Could Disney Expand Its Theme Parks to India?

Disney has continued to share its hopes and plans to expand its parks. We’ve heard talks about Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Disneyland all receiving major upgrades and expansions.

Magic Kingdom

With $60 billion burning a hole in their pocket, we’re waiting to learn more about everything we can expect from their parks and experiences department. While we know the U.S. theme parks have room and plan to grow, what can we expect from the global realm of Disney parks? According to CNN, industry insiders have some speculations.

Let’s start with a bit of background. When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox for $71 billion five years ago, they also took over Star India network which included the streaming platform Hotstar. This new media sector gave the company access to a new audience of over 700 million people in India.

©Hotstar

However, during the last earnings call in late 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger shared that “parts of that business [in India] are challenged for us.” Things have not been going well for the entertainment company, specifically in terms of their success in India. In 2022, billionaire Mukesh Ambani (the second richest man in Asia) took over digital rights for the very popular Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches.

via Forbes

But IPL isn’t the only thing Disney has lost in India. The company stopped streaming HBO content in 2023 and then shortly after Warner Bros. Discovery (the parent company of HBO and CNN) moved its content, including Game of Thrones and Succession, over to Ambani’s JioCinema.

Game of Thrones ©HBO

But why is that all important? Because now, Disney and Ambani’s Reliance have started working on creating a partnership. Also during the final earnings call of 2023, Iger mentioned that they want to continue in India, but also “see whether we can strengthen our hand … improve the bottom line.” It seems this merger with Reliance may be the way to do that.

©Disney | Walt Disney Studios

Iger mentioned that the company is “looking … expansively” in India and “considering our options there.” He added to that that he would “like to stay in that market.” But according to CNN and industry insiders the deal between Disney and Reliance, “could also be the start of a power couple that goes beyond media, with industry insiders speculating about a combined push into theme parks.”

Could we get a new theme park in India?

With all the talk of expansions, Iger stating he is “looking…expansively” at India, and the knowledge of industry insiders, could we be watching a new park open up in India in the coming years? This partnership could mean big things for Disney in a country with a huge population, who knows what could be coming.

In the meantime, keep following AllEars for more Disney news.