We’ve recently learned a LOT about The Walt Disney Company and how it’s faring, at least financially.
Cinderella Castle
The company recently released the earnings report and held its earnings call for the second quarter of 2024, where it outlined how the theme parks were doing financially, how streaming is holding up, and more. However, there are a few things the company did NOT mention during the call, and we need to talk about them.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
We are all still eagerly awaiting a specific opening date for the new ride coming to Disney World and Disneyland — Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Up to this point, Disney has confirmed that the one in Magic Kingdom will open this summer and the one in Disneyland later this year.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom
Each time we get to hear CEO Bob Iger speak on behalf of the company we get excited, hoping that it’s finally time for the big date reveal. And so far, we’ve been let down every time. This second-quarter earnings call on May 7th was no different. There wasn’t a peep about the new ride, which crushed our hearts. Hopefully, we’ll find out soon enough when we’ll get to ride this gorgeous new ride.
Expansions
Disney has shared a lot of plans for new lands and attractions in its theme parks. They confirmed that the Tropical Americas are coming to Animal Kingdom to replace DinoLand U.S.A., but aside from one piece of concept art, no other information has been given about what that might all include. Sadly, the earnings call revealed no new information.
We have also heard rumblings of an expansion coming to Magic Kingdom, but again, no new information was shared at the earnings call.
Concept art for DinoLand expansion ©Disney
Another huge expansion project that we expected to hear about at the call was DisneylandForward. DisneylandForward is the plan for rezoning Disneyland’s land so that new attractions and experiences can fill areas that are currently only allowed to be parking lots or hotels. The project is set to receive its final vote later today, May 7th, at the Anaheim City Council meeting. This final vote will be the determining factor of whether Disney can finally move forward with these plans. Iger acknowledged that the vote was happening later today, but we fully expected more details aside from what we already knew, that an Avatar experience may be happening. Unfortunately, none came.
©Disney
Linear Networks
Back in 2023, during an interview, Disney CEO Bob Iger noted that Disney’s linear TV business (things like ABC and other channels) might NOT be core to Disney. This was then taken by many in the industry as a sort of potential pitch to possibly sell ABC and Disney’s other networks. Since then, Disney has received a $10 BILLION offer (made by Byron Allen) to purchase ABC, along with the FX and National Geographic cable channels. So we wondered, is Disney really selling those linear networks?
©ABC
But unfortunately, Iger did not comment on this potential sale. There wasn’t a peep mentioned about whether Disney plans to sell or hold on to the linear networks.
Succession
During the Walt Disney Company Annual Shareholders Meeting on April 3rd, 2024, we got a look into just how the search for CEO Bob Iger’s successor is going. In a recent interview, Disney Board Member Carolyn Everson shared that shared that as of now, the board’s “number one priority” is to oversee the succession process. She added that the board is “completely focused” on garnering a successful transition at the end of 2026 when Iger’s contract is up.
©Disney
Since success is the board’s “number one priority,” we fully anticipated hearing about developments in the earnings call today. While he did mention it briefly, there wasn’t any real information. Iger shared that the committee is meeting regularly to manage the process and that he will participate in a smooth transition “to the extent that [he] can.”
Movies
Disney began as an entertainment company, and we continue to look forward to news about upcoming shows and movies the studios are producing. Today was no different, we had our hopes high to hear about new films in the works.
©Disney
Yes, we heard about some movies and shows coming to the theaters, Disney+, and Hulu. We heard about Shogun and The Bear and how great they’re doing. But everything we heard was about movies we already knew about. Iger mentioned the new Moana movies, Marvel, Mufasa, and others that we are already anticipating this year or next. We were hoping for new information, but it was lacking.
©Disney
So we’ll have to say we’re a little surprised that these didn’t get a single mention during the earnings call, so we’ll have to be on the lookout for more news in the future.
Stay tuned to DFB for more.
Disney Dropped Some HUGE Announcements Last Week — Here’s What You Need To Know
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None of this is surprising. A company’s quarterly shareholders call discusses what occurred and the numbers, not what is going to occur. Disney will look for somewhere to make a bigger splash with an excited audience such as D23 for the announcements desired in this story, not during an investors call. They also aren’t going to tip their hat on things like considering selling networks as that would impact current discussions and values.