MickeyBlog News for November 14th, 2022
Walt Disney World fans avoided catastrophe this past week when a hurricane largely avoided the region.
While other parts of Florida weren’t as fortunate, Disney guests only needed an umbrella and a bit more time spent at the hotel.
I’ll explain what happened in the latest MickeyBlog News.
The Hurricane That Wasn’t
Several days ago, meteorologists alerted Florida residents about the potential of another hurricane reaching land.
Tropical Storm Nicole set a course for the Florida coast only 40 days after Hurricane Ian had wrecked the area.
Understandably, Florida residents braced for the worst. Unlucky residents on the East Coast bore the brunt of Nicole, which achieved hurricane status before making landfall.
Whenever we discuss hurricanes, discussions of scale are important.
Hurricane Ian reached a wind velocity of 150 miles per hour (MPH), possibly higher depending on which source you trust.
Thankfully, Nicole measured only half that speed. As a tropical storm, it hovered in the 60 MPH range, which is still forceful.
By the time Nicole reached Florida, its wind pressure had grown 25 percent stronger. As a result, Nicole achieved Category 1 hurricane status.
That’s somehow both terrifying and much less dangerous than Hurricane Ian. But, again, that’s the essential part of scaling.
Ian reached Category 5, the most devastating size. Nicole never imperiled most Floridians to that degree.
Still, at least five Floridians died due to the hurricane, and we should show the appropriate deference to this fact.
While Volusia County and Daytona Beach suffered mightily, Walt Disney World’s location saved it once again.
When Walt Disney purchased this swampland, he recognized the value of choosing a spot in the middle of the state. It protected Disney from the savagery of coastline weather.
Let’s discuss what just happened and whether Disney caught a break or knew ahead of time.
Disney’s Hurricane Prep
MickeyBlog has previously detailed the ways that cast members prepare for hurricanes. Notably, Disney wasn’t as gung-ho about it this time.
Park officials liaised with meteorologists throughout the week and determined that the parks would avoid the worst.
For this reason, Disney’s list of closures was remarkably short compared to what we witnessed at the end of September for Ian.
The parks closed early on Wednesday in anticipation of the hurricane arriving late that evening or early the following morning.
Disney also preemptively closed Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort including the campground, the hotel rooms, and even Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue performances.
Hotel officials have also targeted a few specific hotel rooms that aren’t safe during extreme weather.
For this reason, guests staying in deluxe accommodations like the Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, and the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa were re-booked.
Disney didn’t want anyone staying in a place surrounded by forest or water due to high wind speeds and the possibility of flooding.
Still, the one thing Disney didn’t do was announce a park closure for the following day. In fact, Disney specifically avoided it, which was odd.
Technically, the hurricane should have reached Walt Disney World early Thursday. So, closing the parks on Thursday seemed like a no-brainer, right?
Not so fast!
Instead, Disney settled on a delayed opening on Thursday. The four theme parks wouldn’t allow guests to enter until noon at the earliest.
By taking this approach, park officials gave themselves a few hours after Nicole passed to clean up the debris.
This strategy worked, as Disney avoided the worst with Nicole. Even better, the parks didn’t lose a day of revenue.
That’s significant because Disney revealed on Tuesday that Hurricane Ian had cost the company $65 million.
Speaking of Disney’s Revenue
Disney stock tanked this week, which is the latest example of Wall Street being an inexplicable madhouse.
CEO Bob Chapek and CFO Christine McCarthy announced record revenue of $83.7 billion. It was the first time Disney had ever grossed more than $70 billion in a year.
That sounds like good news, right? The executives added that they expected single-digit revenue growth in 2023, which could mean $90 billion next year.
The stock collapsed because some analysts had privately projected 35 percent growth, which would mean $113 billion in revenue.
The supporting math on this philosophy is comically inept, but Disney stock suffered mightily anyway.
However, Disney revealed plenty of juicy tidbits. For example, occupancy on the Disney Wish remains above 90 percent.
Overall, the entire Disney Cruise Line business has surpassed pre-pandemic levels despite the industry’s health concerns in 2020-2021.
The entire parks division crushed all reasonable expectations for fiscal 2022 as well.
In short, Disney has survived the pandemic and grown stronger than ever.
Other Disney News
If not for the weather, the biggest story this week would have been the much-anticipated return of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP).
MickeyBlog braved the wet weather and visited on opening night. Our social media coverage of the event has warmed the hearts of many Disney fans.
You should be following us on Facebook to catch updates like this one, this one, and this one. We know what’s good at the parks, and we’re bringing it to you daily!
That’s not all, either. MickeyBlog is combing Walt Disney World resorts to keep up with the holiday decorations.
Here’s the latest at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and here’s the Gingerbread House up and running at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa!
Christmas has arrived at the parks and resorts, and MickeyBlog is bringing you all the highlights!
Also, if you want to attend MVMCP this year, you should act quickly. Only a handful of dates have availability. People really missed this party during the pandemic!
Finally, in what’s probably a sign of things to come for Disney fans, the Disney Vacation Club will start requiring two-factor authentication for log-ins.
Due to recent events at Twitter, online security has become even more of a hot-button topic.
So, Disney is getting ahead of the game by asking some of its highest-paying customers to connect their accounts to their smartphones.
Having written many articles about online security, I’m thrilled that Disney is taking this approach with DVC. I expect the same for My Disney Experience and Disney+ soon.
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Feature Photo: Disney