Disney profits plunge; recession hurts theme parks (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOujO6_wm8v853_4_xsfBkg4Vh8QD980D3K01) -- AP
The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday its second-quarter net income fell 46 percent, dragged down by an underperforming movie slate and the impact of the recession on its theme parks. But its results narrowly beat Wall Street forecasts and its shares rose.
The family entertainment giant's profit in the quarter through March 28 was $613 million, or 33 cents per share. That was down from $1.13 billion, or 58 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 7 percent to $8.09 billion.
The company said its studio was to blame for a 97 percent drop in movie profits, despite strong industrywide box office revenues in the U.S. and Canada, which are up 16 percent so far this year.

well, at least for me, I have not seen it at DLR and the story said it. Attendance (gate) is up 2% from a year ago. so maybe hotel stays are done -but crowded as ever...

And Disney stock is way up today. Poor results, but better than what analysts expected.

Wow, the stock is up by 2.69 at the moment. The share price is actually above what I paid for it eight years ago. (It's been below that price for many months.)

I'm not surprised Disneyland hasn't seen a downturn. The majority of Disneyland visitors are locals. When economic times sour, people are more likely spend money close to home. This translates to more one day admissions and more passholders at Disneyland.

What's up with the lousy Disney box office? Has Disney been releasing some stinkers of late? I haven't been paying much attention to new movies for awhile.

I'm not surprised Disneyland hasn't seen a downturn. The majority of Disneyland visitors are locals.
And for WDW, the number of people in the parks and the occupancy rate at the hotels may not be significantly down - but they've had the 'buy 4 get 3 free' deal for a good part of the year, and that's been just the nudge a lot of families have needed to decide to go ahead with a WDW vacation. But it doesn't help the bottom line as much when you are giving away almost half your hotel rooms!

And for WDW, the number of people in the parks and the occupancy rate at the hotels may not be significantly down - but they've had the 'buy 4 get 3 free' deal for a good part of the year, and that's been just the nudge a lot of families have needed to decide to go ahead with a WDW vacation. But it doesn't help the bottom line as much when you are giving away almost half your hotel rooms!

well, they have seen a downturn financially. Basically these same folks who have travelled to WDW on buy 4 get 3 free are also spending a heck of a lot less overall in the parks - less on food, merchandise, and events. This is what was stated in the story as "in room spend". so financially Disney was hit hard by lack of overall revenue for parks and resorts - BUT - attendance was up. so they day visitor will spend some money - but not like the traditional week-long trip and spend everything on Disney.