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

[DisneyHead123]

With little exceptions, that falling attendance has been accompanied by rising revenue and profit.

Falling attendance leads to higher GSATs among guests that do go since it's less 'crowded.'

Disney has been hiking costs purposely to deter overcrowding. They found the inflection point. They just need to dance around it a bit.

But no one should see falling attendance as 'bad for the company' until there is a dramatic reduction in revenue.

I do think that at least a slight slump is probably in the cards for Disney Parks. They are persona non grata in certain circles in the US, for reasons that I will not bring up on the forums. A reckoning is probably on the way with ever increasing inflation and credit card debt. And some people got their fill of Disney for awhile in the massive post Covid travel tidal wave.

That said, while I know this is going to be a very unpopular opinion, I think the whole EU thing is whipping up a kind of frenzy of expectations. This idea that Disney is going to get their comeuppance for every budget cut that fans didn't like for the past decade, attendance will crash, they'll be forced to build a 5th gate and go back to 1980s levels of customer service and Tokyo levels of attention to detail all while lowering prices, bringing crowd levels up with more people than ever (who, of course, would break, graffiti, and steal half of what exists in Fantasy Springs, or at least stand by while their children did, because this is the US and not Tokyo), while coming up with the money for way more capacity, fantastical, high tech new rides with tons of expensive and difficult to maintain animatronics... etc.

Again, unpopular opinion but - Disney parks are pretty great. They have their missteps. And contending with feeding the beast of shareholder expectations is an ongoing struggle for all publicly owned companies in the US - there are moments when the decisions made have looked cheap and money grubbing. Magic Express and Genie+ really stand out in that regard. But overall? When you look at all the moving parts, cooperation, science, technology, creativity involved - the fact that something like the Disney parks exist is really a phenomenal achievement for a species of primate who climbed out of trees a few million years ago and only managed to start building small riverside civilizations about 10,000 years ago. Again, unpopular opinion, but I think they're doing well and will continue to do well, because they offer a solid product.

 

[monothingie]

I do think that at least a slight slump is probably in the cards for Disney Parks. They are persona non grata in certain circles in the US, for reasons that I will not bring up on the forums. A reckoning is probably on the way with ever increasing inflation and credit card debt. And some people got their fill of Disney for awhile in the massive post Covid travel tidal wave.

That said, while I know this is going to be a very unpopular opinion, I think the whole EU thing is whipping up a kind of frenzy of expectations. This idea that Disney is going to get their comeuppance for every budget cut that fans didn't like for the past decade, attendance will crash, they'll be forced to build a 5th gate and go back to 1980s levels of customer service and Tokyo levels of attention to detail all while lowering prices, bringing crowd levels up with more people than ever (who, of course, would break, graffiti, and steal half of what exists in Fantasy Springs, or at least stand by while their children did, because this is the US and not Tokyo), while coming up with the money for way more capacity, fantastical, high tech new rides with tons of expensive and difficult to maintain animatronics... etc.

Again, unpopular opinion but - Disney parks are pretty great. They have their missteps. And contending with feeding the beast of shareholder expectations is an ongoing struggle for all publicly owned companies in the US - there are moments when the decisions made have looked cheap and money grubbing. Magic Express and Genie+ really stand out in that regard. But overall? When you look at all the moving parts, cooperation, science, technology, creativity involved - the fact that something like the Disney parks exist is really a phenomenal achievement for a species of primate who climbed out of trees a few million years ago and only managed to start building small riverside civilizations about 10,000 years ago. Again, unpopular opinion, but I think they're doing well and will continue to do well, because they offer a solid product.

The frustration is that Disney had (and maybe still has) the ability to do tremendous things. But rather than continuing being the leader, specifically on the domestic front, whatever little creative charge that is left, is going internationally, specifically East Asia where the MBAs think the money is. Meanwhile domestic parks, WDW in particular gets the scraps or hand-me downs. In this respect I'm glad that EU is causing panic, even if it is overblown. Disney on their own wasn't going do anything until they were forced to, which in and of itself is remarkable change from where they were pre-Iger.

Overall, it's a hideous rot that metastasized from the top leadership down. Bob isn't a creative, he's an egocentric weatherman that likes to buy fancy things. The results of this type of "leadership" speak for themselves in the general malaise that is encompassing the company, despite what the PR, Marketing, and access media want to shout at you.

 

[monothingie]

I’m expecting a lot of announcements

But hold off, Bob acolytes, because that’s the Easy part

The vague time tables and overall generalities is where the devil is hiding

Even if everything was announced and finished at the end of the decade, that's 4-5 years worth of malaise at the domestic parks.

Studios and streaming certainly aren't going to save them. (Anyone looking forward to the new Rey Movie? Avengers: B Team? Toy Story 5? 6? etc.). Maybe Shanghai will swoop in and save them?

But Bob will be gone well before then....right?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think I might have mentioned this one(thousand) times…

Having no construction in their state is self sabotage. Especially when when everything you have built since flight of passage on both coast is mediocre at best

 

[JD80]

You're taking my comment completely out of context. Go back and read what I was responding to -- the fact that people can claim almost anything is a half day park is exactly what I was saying.

And I was last in EPCOT in 2022.

My fault then.

Also, I was just curious if you've been able to see EPCOT with most of the walls coming down for context.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There's a thread for D23 dreams.

This bull isnt going in that China shop

 

[MisterPenguin]

I do think that at least a slight slump is probably in the cards for Disney Parks. They are persona non grata in certain circles in the US, for reasons that I will not bring up on the forums. A reckoning is probably on the way with ever increasing inflation and credit card debt. And some people got their fill of Disney for awhile in the massive post Covid travel tidal wave.

Funny thing is that as WDW attendance has declinded, DL's went up last quarter.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Funny thing is that as WDW attendance has declinded, DL's went up last quarter.

You mean the one full of annual passes in the highest income/priced area in the history of the free world?

 

[monothingie]

You mean the one full of annual passes in the highest income/priced area in the history of the free world?

After magic key holders were basically told to "get bent" for 2-3 years post covid reopening, Disney discovered they needed them again.

 

[DisneyHead123]

The frustration is that Disney had (and maybe still has) the ability to do tremendous things. But rather than continuing being the leader, specifically on the domestic front, whatever little creative charge that is left, is going internationally, specifically East Asia where the MBAs think the money is. Meanwhile domestic parks, WDW in particular gets the scraps or hand-me downs. In this respect I'm glad that EU is causing panic, even if it is overblown. Disney on their own wasn't going do anything until they were forced to, which in and of itself is remarkable change from where they were pre-Iger.

Overall, it's a hideous rot that metastasized from the top leadership down. Bob isn't a creative, he's an egocentric weatherman that likes to buy fancy things. The results of this type of "leadership" speak for themselves in the general malaise that is encompassing the company, despite what the PR, Marketing, and access media want to shout at you.

I think that the combination of Covid and trying to get into Streaming did seem to deprioritize the parks for awhile. But I'm hopeful that the current eye-popping numbers on the source of their earnings (the parks / cruise lines were something like 70%, I think?) in addition to decreased crowds will kickstart a renewed interest in the parks.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Funny thing is that as WDW attendance has declinded, DL's went up last quarter.

Yeah, I forget that Disney suffers a bit from the culture wars on both sides of the aisle. There are people who don't want to visit Disney World and then people who don't want to visit Florida.

 

[monothingie]

I think that the combination of Covid and trying to get into Streaming did seem to deprioritize the parks for awhile. But I'm hopeful that the current eye-popping numbers on the source of their earnings (the parks / cruise lines were something like 70%, I think?) in addition to decreased crowds will kickstart a renewed interest in the parks.

The cool kids only care about streaming.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

After magic key holders were basically told to "get bent" for 2-3 years post covid reopening, Disney discovered they needed them again.

They need them somewhere else too

 

[Centauri Space Station]

The bolded are the only ones that are popular with kids. Nemo and Figment are always dead. Test Track and especially Guardians are too intense. It’s really just a park for locals and for food.

Nemo is an omnimover and high capacity, I always see lots of kids in Seabase enjoying the fish as well as adults. Figment often has a 20 min wait or longer. SSE, LWTL, all the shows can be enjoyed by the whole family as well.

 

[eddie104]

I wish certain threads wouldn’t always be “hijacked” by certain sentiments from specific posters.

You can the only beat the same drum before it’s gets tiring and we’re over the schtick.

Especially when you start to clog a thread with obsessive posts.

 

[Indy_UK]

I love Animal Kingdom but even these Tropical Americas won’t be enough. It needs to be a park that’s open until 9pm.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Of the 60B over 10 years, I wonder how much will be used for totally new attractions in WDW?

Not maintenance, not re theme of exiting attractions, but new additional attractions at WDW.

 

[el_super]

I think that the combination of Covid and trying to get into Streaming did seem to deprioritize the parks for awhile.

I think what people saw as a "deprioritizing" was always part of the plan, even before COVID. Their comments made in 2018 and 2019, in the lead up to SWGE opening, seemed to suggest that they realized a need to revalue the product and control crowds. It wasn't in their best interest to let *everyone* through the gate at a significantly lower value than they thought they could achieve. They raised prices, muddled with AP systems and introduced ticketing tiers in order to maximize the yield on their investments.

With that in mind, it absolutely made sense to pause any investment until you knew if the audience would accept the higher valuation in the product or not. If SWGE turned out to be a failure, and revenues started to decrease, it would have completely changed how much they would be willing to invest in the parks for decades to come.

Now that the audience HAS accepted the higher valuation and paid more for SWGE, they can plan out future expansions with bigger budgets to ensure the high ticket valuation remains.

 

[seabreezept813]

As it should be…

It’s the greatest amusement park ever conceived and built.

If anything you'd think it'd be more popular with little kids. I hate to say it but Blippi drums up the excitement for museums and interactive learning exhibits.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

I love Animal Kingdom but even these Tropical Americas won’t be enough. It needs to be a park that’s open until 9pm.

Improvement is coming.