The Disney Parks Project You're Wishing For May NEVER Become Reality

Disney and Universal — they are competitors in the theme park space, and you might expect some of their plans to impact future developments at the other company. But there’s one type of project that Universal is exploring that Disney might NOT be interested in.

Recently, Universal announced that they’d be building a NEW (and small) theme park in Texas, as well as a year-round horror-themed experience in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Disney has stuck mainly to its existing parks and relied on pop-up, traveling experiences (like Disney on Ice) to reach those in other places in the U.S. But could Disney get into the mini theme park business? We’ve got an update.

On May 22nd, 2023, Josh D’Amaro — Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products — participated in a question-and-answer session at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media & Communications Conference.

He discussed a number of things including “aggressive” plans for Disney World expansions and what went wrong with the Star Wars hotel. But one of the other things he discussed was the possibility of Disney building mini parks in other places.

Pandora in Animal Kingdom

At one point, the interviewer (Philip Cusick — Equity Research, J.P. Morgan) noted that Universal is building a few small parks in the U.S. and asked whether that type of business is interesting.

D’Amaro responded by saying, “It must be interesting for them.” Well, that seems to give us a good general idea of Disney’s feelings on this topic!

D’Amaro went on to say, “For us, we think that focusing on our core assets is where we should be spending most of our opportunity.”

He shared that there is “so much potential there” and that is where Disney is “continuing to focus [their] efforts.”

So, as much as you might want a mini EPCOT to be built in Texas, or find a mini-Magic Kingdom in Colorado, it seems Disney won’t be going down that path (for now, anyway). Instead, Disney will be focusing its efforts on its “core assets” — which should include its existing domestic and international theme parks, its cruises, and other experiences.

D’Amaro shared, “We have plenty of opportunity within these existing footprints to optimize,” he said, noting that there’s more room within the land area for Disney World and Disneyland Resort park expansions than people realize.

In fact, Disney already plans to invest $17 billion in Florida in the coming years. That would include things like the EPCOT transformation, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and updates at Star Tours in Hollywood Studios.

But beyond that, D’Amaro referenced the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products panel from the 2022 D23 Expo, saying, “I talked about some pretty ambitious plans that we have to continue to grow these theme parks.” (If you’ll remember, these included things like a potential expansion at Magic Kingdom and retheme of DinoLand U.S.A. in Animal Kingdom.) D’Amaro noted, “I’m excited about what’s in store for Florida.”

What do you think about this update? Do you wish Disney would build mini parks in other places, or are you a fan of them focusing on their “core” assets? Tell us in the comments.

For more about D’Amaro’s comments on the parks, click here. And stay tuned for more Disney news.

Would you want Disney to build mini parks in other places in the United States? Tell us in the comments.