People walk in front of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park on May 31, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | fake images
All is well at Magic Kingdom, and all the other Disney theme parks too.
The company's experiences division, which includes its parks, cruises, hotels and consumer products, posted record revenue for the fiscal first quarter, surpassing $10 billion for the first time in Disney's more than 100-year history. It also reported operating income of $3.3 billion, an increase of 6% from the same period a year earlier.
Growth in this segment has accelerated in the wake of the Covid pandemic. It often accounts for the majority of the company's profits. For the period ending December 27, experiences accounted for 38% of Disney's total revenue, but generated a whopping 71% of its operating income.
Company executives expect those good times to continue and forecast high-single-digit growth in operating income for the segment by fiscal 2026.
“When you look at the footprint of the business today, it has never been broader or more diverse,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during Monday's earnings call. “And the projects we have underway will do so even more.”
The parks' strong performance comes against the backdrop of a CEO succession contest in which Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro could replace Iger. Disney's board of directors will meet this week and is expected to vote on its next chief executive, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity discussing internal matters.
Industry insiders and Disney sources expect D'Amaro to be named Iger's successor, although the decision ultimately rests with Disney's board of directors and will not be final until the directors vote.
“The board has not yet selected the next CEO of The Walt Disney Company and once that decision is made, we will announce it,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement, declining to comment on the timing of the next board meeting.
Park expansion
Much of the experiences division's success comes from significant investments to expand Disney's theme park presence, renovate existing attractions and themed areas of its parks, add cruise ships to its fleet, and increase its digital gaming presence. This new evolution of the segment is being driven by Disney's library of franchises and iconic intellectual property.
Disney has long retreated from its content portfolio. Disneyland opened more than 70 years ago with attractions based on “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” “Peter Pan” and “Snow White.”
While those classic attractions remain, the company's most recent developments have been fueled by Iger's strategic acquisitions of four major film studios: Pixar in 2006, Marvel in 2009, Lucasfilm in 2012 and 20th Century Fox in 2019. This brought coveted franchises under the House of Mouse roof, including Star Wars, Toy Story, The Avengers and Avatar.
“As we added intellectual property to our group… we gained access to intellectual property that had real value in terms of parks and resorts, and it allowed us to lean into higher capital spending because of the level of confidence we had in improving returns,” Iger said.
Owning the film and television rights to these properties allows the company to have more control over production and how that translates into attractions, experiences and merchandise.
And that work continues as part of a 10-year, $60 billion investment effort that launched in 2023.
“We have expansion projects underway at each of our theme parks,” Iger said.
He promoted the upcoming opening of the World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris and the launch of a new cruise ship, the Disney Adventure, which will dock in Asia.
Also on the horizon is a new villain land coming to Magic Kingdom, as well as the redevelopment of “Rivers of America,” “Tom Sawyer Island” and the “Liberty Square Riverboat” into an area called “Piston Peak,” a second Cars-themed land inspired by America's wildlife parks. At Hollywood Studios there will be a new “Monsters Inc.” will land as the Muppets take over the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster attraction. Animal Kingdom will be home to an “Enchantment” attraction and a new Indiana Jones attraction.
At Disneyland, Avengers Campus, the Marvel-themed area, will have two new attractions, guests will be able to glimpse the Land of the Dead from “Coco” and Disney will build a new Avatar area inspired by the setting of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Internationally, Disney has reached a deal to bring a new park and resort to Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates.
International headwinds
According to Iger, the company's commitment to bringing intellectual property to its parks is paying off, especially outside the US.
“The percentage of people who go to Shanghai Disneyland just to go to Zootopia Land is very, very high,” he said Monday.
Revenue from international theme parks and experiences grew 7% during the fiscal first quarter, to $1.75 billion.
Of course, the company still faces obstacles due to the decline in international visitors to its national parks.
It's a trend many U.S. theme park destinations are facing, as overall tourism to the United States fell 6% in 2025. Industry analysts point to higher travel costs and fees, ongoing trade frictions and geopolitical unrest over falling U.S. travel demand.
Despite this, revenue from domestic theme parks and experiences grew 7% during the quarter, to $6.91 billion.
New offerings at Disney's international parks, the launch of a cruise ship serving Asia and the new Abu Dhabi park are all ways Disney can tap into that overseas market and engage with consumers who don't travel to the company's domestic destinations.
— CNBC's Julia Boorstin and Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
