7 NEW Theme Park Lands and HUGE Expansion Plans — Disney CEO Bob Iger Is Ready to Make "Big Bets"

A lot has just been announced for the Walt Disney Company…like, A LOT.

Disney CEO Bob Iger

On March 5th, Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, met with analysts at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference to talk about his highlights from the past 15 months of returning as CEO. He also discussed what we can expect from the Walt Disney Company in the future. While some of what he said were things we already knew based on previous conversations about the company’s goals and expectations for 2024, Iger certainly did confirm that Disney is thinking, planning, and dreaming big!

Right off the bat, Iger commented on the massive disruptions the Walt Disney Company, and other media giants, have faced over the past few years — a global pandemic followed by a months-long strike by the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). Iger was asked to return to the company as CEO in 2022 (after the pandemic closures but before the strikes), and he’s quoted saying he realized right away it “was a company that needed a lot of fixing.”

©Disney

Iger has mentioned repeatedly that streaming and digitalization are his top priorities when restructuring the Walt Disney Company, which is part of the reason we saw so many layoffs at the beginning of his takeover. During the Q1 earnings call for 2024, Bob Iger shared that his focus on streaming would be successful by Q4. We’ve recently seen a major influx in streaming news with multiple cancelations, the acquisition of Hulu, and now the new sports streaming service Disney is building in partnership with Fox and Warner Brothers.

Disney CEO Bob Iger

This all means that the company has now entered into the “building” phase within the company, and they’re “willing to make big bets.” But what can we expect to see during this new stage after so much has already changed? Disney has already confirmed park expansions happening in Disney World and Disneyland (but no timelines have been announced), and Iger buckled down on this, stating that, “We could build seven new, full lands around the world if we wanted.” Those are pretty big promises, Iger!

Disney CEO Bob Iger at World of Frozen in Hong Kong Disneyland

Iger also explicitly stated that they could grow Disneyland by 50% if they wanted to because they have the land. Disney would like to build a second Pandora in Disneyland, as well as potentially one in Asia and Disneyland Paris. He also reminded us that Disney Cruise Line is expanding with the creation of three more ships, plus the company is looking to expand through Asia, beginning with their port in Singapore.

©Disney

Overall, Iger is ready to make “big bets” when it comes to growing the company in the parks, and we can’t WAIT to see what’s around the corner. You may be asking, what do we already know is 100% on the way? Let’s break it down: