Bob Iger says Disney Still Doing Well

Reuters had an article a couple of days ago that highlighted a recent talk Bob Iger gave at a London Disney movie premiere.

Mr. Iger basically confirmed the same general guidance they gave from the 3rd quarter conference call, which is that Disney is doing okay despite the tough economy.  He also noted that they don't see any changes in the way they are managing the company going into 2009.

Disney also announced the date of the 4th quarter and EOY results webcast will be November 6th at 4:30 PM EST.  That's a half hour after market close at the NYSE, so we'll see if they get a Friday bounce depending on what they announce.

As for Jay Rasulo's announcement coming up this week, my bet is on another hotel complex along with some kind of Big Apple package.  Disney has had the Broadway hook-up for sometime of course, but no real way to exploit that beyond the tickets (think hotel rooms, alternate entertainment, etc.). 

This is pure speculation on my part, but my money would be on a semi-fixed Adventures-By-Disney sort of setup that ties in a trip to the Big Apple along with other family fun fair that anybody can book and 'afford', along with tickets to whatever Disney has on Broadway.  The A-B-D trips are nice, but very pricey for most pocketbooks with a family of 4 (almost $10 grand BEFORE airfare).  Besides, at certain times of the year Disney World is like a little New York, in that everybody in the park seems to be from Jersey, the City, or even down Philly way.  So they have a captive audience that WANTS an outlet.  Maybe they'll throw in some more of the regional based entertainment complex idea like they just pseudo announced with the Oriental Land Company in Japan?

Regardless, I'm betting against anything to explicitly do with China/Shanghai.  You don't bring in a family travel expert to talk about China in NY City.  And my bet is that anything in China will a) have to wait until Hong Kong gets straightened out and b) when it comes, it'll come from Iger, not Rasulo.

I wonder if Disney is a first name joint?  Does everybody call them Bob and Jay?  I know Walt insisted on being called Walt. . .