Well ask yourself this, if everything sucks so bad, the economy is in shambles and we on the verge of (or even in) a recession then how is it that people are just blowing their cash on extremely frivolous things? Things like, oh I don’t know, going to Disney theme parks?
Yes, you heard right. In this time of such dire circumstances attendance at Disney’s parks in the United States is up 5% and revenues are up even higher - 11% give or take. In other words, not only are more people going to Disney’s parks, but they are spending more money there too.
Hmm. Interesting. Is spending lots of money on leisure something you often do as the first thing when you fear a potential economic problem? I know that there are people out there that spend money they don’t have (see the sub-prime housing fiasco for example) but I am talking to you, an intelligent human being and not some schlub who would not know how to save a dollar if their life depended on it.
As a country we are supposed to be suffering economically. We are supposed to be worried about losing our jobs and wondering if our paycheck will be handed to us twice a month on schedule and actively questioning where our next meal will be coming from. We are told that our neighbors are suffering and that they are not able to afford simple things like clothes for their children without tightening their belts beyond the last available notch. If they can even still afford a belt that is.
One of the readers of EQE is planning a Disneyworld trip. We expect a full report.
disneyworld attracts people who are in denial about real life and want to tune in to a new better reality. therefore this indicator merely shows the consumer is onto the fact that his lifestyle is about to change for the worse (Oil at $130 a barrel! yay!), but the denial hasn't fully lifted and/or the consumer is actively trying to maintain the denial. hence the trip to disney world.
ReplyDeleteremember, consumers aren't used to not getting what they want anymore. it's going to take some time for that mindset to change, and consumers are going to fight the change every step of the way. kind of like "let's go to disney before we lose the house" or "let's go to disney so we don't have to think about losing the house. and we can afford it since we haven't paid the mortgage for a year." (yes, people aren't paying their mortgages. yes, we're going to bail them out anyway)
there are no newspapers for sale here. it's the perfect place for total denial.
i will report back at a later date. it's an interesting place. there is a great deal of breathtaking human ingenuity on display here. the place works, there's no denying it, and it's the size of a county. cheesiness coupled with an impressive level of excellence.
btw, oil hit $130 a barrel last night and the top news story on the radio today was ted kennedy has left the hospital.
ReplyDeletethis country is going DOWN
Good points, Kathleen, in your first post. I don't think the country is going DOWN, or just plain "down" for that matter. Say "hi" to Goofy for me, will ya?
ReplyDeletebtw, did this author take into account that disney might be crawling with tourists because those tourists are euros who are officially 50% richer than us compared to what they were just a few years ago?
ReplyDeletethe euros are rude SOBs btw. they didn't get the disney memo like all the americans have. i've never seen such a docile crowd (excluding some of the euros)