Experts estimate Walt Disney World has lost a total of $547 million due to hurricanes, The Business Journals reports.
Hurricane Milton passed over Florida Wednesday evening, forcing Walt Disney World theme parks to close early and remain closed through Thursday. This is just the latest time Disney has closed due to weather. The first time the park was closed for a full day was in 1999, due to Hurricane Floyd.
According to International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati-based consulting firm led by CEO Dennis Speigel, Disney lost about $45 million per closed day. Speigel has been tracking Disney’s hurricane losses for 25 years.
Speigel said of his estimate, “It takes a while to stretch the rope back up because it becomes a winding road of issues to deal with. There’s a lot to consider. Lost ticket sales revenue is just part of it. All the related hospitality earnings drop.”
With Speigel’s calculations and adjusting for inflation, Disney has lost over $547 million due to hurricane-related closures.
Goldman Sachs estimates Walt Disney World attendance will be down 6% this quarter due to Hurricane Milton, alongside a projected $150 – $200 million loss.
Managing Director John Gerner of Leisure Business Advisors said, “I wouldn’t want someone to make a financial decision based on these numbers because there are so many unknowns.”
Gerner noted it’s almost impossible to get exact numbers because theme parks often aggregate totals by category, not location.
“The challenge for us in this industry is the lack of clear and reliable data,” he said. “Even Disney might not know for sure exactly how much they’ve lost, and projecting what they will lose this week isn’t an exact science.”
Speigel said, “Walt Disney came to Florida because it had such good weather. Hurricanes weren’t much of a factor back then. It used to be that in the theme park sector we used weather as an excuse if something went wrong with revenue, but now, it’s not a joke.”
Weather is now “one of the five most important intensities we look at,” Speigel said of profit-and-loss calculations.
After closing for a day and a half due to Hurricane Milton, Walt Disney World will reopen on Friday, October 11.
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