Disney's 2004 Annual Report - Attendance at Disneyland "remained flat"

[Darkbeer]

I was reading the 2004 financials of the WDC Annual Report released today...

http://corporate.disney.go.com/inves...004/index.html

(Only posting Disneyland related info)

Revenues at Parks and Resorts increased 21%, or $1.3 billion, to $7.8 billion... $609 million from the Walt Disney World Resort, and $95 million from the Disneyland Resort.

At the Disneyland Resort, increased revenues were primarily due to higher guest spending at the theme parks and hotel properties.

Across our domestic theme parks, attendance increased 7% and per capita guest spending increased 6% compared to the prior year. Attendance and per capita guest spending at the Walt Disney World Resort increased 10% and 4%, respectively. Attendance at the Disneyland Resort remained flat while per capita guest spending increased 7%.

So, could the AB/ERA numbers be wrong?, heck this is the OFFICIAL document from Disney and is regulated by the SEC....

[woody]

With all the spin from Marcie, I'm sure she'll say she used a difference calendar than the WDC Annual Report. Therefore, the WDC Annual Report is accurate, but doesn't reflect the actual increase in attendance.

[bigglesworth003]

^I thought that marcie had said that attendance had little growth but per capita spending was up just as it says??

so this is the only time i have ever heard you say AB could be wrong darkbeer :wink: shockingly when it could be lower than reported not higher

[ExClub]

From the "Imagineering the Future" page, under Parks and Resorts:

Updating classic Disney attractions with new magic and the latest technology is an ongoing mission for Imagineers. A state-of-the-art, re-Imagineered Space Mountain is expected to open at Disneyland Resort in 2005, featuring new special effects and digital technology to thrill new generations of space travelers. Guests will also find surprises in other classic attractions, including the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

[woody]

^I thought that marcie had said that attendance had little growth but per capita spending was up just as it says??

so this is the only time i have ever heard you say AB could be wrong darkbeer shockingly when it could be lower than reported not higher

This is what she said...

This past year in 2004 was the first time in DCA's short life that a discount wasn't offered so aggressively for the entire year. In fact, only 4 months out of the year there was a discount advertised so aggressively for the two parks last winter/spring. In spite of that change from the previous strategy prior to 2004, DCA still registered a heathly increase while all of the other Southern California parks continued their usual year round heavy discounting programs or offering year-long passes for the price of a one day visit.

Okay, if DCA went up "healthy increase", yet the Disneyland Resort is flat. What is the reason?

Did Disneyland go down? Thus DCA cannibalized Disneyland's attendance.

[bigglesworth003]

Only thing i can think of why disneyland was down last year would be because of all the refurbs last year people may have put off there vists to DL till this year ??? i dont think disneylands attendance went down just didnt make substancial growth. from preivous years attendace.

[Jspider]

and average guest spending was up

who cares if DL's attendance was flat if they're cutting out the overload of APers it's good because it means they'll be concentraiting on the tourists again (aka new attractions)

[daMOUSE]

Disneyland is a world famous tourist attraction, and the original; I think they did good progress in 2004.

[Darkbeer]

Come on Woody, Marcie complains when I quote folks like Barry Braverman in the LA Times when he says things like the "projected attendance" of DCA was 7 million... I can't wait until she tries to expalin this quote from the official Walt Disney Company Annual Report....

[WiseOne]

Hey everyone, please refrain from attacking other members of the boards. Thanks!

anyways, back on topic:
Disneyland really didn't have anything all that stellar happen to drive attendance up. There were no attraction openings - granted there was the Snow White Show which did not produce nearly the draw that Aladdin did, and there were several big rides that were closed for portions of the year like Big Thunder which had 2 significant accidents within 7 months or so of each other, and Space Mountain has been closed for almost 2 years. Not that i'm saying that Space is the only reason people go to Disneyland, but thats a major attraction thats just not operating. So, yeah, in my opinion, there was no real reason to go to Disneyland to check out the latest and the greatest new thing. Cuz there wasn't anything.