It seems the Walt Disney Company is finally realizing that Universal Orlando and other theme parks are coming for them and have announced plans to double their theme park expenditures over the next ten years, with new plans to spend roughly $60 billion dollars.
After Disney’s lackluster Destination D23 theme park announcements, especially in regards to domestic parks, it seems the company is realizing they need to step up their game.
The Walt Disney Company put out a press release on their page indicating that CEO Bob Iger, along with Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro, and other executives are meeting with Wall Street analysts and investors at Walt Disney World for an “investor summit focused on Disney’s Parks business and its track record of investing aggressively and intelligently in experiences that leverage the powerful and ever-growing library of Disney stories, which has proven incredibly effective.”
It basically sounds like they are trying to appease Wall Street and investors because their stock has dropped significantly in the past year.
From the press release materials, it sounds like Disney is going to double down on the IP and try to add more park offerings to stay competitive, which is good and bad news for park fans. The good news is more attractions to visit. The bad news is that prices will definitely go up more to pay for it all.
Disney indicated that they have over 1,000 acres of land at various Disney Parks that can be developed for theme parks. Enough space to equal about seven Disneyland-sized new parks. But they have not yet announced any new offerings or parks outside of what they have already said.
Given that Universal has announced the theme park in Texas and an expansion in Las Vegas, if Disney will try to do something similar as well. Especially after reading this part of the press release:
“..there is still enormous untapped potential for reaching more consumers. According to Disney’s internal research, there is an addressable market of more than 700 million people with high Disney affinity it has yet to reach with its Parks. In fact, for every one guest who visits a Disney Park, there are more than ten people with Disney affinity who do not visit the Parks.
As Disney expands its footprint and offerings, not only will the company be able to reach more of its existing fans, but it will create new fans and loyal consumers.”
Until something it announced, I wouldn’t get too excited. Disney keeps announcing and teasing things but then cancels or downgrades what they announce. But one thing is true: Disney needs to do something soon because the competition is growing. Universal, in particular, is bringing Epic Universe to Orlando and has brought Super Nintendo World to California. More is coming. Disney needs to act now, as it takes them years just to build one attraction.
But also realize that Disney’s overseas parks are doing very well, and most are partnered with other companies, costing them less. So it’s also a strong possibility they could announce new Disney parks in other countries as well, especially if they have ties there with Disney Cruise Lines or Adventures by Disney.
We shall see what comes out of this.
You can read the entire press release here.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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