So goes Disney, so goes summer for Orange County.
Walt Disney Co. executives are mincing few words about their outlook for the critical spring and summer seasons.
“These are the most difficult economic times in our lifetime,” Chief Executive Bob Iger told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Oakland last month.
Since Disneyland opened in 1955, the park has set the pace for hotels, conventions and other tourism businesses here. That was true when there were just four motels and a bowling alley around the theme park.
These days, there are about 25,000 hotel rooms, major league sports, headliner concerts and a thriving convention business that have grown up around the Magic Kingdom.
Attendance at Disneyland’s two Anaheim theme parks was down about 5% from a year earlier for the three months through Dec. 27. Occupancy at Disney’s hotels, including three in Anaheim, ended the year down about 5%.
Earlier this year, Burbank-based Disney offered more than 600 senior employees buyout packages, including 84 at Disneyland. Fifty executives within the Disney Parks & Resorts division took the voluntary buyouts.
The company also combined some behind-the-scenes operations for all parks and resorts. Anaheim has seen about 200 layoffs, plus 100 positions that won’t be filled.
For now, usual summer hiring is in the works.
“We will hire seasonal positions for the summer based on overall demand,” said Ed Grier, president of the Disneyland Resort, which includes the Anaheim theme parks, hotels and Downtown Disney shopping center.
Disney is the largest employer in the county with an average of 20,000 yearly workers.
Promotions
Since the start of the year, the company has been pushing discounts and promotions to help fill its parks and hotel rooms. One special offered a weeklong stay when visitors paid for four nights. Local residents, who make up the bulk of Disneyland’s visitors, recently were offered hotel discounts.
The offers could be working. A mid-March weekend brought more than 90,000 people to Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, generating long lines and 30-minute waits at most restaurants in Downtown Disney.
The company will continue to offer “marketing and pricing strategies to address the current economy,” Iger told shareholders.
Other promotions also may work in Disney’s favor.
For locals, the popular “2fer” ticket that allows people to visit two parks for the price of one has been extended until June,a couple of months longer than usual.
The company started touting its “What Will You Celebrate?” program last fall to encourages families to come to the parks for birthdays, reunions, anniversaries and other celebrations. Guests can get in for free on their birthdays by pre-registering online.
Those wanting to purchase annual passes now can do so on an installment plan.
“We’re confident our brand, products and people can overcome the challenges ahead,” Iger said.
What to Expect
The question is whether the efforts will be enough.
Hotel reservations for the critical spring break period typically are a prelude to summer.
This year, few know what to expect.
Abundant hotel and airline discounts designed to convince worried consumers that a vacation can be had seem to be having little effect. Travel spending fell 22% in the fourth quarter, a worse drop than in September 2001, according to the Commerce Depart-ment.
Locally, spring break business seems to be holding its own. But summer still is a giant question mark.
“We’re on par with last year for March, April and May, but have no feel for summer (business),” said Laura Glass, director of sales at the Anabella Hotel across the street from Disneyland.
William Simpson, director of sales for the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel across Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland, said he’s receiving more frequent updates on packages and special offers from Disneyland than is typical at this time of year.
The county drew 43 million visitors last year who spent nearly $8 billion. Disneyland typically draws 12 million to 14 million people annually.
Those who cater to tourists in Anaheim typically count on something new from Disney to encourage visitors to come.
This year, there’s no big launch like last year’s Toy Story interactive ride at California Adventure or the Finding Nemo submarines in 2007.
Instead, Disneyland has a new set design at It’s a Small World, a new interactive parade called Celebrate! A Street Party and a Celebration Roundup and Barbecue at Big Thunder Ranch opening this month.
New tweaks to fireworks and water show Fantasmic, summer fireworks and Disney’s Electrical Parade also are in the works.
At California Adventure, the park’s ongoing makeover is evident in the conversion of the former Sun Wheel to Mickey’s Fun Wheel and the addition of character-themed Games of the Boardwalk at Paradise Pier. The park’s Food & Wine Festival is expanding from four weeks to six and will run into June.
Even some Disney folks admit these are less splashy alternatives to a major new ride.
Enough?
Some economists aren’t convinced it’s enough.
“We’re in a pretty serious recession both nationally and globally,” said Nancy Sidhu, an economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., which also tracks OC. “The parks are starting behind where they were a year ago and I would be surprised if attendance went up.”
Disney also is looking to get more out of the company’s devoted followers.
D23, the company’s first official fan club, was launched in conjunction with the annual shareholder meeting in March. Named for the year the company began, the program is designed to turn the most ardent fans into official VIPs for $75 a year.
The program stems from shareholder questions about how the company reaches out to its biggest fans, Iger said.
Members will get special discounts, early admission, behind-the-scenes tours and other perks that may entice regulars to visit more often. A D23 Expo is set for Sept. 10 to 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center. It’s billed as the “ultimate Disney fan experience.”
Officials expect it to draw about 40,000 people each day for celebrity appearances, film screenings and collector’s events.
The idea of the new program is to “communicate with fans, involve fans and get them to be a bigger part of the community,” said Marty Sklar, Imagineer ambassador and one of the few remaining Disney executives who worked with Walt Disney himself.
