Bob Iger Claims That He Can Build Seven New Themed Lands

The Walt Disney Company is currently going through a massive tussle over its future. The former ousted Disney CEO Bob Iger and his board are against Nelson Peltz his allies, and other activist investor groups. 

One of the biggest issues the company faces is in its theme park division, with strong competition from parks such as Universal Studios and their upcoming Epic Universe expansion drawing more attention than Disney. While Tokyo is currently having its own major expansion, the domestic parks are waiting for future lands.

In September of last year, they announced plans to invest $60 Billion into the parks but did not specify how that money would be spent or where they would even get that money. The first obvious way is to cut jobs and increase prices, something that more and more people have been speaking out against whenever they do so.

Recently, Iger spoke at the 2024 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. One of the topics brought up was the parks and resorts. Iger answered by saying that Disney had “Thousands of acres of lands to develop, and we could actually build seven new full lands if we wanted to around the world.“

The key phrase used in that was “if we wanted“, implying that they have the capacity to, but have not necessarily the plans to do so. Making such a statement at this crucial time is not a very good look as both consumers and investors want to see the company make progress in their parks. Beyond retheming old attractions Disney hasn’t made any major expansions at the parks since Galaxy’s Edge. 



Iger has a habit of I.P. synergy, meaning that every attraction/restaurant/shop has to be themed to an existing I.P. He is quoted as saying: 

“You can look at every single location that we’ve got, there’s land, but most importantly, we have so much I.P. to mine that there’s opportunity there to create experiences that we know people will love to have in our parks.“

“If you look at our I.P. you look at the land that we have, you look at the math and demand that exists in the marketplace, and you look at the return on investment capital. It’s a no-brainer to invest that way, growing Parks and Resorts beyond where it already is.“

Another concern is that even if they made new lands or expansions, they would most likely have more shops and restaurants than actual rides. Compare that to the upcoming Fantasy Springs expansion at Tokyo DisneySea, featuring at least four attractions. 

If anything, fans would arguably be more excited about a new gate at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. Perhaps even a new international park. Whatever the case, you can talk all you want but do nothing while your competition does, which is what seems to be happening now with Iger.

What do you think? Should Disney build new expansions/parks instead of just bragging that they could? Let us know. 

Source: DTB