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Disney (DIS) Plans Major Expansion for California Theme Park
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Disney (DIS - Free Report) -owned Disneyland, the iconic California theme park known as the "happiest place on Earth," is poised for a magical transformation.
The proposal, set to undergo review by Anaheim's planning commission, entails significant investment from Disney, amounting to at least $1.9 billion over the next decade.
The proposed expansion aims to utilize existing space more effectively, particularly a sprawling 50-acre parking lot, to create new attractions and entertainment options. Disney envisions a future where untold stories like Wakanda, Coco, Frozen or Zootopia find their place within the park's immersive experiences. The objective is to develop areas similar to the film settings, such as the vibrant animal cityscape of Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland.
This marks the company's first significant endeavor to evolve its California theme park since the 1990s. Despite the nostalgia associated with Disneyland's original attractions, the expansion aims to evolve visitor preferences while maintaining the park's cherished legacy.
Anaheim stands to benefit significantly from Disney's expansion plans, as the parks are a vital tourism magnet for the city and Orange County as a whole. With hotel revenues constituting a substantial portion of Anaheim's income, the proposed expansion could further boost economic growth and support community development initiatives.
DIS Banks on Theme Park Business to Boost Revenues
Disney is benefiting from a solid revival in the domestic and international theme park businesses. Latest attractions like the Frozen theme land at Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney Park in Paris, as well as the Zootopia theme land at Shanghai Disney, are expected to have boosted the prospects of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s theme park business in the to-be-reported quarter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, Parks, Experiences and Products revenues (38.8% of revenues) increased 6.9% year over year to $9.13 billion. Domestic revenues were $6.29 billion, up 3.7% year over year. International revenues jumped 34.9% year over year to $1.47 billion in the reported quarter. Parks, Experiences and Products’ operating income was $3.1 billion, up 8.5% year over year.
Shares of DIS have gained 22.2% year to date compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s growth of 1.6%.
Disney's vision for California theme park is the creation of immersive attractions akin to the acclaimed Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, fostering unforgettable experiences for visitors.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge's two signature rides, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run have been huge hits. A flight-simulator ride, Star Tours, interchanges different stories so the experience can be partly or fully new each time a person experiences it. That has enabled the company to swap in new scenes to support whatever movie or television show has just been released.
The theme park plans to add new content to Star Tours, which is technically called Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, on Apr 5 at Disney World, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. These new scenes will offer characters and settings from Disney+ shows including Ahsoka, Andor and The Mandalorian.
The company also plans to bring Star Wars back to the big screen with an untitled film that will follow Daisy Ridley's Rey Skywalker while Djin Djarin and Grogu are also getting their own big-screen offering, which should culminate many of the storylines started on Disney+.
Stiff competition from Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) in the theme park business is hurting Disney’s prospects. DIS has suffered from the underwhelming performance of its streaming business, Disney+ due to intensified competition from Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) Prime Video and Comcast’s Peacock.
Nevertheless, Disney’s focus on sports streaming, particularly Live Sports on ESPN+, is expected to attract more subscribers. The renewal of the MLB sports rights deal through 2028 and the agreement with Spanish club football’s first division, La Liga, further strengthened the portfolio of the company’s sports content.
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Disney (DIS) Plans Major Expansion for California Theme Park
Disney (DIS - Free Report) -owned Disneyland, the iconic California theme park known as the "happiest place on Earth," is poised for a magical transformation.
The proposal, set to undergo review by Anaheim's planning commission, entails significant investment from Disney, amounting to at least $1.9 billion over the next decade.
The proposed expansion aims to utilize existing space more effectively, particularly a sprawling 50-acre parking lot, to create new attractions and entertainment options. Disney envisions a future where untold stories like Wakanda, Coco, Frozen or Zootopia find their place within the park's immersive experiences. The objective is to develop areas similar to the film settings, such as the vibrant animal cityscape of Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland.
This marks the company's first significant endeavor to evolve its California theme park since the 1990s. Despite the nostalgia associated with Disneyland's original attractions, the expansion aims to evolve visitor preferences while maintaining the park's cherished legacy.
Anaheim stands to benefit significantly from Disney's expansion plans, as the parks are a vital tourism magnet for the city and Orange County as a whole. With hotel revenues constituting a substantial portion of Anaheim's income, the proposed expansion could further boost economic growth and support community development initiatives.
The Walt Disney Company Price and Consensus
The Walt Disney Company price-consensus-chart | The Walt Disney Company Quote
DIS Banks on Theme Park Business to Boost Revenues
Disney is benefiting from a solid revival in the domestic and international theme park businesses. Latest attractions like the Frozen theme land at Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney Park in Paris, as well as the Zootopia theme land at Shanghai Disney, are expected to have boosted the prospects of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s theme park business in the to-be-reported quarter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, Parks, Experiences and Products revenues (38.8% of revenues) increased 6.9% year over year to $9.13 billion. Domestic revenues were $6.29 billion, up 3.7% year over year. International revenues jumped 34.9% year over year to $1.47 billion in the reported quarter. Parks, Experiences and Products’ operating income was $3.1 billion, up 8.5% year over year.
Shares of DIS have gained 22.2% year to date compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s growth of 1.6%.
Disney's vision for California theme park is the creation of immersive attractions akin to the acclaimed Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, fostering unforgettable experiences for visitors.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge's two signature rides, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run have been huge hits. A flight-simulator ride, Star Tours, interchanges different stories so the experience can be partly or fully new each time a person experiences it. That has enabled the company to swap in new scenes to support whatever movie or television show has just been released.
The theme park plans to add new content to Star Tours, which is technically called Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, on Apr 5 at Disney World, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. These new scenes will offer characters and settings from Disney+ shows including Ahsoka, Andor and The Mandalorian.
The company also plans to bring Star Wars back to the big screen with an untitled film that will follow Daisy Ridley's Rey Skywalker while Djin Djarin and Grogu are also getting their own big-screen offering, which should culminate many of the storylines started on Disney+.
Stiff competition from Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) in the theme park business is hurting Disney’s prospects. DIS has suffered from the underwhelming performance of its streaming business, Disney+ due to intensified competition from Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) Prime Video and Comcast’s Peacock.
Nevertheless, Disney’s focus on sports streaming, particularly Live Sports on ESPN+, is expected to attract more subscribers. The renewal of the MLB sports rights deal through 2028 and the agreement with Spanish club football’s first division, La Liga, further strengthened the portfolio of the company’s sports content.