Disney has dropped some major theme park news.
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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 post NEWS: Is Disney World Getting MORE Crowded? We Have the Data first appeared on the disney food blog.