On May 7th, Disney released its second-quarter earnings report for fiscal year 2024 and held its latest earnings call. Thanks to the report and call, we learned that operating results for Disneyland didn’t quite meet the target goals.
And, while that may seem like Disney’s problem — it could have more of an impact on your next trip than you might think.
Your next Disneyland trip might cost you more based on the latest financial results for Walt’s original park.
Overall, the Parks & Experiences segment of The Walt Disney Company reported an increase in revenue compared to the same period last year. The domestic parks & experiences saw a 7% increase in revenue, while the international parks & experiences saw a 29% increase in revenue.
Experiences revenue experienced a 10 percent increase compared to April 1st, 2023. Revenue now sits at $8,393 million as opposed to last year’s $7,646 million.
And, as far as operating income goes, Disney saw a 12% increase, with income sitting at $2,286 million compared to last year’s $2,036 million.
But, at Disneyland Resort, operating results decreased — something that CEO Bob Iger claimed was a result of “higher wages.” California recently increased its minimum wage on January 1st, 2024 to $16 per hour, with fast food workers receiving a $20 per hour minimum wage.
Iger said, “We are seeing some evidence of a global moderation from peak post-COVID travel. We do expect year-over-year Experiences operating income to rebound in the fourth quarter.” Relative to the post-COVID travel highs, Iger stated that things are trending to normalize in 2025. Regardless of those levels not being expected to continue to skyrocket, “we still see healthy growth in the business. We feel good about opportunities for continued, strong growth.”
Disneyland is reporting these losses are further impacted by high costs driven by inflation, an increase in spending because of higher average ticket prices and daily hotel room rates, and higher volumes due to attendance growth.
What’s interesting, though, is that despite park attendance increasing at Disneyland, the number of occupied hotel rooms actually decreased.
Essentially, it seems as though folks are going to the Disneyland parks more often compared to last fiscal quarter, but fewer people are actually taking multi-day trips and staying in Disneyland hotels. It’s possible that people are just making day trips to the parks or are simply staying at non-Disneyland hotels instead.
Disney could have a hard time getting revenue to increase at the Happiest Place on Earth by next quarter — unless they raise their prices. Price increases certainly aren’t uncommon in Disney parks, but with decreased revenue, it’s entirely possible Disney would raise the price of admission, food, entertainment, hotels, and more.
Plus, there is that little ol’ $1.9 billion Disneyland expansion that was just recently officially approved by the Anaheim City Council.
While Disney already has the money for the expansion allotted, new rides, restaurants, and more will be coming to Disneyland — and “new” usually = $$$.
Disneyland has committed to a $1.9 billion investment over the next decade. Plans are still in early development, however, they teased projects around Coco, Black Panther, Tangled, Frozen, Zootopia, Peter Pan, Tron, and Toy Story.
As for now, Disney hasn’t made any official announcements about price increases coming to Disneyland (though we sadly can’t say the same for Disney World!) but we’ll be on the lookout for any updates.
Stay tuned to AllEars as we keep an eye on the latest news from Disneyland and more!
Check Out ALL the News You Missed During Disney’s Latest Earnings Call
Will you be planning an upcoming Disneyland trip? Tell us in the comments.
As somebody who used to stay at one of the Disneyland hotels every third or fourth trip but hasn’t in a few years because of the prices (and because of simple supply/demand economics), I’d argue that Disneyland might consider *lowering* their hotel prices to increase revenue.
Really not that surprising. Those in Southern California that are already used to the high prices of goods and services will take day trips to DLR and won’t need a hotel room. Those flying in from other west coast cities are also used to high prices, and I suspect a majority of those rooms are taken up by those west cost citizens. For the parts of the country that aren’t used to $5 a gallon gas and high costs that go hand in hand with $16-$20 minimum wages can find a cheaper Disney vacation in Florida.