Disney has dropped some major theme park news.
Magic Kingdom!
During the earnings call for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (held on February 5th), Disney shared financial numbers for their theme parks for the final portion of 2024, before delving into some news on the division’s future. Let’s break it all down.
During the previous earnings call, Disney noted that bookings in the back half of 2025 were looking positive — an indication of when crowds could be expected to really pick up in the parks.
Animal Kingdom
But Disney also warned that this quarter (Q1 of Fiscal Year 2025) would be “negatively impacted” by the combination of the fiscal impact from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the pre-launch costs of the Disney Treasure cruise ship. That warning proved to be accurate, as the Q1 earnings report indicated that Domestic Parks & Experiences “operating income declined 5%, reflecting a 9 percentage-point adverse impact to year-over-year growth due to the hurricanes and cruise pre-opening expenses.” This year to year 6 percentage-point adverse impact to growth was specifically attributed to $120 million in impact from Hurricanes Milton and Helene, and $57 million in Disney Treasure pre-opening expenses.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Disney’s theme parks did find growth internationally however, as the earnings report notes that International Parks & Experiences operating income increased a whopping 28% vs. Q1 of last year. This growth in international parks operating income was atrributed to “growth in guest spending, higher volumes primarily attributable to an increase in attendance, and an increase in costs primarily due to new guest offerings.”
Tokyo DisneySea’s FantasySprings
As part of a statement released along with the earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said “our Experiences segment demonstrated its enduring appeal as we continue investing strategically across the globe.”
CEO Bob Iger ©Disney
Overall for 2025, Disney is still anticipating that their Experience segment (which includes theme parks) will see an operating income growth of between 6% and 8%. Disney reiterated these numbers during their earnings call with investors. Disney CFO Hugh Johnston specified that these numbers took into account potential impact from the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe, saying “As we built our plans, we anticipated some small impact for Epic Universe opening, and we effectively hedged in the guidance we provided.”
In response to the question on Disney experiences and Epic Universe, CFO Hugh Johnston states there is no change to the guidance for experiences. Based on Q1 increases, confidence in previous guidance is high.
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 5, 2025
There were several more parks and experiences-related questions asked during the Q&A portion of the earnings call, which elicited some interesting responses from Iger and Jonston. On the Treasure, it was said that the ship was “off to a spectacular start. In terms of selling out rooms we’ve done terrifically well. Guest feedback is excellent.”
Disney Treasure
Next was a question regarding the rollout of Lightning Lane Premier Pass, to which Johnston stated, “Remember this is a premium product. It is a product we are learning how to use. We are marketing it very gently, initially. We are moving slowly with that product in order to make it a great experience both for the purchasers and for other guests in the park. It’s going to build over time.”
Lightning Lane at Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
In response to a further query about Dinsey’s projected attendance numbers throughout the rest of the year, Johnston said that “bookings are up in the summer right now, and we’re certainly feeling positive. The outlook is good in that regard.”
Crowds at Magic Kingdom
Major changes are set to hit the Disney theme parks this year so it will be interesting to see what impact they will have. We will soon have a new nighttime parade at Magic Kingdom, a reopened Test Track in EPCOT following a major retheme, and more. That may bring more guests into the parks as the year comes to an end and the majority of the changes are already implemented.
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We’ll be on the lookout for more news about crowds, openings, and more, so stay tuned for the latest updates!
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THE WDW Parks may be less crowded, but I feel they are less “magical.” That artistic “wow” is missing. I still want to give a shout out to the Castmembers who do their best every day to make each day and each experience special. So many of the changes implemented or planned are just “ho-hum.”
Oh AJ AJ AJ, I can always count on Disney to confuse things with constant change. Thankfully we have you guys to keep us posted. And bring some calm to the confusion with the heads ups. I am so confused with Disney’s decision to offer free dining for most trips in the coming summer during normally busy months. And ending it just as the “slower” season starts and kids are back in school.
I am going in about to 2.5 weeks after the cheerleader and racer invasions are complete. We are also scheduled for our first in many years “family reunion trip” in late August after Free Dining ends unfortunately. I was hoping FD would be extended as this is the “slow down a bit season”. I think Disney limited this offer for bookings made until today only because it would give them an indication if the offer would help with the summer months crowd levels that may be impacted by heat as usual and the Universal stuff.
It just seems a bit backwards to me. In any event I also have to comment on the statement they made about the Premier LL stuff eventual becoming a skip the line pass in the future. I cannot Fathom what the cost for this will be. They don’t seem to be getting the message that although people are coming they’ve lost so much business because it’s become too expensive for most families. Maybe it’s their way of getting rid of a lot of people who opted for budget vacations because they have kids, because the crowds level had become unmanageable even for Disney when it was somewhat affordable. They seem to be investing a lot of $ in more and more hotels that are deluxe and out of the reach of most people. The moderates are now what the deluxe used to be.
I remember taking my kids ( now grown and not able to afford Disney with their own kids, sad) when the value resorts were $79 a night.
I know you’ve already heard this but Walt would be so angry to see that families with children have been pushed out of the joy of experiencing Disney because of money especially in a time where both parents must work just to feed their families.
I raised my children to be Disney dreamers and they are but the dream for them tk make their kids Disney dreamers is all but gone. End of an era.
Well thanks for allowing me to vent a bit. I truly appreciate your newsletter I look for it everyday.
I actually own a black and white silent super8 movie reel from when I was 2 taken in 1965 at Disneyland where I am standing next to Dick Van Dyke who is standing next to Walt himself.
I’m 62 now.
Thanks again AJ to you and your team.