Disney plans to expand parks investment to $60 billion over 10 years

Sep 19, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Posted: Tuesday September 19, 2023 9:32am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Walt Disney Company is developing plans to accelerate and expand investment in its Parks, Experiences and Products segment to nearly double capital expenditures over the course of approximately 10 years to roughly $60 billion, including by investing in expanding and enhancing domestic and international parks and cruise line capacity.

Senior Disney executives, including Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro, are gathered today with Wall Street analysts and investors at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida for an investor summit focused on Disney's Parks business.

"We’re incredibly mindful of the financial underpinning of the company, the need to continue to grow in terms of bottom line, the need to invest wisely so that we're increasing the returns on invested capital, and the need to maintain a balance sheet, for a variety of reasons," said Bob Iger. "The company is able to absorb those costs and continue to grow the bottom line and look expansively at how we return value and capital to our shareholders."

"We have an ambitious growth story that is supported by a proven track record and a bold vision for the future of our Parks business," said D'Amaro.

Disney shares fell just over 2% in early trading following the announcement.

Speaking in April 2023 at the Walt Disney Company Annual shareholder meeting, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Disney plans to spend $17 billion over the next ten years in Walt Disney World, bringing 13,000 new jobs to the area. It isn't clear how today's announcement impacts those numbers, or how much of this $60 billion is earmarked for Walt Disney World.

Disney's Parks business is a key driver of value creation for the company, and positive segment results in recent past quarters through FY23Q3 have come in part from strong performance at Disney’s international parks, particularly those in Asia. Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland, which have both shown meaningful growth coming out of the pandemic through Q3 FY23, have even further growth opportunities with the expansions set to open later this year.

Disney says that its business's growth strategy for the parks over the next ten years will be a focus on stories, scale, and fans.

Stories

Disney will explore even more characters and franchises, including some that haven’t been leveraged extensively to date, as it embarks on a new period of significant growth domestically and internationally in its parks and resorts.

"We have a wealth of untapped stories to bring to life across our business," said D'Amaro. "Frozen, one of the most successful and popular animated franchises of all time, could have a presence at the Disneyland Resort. Wakanda has yet to be brought to life. The world of Coco is just waiting to be explored. There's a lot of storytelling opportunity."

Scale

Disney Parks has over 1,000 acres of land for possible future development to expand theme park space across its existing sites – the equivalent of about seven new Disneyland Parks.

"We stand alone when it comes to scale," said D'Amaro. "And while our scale is impressive, we have no shortage of space or regions of the world in which to tell new stories."

Fans

Today, Disney has seven of the top ten most attended theme parks in the world, including Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park, which has been the #1 attended theme park on earth for decades. Disney Parks welcome approximately 100 million guests each year.

Disney says 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

"Ultimately what is most important to us is the relationship that we have with every guest," said D'Amaro. "Guests can spend a day with us at our Parks, a week with us on a Cruise, or the rest of their lives with us through Disney Vacation Club membership."

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Bocabear16 days ago

Look at the Dockside Diner at DHS... The Riverboat would at least fit the area as a set piece... Wether is could actually move or not...Just to have it on water in the proximity of TBA and BTMRR...It would really be the last piece of old Frontierland....

James Alucobond16 days ago

It would look completely nonsensical with how much they intend to narrow the waterways in the area.

Bocabear16 days ago

It could be parked at the TSI Raft dock. Give that area a gorgeous bit of scenery...

MisterPenguin16 days ago

Turn it into a parade float.

Gusey16 days ago

But where would it fit on the river? The closest river to TBA is the turn under the bridge right?

DisDude3316 days ago

But then it would be the deluxe ferrie and cost $20 to $50 per person.

Bocabear16 days ago

IF it is the closest thing to TBA at the front and they are frying Beignets....and it is right off the walkway past on your way to Auto Parts Mountain...they would be pretty busy....especally if you would not have to go all the way back through the TBA area to get them.... and a plus you could walk aroud the boat and have a seat in the shade...

doctornick16 days ago

Retrofitting the Belle for actual transportation seems like a bad idea to me - much better ways to achieve the benefit of increased transportation capacity. But I do wish the Liberty Belle can be retained in some capacity. Honestly, the most logical thing to me would be the actually retain some of the current RoA waterfront where it borders Liberty Square and across from CBJ and permanently dock the Belle. It can be used for some sort of meal service or even just as a walk through type attraction for ambiance.

JoeCamel16 days ago

It would be seasonal in 6 months

Bocabear16 days ago

They could park it in a small piece of the ROA they could leave in front of TBA and use it for Beignets/Julep vending or a DVC Kiosk...Upcharge special event flex space? It would at least look beautiful on the water as a set piece...but a sad end to a beautiful boat.

EricsBiscuit17 days ago

The LB only holds 450. It would be better suited to dinner cruises with the addition of restrooms and seating.

HauntedPirate18 days ago

Massive expense for little return.

UNCgolf18 days ago

It would, but I don't know that it would even fit on that river. It certainly wouldn't fit under the multiple bridges in the way.

MisterPenguin18 days ago

I'll put that on the list with a retrackd SSE and a retracked Space Mountain!!