Category: Disney Business

News: Disney Is Suing Orange County in Florida Over Property Tax Appraisal

Post author By disneyfoodblog.com
Post date June 12, 2020

Walt Disney World takes up thousands upon thousands of acres in Florida.

Cinderella Castle

And it should come as no surprise that Disney has to pay a LOT of taxes on said acreage.

But, according to The Orlando Sentinel, the amount of money Disney should pay in property tax, is well, to be debated.

Spaceship Earth

Disney is suing Property Appraiser Rick Singh over its property taxes, saying that its 2019 property tax appraisals were too high. The company has filed a dozen lawsuits in the Orange Circuit Court.

Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom

According to Singh spokeswoman Beth Watson, “[Walt Disney World] had been undervalued for decades by previous property appraisers.” Meanwhile, Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said, “As we have shared before and as a matter of public record, we have challenged the property appraiser’s assessments and we will continue to dispute the errors by the property appraiser as any property owner in Orange County would do.”

Cinderella Castle Makeover Was Stopped Due to the Halt in Construction

According to Disney’s lawsuit, Singh listed the value for EPCOT at $539 million, Magic Kingdom at $504, Animal Kingdom at $435 million, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at $394 million. Disney didn’t say what it thought its resort’s value was, but called Singh’s numbers “excessive.”

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Lawsuits between Disney and the Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office are a regular occurrence. According to the Sentinel, this has been happening every single spring since 2016, and Disney has “dozens of court cases” pending.

Epcot Monorail

When this latest lawsuit gets resolved, you KNOW we’ll keep you updated.

What do you think of Disney’s latest lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Animal Kingdom, Disney News, disney parks, disney’s hollywood studios, Epcot, Featured, magic kingdom, Walt Disney World, Disney, disney lawsuit, Disney World, Lawsuit, Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office, Orlando Sentinel, property taxes, Rick Singh, taxes

Tags animal kingdom, disney, disney lawsuit, Disney News, disney parks, Disney World, disney's hollywood studios, epcot, Featured, Lawsuit, magic kingdom, Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office, Orlando Sentinel, property taxes, Rick Singh, taxes, Walt Disney World

Disney Business Disney Parks Disney Rumors & Gossip

How Many Guests Do The Disney Parks Need to Turn a Profit?

Post author By disneyfoodblog.com
Post date June 11, 2020

Disney World and Disneyland will be implementing many costly new procedures to help ensure the safety of guests and Cast Members upon the reopening of their theme parks.

Disney World

All of these potential health measures and capacity cuts mean that Disney could be in a tough position — losing money to be able to make it again. Prior to the reopening announcement, we explored the financial impacts of opening the theme parks versus keeping them closed. With the parks officially reopening, some analysts are noting what Disney will need to do to make money again.

Disney hasn’t and won’t be generating anywhere close to the pre-closure levels of revenue in the Parks, Experience, and Products sector for a while. In an earnings call that took place last month, Disney CEO Bob Chapek noted that the company would not reopen any park unless it would ultimately generate profit.

It’s Chewbacca!

So, with the Disney World parks reopening and Disneyland set to follow soon after, Disney may have determined what levels of capacity the parks need to maintain to keep a profit going. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Bernstein analyst Todd Juengar has estimated that Disney will need to maintain 25 percent of normal [pre-global health crisis] run-rate attendance to turn a profit.

Magic Kingdom Sign

The 25% attendance assertion is interesting. Disney has not made any indication as to how steeply park capacity will be reduced. If Juengar is correct, we may see it cut down to that 25% figure. Disneyland Shanghai saw a similar capacity decrease with a figure somewhere below 30% pre-closure attendance.

When we looked into this topic a month ago, we noted that at current operating cost, Disney would be operating at a loss if they lowered capacity by any more than 28%. Still, we also explored the fact that operating costs will greatly decrease as well with the continued closure of many attractions, resort hotels, dining experiences, and more. Take into account the cuts to operational costs and a less than 30% capacity opening starts to seem likely.

Cinderella Castle

Again, Disney executives have explained that they do not intend to publicly release reopening capacity figures at this time. It seems that we’ll have to determine if Juengar (and our) predictions are right once the parks reopen and we can see how crowded (or not-crowded) they are. Chapek said that guests would have to be “lucky enough” to access the new theme park reservation system, so we can assume that capacity will be significantly limited — maybe even all the way down to 25%.

Do you think Disney will make or lose money when they open their theme parks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Animal Kingdom, disney california adventure, Disney News, disney parks, disney’s hollywood studios, Disneyland, Epcot, Featured, magic kingdom, News, analyst, crowds, Disney World, how many guests, how many people, limited capacity, losing money, profitability, reduced capacity, ticket sales, turn a profit

Disney Business Disney News Disney Parks

Chairman of Disney Parks Experiences and Products Josh D’Amaro issues a statement on reopening of Disneyland

Post author By chipandco.com
Post date June 10, 2020

Chairman of Disney Parks Experiences and Products Josh D’Amaro issues a statement on reopening of Disneyland josh d'amaro

We are getting closer to the Disneyland Resort reopening as Disney proposed a phased reopening beginning July 9th. Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Parks Experiences and Products, issued a statement today. Check it out below:

“With the announcement of the proposed reopening dates for the Disneyland Resort, we are one more exciting step closer to reopening all of our Disney parks and experiences around the world. Throughout the past few weeks, we have reopened Shanghai Disneyland, Disney Springs and several Disney stores, and set dates for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, with more announcements coming soon.

We are purposefully taking baby steps during this very intentional phased approach. As one of the first major theme parks to close our operations and the last to reopen, we have been deliberate about keeping the health and safety of our cast, guests and local communities top of mind. And as we look forward to bringing our cast members back to work, and welcoming you back as cherished guests – we know it will take all of us working together responsibly to recapture the magic.

We’re fortunate to be guided by a talented team of professionals who’ve helped us implement a variety of new health and safety measures reflecting the guidance of local health and government authorities. These are designed with both the cast and guests in mind for the unique environments of each of our parks, resorts and stores.

While certain aspects of your visit may change, I assure you the quality of our storytelling, magic of our experiences and the caliber of our cast members has not. We recognize the trust that you have in the Disney brand, and we will continue to earn your trust every day.

My confidence comes in part from all of the hard work our teams have been doing behind the scenes in the past few months… as well as by the early successes we have seen at Shanghai Disneyland, the first of our theme parks to reopen. Guest satisfaction has been extremely high, and we will continue to make sure that as we bring back experiences, our attention to promoting your safety, maintaining your trust and providing unique ways for you to come together with family and friends to create new memories remains high as well.

Walt Disney once said that it takes people to make the dream a reality, and as we prepare ourselves to reopen his original park, I want you to know how eternally grateful I am for all of you who have made Disney parks, stores, hotels, cruise lines, guided tours and vacation properties part of your lives, as well as for the cast members, crew members, Imagineers, and employees who have brought them to life for the past 65 years.

I know this has been a difficult year due to the impacts of COVID-19, but I can’t help but feel a great sense of hope and optimism. And like many of you, I look forward to hearing the laughter and seeing the joy of families making memories together… and I can’t wait to see you when the magic returns to all of our parks and resorts.

Be well,
Josh”

Who else is super excited for Disneyland Resort to reopen?!

From our friends at chipandco.com
Filed Under: News, Disneyland, Parks & Resorts, COVID-19, Disney Parks Experiences and Products, Disneyland Reopening, Disneyland Resort, Josh D’Amaro

Tags COVID-19, Disney Parks Experiences and Products, disneyland, Disneyland Reopening, Disneyland Resort, josh d'amaro, news, Parks & Resorts

Disney Business Disney News Disney Parks Other

Creepy or Very Cool? Disney Just Filed a Patent for More Realistic and Advanced Skin for Robots and Animatronics!

Post author By disneyfoodblog.com
Post date June 5, 2020

Disney is always working on some crazy new tech, and WE’RE always looking out for their newest innovations!

Hondo Ohnaka

Imagineers have been doing a lot of work on tech for the parks and a LOT of that has to do with robotics. Disney is at the forefront of animatronic and entertainment robotics engineering, so they come up with crazy new inventions ALL THE TIME. Recently, we’ve spotted a realistic robot handshake and a patent for an autonomous park-roaming robot. Today, we spotted a NEW patent and this one focuses on a robot’s…skin? You read that right! Take a look!

Disney cranks out patents like nobodies business, but they don’t all apply to the parks. Sometimes they’re coming up with a neat consumer product or a new way to innovate in the film industry. Today though, we spotted a patent for a “Robotics Skin System with Integral Elastomeric Links to Complete Mechanical Linkages.”

©Disney

Now we know what you’re thinking: “What the HECK does that mean???” Essentially, Disney has developed a new skin (yes, like people skin) for their animatronics and robots. The “new” aspect is that this skin system can be used to connect moving parts of the robot instead of with a frame and joints underneath. The best way to visualize this is to think of a robotic octopus tentacle that has no mechanical bones.

©Disney

We apologize for the following illustration because it IS horrifying, but it’s a pretty good explanation of how this tech could be used. In a humanoid robot, the skin system could be used as a face made of latex (or similar material) with stiffened areas to connect to the motorized and robotic aspects, rather than the more traditional “robot skeleton” with a rubber skin stretched over it.

©Disney

We’re not sure if that’s cool or creepy, but we are leaning towards the cool side. This is definitely the kind of tech that Disney could apply with new animatronics in their theme parks so it will be interesting to see what sort of bots are developed in the coming years!

We’ll be keeping a close eye on new Disney tech, so follow along with us to make sure you know all about the new innovations!

What do you think of this amazing new tech? Tell us in the comments!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Disney News, disney parks, Featured, News, Animatronics, Audio-Animatronics, Disney innovation, Disney Patent, Disney Tech, Imagineering, Robot skin

Tags Animatronics, Audio-Animatronics, Disney innovation, Disney News, disney parks, Disney Patent, Disney Tech, Featured, imagineering, news, Robot skin

Disney Business Disney Movies Disney Rumors & Gossip Other

Rumored: Marvel Studios and Sony Have Reached a New ‘Spider-Man’ Deal

Post author By chipandco.com
Post date June 2, 2020

Rumored: Marvel Studios and Sony Have Reached a New ‘Spider-Man’ Deal. Marvel Fans have been waiting to hear about the fate of one of the most iconic Marvel Superheroes, Spider-Man. For a time, it appeared negotiations had gone sour between Disney and Sony regarding the use of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and it was feared that we had seen the last of the web slinging hero after the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

It seems we will hear about an update soon that is bound to make Marvel fans very happy, at least according to Marvel insider, Roger Wardell, who shared the news via Twitter stating, “Disney understands the money-making powers of Spider-Man while Sony is aware of being completely unable to compete with the Mouse at the moment. New agreement should please many Marvel fans.”

Disney understands the money-making powers of Spider-Man while Sony is aware of being completely unable to compete with the Mouse at the moment. New agreement should please many Marvel fans.

— Roger Wardell (@WardellRoger) May 30, 2020

After public outcry from fans, and some intervention from Tom Holland aka Spider-Man himself, Disney and Sony agreed to renegotiate their terms and it seems the studios may have finally reached a new agreement regarding Spidey’s future that benefit the fans and the partnering studios.

Photo Credit: Sony/Marvel Studios

“I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it,” shared Marvel Studios CCO Kevin Feige. “Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.”

The final installment in the Spider-Man Trilogy is currently set to swing into theaters July 16, 2021, but the films release may be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Be sure to check back here at Chip and Company for all things Marvel!

Featured Photo Credit: Marvel Studios/Sony

Source: Roger Wardell/Twitter

From our friends at chipandco.com
Filed Under: Marvel, Movies, News, Marvel Studios, Sony, Spider-man, tom holland

Tags marvel, marvel studios, movies, news, Sony, Spider-man, tom holland