Disney CEO Bob Iger says the parks are a 'great place to place our bets' and will turbo-charge their growth

Nov 08, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Posted: Wednesday November 8, 2023 4:52pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In an interview with CNBC this evening and comments made during the 2023 Q4 earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about the company's investment plans for the parks.

 

Despite announcing today that cost-cutting would be increased from the previously announced $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion, Iger remains confident in the performance of the parks, saying they are "a great place to place our bets."

He continued, "We felt, in looking at the results of the parks, since the returns have been so strong, we felt, why not invest more?"

Iger said that "turbo-charging growth in the experiences business" remains one of the four key building opportunities he sees as central to Disney's success.

Backing up his strategy, Iger pointed to this year's Walt Disney World numbers compared to pre-pandemic levels in Fiscal '19, where Disney has seen growth in revenue and operating income of over 23 and 30%, respectively.

Over the last five years, the return on invested capital in domestic parks has nearly doubled. Iger also says that there has been improved guest experience ratings at every one of the parks.

Iger wrapped up his opening earnings call introduction on the parks saying, "Given our wealth of IP, innovative technology, buildable land, unmatched creativity, and strong returns on invested capital, we're confident about the potential of our new investments."

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TraumaNov 13, 2023

Would you like to provide any context? All I see is a chart of one of the worst performing stocks over the last few years.

TouchdownNov 13, 2023

When you go to Universal don’t forget to tell them Babs sent you!

HauntedPirateNov 13, 2023

TDO's ideal guest:

SirwalterraleighNov 13, 2023

…just grab em and milk em harder 🐄

SirwalterraleighNov 13, 2023

…only $4 below the chapek line!!! Woah hoooo!!! Now we all can retire

MisterPenguinNov 13, 2023

GhostHost1000Nov 13, 2023

Don’t tease Iger and Josh like that….one of them might pop up on your resort tv one day and haunt you during your vacation lol

HauntedPirateNov 13, 2023

JoeCamelNov 13, 2023

So the cow is dry?

SirwalterraleighNov 13, 2023

I 100% agree…I never blame the “messengers” But this “fastpass+” nonsense…let’s not start this again. First…they are NOT in the business of rewarding people…mainly: they’re not giving fastpasses to old dvc contracts. They did it for awhile…it failed…they’re not going back

SirwalterraleighNov 13, 2023

“I’ll take…”people who have never seen a Florida paycheck for $500, Alex”

SirwalterraleighNov 13, 2023

They can’t SELL the “on-site resorts”…and that’s just a piece of the whole pie on property each day… Come on…you aren’t silly enough to think they’re gonna “reward” people for paying too much and also alienate other customers and “make more with less”, are you? Let’s not do this…

el_superNov 13, 2023

Maybe they don't? If WDW is tanking attendance wise, but the local parks are picking up the slack, why not just focus on the local markets. They are spending more in Hong Kong and Paris as we speak. Disneyland has been relatively packed since summer ended. Slowing investment in Florida is an option. This seems like a perception problem. If everyone used Genie+, the value of the service would be gone and everyone would end up waiting in longer lines, just like they did in the Fastpass days. Disney needs to find a way to make the experience better rather than making it equally awful for everyone. It's good that they are fighting against this perception.

HauntedPirateNov 13, 2023

I agree. Frontline CM's continue to bear the brunt from management's continued poor decisions, particularly around Genie-. I know I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. That's also why we tend to go out of our way to be kind to CMs whenever possible.