News Disney plans to accelerate Parks investment to $60 billion over 10 years

[CaptainAmerica]

Disney plans to nearly double its investment in parks and cruises business

Disney's theme parks have been a relative bright spot while the entertainment giant struggles to make a profit on streaming.

www.cnbc.com

Disney, Challenged Elsewhere, Plans to Spend $60 Billion on Parks and Cruises

Amid uncertainty for the company’s film and TV divisions, the investment over the next decade doubles the outlay in the last 10 years.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Marionnette]

This is great news but I want to see where the money will be going. If the bulk of it is not spent in the domestic parks, then I have nothing to cheer about. And if that money just buys a bunch of cheap overlays on existing attractions, then again, I'm not going to be very excited.

 

[celluloid]

Let's see them break the promise of 16 billion before they break this promise of 60 billion.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

And if that money just buys a bunch of cheap overlays on existing attractions, then again, I'm not going to be very excited.

I don't think you have a firm understanding of how much money $60 billion is.

 

[celluloid]

I don't think you have a firm understanding of how much money $60 billion is.

I don't think Disney leadership does.

 

[Indy_UK]

Is this higher than what Iger said would be invested in Florida a few months ago?

It all sounds good on paper and common sense would say to invest your most profitable assets but at the same time, they will need to slow down on the price increases in the parks and bring back perks that were taken away, which they won't want to do?

 

[Disstevefan1]

"Planned" investment.

TWDC plans to do a lot of things that never happen. Time will tell.

I hope WDW gets some of that money but since TWDC says WDW is a "declining market", probably not.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Is this higher than what Iger said would be invested in Florida a few months ago?

This is being framed as a doubling of overall Parks (including Cruise) investment. They didn't get into any site-specific amounts yet, just the overall total.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

TWDC says WDW is a "declining market"

Respectfully, what on earth are you talking about?

 

[Hakunamatata]

It will be interesting to see how much of this is for new experiences vs an investment in current infrastructure that needs rejuvenating.

 

[mysto]

This does sound like a step in the right direction. Unless the executives gobble most of it up.

 

[SplashJacket]

$60,000,000,000, or stated differently, 40 cruise ships, 40 Galaxy’s Edges, or 6 new parks around the world.

 

[Marionnette]

I don't think you have a firm understanding of how much money $60 billion is.

Given how often TWDC has given fans the "Charlie Brown Football" treatment, I'm very skeptical of how much will be spent on the domestic parks or how impressive their final product will be. Certainly, they had to know that this money was in the pipeline when they made their lackluster D23 announcement.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Respectfully, what on earth are you talking about?

I will have to dig up the quote, but TWDC said WDW is a declining market compared to the off shore parks.

 

[doctornick]

I like to hear it, but "money where your mouth is" (literally in this case) and let's see what this actually gets spent on. And my real question when it comes to WDW: will this simply be a lot of refurbs and replacements so that capacity is unaffected and thus there is no significant improvement to the parks? 3/4 parks needs more net attractions, yet the only one with any plans for actual expansion is the one that least needs it.

I'm sure Disneyland will move heave and earth to create additional attractions without closing anything.

 

[el_super]

It all sounds good on paper and common sense would say to invest your most profitable assets but at the same time, they will need to slow down on the price increases in the parks and bring back perks that were taken away, which they won't want to do?

The entire point of revaluing the product, by Igers planning from 2019, was to justify more capital expenditures through higher per cap spending.

All of it, from the higher ticket prices to the reduction in AP availability to the reservation availability... we're all meant to drive this effort to increase guest spending. There would be no way to sustain that growth without more and more investment.

Igers plan seems alive and well. So no, it's doubtful the price increases will stop.

 

[doctornick]

I'm sure something like Lighthouse Point will suck up a lot of that money.

 

[danlb_2000]

I don't think you have a firm understanding of how much money $60 billion is.

I don't think you have a firm understanding of Disney's ability to waste money.

 

[SplashJacket]

I'm sure something like Lighthouse Point will suck up a lot of that money.

As far as I know, Lighthouse should only be in the hundreds of millions range, not billions.

 

[Doberge]

https://x.com/ScottGustin/status/1704124217250177034?s=20

Thus would need to pertain to WDW where they overwhelming have the most available land. Of course it does not mean they'll do anything substantial, but at minimum it'll buy a little more time with investors (although maybe not fans).

But it also obviously means other parks too.("across its existing sites")