideration. The other thing I brought up in
the article many times is Ua is a young country.
It's slightly over fifty years old. And the changes and
the way they have modified their government system and made
it more welcoming to a much broader spectrum of people,
even in fifty years, and most of it has happened
(30:37):
in the last five to ten is huge. It's huge.
And then you also have to take into consideration that
only ten percent of the population is actually a Mrati.
The other ninety percent are expats, and so it is
really more of a melting ground than the United States is.
You know, it's more of a melting pot than the
US is. And it is also changing their changing their
(31:01):
conservative nature, changing their conservative policies. You know, right now
they are kind of at a don't ask, don't tell,
I will be honest, but they are not aggressively trying
to seek out members of the LGBTQ plus community to
haul them out into the streets.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
And shoot them.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
That is and that is what some people believe, and
to be completely honest, it's kind of what I was
led to believe prior to living there. So you know,
all I ask, all I ask.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
You don't have to.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Agree with the way they run their government, you don't
have to agree with their laws. What I do ask
is that you make your decisions based on what is
happening now and what is really happening there, not some
preconceived notion that is five, ten, fifteen years old, or
or that you take all of the Middle East, throw
it into a bag, shake it up, and think of
(31:47):
it as the same country. Because although there are similarities,
there are also radical differences in the way that they operate.
So you know, I know that there are some people
who feel as though I was sharing propaganda in order
to promote a Disney product. There's no point in me
doing that because I am I am a member of
the LGBTQ plus community, but I am not a member
of I'm not on a Disney payroll, so it serves
(32:08):
no purpose.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
For me to do that exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I was just there to share my observation and to
ask people to make sure that before you make your decisions,
whether you're going to go or not, whether you're going
to support it or not. You know, that's what free
market is all about. You make those decisions, but please
make them based on real facts, not preconceived notions. And uh,
and then and then make your make the choice yourself.
(32:31):
My job in that article was to just share my
observation while living there for five months. So that's uh,
that's kind of the the take I have on on
Disney and and why.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
They chose there.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
I think it's a I think it's a super wise choice.
I think it's going to be very beneficial for morale.
I think it's going to be very beneficial for Disney
because it is going to elevate their elevate their presence
in that part of the world. They did do when
I was in Riod. They actually did a pop up
in Riod while I was there earlier this year, and
(33:07):
they that was a unique experience. It was only there
for a short period of time and then magically disappeared.
So I thought perhaps it was going to be Saudi
where it was going to eventually happen, but no, they
went with the UAE, and I think it's the right
choice because Morale, as Philip said, is really really good
at handling other people's brands and making them or finding
(33:28):
ways to find the parts of them that will appeal
most to the emorati market and make it unique.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
To that part of the world.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
They've done it with Ferrari, they've done it with WB
they've done it with SeaWorld, and now it's time to
do it with Disney. So I think that's going to
be It's going to be a very successful park. And
quite honestly, I'm very excited to see it because just
based on some of the initial imagery that we've seen,
the idea of creating a castle that is unique to
(33:59):
that part of the world, I think is going to
be stellar and it's we'll see how it all turns out.
But anyway, that was the purpose in writing the article.
That was the purpose. It was not to be propaganda
in any way, shape or form. It was not meant
to encourage.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
People to go.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
It was just to encourage people to do your homework.
So you're making decisions based on reality. So and speaking
of reality, We are really over time, so we're going
to have to go.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
This has been yet.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Another week of green Tag Theme Park in thirty. My
name is Scott Swinson. Was Scott Swinson Creative Development and
on behalf of myself and my co host Philip Bernandez
with Gantum Lighting and on a attraction network. This is
a green Tag Theme Park in thirty. We will see
you next week, or.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
We're going to see you in our Patreon where we're
going to discuss the earnings for six Flags and United
Parks because we didn't forget about them. We just put
Disney first, So come out.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I want to talk a little bit about it, and
I want to talk a little bit about Harry Potter too,
because I was in Chicago and experienced the new shop there.
So if you want to hear a little bit about
retail tainment, join us. Join us for our Patreon subscriber
our Patroon subscribers for Green Tagged Unhinged.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
See you next week,
From our studios this week in Los Angeles and Tampa.
This is Green Tagged Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip
and I'm doing as always by my co host Scott
Swinson Scott Swinton, creat Development. On Green tag we break
down the week's top theme park news and explain why
it matters to professionals. And this week we are discussing
the Disney earnings. They're so magical this time.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yep, yep, it's uh, I'm hearing I'm hearing the little
sparkle of Tinkerbell in the background. Or maybe that's just you, Philip.
I don't know, but it sounds as that we're going
to talk about some very exciting news from Disney.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It was so exciting.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know, sometime at these times sometimes my like fanboy
you know, overcomes the skeptic that I have become in
my old age. But for sure, you know, there was
almost nothing you can't you can point to almost nothing
negative in this earnings report, which is very pretty rare,
I mean for anyone, and the stock especially.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Quite honestly, especially for Disney recently.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
So yes, mm hmm, yeah, I mean, especially with the
with what but they've managed to turn every sector around,
and there's been positive news from every sector, and Wall
Street seems to agree because the stop popped seven percent
at the end of trading on the day of the earnings,
and the quick recap here is that revenue is up
(01:15):
seven percent. You know, Disney plus added a million new subscribers,
and they raise prices, their parks are up, and of
course they announced the partnership with Morale for Disney Abu Dhabi.
So I mean this was packed, Like this earnings call
was like packed release elements. I thought we could go
through each segment and kind of discuss each segment as
(01:37):
as a segment, you know, and then we'll end of
course with the big stuff for our audience, which of
course is the Disney Park. But so streaming was the
first segment up here. As I mentioned, it was up
a little over a million, almost one point four million
up at the time, and of course that comes after
they raised prices. They of course announced that they're doing
the ESPN direct consumer launches in a few months. And
(01:59):
also significantly, the big like nugget here for streaming is
that they announced not only is engagement up, but churn
is down and significantly that's a direct quote from Iger
on the call, and basically you think about it, that's
because they've been bundling all of these things together. So
I was just talking to my neighbor like last night,
(02:19):
and it was like he was saying that he was
getting rid of cable because at this point, you know,
Disney Plus, you know, it's expensive, but it's not as expensive.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
You know, as cable used to be.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
But now you get Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, and they're
going to roll out this ESPN make it available to
people with Disney Plus so they can just add it
as another bundle.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
It's integrated.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And so now it's like there's less strain on them
having to make you know, too much new content for
Disney Plus because now they have all this variety they
can bundle. So again we're back to the cable days.
I was to say, sounds kind of familiar. You know,
we've been saying it's the pendulum will swing back eventually.
It's it's all bundled.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It started as individuals, then it became bundled, and then
it broke up into individuals again, and now we're back
to bundling. And and I think that, you know, I
would love to say that it's human nature to make
things easy and and so bundling. I don't know why
they'd ever come away from bundling, But there's also it's
(03:21):
also human nature to try to find a bargain. And
if you feel if you're you know, if you've got
a bundle and you only watch Disney Plus and none
of that other stuff you really need, then after a
while you go, well, gosh, I wish I could just
get Disney Plus, and that way it would just be
you know, cheaper for me. And so this pendulum is
going to go on and on forever, and you know,
(03:42):
hopefully we'll be doing the show long enough to see
it come back the other way again, and we'll be
able to say.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
See told you so.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
It's uh, yeah, I it's that it's that constant need
for something new. It's that constant need for new, a
new news cycle, you know, a new a new fresh
way of presenting stuff. And we'll go from comfort to
value and back to comfort and then back to value
and it'll continue.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeah, well the approach.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Eiger did outline the approach because at this point Disney
Plus has been profitable for a chunk and it's a
big deal that that's become profitable because it was kind
of weighing down the company. And even though there are
still those critics you know that say that if Disney
were to divest to Disney Plus or it was a
separate company, you know that it would help the evaluation
(04:34):
to Disney because the parks are so profitable and Disney
Plus is like less. So so there's still you know,
this still chatter that goes around, but I think for
the most part, people have realized it's part of their strategy,
you know, the flywheel of Disney, so they get less
pressure to to divest than other companies like Comcast would.
But he talked about the three pronged approach, which first
(04:55):
enriched the product with more content, which is what we
talked about Hulu integration, that kind of stuff. Continued discipline
cost management, which has become a theme with this just
because of rising costs for production across the world. But
the third item is so fascinating, which is invest in
local content in international markets. And this has been something
(05:18):
that Netflix has taken the lead in doing, which is
producing content in the countries it's aim for, and then
it has this weird effect of being picked up in
other places because you know, it turns out that people
are okay watching stuff like squid games and items that
are not made for just you know, you know, not
(05:39):
in your language. You know, so people are more okay
with that than I guess maybe they thought so. You know,
Netflix has been doing this for a while, They've been
moving content to other countries. It's you know, they that
way they can target locals and also it's way cheaper.
And I think maybe Disney is maybe considering that direction.
They didn't say, but could be telling stories in other countries.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
There's also just in the in the travels that I've
done in the last couple of years, there's also a
growing interest in what does Disney look like in our country,
or what does what does entertainment in general look like
in our country. One of the things, for example, that
the Saudis are doing is they're there and we I
(06:22):
think we experienced this when we were there. They're creating
their entertainment sector so that it falls square in the
lap of the Saudi citizens, so that they can they
can enjoy it and embrace it and uh, but it's
also going to be a great encouragement to bring people.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
In from other countries.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
So yep, yeah, it's it's a it's I think it's
a very wise move. I think we are past the
point of well, I think most of the world is
past the point of being so terrified of other countries
and and and recognizing that we are a global community
that they are more doesn't bother them to watch, you know,
(07:04):
programming that may have been originally done in a different
language but has been beautifully overdubbed, and you know, because
it gives you a significantly more as you say, Netflix
has been doing this for years and some of the
some of my favorite stuff on Netflix actually was produced
in other countries or four other countries, and it just
makes it. It gives you a much more robust selection
(07:27):
to choose from.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yes, I'd agree with that, and I think that's exactly
what they are talking about. Plus again, if it's cheaper,
that means that they can get more of it. I mean, really,
they can produce more if they can keep the quality
the same, which I think they've proven. Netflix has proven
that's possible to do. Then it is cheaper, then it
gives them better reach. I mean, yeah, I'm sure they
didn't want to say it like they were going to
(07:49):
follow Netflix.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
But I think that's kind of what I took I
think that's what they're doing. Yeah, yeah, that's what I
take away.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. Netflix has proven that
it works, so why not.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So this is actually a point I was going to
say too when we got to parks that would do
it now it makes sense. But what was interesting to me,
you know, is that the parks were mentioned something like
five times more than they have been previously. And part
of that, yes, is of course, is the announcement with morale,
But I think the other part of it is now
that streaming is profitible, they can turn away from it
(08:21):
a little bit and kind of just refine it. And
the thing is that with streaming, they're never going to
be number one, like, they're going to be maybe two,
if not like three, And I mean they just can't.
They even can't outspend Netflix because that's Netflix is the
whole thing, and so they can't. I mean, they could
if they wanted to outspend them, but you know, the
(08:41):
shareholders would like revolt, right, so because their money is
best spent on the parks. And so I think there
that's part of it too, is it's like the thing
they can be the best in the world at is
the parks. It's not really Disney plus, and it's kind
of like, okay to take you know, Netflix's lead potential
and some of that strategy.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
We're just kind of like, now that.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
It's done, you can kind of move it aside of it, like, Okay,
it's profitable now, so let's hopefully does It's.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
The difference between we're going to be number one in
one industry or we're going to be number two or
three in three or four industries. And it just depends
on what your overall strategy is, your role financial strategy.
And they recognize that, you know where they get the
most bang for their buck is the parks right now.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Yep yep.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So moving on to the movie segment of the business.
So Thunderbolts opened number one worldwide and it has been
the best reviewed Marvel film in years. And they did
talk about their twenty twenty five slate Lelo and Stitch,
Fantastic four, is Utopia two, Avatar Fire and Nash and
Iiger said that they're twenty twenty five slate, in his opinion,
(09:49):
was as strong as twenty nineteen and the biggest part
about this or to me, the most interesting part about
the movie segment was his discussion about changing their kind
of like nor Star from quantity to quality basically, and
he said that iger address the recent turbulence in Marble's
output and strategy going forward. He acknowledged that in the
(10:12):
rush to feed streaming, we had to produce a lot more.
We've also learned over time that quantity does not necessarily
beget quality, and he admitted that we lost a little
focused by making too much, especially on the Disney Plus side,
and confirm that Marvel is now consuliating around fewer better projects.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
You might ask, I would.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Even go so far as to say safer projects, because
if you look at.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
It, those are all safe. Yeah, these are all.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Very safe and there and the whole twenty twenty five slate,
with the exception of Thunderbolts, the whole twenty twenty five
slate is pretty much proven commodities, and it's it's let's
go back and do Let's go back and do a
lively loan stitch. Let's go back and do yet another
Fantastic four which has never flown. Zutopia, Let's do another
(11:03):
Zutopia that works. Avatar, Oh, that's huge let's go back
and do that. Plus that helps support the installations of
the parks.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
I think it's good to hear though that they're saying
we're back to folks on quality. And it's a little
bit like annoying because you we had this, We literally
had the same discussion on the show previously about how
like that they're kind of straining away from the quality
and if Disney doesn't mean quality, what does it mean? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
You know, that's that's its thing, and so.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Well, and I also think that this this ties back
to keeping the synergy between the movies and the parks
and the streaming and the parks, and that you know,
Disney for so many years and actually kind of pioneered
the concept of you know, let's let's have multiple streams
of where you can can interact with our ip or
interact with our product, and they had kind of gotten
(11:54):
away from that. They kind of became a bit siloed.
And it sounds like, you know, based on what he's
leading with, it's sounds like the plan is to kind
of shift back so that it's the product and you
can experience it in the movies, you can experience it streaming,
you can experience it in the parks, and I think
that's going to I think that's going to be beneficial
for them, because that's what made them, you know, let's
(12:15):
put them at the top of their game to begin with.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Yeah, I wonder if the reason they had been doing
the other titles or doing so many really was for
Disney Plus, Like, is that the real reason, or was
it because they were trying to experiment, you know, with
other types of content, or because of the organization of
the company.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I think I think they were.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I think they were trying you know, even as he
says here in the in the call, I think they
were trying to do they were trying to fill a
void of of ours. They were trying to get as
much out there because they didn't want, you know, invest
in Disney Plus where we have three movies that play
all the time, like the very beginnings of Home.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Box Office before it was called HBO.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
You know, it's I think I think it was to
fill well, I really believe that it was to fill
a certain void. And I think that they saw it
as here's our opportunity for growth, so let's grow. But
they grew in size, not necessarily in.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Quality, yeah, yeah, well I think yeah, let's move on,
let's see the next one. So Sports, we talked about
this a little bit, but in the sports segment, of course,
they're looking at launching the ESPN direct to consumer product
coming up pretty soon. But aside from that, the ESPN's
(13:34):
primetime TV viewership was up thirty two percent in the
eighteen to twenty to forty nine demographic, which actually is
that that's that's huge because that is like the golden
that's like the white Rhino of demographics, right, because that's
where you have the those people that segment, you know,
the especially the young men who spend money on a
(13:55):
bunch of stuff that they don't need. That segment is
so hard to reach nowadays because they don't do they
don't do it. Where else do they pay attention, you know,
podcasting really and so that that's a huge portion of it.
And they said it made ESPN's most watched Q two
in prime time ever and sports revenue was up twenty
(14:15):
percent for that quarter because of that. Operating income fell
a little bit though, due to higher programming and production costs,
which we talked about in the last learnings call, where
there's you know, there's contract need to renew, and there's
sports fees and whatnot that are getting in the way,
But I think that's going to be balanced out. They're
hoping with the influx you know, adding the ESPN direct
consumer might add influxes which will help offset some of
(14:38):
those costs. So that's the only cloud we had so
far was just higher programming and production costs.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
But like.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Again, you know, they already built into it. It's already
kind of like a plan to offset that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
So again it's they're acknowledging it and addressing it.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, so I think sport, the sports, anything else to
add on that.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
No, I think that's great. I think you hit it,
hit the the nail on the head on that one.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So then now we get to the parks segment, which,
as I mentioned, was the biggest part. There's a lot
here obviously, So on a on a macro sense, operating
income was up nine percent, and the US parks operating
income in particular was up thirteen percent. The record of
invested capital set record highs for it. Walt Disney World
(15:24):
bookings were up four percent in Q three and seven
percent in Q four.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Year of a year.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
You know that all these numbers are all positive, like
everything's on this chart, and I would say the only
thing I'm going to add here just for everyone to
just remember. I mean, I just still have to be
a skeptic, but just remember this is the Q one's earnings,
which means it's a lagging indicator. So we're looking at
previous numbers. So this was like before the terriffs, this
(15:50):
was before like all everything, and so we don't know
how much any of that is going to impact it.
I think Disney, after you you know, we go through this,
you'll see Disney is probably in the best position of
anybody you know anywhere. So but just to keep that
in mind, it is a lacking indicator. So they reiterated
again how they have thirty billion ear marked for Florida
(16:11):
and California expansions. They talked about that per cap spending
per guest is still elevated compared to the pre pandemic,
and that's thanks to new offerings and prices strategies. Of course,
he threw in that they're trying to monitor affordability, which
I think is not true based on my last few
Bitsits where you can't, like even with the annual bass
(16:31):
like you can't like step out with U spending fifty
dollars on you know, just whatever. So the only kind
of dark spot in all of this is that Shanghai
Disney Resort and other China exposed areas are seeing guests
tighten their belts, and so you're seeing lower per guest
spending even as attendance levels are recovering. And so that
also is a kind of an indicator. We knew that
(16:53):
going in, right we hadn't seen it into many range reports. Yes,
but we know that the Chinese economy is in a
tight spot right now and the government is trying to
assist with that. But that is reflected here and again
because this is a trailing indicator, you know, we're we'll
still see how it's going to impact how the rest
of the year is going to shake. It could get worse,
might get better, who knows. But overall they say that
(17:18):
global park demand or mains robust, and they're leveraging dynamic
pricing and seasonal events and Jennie Plus et cetera, et cetera.
Eiger emphasized, we already have more expansion projects underway domestically
in around the world that at any other time in
our history, and I think that's actually.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Drunk something have so much stuping out there.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
And they did kind of adjust their a little bit
of their their year of a year projection a tiny bit,
saying that the park's results will likely end at the
high end of the six to eight percent range given
the current trends. So that was their only hint that
things might be a little shaky. But so they kind
of adjusted their pretty injections a little bit. So there's
(18:05):
a lot there. Of course, they ended with the unveiling
of Disney Abu Dhabi, which I want to talk about,
but let's let's say that we'll do that next as
its own kind of segment. So, uh, based off all
these earnings and all the numbers, any, what do you think, Scott, Well, I.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Mean, you know, we've talked a lot over the last
couple of weeks about Universal, and we've talked about uh,
you know, their their earnings calls and how that all looks,
and and we've talked about how they have, uh the
reason they've been able to do such massive expansions is
because they had they basically just had money. They had
a cash they had cash flow, and they didn't have
(18:42):
to borrow any I think that it's interesting that that
Iger specifically chose to say we're doing more expansions than
at any time in our history, but not compared to
any other parks. Say, oh, I don't know, universal. So
I think that it was very important for him, as
with all these earning calls, to be politically uh, to
(19:02):
hit the right political buttons, and and to make certain
that people recognize, you know, we're not just sitting on
our resting on our laurels. We're we're actually continuing to
expand and continuing to grow.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
And it's true.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
You know, there's no argument that that is actually true,
but I just found it. I found that a very
interesting point to bring up, just to to keep people
aware that the parks are going to continue to grow
and we'll see, you know how that all, how that
all plays out.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
And then with the.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
You know, there's a there's the new anniversary coming up.
What is it seventy at Disneyland.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Yes, the seventieth anniversary actually just started yesterday. I was
there for of course, of course, I was there for
opening night, and so we're what's what's felt like thirty
thousand other people all crammed into Main Street to you
know to watch. I had already seen the Paint the
Night for Aid previously because I somehow managed to be
(19:59):
there on preview night, even though I wasn't invited to
the preview night, but I was like randomly there in
the park, and so I got to see the paint
the night Float and the return of Wondrous. And I mean,
there's a lot planned for the seventieth, you know, I
think more than there had been for other festivals. And
I was talking with some friends about it. I think that,
you know, even just last month, it was kind of hard,
(20:23):
almost hard to justify a price to Disneyland because so
many things were down and then there's just no entertainment
at night. It was like, you know, you're going around,
You're like, you know, back in twenty nineteen, you know,
You're like, you know, kind of like back in my day,
there used to be shows at night and things called parades,
you know, and and so it finally feels like we're
getting back to that sense where now we have Paint
(20:45):
to Night happening twice a night, we have Fantasmic, there's Wondrous,
which is probably one of the better fireworks shows from
a narrative standpoint. You know, then there's the projection shows
in the castle, there's all the seven decoration, the walt
Amatronic will be coming in July and putting that in there.
They refurbished Small World. You know, There's and then on
DCA side there's the Pixar Pals Parade, a cavalcade thing
(21:11):
that runs throughout the afternoon. And then there's a New
World of Color and they have the openings, the pre
openings with the Muppets, and then they have the thing.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Where you choose who's going to lead them. I mean,
there's all. I mean, there's a lot of live entertainment
going on.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Well, and it sounds like just based on what I've seen,
that much of the much of the seventieth celebration is
leaning heavily into the live entertainment side. You know, I
think back, I think back to well Disney World doing
twenty fifth when they basically covered the castle. They made
(21:46):
the castle. It was a it was an installation versus
a show, and you know, they and again it was
before what they wanted was they wanted something that you
could see both day and night. And it was really before.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Mapping.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
You know, video mapping was a thing or a reasonable
or an affordable thing. So they invested so much in
covering the castle in foam, really carved foam, which is
what it was. But now that investment is in actual
shows and experiences. So it's an interesting shift because I
(22:23):
also think it's a more cost effective shift. You can
offer significantly more reasons to experience the seventieth, although I
will say the merchandise sales for the twenty fifth were
pretty crazy because everybody wanted the mechet of the castle
in its candy candy form, and that sold and continues
(22:44):
to sell on the secondary market for quite a bit
of money. So I think it's interesting that the shift
has happened, and I think it makes real good sense
considering where we are with our economy and what is
available and what costs more and what costs less. So
good investment.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yeah, about that a little bit last week about the
concept of you know, what what can you do? And
like sometimes the capital and I think Disney is balancing
these items out right. You have they do have planned
large capital investments, and they have kind of big projects
on the horizon, but they're also doing those renovations that
are important that I think people do forget about, you know,
(23:21):
like it's like I see it when I go to
the park and so I'm reminded, you know, but it's like,
really when we were there, like I said, it was
even last month of me, like everything was like everything
is down, you know, and you're you're like, oh my god.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
They just didn't make.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Sure it was They had to make sure it was
back for the seventieth so exactly, and know it really
and let's be honest, they're renovating on this side of
the world and they are building completely or we'll start.
We'll start very soon building completely on the other side
of the world because we got we cannot finish the show.
I mean, this is the elephant in the room we
got to talk about, uh, the the Abu Dhabi announcement.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yeah, so I'm gonna go very quick and then I
need to give Scott the floors for this. So basically,
I'm sure everyone listening knows, but yes, Disney has basically
that Disney is licensing its IP and so Morale is going.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
To fund, fund and run the Disney Abu Dhabi.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
And Iger said that there's roughly five hundred million income
qualified guests within four hours of this Park, and there's
been there's a lot of talk it's going to be
largely indoors, so I assume it's mostly indoors by what
they mean by that, it's going to be Iger promise
it'll be authentically Disney and distinctly and Maradi and oasis
(24:35):
of extraordinary Disney entertainment that also reflects the culture and
taste of the region. He talks about that it was
kind of very obvious that they would need to be
something there just because of the amount of people that
are in that region and because they're kind of missing
that region. You know, that's the If they put something there,
then it's Disney is accessible to so many more people
than any other kind of location. There's been a lot
(24:56):
of speculation about why they chose that. You know, there
was supposedly an offer from Saudi to do it, and
it was like a blank check offer. But if you
think about this, I think from a business standpoint, this
makes the most sense. And it's one of those things
it's like it's like Stephen King writes where he's like,
you know, conclusions to good stories should be surprising yet inevitable,
(25:18):
And I think, to me, this is exactly it. This
was surprising and that you read it and you were like, oh,
but then it's inevitable because of all these factors, like
who else, what other partner could they go with that
has experienced like Morale has really in that region, in
any of the regions in that area, And if you
look at where else they could have gone, like they
could have gone, yeah, Mexico, Chile, they could have gone
(25:39):
South Africa or any of those. But how many income
qualified guests that could actually get into the park are
there within those regions? And I would say not five hundred,
you know million. I mean, that's an enormous market of
potential for this park. And then even with Saudi offering them,
what I heard was a blank check, like they just
you know, however much you want. But you think about
(26:02):
the brand reputation still has to be good for Disney,
and Marale has proven itself, like Marale has made the
best version of every brand that they have touched. When
you think about I mean, it's like I think a
lot of people harp on the low guess, but you're like, y'all,
this is like the best SeaWorld in the world, Like stop,
you know, stop hating.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
It's the best SeaWorld, it's the it's the best Ferrari experience,
it's the best Warner Brothers experience. Yeah, and don't and
do not forget Yas water World, because it is an
amazing water park, probably probably my second favorite in the world.
I mean, it's it's pretty breathtaking.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
And and all of those, all of those.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Have expansions going on as we speak, some of them
and nounce, some of them not. But all of them
have expansions going on as we speak. And the you know,
I when I was there, I actually said, I sincerely
doubt that Disney will ever join in with the fun
here because Disney, nine times out of ten likes to
be in full control, and.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
So does Maral.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
And you know, just to just to clarify, I know
everybody knows this, but Morale actually is the owner of
all the parks that I just mentioned, so SeaWorld, Ferrari,
Warner Brothers, and Yas water World, and they're all on
the same island. And what a Disney inclusion on Yas
Island is going to mean is.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Huge.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
It can't I can't begin to explain how much this
is going to be the tipping point for the success.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Of Yas Island in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, yeah, I just want to finish with just you know,
there's no there's almost no negative in my mind on
this in that like, it's not going to cost them anything,
it's just going to make them money. They know again
that mar All has a proven track record in that
region and everything, so they know it's going to be quality,
it's going to protect the brand, all that kind of stuff.
So I think that's where I think the main thing
(27:54):
that we saw, of course, was people talking about the
regions and their laws and rights actually concerning the LGBTQ people,
and Scott wrote an article about that for a tragedy magazine.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
So I want to let Scott discuss well.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
First of all, I would like to thank Tractions magazine
for coming to me because I feel as though I
shared a very fair assessment. The purpose in writing the
article was not to say there are no problems, turn
a blind eye. The purpose of writing the article was
to say, do your research, do your homework, because what
you think you know about that region and what I
(28:29):
experienced while I was there, what I thought I knew
before I got there, and what actually happened there were
very very different and you know, everybody has to make
decisions on their own. Do they want to go to
a country where there are certain laws in place? Do
they want I mean to be completely honest, do they
want to travel to different states within the US where
(28:52):
they know that certain laws are in place. I wanted
to I wanted to create a sense of this was
my experience while I went in Uae. Like I said,
only their five months I lived. I did live on
Yas Island, but I traveled to Dubai and various other
I traveled to Oman and various other parts of the region.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I've also done work.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
In Saudi So it's it was just to kind of
share with people my boots on the ground observations and
other people who have had boots on the ground there
and have different experiences. I completely respect that, and I'm
very eager, you know, I'd be very eager to hear
what those were if they were.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Differing from mine.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
But generally speaking, especially in regards to LGBTQ plus community,
because that's what Attractions Magazine asked me to write about.
My experience, there was a very welcoming one. I do
know that people that trans people still have some challenges
getting into the country, especially if they're coming to work,
(29:54):
be simply because the government does not necessarily recognize that
trans is a thing. But again, they're not the only
country and they're certainly not the only state. So you know,
we're fighting that battle in the US right now as well,
and so we have to and we also have to
(30:16):
take into consideration. The other thing I brought up in
the article many times is Ua is a young country.
It's slightly over fifty years old. And the changes and
the way they have modified their government system and made
it more welcoming to a much broader spectrum of people,
even in fifty years, and most of it has happened
(30:37):
in the last five to ten is huge. It's huge.
And then you also have to take into consideration that
only ten percent of the population is actually a Mrati.
The other ninety percent are expats, and so it is
really more of a melting ground than the United States is.
You know, it's more of a melting pot than the
US is. And it is also changing their changing their
(31:01):
conservative nature, changing their conservative policies. You know, right now
they are kind of at a don't ask, don't tell,
I will be honest, but they are not aggressively trying
to seek out members of the LGBTQ plus community to
haul them out into the streets.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
And shoot them.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
That is and that is what some people believe, and
to be completely honest, it's kind of what I was
led to believe prior to living there. So you know,
all I ask, all I ask.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
You don't have to.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Agree with the way they run their government, you don't
have to agree with their laws. What I do ask
is that you make your decisions based on what is
happening now and what is really happening there, not some
preconceived notion that is five, ten, fifteen years old, or
or that you take all of the Middle East, throw
it into a bag, shake it up, and think of
(31:47):
it as the same country. Because although there are similarities,
there are also radical differences in the way that they operate.
So you know, I know that there are some people
who feel as though I was sharing propaganda in order
to promote a Disney product. There's no point in me
doing that because I am I am a member of
the LGBTQ plus community, but I am not a member
of I'm not on a Disney payroll, so it serves
(32:08):
no purpose.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
For me to do that exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I was just there to share my observation and to
ask people to make sure that before you make your decisions,
whether you're going to go or not, whether you're going
to support it or not. You know, that's what free
market is all about. You make those decisions, but please
make them based on real facts, not preconceived notions. And uh,
and then and then make your make the choice yourself.
(32:31):
My job in that article was to just share my
observation while living there for five months. So that's uh,
that's kind of the the take I have on on
Disney and and why.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
They chose there.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
I think it's a I think it's a super wise choice.
I think it's going to be very beneficial for morale.
I think it's going to be very beneficial for Disney
because it is going to elevate their elevate their presence
in that part of the world. They did do when
I was in Riod. They actually did a pop up
in Riod while I was there earlier this year, and
(33:07):
they that was a unique experience. It was only there
for a short period of time and then magically disappeared.
So I thought perhaps it was going to be Saudi
where it was going to eventually happen, but no, they
went with the UAE, and I think it's the right
choice because Morale, as Philip said, is really really good
at handling other people's brands and making them or finding
(33:28):
ways to find the parts of them that will appeal
most to the emorati market and make it unique.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
To that part of the world.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
They've done it with Ferrari, they've done it with WB
they've done it with SeaWorld, and now it's time to
do it with Disney. So I think that's going to
be It's going to be a very successful park. And
quite honestly, I'm very excited to see it because just
based on some of the initial imagery that we've seen,
the idea of creating a castle that is unique to
(33:59):
that part of the world, I think is going to
be stellar and it's we'll see how it all turns out.
But anyway, that was the purpose in writing the article.
That was the purpose. It was not to be propaganda
in any way, shape or form. It was not meant
to encourage.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
People to go.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
It was just to encourage people to do your homework.
So you're making decisions based on reality. So and speaking
of reality, We are really over time, so we're going
to have to go.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
This has been yet.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Another week of green Tag Theme Park in thirty. My
name is Scott Swinson. Was Scott Swinson Creative Development and
on behalf of myself and my co host Philip Bernandez
with Gantum Lighting and on a attraction network. This is
a green Tag Theme Park in thirty. We will see
you next week, or.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
We're going to see you in our Patreon where we're
going to discuss the earnings for six Flags and United
Parks because we didn't forget about them. We just put
Disney first, So come out.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I want to talk a little bit about it, and
I want to talk a little bit about Harry Potter too,
because I was in Chicago and experienced the new shop there.
So if you want to hear a little bit about
retail tainment, join us. Join us for our Patreon subscriber
our Patroon subscribers for Green Tagged Unhinged.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
See you next week,
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