$60 billion? Disney ready to invest large chunk of money into their theme parks
By Brian Miller
What will $60 billion buy for Disney? That is a question that many fans of the Disney parks want to know.
Speaking to their investors, Disney stated that a $60 billion investment over the next 10 years is on the way. This will include theme parks and the cruise lines they operate as well. Could this mean, potentially, a 5th gate at Disney World?
I would pump the brakes on that kind of talk. While Disney stated they have more than a 1,000 acres to work with, those acres are spread throughout their properties including the overseas parks in Japan, China, and France.
In May, Bob Iger stated that there would be a $17 billion investment in Disney World, Orlando's parks. Since then, aside from some reimagining and updates to rides that were revealed at the D23 fan club presentation, nothing else is known at this time.
On the surface, it obviously sounds quite exciting. We know that there will be an overhaul of the DinoLand area at Animal Kingdom and it will tranform into an ENCANTO themed area and we know that Dinosaur the ride will become an Indiana Jones themed ride.
All of that costs a lot of money so what else could we see? That will not be known for a while. The investment is large but it will be spread over large swathes of properties.
Disney also plans on opening two more cruise lines as well that will run in the Pacific including Australia and Singapore.
As for parks, Disney World offers the most land for development. Unlike Disneyland, there are not as many restrictions in terms of space for expansion but the political arena in Florida is toxic at this time and the investment from Disney could be delayed over legal issues that have been ongoing since Governor Ron DeSantis began his campaign against the company.
Disney, according to Bob Iger, believes there are more than $700 million guests that have yet to attend a park.
"“According to Disney’s internal research, there is an addressable market of more than 700 million people with high Disney affinity it has yet to reach with its Parks,” the company says. “In fact, for every one guest who visits a Disney Park, there are more than ten people with Disney affinity who do not visit the Parks.”"
- Disney investors meeting
That is a worldwide number for certain but it does show that the company is looking at ways to increase park volume. What will come to fruition in ten years isn't certain yet but we can earmark this meeting today and follow along with the changes once they begin.