A LOT of big changes are in store for The Walt Disney Company as CEO Bob Iger wraps up 15 months of his second stint as chief of the company.
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On Tuesday, March 5th, Iger met with analysts at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference to discuss highlights from the past 15 months as well as the next direction for the Company. While much of what he said were things we already knew based on his discussion of the four key building opportunities that Disney has for 2024, we did get some extra confirmation that Disney had some BIG plans in the future. Let’s talk about it!
To begin, Iger did address that The Walt Disney Company, like most other media giants, were met with extreme disruptions over the past few years. From a global pandemic to writer and actor strikes, many businesses faced hardships. Iger said that when he was asked to return to the Company in 2022, he realized right away that “it was a company that needed a lot of fixing.”
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So, in order to do the fixing, Iger restructured the Company from inside out. We saw this with thousands of job layoffs last spring, which Iger said at the time was to reallocate finances to focus on streaming and the digitalization of the Company. Streaming was something that Iger said multiple times was his utmost priority.
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At the Q1 earnings call for fiscal 2024, Iger shared that his focus on streaming would prove to be a success by Q4 of 2024. Because of a refocus on the production studios, creativity, the acquisition of Hulu, and a partnership with Warner Bros. and Fox, Iger is confident that the company is out of a “fixing” phase and entering a “building” phase.
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So…what can we expect to see in this building phase? Well, Iger wants to turbocharge growth in the theme parks. He said, “We could build seven new, full lands around the world if we wanted.” While we already knew that Disney had expansion plans in place for both Disney World and Disneyland, it just makes a big difference to hear it confirmed by the CEO!
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We’re already expecting a DinoLand, U.S.A. re-theme in Disney’s Animal Kingdom as well as expansions that could include IP from Tangled, Frozen, and more at Disneyland! At the conference, Iger even mentioned that a Pandora-themed land like in Animal Kingdom could soon come to Disneyland. Disney has shared their $1.9 billion expansion plans for Disneyland, but has stated that these plans likely won’t come to fruition until the end of the decade.
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He said that currently, Disney owns enough property to do so — and so much acreage near Disneyland California that the park could be expanded by 50 percent. On top of this, Disney is in the works of building three new cruise ships and expanding Disney Cruise Line, focusing on reaching an audience in Asia with the addition of the port in Singapore.
Disney Cruise Line
Iger assured listeners that there was plenty of intellectual property to mine, and just as much physical room to develop the ideas and bring them to life. His hope is that by expanding the theme parks and Cruise Line, there will be higher demand and therefore a higher return on capital.
Cinderella Castle
As for when those lands and expansions will begin to take physical form… we’ll just have to wait and see. Already, we have massive changes coming to Disney World with a new section of Polynesian Village Resort underway as well as the upcoming opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We’re always on the lookout for more Disney news and updates, so make sure to follow along here so that you’re always in the loop and don’t miss a thing.
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Words mean nothing. When the ground is broken for a new project. Then I will believe it.
As exciting as a new park or lands might be, I won’t get excited until the actual building begins. In 2019, Universal announced their new park and its is due to open in 2025. That’s pretty impressive. In August 2021, Disney announced the new theme for Splash Mountain.. it’s not a new ride just a n old ride getting a new story and it’s opening this summer. I’m just saying that Disney needs to do less planning and more actual doing.
Walt had an entire park built in the time it takes for the current company to come up with an idea.
You call Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and an addition to the Polynesian hotel “massive changes” to Disneyworld – really? Hardly! Notice there’s really nothing notable being built after that while Universal is building a new theme park – now that is MASSIVE! When is Disney going to wake up and start investing in Disneyworld? The new Epcot night time show is an epic fail, The new Epcot “college campus” replacing the spectacular fountain has been a huge disappointment, the Carousel of Progress hasn’t been updated in decades, Dinoland has been extinct for years waiting to be re-imagined, the Stitch building at the Magic Kingdom has been abandoned, MANY projects have been scraped, etc. etc. Talk about mismanagement! Disney will be paying the price for years to come!
He has been bsing always and people fail for it.