I wouldn’t be surprised at all if cinemas weren’t able to survive the closures. I’ve noticed a resurgence of drive-ins, though. For a family of three, the price of Mulan is worth it, if you have a decent system. However, you’re correct ; that price is steep for one person.
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Disney+ is working now. Lucky for Disney folks we’re stuck at home. Disney+ might not have done so well, without covid.
I don’t know why cinemas can’t begin opening with seating in every other row, etc.
In our area the multiplex cinemas have multiple screens showing to fairly small seatings, not vast spaces.
People don’t really want to always stay home to watch movies.
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TP says the posted wait times at UOR were very inflated and threw their numbers off.
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One of the comments at that link said mask usage and enforcement was lacking there. I’m wondering if that’s a one off or a sad norm?
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Hmmm I did not see that. Hopefully an isolated view.
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Ok, well I was re- reading @ryan1 trip report. A couple things concerning the “safety” aspect of UOR:
So what I am understanding, in his opinion UOR handled things great. Except maybe at the resort.
I hope it’s OK @ryan1 that I am quoting you. It’s good to have other perspectives. Thank you for your detailed reporting!
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Oh. Sorry. I can see why it read that way. I just meant too relaxed because there weren’t enough people there. They need more people to come!
But the resort handled the social distancing and mask wearing well. In fact, I loved that you got a band for temperature check once each morning that worked at the parks as well (although, temperature checks at Disney were very quick, regardless).
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I was following @ryan1 too and thought about this contradiction. But the date on the comment, plus the fantastic passes for FL residence, along w/ crowd size as 8/9 out of 10 maybe wonder aloud about the comment. It could be a weekend observation. As a new FL transplant considering taking advantage of the great ticket deal I’m looking at all the reports to help me make a decision. I’m leaning toward the 15-months for 12-month AP though since I don’t have to activate it right away. Plus I like that I don’t have to make a park reservation and can go on a whim.
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It’s confusing to me why the UOR crowd levels continue to be posted high, even after TP admitted the wait times are extraordinary inflated. 
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oh yeah, thanks for that reminder!
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I was pretty surprised to see this in an article:
“Universal does seem to be a better place than Disney, thanks to parent company Comcast’s non-entertainment-based divisions and Universal’s more nimble corporate structure.”
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Interesting article.
It is funny. My wife and I were just talking about Universal Studios and how poorly themed it is, overall, compared to IOA. While there are some nice things about it, the whole MIB and Simpsons areas seem quite lackluster by today’s standards. And E.T., while classic, is EXTREMELY dated. Anyhow, part of that discussion was highlighting the fact that there really is very little that targets a younger family audience. Across both parks, you have Seuss land, which amounts to, what, basically three attractions? Oh, wait. Four.
What Universal needs is to update US significantly. Of course, that seemed unlikely with Epic Universe coming on line.
But now? This article seems to indicate that there is a possibility Nintendo land will be shifted back to US…which is a great start to improving things! I hope it happens. I mean, sure, the “loss” of Epic Universe will be sad if it comes to that…but the truth is, at this point, US could use some TLC of its own first.
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I had heard this was on the list of possibilities the other week.
I actually prefer it this way. I think Universal’s niche is more thrill and dark rides for the more mature audience. I wonder what their target age for Epic U will be?
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Bit behind here…
At the start of fireworks, don’t they usually say the fireworks are sponsored by… I remember Honda at one fireworks. Or are they no longer sponsored? I tried Googling but couldn’t find the answer. If fireworks are sponsored, does that mean the sponsor pays for the fireworks, development…?
So for this week, TP had predicted crowd levels of “7” at UOR. So far, since Monday, actual crowd levels are averaging 3-4. Sounds more realistic!
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A few thoughts from the Q4 2020 Earnings Call:
- Disneyland will remain closed at least through the end of the year
- WDW is “close to capacity” (meaning pandemic restricted capacity) for the week of Thanksgiving
- Disney+ has 73 million subscribers, which beat expectations of 65 million
- Net loss of $0.39 per share also beat expectations
- Parks are “contributing positive margin” meaning that they are covering variable costs and contributing to fixed costs, but still operating at a net loss. Not good long term, but better than keeping the parks shuttered.
- Direct to Consumer (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, etc.) had a $580M operating loss, but in the eliminations we see that about $1.5B in revenue for Media and Studio segments was paid by DTC. To the extent Media and Studio segments are already breaking even on that content, Disney+ is probably doing even better than it looks.
- With $7.6B in cash from operations, Disney is quite solvent and really shouldn’t be so worried about cutting costs, IMO. But I see why they’re doing that.
- Disney cancelled their January dividend
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But the execs are back on full pay, which is nice for them.
They also said in the call that they did in fact increase capacity from 25% to 35%. 
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So thanksgiving week being “near capacity” would be the 25% or the 35%?
I assume the 35%