News Disney World Hits All-Time High Revenue in Q3 2025, Strong Bookings Continue into Q4

[BrianLo]

Possibly but since Disney doesn’t release attendance numbers that’s pure conjecture.

There’s quite a lot of ancillary data that is released so trends are inferred. Significant attendance shifts are noted quarterly, we know exact on site accommodation occupancy data.

The TEA report is also more signed off on than alluded to. I certainly believe attendance is lower today than it was a decade ago by 5million clicks. Disney’s benefit may be having released all the attendance drops already under the guise of the pandemic, so they are already near their floor - and now benefiting from Epic. All while finding an aggressively lucrative new revenue stream (a la carte rides).

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It’s kinda the same thing - lots of casinos have slot machines and buffets. Just like lots of theme parks have rides and shows.

It’s the level of scale, and over the top theming and high-budget entertainment that makes Vegas different than other casinos. Same with Disney and Universal.

Gaming as a % of visitor spending in Vegas has been on a decline for many years now, ever since the 2008 recession.

What really drives visitation these days is sports, concerts, events, conventions (#1 in USA), shopping etc

The totality and variety of things to do is Vegas is ever expanding. Plus all the stuff to do within a couple hours' drive

Going to a place with a few casinos next to each other is not the same.

 

[CoastalElite64]

An update on Vegas with summer winding down.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I for one think WDW was at its nadir in 2014/2015 anyways.

This is a late and perhaps not-so-relevant response, but I remember returning to WDW in 2013 after a long break following a string of trips from 1994-99. I was very struck by how much the resort seemed stuck in a time warp. Very little new had opened and everything just looked like it was stuck in the 1990s, from basically all of Downtown Disney to the wraps on the buses.

My next trip was in 2017, and even by then it seemed that someone had lit a fuse under them to start refreshing the place. Mind you, the more onerous planning by that stage was also beginning to be felt...

 

[KDM31091]

Disney is a strong brand with a strong following, even when it sometimes doesn't make much sense. They continually raise prices and open overpriced and fairly mediocre new experiences, but people fall over themselves to go, like GEO82. Epcot's entire central hub looks like a hospital courtyard with an airport lounge. MNSSHP sells out all the time despite ever increasing price tag and nothing new being offered to justify constant price increases. Beak and Barrel reservations broke the internet despite being just a lounge, of which there are already many of across property, and will likely be just another one and done overpriced spot. I hope to be wrong, but I'm not optimistic.

Sometimes I struggle to understand Disney fans, as we will continually fork over our money and fall all over ourselves to book things, even if they are just mediocre. Maybe people are just hoping the next thing will be finally a return to form.

I say all this as a Disney lover who truly does hope they will turn it around and give us immersive themed experiences again, but it also seems like for now the general public doesn't care and will go anyway. We will see if someday it backfires when they are creating things that you can realistically find basically anywhere for less money, in terms of vibe, environment etc.

 

[G00fyDad]

Beak and Barrel reservations broke the internet despite being just a lounge, of which there are already many of across property, and will likely be just another one and done overpriced spot.

I just want the Plunderer's Punch mug. If they sold that thing in the park I wouldn't give a crap about booking an ADR here.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I just want the Plunderer's Punch mug. If they sold that thing in the park I wouldn't give a crap about booking an ADR here.

Just wait for one to be available on eBay within hours of the lounge opening.

 

[James Alucobond]

I say all this as a Disney lover who truly does hope they will turn it around and give us immersive themed experiences again, but it also seems like for now the general public doesn't care and will go anyway. We will see if someday it backfires when they are creating things that you can realistically find basically anywhere for less money, in terms of vibe, environment etc.

While I won't pretend to understand the culture surrounding the lounges and the desire to wade through insufferable crowds the day something opens, Disney World still offers something wholly unique even when somewhat diminished from prior levels of theming and service. Until someone else buys a city and does something similar (which is probably impossible in the U.S. at the moment), it will continue to be irreplicable.

 

[flynnibus]

This is a late and perhaps not-so-relevant response, but I remember returning to WDW in 2013 after a long break following a string of trips from 1994-99. I was very struck by how much the resort seemed stuck in a time warp. Very little new had opened and everything just looked like it was stuck in the 1990s, from basically all of Downtown Disney to the wraps on the buses.

Because the mid to late 200x period was a total stinker for the properties in terms of advancement and refresh. It's why DCA v2 was such a radical move, and not just due to the timing vs the recession. The post millennium US parks were a coasting period.

Much of the online fan population today cut their teeth in that period so they didn't realize it.. but the move from the 80s-90s was a period of Disney racing away from everyone... where the gap between the mid 90s and mid-200x was more like everyone else catching up to Disney.

The 20x0 were a mixed bag of choices, but at least Disney was churning and not just coasting. Now we are in another period of massive investment, but so many of the choices and strategies have soured so many.

 

[Disstevefan1]

As long as they keep raising prices on everything the revenue will continue to climb no matter the offerings.

Folks have been talking about a breaking point for decades, but there is none.

There is still loads of folks with a lot of disposable income that will spend it at Disney.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Because the mid to late 200x period was a total stinker for the properties in terms of advancement and refresh. It's why DCA v2 was such a radical move, and not just due to the timing vs the recession. The post millennium US parks were a coasting period.

Much of the online fan population today cut their teeth in that period so they didn't realize it.. but the move from the 80s-90s was a period of Disney racing away from everyone... where the gap between the mid 90s and mid-200x was more like everyone else catching up to Disney.

The 20x0 were a mixed bag of choices, but at least Disney was churning and not just coasting. Now we are in another period of massive investment, but so many of the choices and strategies have soured so many.

Very much agree with all of this.

Another observation I remember from the time was that Disneyland Paris was still going through a rough period and the exteriors often did look in bad shape compared to WDW. In terms of the maintenance of the attractions themselves, though, it seemed pretty line ball between the two resorts. Disneyland was on another level following its post-50th/post-Pressler renewal, but I was surprised at how creaky a lot of the attractions were at WDW and how comparable it was to Paris which I visited a few times surrounding that trip.

The WDW of that period (ca. 2013) was certainly not the WDW of the 1990s when everything seemed fresh in every sense. I don't think that makes any of their recent decisions great in terms of additions or replacement, but it always puzzles me to hear nostalgia for that time period as a better time from those who first experienced WDW during the first decade or so of the 21st century.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

I remember returning to WDW in 2013 after a long break following a string of trips from 1994-99. I was very struck by how much the resort seemed stuck in a time warp. Very little new had opened and everything just looked like it was stuck in the 1990s, from basically all of Downtown Disney to the wraps on the buses.

I recall reading that Disney then thought the American market was "mature," that is, having limited room for growth.

The next decade proved them wrong.

EDIT: Unfortunately, all I could find is:
Post in thread 'Walt Disney World’s Biggest Investment since 1998' https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...est-investment-since-1998.922682/post-7560400

 

[flynnibus]

Very much agree with all of this.

Another observation I remember from the time was that Disneyland Paris was still going through a rough period and the exteriors often did look in bad shape compared to WDW. In terms of the maintenance of the attractions themselves, though, it seemed pretty line ball between the two resorts. Disneyland was on another level following its post-50th/post-Pressler renewal, but I was surprised at how creaky a lot of the attractions were at WDW and how comparable it was to Paris which I visited a few times surrounding that trip.

Yeah it is very much where each resort had it's own universe of constraints. Paris was it's own beast entirely due to the ownership situation and dealing with the debt. Then WDW was largely coasting after the millenium celebration.. DL had its dark days, followed by the 50th surge which in itself felt twice as bright due to the swing from the Pressler years that were not long before.

To me though the biggest thing was that while Disney did bring out some great e-tickets in the period... the whole Disney experience was just not as 'different universe' like it had been before. That's why I say 'others were catching up' and copying the formula, undercutting Disney's differentiation. Disney still had scale over everyone, but the gap had narrowed.

When you look back, you certainly see this pattern repeated many times.. where they may go hard, then coast, then regress, then maybe a few attempts at correcting.. and then often you get a big shift, etc.

The WDW of that period (ca. 2013) was certainly not the WDW of the 1990s when everything seemed fresh in every sense. I don't think that makes any of their recent decisions great in terms of additions or replacement, but it always puzzles me to hear nostalgia for that time period as a better time from those who first experienced WDW during the first decade or so of the 21st century.

This period in particular I think will be remembered for when they really started eating away at many of the 'customer first' principals that had guided the company policy making and we ended up with so much of the nickle and diming that was to come.

 

[G00fyDad]

Just wait for one to be available on eBay within hours of the lounge opening.

At an 800% markup.

 

[HauntedPirate]

At an 800% markup.

I’m genuinely curious to see when they start popping up, and for how much.