Amid a myriad of struggles, has the Walt Disney Company found its knight in shining — and pricey — armor?
After a rough 2023, greatly dampened fan expectations, an embarrassing legal loss to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and a very public proxy battle for control of the ailing media behemoth (which incumbent CEO Bob Iger won), Disney has unveiled its first step in trying to set up a more successful 2024 and beyond.
It came in a piece by The Hollywood Reporter that focused on Disney Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro, and D’Amaro’s grand and costly plans.
“The executive is tasked with harnessing that demand into an even bigger growth engine for the company, as he leads Disney’s $60 billion investment in its parks and experiences division over the next 10 years,” THR noted.
The article cited the potential of Disney’s parks and cruise lines, as well as “more than 1,000 acres of land available for development across the company’s six resorts.”
With D’Amaro being touted as a strong candidate to succeed Iger, his ability to stretch that $60 billion investment will be under intense scrutiny.
In fairness to D’Amaro, the raw numbers do appear to support the idea that he’s a gleaming hope in an otherwise morose landscape.
“D’Amaro’s division, which also includes consumer products and totals about 180,000 employees, has driven profits for the company each quarter, reaching an all-time revenue record in the first quarter of 2024,” THR reported. “Income for the segment reached $8.9 billion in 2023, up 23 percent from the previous year, and up from $6.8 billion in 2019.”
Interestingly, the report also noted that D’Amaro’s “high-return-on-investment unit” is being leaned on as Disney+ “pushes for profitability” — meaning the streaming platform isn’t profitable for the House of Mouse.
Have you been to a Disney theme park in the last 10 years?
Given the investments made into that platform, that’s a concerning sign for Disney, to say the least.
The $60 billion will be split roughly 70/30, with 70 percent of that budget going towards new rides and experiences at the theme parks, and 30 percent earmarked for tech, infrastructure and maintenance, The Hollywood Reported noted.
Improvements and investments are expected across both domestic and international Disney theme parks.
The domestic parks could certainly use some aid.
Disneyland is situated in the inhospitably expensive Anaheim, California, which will be an ongoing issue for the SoCal landmark.
Disney World in Orlando, Florida, however, is facing a much more present issue.
Chief theme park rival Universal Studios unveiled its new “Epic Universe” theme park in February, with more impressive details trickling out since.
That monstrous new theme park will boast five themed areas that will look to directly challenge the dominance of the Magic Kingdom.
And that’s all to say nothing about whatever issues Disney is grappling with abroad.
By any measurement, $60 billion is a lot of money, and it looks to be Disney’s first genuine step towards fixing things.
Will it work? Color this writer skeptical, but crazier things have happened.
