The Economy: Disney Perspective
Jim Hill:
And speaking of the economy ... It's important to note here that -- over the past few months -- Disney World's traditional booking window has changed. Where once Guests used to book their WDW vacations six months in advance, now (in order to take advantage of attractive vacation packages like the current Buy-4-Get-3-Free offer) people are booking trips just two & three weeks out. Consequently, there are those within the Disney organization who are cautioning that things may not in fact be as good as they seem. That just because theme park attendance & advance bookings are up for the month of January ... Well, that then doesn't automatically mean that this pattern will hold going into February and beyond. But the sharp pencil boys, the folks at Disney Parks & Resorts who drill down into the raw data, who actually keep track of trends ... They seem to have enough encouraging info in hand to allow work to begin on Pop Century's long-abandoned Legendary Years section. So that small bit of construction news ... That's a good enough reason to have some hope, don't you think?