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

[HauntedPirate]

It says right on top 70% is for expansion so Im reading it as 50% is expansion of parks and 20% expansion of ships 30% is maintenance of parks and technology. Am I wrong? We always knew some was for the cruise line and some had to be for regular maintenance.

No. There is nothing guaranteeing “expanding parks” anywhere. It says 50% is earmarked for parks and resorts. That could be 10 new DVC towers, since it would be a “capacity-expanding investment”.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I would be careful when reading "maintenance" as being theme parks maintenance. It is separate from theme parks for a reason

Correct. Could be new office furniture in Burbank or basic maintenance on Bobs yacht

 

[monothingie]

So now only half will be spent on parks and resorts worldwide. Anyone else surprised?

 

[GhostHost1000]

No. There is nothing guaranteeing “expanding parks” anywhere. It says 50% is earmarked for parks and resorts. That could be 10 new DVC towers, since it would be a “capacity-expanding investment”.

That fort wilderness trailer park is expensive

 

[Rosso11]

I would be careful when reading "maintenance" as being theme parks maintenance. It is separate from theme parks for a reason

I read it as maintainance of parks, resorts and cruise lines. That was always apart of this 60 billion number. They already told us 70 % was for expansion. The only new information I see here is how much these new ships are costing. Is it just for the ones announced or are there more on the way?

 

[Unbanshee]

I read it as maintainance of parks, resorts and cruise lines. That was always apart of this 60 billion number. They already told us 70 % was for expansion. The only new information I see here is how much these new ships are costing. Is it just for the ones announced or are there more on the way?

I'm sure you did read it that way, it's just not presented that way

 

[GhostHost1000]

Bob would make such a good used car salesman when he retires in 49 years

 

[Unbanshee]

Maintenance for what then?

"Tech/maintenance", they're bundled together and likely not a 50/50 split

 

[Rosso11]

I'm sure you did read it that way, it's just not presented that way

lol I agree it’s not presented well. But I don’t believe the 50% for parks and 20% for cruise is a coincidence that it adds up to 70% and we knew the remaining 30% had to include maintenance prior to this.

 

[doctornick]

Wasn’t this always presented as a $60M investment in the Parks division (ie Disney Experiences) not for “just” the parks specifically? This is helpful in having a more granular breakdown of where the money is expected to go

Specific to the technology comment, I would think the Epic Games/Fortnight investment is part of consumer products and this a portion of this $60M.

 

[SplashJacket]

12 Billion in Cruises... Guess that fully confirms a new class of ships after Triton gets out of the way.

We didn't previously know the allocation to maintenance or cruises in the past, but now we know.

Let's ballpark what $30 billion can buy us with simple and lax numbers.

WDW: $12 Billion (Alligns with 70% of $17 billion going to new spend and 30% maintenance)

• Magic Kingdom $3 Billion
  • Beyond Big Thunder $2 Billion
  • Misc Rides, parades, and upgrades $1 Billion
• Epcot $2 Billion
  • Misc rides (SSE, Figment, Coco, WoL, Pavilions, Misc) $2 Billion
• Hollywood Studios $2 Billion
  • New Animation Courtyard Land $1 Billion
  • Echo Lake new land $1 Billion
• Animal Kingdom $2 Billion
  • Dinoland re-do $1 Billion
  • New Pandora ride and Lion King Mini-land $1 Billion
• Misc Hotels and Transportation Projects $3 Billion

Anaheim: $7 Billion

• Disneyland $2 Billion
  • Tomorrowland Overhaul $1.5 Billion
  • Misc Fund $0.5 Billion
• DCA $2 Billion
  • New land replacing Hollywood land $1 Billion
  • Avengers E-Ticket $0.5 Billion
  • Misc Fund $0.5 Billion
• Disneyland Forever $3 Billion

Paris: $5 Billion

• Disneyland Paris $1.5 Billion (plz just give this park something)
  • Indy & Fantasyland Expansion pad $1 Billion
  • Misc $0.5 Billion
• WDSP $3 Billion
  • Second and Third Lake Lands $2 Billion
  • Misc & tieing up loose ends $1 Billion
• Misc Resorts $0.5 Billion

Hong Kong: $2.5 Billion ($1.25 Effective due to cost sharing)

• Avenger's E-Ticket & TSMM $1 Billion
• Adventureland/Grizzly expansion $1 Billion
• Misc/Resorts $1.5 Billion

Shanghai: $3.5 billion

• Expansion pad between Zootopia & Pirates $0.5 Billion
• Misc Resort (no idea what they plan on doing) $3 billion

None of that seems that outrageous to me, and it's pretty much what they should do at each resort and what each resort needs... Not sure what we're supposed to be hoping for.

A new park anywhere obviously eats substantially into the totals above, a third Anaheim gate wouldn't cause much to move due to the $3 billion DisneylandForever allocation, and even a second Shanghai gate due to cost sharing. If Shanghai continues its strong attendance, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 2nd gate after the next main park addition, and due to the $3 billion misc allocation, I doubt it would need to steal an extra billion from anywhere after cost-sharing deals.

Moral of the story, $30 billion is still a huge pie. This is the first time we have clarity on the $60 billion allocation besides WDW's share of a pie.

 

[SplashJacket]

Does that mean only $8.5 billion of the proposed $17 billion investment into WDW is going to added capacity.

No.

The $17 billion can either mean $17 billion of new attractions, lands, hotels, etc.

Or, the $17 billion is the total spent on WDW, and if that's the case, we should expect ~$12 billion in WDW new lands, hotels, and attractions and ~$5 billion in maintenance if we assume 30% of the $17 billion goes towards maintenance.

To me, $12 billion makes the most sense with $5 billion in maintenance. Not because a smaller number makes more sense, but if you look at the needs by the parks, $12 billion honestly covers pretty much all of them, so realistically, the only way to get to $17 billion without maintenance is a new gate.

 

[doctornick]

I’ve got say that $12B towards DCL (and “other”?) is the most surprising thing to me. I guess that’s the cost of additional ships but still seems in excess unless they are expanding the fleet significantly

 

[Rosso11]

No.

The $17 billion can either mean $17 billion of new attractions, lands, hotels, etc.

Or, the $17 billion is the total spent on WDW, and if that's the case, we should expect ~$12 billion in WDW new lands, hotels, and attractions and ~$5 billion in maintenance if we assume 30% of the $17 billion goes towards maintenance.

To me, $12 billion makes the most sense with $5 billion in maintenance. Not because a smaller number makes more sense, but if you look at the needs by the parks, $12 billion honestly covers pretty much all of them, so realistically, the only way to get to $17 billion without maintenance is a new gate.

Exactly these numbers all make sense to previous announcements. When they announced the 17 they never said that was for expansion. That was total CapEx. So 70% is 12 billion for expansion these next 10 years. That’s impressive if it’s actually expansion. We’ll see.

 

[SplashJacket]

I’ve got say that $12B towards DCL (and “other”?) is the most surprising thing to me. I guess that’s the cost of additional ships but still seems in excess unless they are expanding the fleet significantly

The report includes deliveries of 3 ships and the island, so assuming $1.5 billion per ship plus island at $500 million, that leaves $7 billion over the next decade, which would match another class of 4 ships at $1.75 billion per delivery over the next decade.

I'll expect a couple of years before work starts on adding more ships, but if they start construction on the first of "X Class" in 2028, and deliver in 1.5-year intervals in 2030, 2031, 2033, 2034, that lines up to me.

 

[capsshield]

So 18 billion on maintenance and tech. You can refurbished a lot of rooms with that and upgrade all the computer systems as well as upgrade a lot of rides with more cost effective tech.

A lot of that expense might end up paying for itself. Maybe an audio animatronic that needs 50 to 100 percent less maintenance
or video screens that save energy.
30 billion on the parks is a lot.
3 billion a year on average.

Anyone know what it cost to build Shanghai or what Universal is spending on Universe.
How many parks could be built with that money?

The cruise ships must be profitable because that's enough to build a lot more ships, and a sizable amount of the budget.

 

[doctornick]

So 18 billion on maintenance and tech. You can refurbished a lot of rooms with that and upgrade all the computer systems as well as upgrade a lot of rides with more cost effective tech.

That is maintenance and tech for the division as a whole - not just parks. A lot of that money will be going to other aspects of the division like consumer products, video games, Adventures by Disney, Storyliving (is that still a thing?) and maintenance for the cruise ships.

 

[capsshield]

Thats still a lot of money.You could literally build 100, 000 houses with it

 

[Jrb1979]

Thats still a lot of money.You could literally build 100, 000 houses with it

For us its a lot. For Disney with how often they go over budget, it doesn't go far. To put into perspective, Guardians cost $450 million

 

[Ismael Flores]

I’ve got say that $12B towards DCL (and “other”?) is the most surprising thing to me. I guess that’s the cost of additional ships but still seems in excess unless they are expanding the fleet significantly

Isn’t Disney expanding cruise to Singapore with a new ship terminal?