By Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel
Revenue increased for Walt Disney Co.’s theme parks globally in the fourth quarter, but the numbers lagged at Walt Disney World, the entertainment giant reported Wednesday.
Disney’s experiences division, which includes theme parks, hotels, Disney Cruise Line and merchandise, saw an uptick in revenue of 13% for the quarter ending Sept. 30. Domestic parks earned $5.4 billion, up 7%, while earnings at international parks were up 55% to $1.7 billion.
The report said Disney World suffered “lower results” without offering specific numbers. They were attributed to lower guest spending because of a decrease in hotel room rates, the cost of the accelerated depreciation for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the two-night theme experience that was shuttered in September, as well as inflation.
The company’s third-quarter report also indicated a slump at Disney World and pointed to the flattening of attendance and softening in other Florida tourism markets.
Higher attendance and higher ticket prices fueled the growth at Disneyland, officials said.
“Parks and experiences overall remains a growth story, and we are managing our portfolio exceptionally well,” Disney CEO Robert Iger said during an analyst call Wednesday afternoon.
“Even in the case of Walt Disney World, where we have a tough comparison to the prior year, when you look at this year’s numbers compared to pre-pandemic levels in fiscal ‘19, we’ve seen growth in revenue and operating income of over 25% and 30% respectively over the last five years,” Iger said.
Interim Chief Financial Officer Kevin Lansberry said Disney World numbers were suffering in comparison with those from the resort’s 50th anniversary celebration, which ended April 1.
Disney World will have “a little bit of that lapping effect that will continue for a little bit as we go through Q1,” he said. “But as I look out at the other domestic businesses … Disneyland continues to look exceptionally strong, as does Disney Cruise Line. So bookings, all of those continue to be very, very strong going forward.
“We continue to be bullish on the long-term positioning of our experiences business,” Lansberry added. “We expect those investments to ramp up towards the back half of that 10-year period, with more gradual increases in the first few years,” he said.
Iger repeated his $60 billion plan to “turbocharge” growth for the theme parks at multiple locations.
In an interview with CNBC’s Julia Burstin, Iger said the long-term success of the parks played a part in those investments.
“When we looked ahead and how we’ll allocate capital … we decided that a great place to place our bets or our capital is in the business that’s delivered the best results,” he said.
Fourth-quarter revenue for Walt Disney Co. overall was $21.2 billion, a 5% year-to-year increase.
The company reported an increase of almost 7 million subscribers to its Disney+ streaming service. The addition of theatrical releases “Elemental,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” boosted the service, Iger said.
dbevil@orlandosentinel.com
