Disney Smashes Numbers; Parks Do Well

I guess the House of Mouse hasn't yet felt any of the ill effects of the economic slowdown.

Net profit dropped to $1.25 billion, or 63 cents per share, from $1.7
billion, or 79 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter, when results had
been boosted by the sale of interests in Us Weekly and E! Entertainment. Revenue
rose 9 percent to $10.5 billion.

The 63 cents per share earnings topped Wall Street's average target
of 52 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

The best news from this earnings report is this I think:

“People have not stopped or slowed down when it comes to taking family
vacations,” Iger said at a September conference, Bloomberg reports. “Some people will keep the family vacation and not replace a faulty refrigerator. That’s an
interesting phenomenon.” And, for Disney, a profitable one.

This is something that is totally opposite to what you would expect from a slowing economy. Why would people go to Disneyland for a one time trip instead of buying white goods that they will use everyday?

I guess it the difference is between having a genuine experience that you can't get anywhere else versus buying something mundane that they you can simply put off until some time in the future.

I mean a person's kids are only in that sweet spot for loving Disneyland for a short period of time before the real world slams them down. They have that moment of "Disney Magic" for a few years before they have to worry about getting into a good college, school shooters, drugs, sexual pressure, depression and all of that other stuff that teens have to worry about.