Well, you can say that in 2023 a LOT has been going on with The Walt Disney Company and not all of it has been good.

We’ve seen incredibly long lines, shut-down rides, and unpredictable weather, and those are just some of the things at Disney World, not to mention the larger company. For instance, Disney has had some pretty major project flops this year when thinking about their movies and series. So, let’s go over what’s not been going right for Disney this year.

Movies/Series

So far in 2023, there have been four major projects that cost Disney the big bucks but didn’t make as much in return. First up was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was released in February. According to Variety, the movie had a production budget of about $200 million and an additional $100 million was spent on marketing. It was estimated that the movie would need to make about $600 million to break even with its theatrical release.

Next up was the live-action remake, The Little Mermaid. This princess film had a budget of about $250 million according to Deadline. There was an additional $140 million spent in marketing costs, but the film would’ve needed to make between $420 million and $489 million to break even.

Earlier in the summer, Disney released Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in theaters, as well. Variety reported that it cost $295 million to make before marketing, which is even more than the other two releases.

But the fourth major project didn’t even hit the box office. Yahoo reports that the Disney+ series Secret Invasion had a budget of $212 million — that means it’s competing with films for its ranking in production costs.

So with those massive budgets, how did the projects actually perform? Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania made $214 million at the domestic box office and $476 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. That means that if $600 million was the break=even point, then Disney lost around $124 million on that film alone.

Box Office Mojo reports that The Little Mermaid performed significantly better, making $297 million domestically and $566 million worldwide. Even though those numbers were enough for the film to break even, it didn’t pass the threshold by much.

Indiana Jones 5 performed the lowest of the three, making $172 million domestically and $370 million worldwide (Box Office Mojo). While Disney hasn’t released financial numbers on Secret Invasion yet, the show didn’t seem to have the same dedicated fanbase as other Disney+ releases like WandaVision or Loki, so we’ll be interested to see if it lived up to the cost.

Ultimately, Disney spent more than $1 billion on those four projects alone, and none of them delivered in the way that was probably hoped.

Disney+ Subscribers

Disney’s Indian operations have suffered losses over the past year in part due to losing its streaming rights to air cricket, one of India’s most popular sports. In the third quarter of 2023, Disney also had a 24% decline in Disney+ Hotstar subscribers.

Disney World Attendance

We also learned from the earnings report that attendance for Disney World is down (and we’ve certainly noticed fewer crowds this summer at the resort). In the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, the Parks, Experiences, and Products Division reported that revenues for the quarter increased to $8.3 billion, with segment operating income increasing 11% to $2.4 billion.

Higher operating results for the quarter reflected increases at the international parks and resorts, but there were lower numbers for the U.S. parks. Disney said that the decrease at Disney World was due to higher costs and lower volumes. The price increases in the parks were due to inflation, but also the accelerated depreciation related to the closure of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.

Restaurants

Energy Bytes

The Energy Bytes snack stand opened alongside the new area that was built out for TRON Lightcycle / Run. Their menu items used to feature some different donut holes, a watermelon-flavored refresher, dumplings, and a strawberry mochi ice cream treat. But, it seems they’ve CHANGED their menu!

In addition to quietly adding purple and white Disney Dining Plan symbols to several of their menu items (in anticipation of the Dining Plan’s return in early 2024), we noticed they’ve taken away the savory parts of their menu. The Digital Dumplings in both the beef and broccoli and the buffalo chicken flavors are now GONE!

We stopped to ask the Cast Member working the stand if this is just a temporary change and they informed us this was a change they understood to be permanent. The digital dumplings have been met with mixed reviews (though our reporter who tried them found both to be pretty good) and may not have been as popular as the sweet and refreshing menu offerings, but we’re still left with lots of questions about what exactly happened to make such a swift decision.

Menu changes hit Disney World ALL the time but it is really interesting to see 2 menu items just suddenly disappear from a snack stand that already has such a limited menu.

The Cake Bake Shop

When we heard The Cake Bake Shop was coming to Disney World, we were beyond excited! Sweet and savory menus, afternoon tea service, a whimsical atmosphere…who wouldn’t be excited?! So, in preparation for the opening of this new restaurant, we interviewed the owner, Gwendolyn Rogers, and took a look at what the menu and pricing could be. The restaurant was supposed to open in 2023, but now we just got word that is not happening.

The Cake Bake Shop will be opening at Disney World’s BoardWalk in early 2024 (the previous timeline was late 2023). The Cake Bake Shop shared this update on Instagram, “All of us at The Cake Bake Shop are eager to unveil the beautiful details and charm that are coming to Disney’s BoardWalk! As the excitement is building and our hearts are brimming with anticipation, we expect to open our doors early next year to welcome you to an unforgettable dining experience. ”

We have been tracking the progress of the construction of the new building, and we are eager for this location to open and for us to taste some delicious treats. Until then, we’ll be dreaming about the items that we could be seeing here.

Merchandise

The Nightmare Before Christmas Starbucks Tumbler went on sale in late September and sold out almost immediately (we’re talking within minutes of the cup being released online).

This tumbler features images from the popular Halloween/Christmas movie, with characters like Jack Skellington, Saly, Zero, Mayor, Dr. Finkelstein, Lock, Shock, and Barrel. The straw even glows under black light!

The Mickey Mouse Light-Up Jack-O-Lantern disappeared almost as soon as it materialized online, after already having sold out quickly when it was released in Disneyland. It comes in at nearly two feet tall at 22″ and is battery operated so you can place it wherever you’d like (assuming you can get your hands on one!).

Technology Glitches

One of the near-unsolvable Disney World problems has been its technology.

Seriously, this might be Disney World’s kryptonite. We’ve seen plenty of times when technology glitches and it messes up people’s days in the parks. It could be that Disney’s dining reservation system goes down or Genie+ randomly isn’t working. Maybe your MagicBand refuses to link to your Lightning Lane or hotel reservations. Maybe the My Disney Experience app crashes completely.

In a place that relies so heavily on several different technological systems working together, there are unfortunately a lot of ways for things to go wrong.

That’s just a couple of things that haven’t exactly gone Disney’s way this year so far. We’re still optimistic that with all the things coming before 2024, this will still be a positive year for them. Stay tuned to DFB for the latest news. We’ve got you covered!

The One Thing Everyone’s Got WRONG About Disney’s Latest Announcements!

What are some of the things you feel Disney missed the mark on in 2023? Tell us in the comments!