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.

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The “Fantasmic” nighttime spectacular will return to Disneyland’s Rivers of America on May 24, according to Disneyland officials.

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The return date falls on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend — the unofficial kickoff of the summer season.

Disneyland crews have been working to repair the “Fantasmic” dragon since the technically impressive 45-foot-tall audio-animatronic burst into flames during a performance of the nighttime spectacular in April.

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“Fantasmic” won’t include the dragon figure when the show returns, but will instead feature new special effects during the battle scene between Sorcerer Mickey and Maleficent.

The temperamental 18,000-pound Disneyland dragon — mockingly nicknamed Murphy by fans after Murphy’s Law — had a troubled history of malfunctions and breakdowns stretching back more than a decade.

While “Fantasmic” remains on hiatus, Disneyland has replaced the nighttime spectacular with performances of the Jambalaya Jazz band floating on the Rivers of America and the “Heartbeat of New Orleans” projection show.

The “Fantasmic” cast and crew were notified of the show’s return date earlier this week, according to Disneyland officials.

Disneyland officials will share more information about the return of “Fantasmic” in the coming months.

Disney Parks & Experiences operating income increased more than 30% during the company’s fourth quarter compared to the prior year, according to a financial report released by Disney on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

ALSO SEE: Disneyland system outage disrupts ticket sales and park reservations

Disney’s fourth quarter covered most of the summer from the beginning of July through the end of September.

The Disneyland resort saw strong year-over-year growth in both revenue and operating income.

Disney’s operating income increased in the fourth quarter due to higher attendance, higher average ticket prices and increased guest spending at the Disneyland resort. Sales of the new Disney Vacation Club Villas at the Disneyland Hotel also helped boost income.

“Disneyland continues to look exceptionally strong,” Interim Disney CFO Kevin Lansberry said on a call with investment analysts. “We’re not really seeing anything in terms of an economic hangover.”

ALSO SEE: Earl of Sandwich moving again to make room for Porto’s Bakery at Downtown Disney

The Walt Disney World resort continues to experience a “lapping effect” with lower numbers following the conclusion of the 50th anniversary celebration that brought big crowds to the Florida theme parks.

Disney announced plans in September to double down on its investments in Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and other theme parks around the world to the tune of $60 billion over the next decade.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said recent investments in new theme park attractions and lands have paid strong dividends.

“Over the last five years, return on invested capital has nearly doubled in our domestic parks,” Iger said on the call.

In recent years, Disneyland and DCA have seen the addition of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Avengers Campus and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway along with the Pixar Pier makeover.

The Disneyland and DCA attraction pipeline remains full with the Adventureland Treehouse opening this week, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure coming in late 2024, a new Marvel E-ticket ride planned for Avengers Campus and the proposed DisneylandForward project promising new theme park lands.

Disneyland visitors and annual passholders who ran into a 404 error code on Tuesday, Nov. 7 due to a system outage can once again purchase tickets and make reservations.

“During a planned infrastructure upgrade today, an outage impacted guests’ ability to purchase tickets, renew Magic Keys and make/modify/cancel theme park reservations,” according to Disneyland officials. “These temporary impacts have been resolved.”

ALSO SEE: Earl of Sandwich moving again to make room for Porto’s Bakery at Downtown Disney

An error page with the Seven Dwarfs carrying pickaxes over “We’re Working On It” encouraged visitors to try again later.

The Disney Parks reservation system experienced a nationwide outage, according to Inside the Magic.

“Guests are reporting that the park reservation system is down as they are being turned away from being able to make any form of reservation,” according to Inside the Magic.

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Disneylanders unable to buy tickets or make reservations voiced their frustrations on a Reddit forum.

“Been trying to buy tickets all morning,” Annakaaa7 wrote on Reddit. “Tried on different devices and browsers, but I guess it’s all just down right now.”

“It’s been horrible since yesterday,” Mrsvantiki wrote on Reddit.

The outage appeared to even impact the ability of Disneyland employees to make theme park reservations, according to Inside the Magic.

“They were having problems within the parks also,” Tresoleill wrote on Reddit.

Xcelerator reopened on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at the Buena Park theme park, according to Knott’s officials.

ALSO SEE: Knott’s Berry Farm won’t add Six Flags to theme park name

During the summer, Knott’s began installing new parts from original manufacturer Intamin Amusement Rides before conducting commissioning tests on the launch coaster.

The relaunch of the beloved but temperamental coaster should delight coaster fans who have been eagerly awaiting the return of Xcelerator.

ALSO SEE: What Cedar Fair-Six Flags $8 billion merger means for Knott’s and Magic Mountain

Xcelerator closed in October 2021 for a new paint job and returned for only a couple months with a new red, orange, yellow, blue and gray color scheme before going down again in March 2022 for maintenance. Fans of the thrill ride have been waiting impatiently for the highly-anticipated return of the aging coaster.

Xcelerator accelerates from zero to 82 mph in 2.3 seconds with the assistance of a hydraulic launch, according to Roller Coaster Database. The Intamin Accelerator coaster trains quickly transition into a 205-foot-tall vertical top hat element before sending riders plunging downward. The relatively short ride covers 2,200 feet of track in a minute.

Knott’s paid $13 million for the Intamin extreme coaster in 2002, according to RCDB.

While Six Flags will be the corporate name of the combined company, there are no plans to change the names or branding of any Cedar Fair parks, according to Cedar Fair officials.

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The Knott’s Berry Farm name will remain unchanged and will not include the Six Flags name, according to Cedar Fair officials.

That means there will be no Six Flags Knott’s Berry Farm or any other convoluted naming convention for the Buena Park theme park. The same goes for Cedar Fair’s sister park, California’s Great America in Santa Clara.

Knott’s Berry Farm owner Cedar Fair and Magic Mountain owner Six Flags agreed last week to an $8 billion merger of equals that will combine the two companies into a North American amusement park juggernaut.

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Theme parks fans quivering at the thought of a Six Flags Cedar Point, Six Flags Kings Island or Six Flags Canada’s Wonderland need not worry. The Cedar Fair parks won’t be adding Six Flags to their names.

That doesn’t mean the Six Flags name won’t appear anywhere in the Cedar Fair parks or the markets they operate. Six Flags could still show up on everything from drinking cups and shopping bags to season passes and TV commercials.

ALSO SEE: Will the new Six Flags get the details right?

The Six Flags name will be brought into play over time because of its national brand recognition, according to Dennis Speigel, an industry expert with International Theme Park Services.

“The Six Flags name as a brand in the theme park industry is better known than the Cedar Fair name,” Speigel said on an ITPS video commentary posted to YouTube. “We will see some branding of the Six Flags names come into play as it relates to marketing with the parks and the markets.”

Likewise, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia won’t be shedding the Six Flags name. The same goes for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo and other existing Six Flags parks.

The names and branding for the Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks will not change because of the merger, according to Cedar Fair officials.

​​The Six Flags brand is not expected to be removed from any current parks, according to Cedar Fair officials.

Sure, it’s going to feel strange to have Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm be part of the same company. But at this point, the new company’s management has not told fans anything about what changes might be coming to their favorite parks as a result of the deal.

We know that the new company will be called Six Flags, and that its shares will trade under Cedar Fair’s old ticker symbol, FUN. Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman will assume the same title in the new company, and its headquarters will be located at Cedar Fair’s home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Both companies have sold passes that allow fans admission into all parks in the chain, and many fans are hoping for a new pass offering that includes everything in the supersized Six Flags. A pass that allowed unlimited admission to both Knott’s and Magic Mountain surely would sell well among Southern California thrill ride fans — assuming that it is not priced at Disney levels.

You can buy 2024 season passes to Knott’s and Magic Mountain now for a combined $220, or $245 if you want Soak City included, too. So that’s the benchmark for fans judging the value of the new Six Flags’ pricing going forward.

Southern California presents a unique opportunity for the new Six Flags. The only other media market with theme parks from both companies is the Bay Area, where California’s Great America is slated to close in the next few years anyway, following Cedar Fair’s sale of the land underneath the park.

I hope that the new Six Flags does not try to homogenize the experience at Magic Mountain and Knott’s as it integrates the two chains. Sure, I and many fans would like to see more great new attractions at each park, but they should be designed to accentuate a difference experience in each. Otherwise, both parks will suffer if fans decide there’s no good reason to visit the other.

One current difference between the parks is their licensed intellectual property. Six Flags has a license for former owner Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes and DC Comics characters that runs through 2053, while Cedar Fair’s license for the Peanuts characters continues through 2025. That might entice the new Six Flags to save some money by converting all its parks’ kiddie areas to Looney Tunes in two years.

While I love Snoopy, the Peanuts franchise does not seem to have much resonance with today’s children, so the company probably would make a good choice by opting for the Warner Bros. characters instead. But not at Knott’s, please. Let Magic Mountain be home to Looney Tunes, while Knott’s retains its original Camp Snoopy.

Attention to detail builds great theme parks. The new Six Flags will need to get these details right to be more successful than the old Six Flags and Cedar Fair.

Earl of Sandwich will open a temporary pop-up shop this winter in Downtown Disney’s west end, according to the official Disneyland Magic Key Instagram account.

ALSO SEE: Meet the new family moving into Disneyland’s Adventureland Treehouse

The latest Earl of Sandwich temporary pop-up shop will be located near the Star Wars Trading Post on the west end of Downtown Disney — not far from the original Earl of Sandwich location.

The new pop-up location will serve a curated menu with a limited selection of Earl of Sandwich favorites. The quick service restaurant serves a menu of hot sandwiches, salads, breakfast dishes and baked goods.

Earl of Sandwich has to move out of its current temporary pop-up shop in the former La Brea Bakery location to make way for the demolition of the building for a new Porto’s Bakery & Eatery.

Porto’s is set to begin construction in Downtown Disney on the La Brea Bakery location pending completion of the bakery’s design plans.

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The winter time frame means the latest Earl of Sandwich pop-up shop will open sometime between Dec. 1 and the end of February. It’s possible the current east end location in the former La Brea Bakery and the new west end location near the Star Wars Trading Post may both be open simultaneously for a limited time.

More details will be announced soon about the latest temporary pop-up location for Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney, according to the Magic Key Instagram post.

Earl of Sandwich opened its current pop-up shop in February after La Brea Bakery abruptly closed in January after more than two decades of operation as one of the original businesses in Downtown Disney. An Earl of Sandwich Tavern full-service restaurant with a full bar opened next door to the temporary take-out sandwich shop.

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Disneyland worked with the Orlando, Florida-based sandwich franchise on the pop-up location at Downtown Disney as a short-term solution to temporarily satisfy fans of the beloved sandwich shop.

The original Earl of Sandwich restaurant was torn down in February 2022 along with AMC Theatre, Starbucks West and Sugarboo and Co. as part of the renovation of the west end of Downtown Disney.

A new Porto’s Bakery & Eatery will eventually be built on the footprint of the La Brea Bakery location near the esplanade between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

Disney officials announced during the D23 Expo in 2022 that the Cuban sweets and treats foodie-phenom was headed to Downtown Disney as part of the outdoor shopping center’s latest renovation.

The Southern California institution — which already has a Buena Park location near Knott’s Berry Farm — rocketed to foodie phenom status in 2016 when it nabbed the top spot on Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S.

Walt Disney Imagineering’s Kim Irvine offered a pre-dawn tour of the Adventureland Treehouse inspired by Walt Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson on Friday, Nov. 3 during a media preview of the renovated Disneyland attraction that opens to visitors on Nov. 10.

It’s best not to think too hard about the backstory for the refreshed Adventureland Treehouse at Disneyland and just enjoy the creative décor in the outdoor treetop rooms and the spectacular views of the Rivers of America and the rest of the Anaheim theme park.

You’d be forgiven if you thought the family living in the treehouse was once again the Robinsons from the 1960 Disney film. The nameless family of five is not the Robinsons marooned on an uninhabited island — but rather a creative bunch who just happen to like living in a treehouse in Adventureland.

The pet ostrich (Jane) who lives near the kitchen and the pet monkey (Rascal) in the boys’ room have names, but the father, mother, daughter and twin sons do not.

Dad is an inventor who does all the cooking. Mom is a music lover with a collection of magical instruments. The girl loves the stars and has a great spot to watch the night sky. And the nature loving twin boys have a menagerie of exotic plants and jungle animals.

The lineage of the family tree is far less important than the eclectic environs of the Adventureland Treehouse.

The centerpiece is once again a water wheel that carries water to every level of the treehouse and adds a burst of kinetic motion to every room. The Disney Archives had the original water wheel from the 1960s Disneyland treehouse sitting in a warehouse. Garner Holt Productions in Redlands was able to take the pieces and create molds to replicate the original Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse water wheel.

“It’s really exactly like the original water wheel with a few enhancements,” Irvine said.

The water wheel is fed by a gurgling creek that runs beneath walkways and around the base of the tree.

“Our story is that everything that the family has created actually runs off of this mystical water that’s running underneath the tree from some spring that the water wheel brings up into the rooms and takes through all the different bamboo pipes to the different cisterns,” Irvine said. “That’s how they run all of the little pieces of magic in each room.”

The inventor father has automated everything in the kitchen with pots that stir themselves.

“He’s kind of a renaissance man that knows how to do all kinds of things,” Irvine said. “So he’s put together a whole workshop with a potter’s wheel and lathes and all the things that he can help the rest of the family make their dreams come true in their rooms.”

The mother’s magical music parlor is filled with a player organ and an animated violin that play by themselves. “Swisskapolka” from the original Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse plays on a constant loop that is almost as hard to get out of your head as “It’s a Small World.”

“If you wonder where mom sleeps, her loft is up here,” said Irvine, pointing to a niche above the music room. “There’s a ladder that she climbs to go up.”

Ostrich eggs the size of cantaloupes appear throughout the treehouse — as do “Easter eggs” that pay tribute to past inhabitants. Mother is reading the “Tarzan of the Apes” novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the “Swiss Family Robinson” novel by Johann David Wyss sits on a bookshelf.

The daughter’s observatory is filled with telescopes made of old barrels and models of the solar system made from gourds. She corresponds with an astronomer from the Society of Explorers and Adventurers — an alternate reality where Disney characters exist in Disney theme park lands.

“On the desk is a little letter from the S.E.A. member that sent her a lens for one of the telescopes,” Irvine said.

The twin sons share a room filled with monkeys, toucans and man-eating plants.

“They’re about 8 years old in my mind,” Irvine said. “They are both nature lovers. They can’t believe that they live in this tree. One collects animals and one collects all the weird plants that they can find out in the jungle.”

Like all the other rooms, the twins’ bedroom is covered by cargo netting — which is designed to keep Disneyland visitors out, but looks like a tight space for two energetic young boys.

Knott’s Berry Farm owner Cedar Fair and Magic Mountain owner Six Flags agreed on Thursday, Nov. 2 to an $8 billion merger of equals that will combine the two companies into a North American amusement park juggernaut.

The combined company will be known as Six Flags once the deal is done.

That’s right. You’re going to have to get used to saying Six Flags Knott’s Berry Farm. Or Six Flags Berry Farm. Or Knott’s Berry Farm presented by Six Flags. Or some other mouthful of a name involving Six Flags branding. The Six Flags national name recognition is one of the key things Cedar Fair gets out of the deal.

ALSO SEE: Halloween and Christmas are the new summer at theme parks

Together, Cedar Fair and Six Flags will have a portfolio of 27 amusement parks and 15 water parks in the United States, Canada and Mexico that attracted 48 million visitors in the past year.

The expanded footprint of the Cedar Fair-Six Flags union will only have overlapping parks in two key markets: Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The good news for Knott’s and Magic Mountain? The year-round parks in Buena Park and Valencia are expected to reduce the seasonal impact that contributes to earnings volatility, according to the Cedar Fair-Six Flags announcement.

The overlap in Northern California will be relatively short lived. Cedar Fair has sold California’s Great America and the park will cease operating within a decade or less — which would eventually leave only Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in the Bay Area market.

Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman said on a call with investors that there are no plans to close any of the parks following the merger.

“These are irreplaceable assets,” Zimmerman said on the call. “How do you grow if you shrink your portfolio?”

ALSO SEE: Theme parks blame ‘extreme weather’ for attendance drops and financial loses

The Southern California market presents the biggest challenge for the new company, according to Theme Park Insider.

“In the L.A. market, ‘Six Flags’ means Magic Mountain,” according to Theme Park Insider. “Slapping the Six Flags brand on Knott’s Berry Farm only would cause confusion.”

It would make no sense to close either Knott’s or Magic Mountain — and a lot of sense to capitalize on their potential synergies.

Knott’s Berry Farm (3.9 million) and Six Flags Magic Mountain (3 million) both rank among the Top 20 North American amusement parks in annual visitors, according to the TEA/AECOM annual report.

Knott’s and Magic Mountain share some fans, but are on opposite sides of the Los Angeles metropolis. Southern California is home to seven theme parks and the local Cedar Fair and Six Flags locations have coexisted and competed in the region for decades.

There are plenty of differences between the two parks. Knott’s has long positioned itself as one of America’s oldest theme parks with themed lands akin to Disneyland. Magic Mountain is a “steel park” that brags about having more roller coasters than any other amusement park in the world.

Theme Park Insider argues that the shared Southern California market provides an opportunity for the new company to leave Knott’s Berry Farm without the Six Flags branding — extending to the well-established Knott’s Scary Farm and Knott’s Merry Farm events.

The combined companies plan to invest in new rides and expand access to season passholders.

A Knott’s-Magic Mountain season pass combo could drive sales and help introduce the twin audiences to each other.

A deluxe pass good for the entire 27-park chain could provide access to Cedar Fair’s crown jewels in Southern California (Knott’s) and Ohio (Cedar Point and Kings Island) as well as Six Flags’ biggest parks in the Los Angeles (Magic Mountain), Chicago (Great America) and New York/New Jersey (Great Adventure) metropolitan areas.

The combined company will have a trio of intellectual property brands — DC Comics, Looney Tunes and Peanuts — that can be used to theme rides and attractions.

The DC Comics line-up of superheroes could allow Knott’s and Cedar Fair to step up and compete on a themed attraction level with the Marvel superhero rides at Disneyland and Universal Studios Orlando.

Dennis Speigel, an industry expert with International Theme Park Services, called the deal a “win-win” for both chains and said the merger would result in the world’s largest regional theme park company.

“It would give them complete dominance in the regional theme park market in the United States,” Speigel told Cleveland.com. “This merger makes Six Flags a better company. And I don’t think it takes away from Cedar Fair at all.”

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The merger of equals appears to tilt in favor of Cedar Fair.

Cedar Fair will oversee the day-to-day park operations of the merged company.

The combined company will be based at Cedar Fair’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, with finance and administrative operations housed at the company’s flagship Cedar Point theme park in Sandusky, Ohio.

Zimmerman and CFO Brian Witherow will serve in the same roles in the combined company.

“I have great respect for the Six Flags team and look forward to joining forces as we embark on this next chapter together,” Zimmerman said in a Cedar Fair release.

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Six Flags CEO Selim Bassoul becomes the new chairman of the board while Six Flags CFO Gary Mick serves as Chief Integration Officer.

The merger has already been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. Each company gets six seats on the new board of directors.

Cedar Fair shareholders will own 51.2% of the merged company.

The merger is expected to close in early 2024 after Six Flags shareholders approve the deal. Cedar Fair unitholders don’t need to approve the deal.

As with any merger, cuts are expected wherever there is a duplication of roles.

Administrative and operational synergies will result in $120 million in cost savings within the first two years of the merger, according to the Cedar Fair-Six Flags announcement.