During the Q&A of the Q1 2023 earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that in order to fuel growth in the Disney Parks sector, the company will be investing in new lands and attractions in order to increase capacity without overcrowding parks, a significant shift for the company after decades of neglect at some parks.
During the call, Iger noted that in order to drive growth for the parks, one of the best ways to allow for more guest attendance and thus revenue is to increase overall capacity of the parks through new lands and attractions.
“Lastly, we have learned that when we invest in increasing capacity —the Star Wars lands were a great example of that, Pandora was a great example of that — we can grow our business. In fact, if you look at the results when we put Pandora at Animal Kingdom, from year to year they were stunning at how many more people were visiting Animal Kingdom. I mentioned earlier in the call how we’re going to bring a version of Avatar to Disneyland. We have other opportunities as well. I’ve talked to Josh D’Amaro about this very recently, like this morning, to really look at all the great franchises in the company and see where we can invest in them into the parks to increase capacity while preserving guest satisfaction.”
Bob Iger
A lot of capital investment in the parks in more recent years has been focused outside the castle parks, and capacity is often not added, but rather moved to a newer attraction in the same spot, such as Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway replacing The Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
A great example of such plans already in the works would be those announced as “blue sky concepts” back at D23 Expo 2022 for “what’s beyond Big Thunder Mountain” at the Magic Kingdom, which included lands based on “Coco,” “Encanto,” and the Disney Villains. What Iger spoke of today certainly seemed in line with these investments. These lands would replace noting existing, use some of Disney’s most popular franchises of all-time (not just recent memory), and would allow more guests into the Magic Kingdom every day.
Iger emphasized twice that “Avatar” experiences are set to come to Disneyland, although few other details were announced. He specifically mentioned “a version of Avatar” in passing when talking about Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as an example, so it could be a similar version of the beloved land for the west coast.
The overarching goal is that by investing large amounts into the parks, they can also see large revenue growth as capacity is added, which allows more guests to stay in Disney hotels, purchase tickets, and spend in the parks through shopping and dining.
Are you excited about the potential growth at the Disney parks? Let us know in the comments below!
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I wish Iger and D’Amaro knew how to incorporate Disney’s TV Animation IPs into the parks like Phineas & Ferb did, after the marvelous success of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway that was based upon the DTVA produced Mickey shorts, you know Owl House, Amphibia, Big City Greens, Ghost and Molly McGee, Kiff, Proud Family, Hailey’s on It, etc., they’re all produced by Disney and yet they haven’t done anything with these yet(despite some of these haven’t aired on TV yet)
Encanto belongs at dak or epcot where it already is rep
Coco is also at epcot and should go to mexico donde esta donald is done
As any cm can tell you there isnt much space for 3 things at mk let alone behind btm now behind pofc and tiana maybe.
For even more capacity…(Re) build Adventurers Club between Crystal Palace and tree house (overlooking Skipper’s Canteen), build Tiana’s on the Bayou behind Haunted Mansion (featuring Louisiana dining on the RoA waterfront as the riverboats pass by). Rebuild (move) new electric racetrack behind the train track featuring variety (toon/Cars/Indy) of electric cars with realistic sound systems (nice woofer under the seat) passengers can control…this would open up a vast area that the current track wastes where several new (actual) Tomorrowland attractions can be built. Build a new Retro-Fantasyland behind Beast’s castle featuring dual-track Peter Pan (for double the capacity, the old Peter Pan can be repurpassed into Tangled meet and greet or ride. This new area would be England architecture (enter Wendy’s house to ride Peter Pan), Mr Toad would have his own house in the back where the WDW train can be seen passing through the house. Pixie Hollow would be behind Peter Pan and Mickey Mouse Revue theater would be opposite where you will find the other previously eliminated Princess meet and greet cottages (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) as well as a connection to circus area. Room on the backside for return of 20k League’s and addition of Bobsled ride (snow topped mountain behind the Beast’s castle, also integrated with the WDW train).
If/when they expand magic kingdom with this new land I hope they make a new entrance- I can’t imagine more people being on Main Street
The “beyond Thunder Mountain” concepts (including Encanto and Coco) are terrible. They make little sense in MK, do not fit the theming of the lands, and are simply just more IP, no original concepts. However, I do like the villians idea and a potential tie in with Haunted Mansion.
Mexico being just beyond the American west makes perfect sense, as does a Villains land featuring characters from movies already represented steps away in Fantasyland. Encanto I can’t argue, but the other two make perfect sense.
Amazingly enough, the area in Disneyland that encompasses Autopia, the submarines, and Motor Boat Cruise is just about the same size (maybe slightly smaller) as the current Pandora at Animal Kingdom. I would assume Flights of Passage would be in the corner by the entrance/exit for the Parade Route so the show building would be as backstage as possible and not visible from inside the park. Na’vi River Journey might prove more difficult, as it would go by the entrance to the railroad and therefore be visible to guests passing by. That would also lead into what would they do with the Monorail and railroad, as those wouldn’t really be consistent to have running through Pandora. Maybe the Monorail will just become a transport vehicle, taking you straight into and out of Disneyland? Maybe it can be diverted to spend more time looping through other parts of DL and DCA and avoid Pandora? As for the railroad, maybe build a tunnel and indoor building from it’s a small world to the Grand Canyon diorama? Then it could travel to Pandora itself, so when you disembark you’d already feel like you’re there.
So yes
I understand about the layoffs but Mr Iger should also cut the payroll of all the top exes as a sign to the employees saying we,re in this with you and we will all make it through it together. Right now its the newest employees who are getting cut and it shows like the bottom teir employees are at fault but they work the parks. Without them you dont have the parks.
Good idea. WDW is sometimes very crowded and the new rules of reserving a park and rides in advance does not work well. It is difficult for seniors bringing grandchildren to try and do everything using an app. Much more preferable was booking a fast pass free and not having to pay extra for everything. With the ticket prices now so high the access to fast pass if needed should be included.
We love Disney but all the restrictions since the pandemic are taking away the magic and awe .
Also as a final comment it would be much better if Disney shops sold made in America gifts for souvenirs. We buy gifts but all say made in China which is disappointing.
Invest in accommodations for RV’ers. It is a booming industry and has been neglected terribly. In fact they have retrenched, so it seems not reducing service and amenities at the only RV resort in WDW.
i must admit, it would be a nice change of pace from bob the bean COUNTER FOR DISNEY TO START adding new things for customers instead of constantly taking things away. sounds like a much more sane business policy, eh?
and yet today we have an article on wdwnt with di$ney announcing shrinking the budgets for u.s. parks by $700 million. either lies are floating around everywhere or we are being duped folks.