Disney reveals plans for four new cruise ships and the largest Magic Kingdom development ever, featuring a new land with a villain theme.
TakeAway Points:
- Disney announces significant additions, including new attractions at Avengers Campus in California and a region at Magic Kingdom with a villain theme.
- There are plans to build four more cruise ships, bringing the total to five now in service and four in development. Completion is anticipated in 2027–2031.
- Disney’s parks segment is facing hurdles despite its ambitious objectives, as worse consumer patterns are expected to result in flat sales until mid-2025.
Disney’s New Theme Park Attractions
Walt Disney Co. has announced a series of new theme-park attractions, including its first land dedicated to movie villains and an expansion of its Avengers Campus in California. These announcements were made at the company’s biennial D23 fan-club convention in Anaheim, California. The new land devoted to villains will be located at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida and will be roughly the same size as its Star Wars-themed lands. It will feature two attractions: shopping and dining options. Additionally, Frontierland in the same park will receive an upgrade, including a Cars-themed area with a ride that takes guests through the wilderness, past mountains, and geysers. These two projects represent the largest expansion ever at the 53-year-old Magic Kingdom.
Josh D’Amaro, who leads Disney’s resorts division, emphasized the company’s ambitious growth plans, stating, “Our growth ambition is incredibly high. We wanted the world to know that we’re serious about that and really doubling down on our investment and experiences around the world.” Despite a recent slowdown in its park business due to weaker consumer trends, Disney is moving forward with these extensive plans. The Avengers Campus at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim will also see two new attractions, including a flight simulator tied to Marvel’s Tony Stark character and an attraction based on the Pixar film Coco.
Cruise ship expansion
Disney is also making a significant commitment to the cruise industry, planning four new cruise ships in addition to the four already in development and the five currently at sea. These new ships are expected to be completed between 2027 and 2031. The company recently announced a new ship that will be based in Singapore, and while D’Amaro did not specify where the new ships will sail, he hinted at more international ports.
“There’s demand all over the world for these cruise ships. We’re going to be really intelligent in deploying the fleet to bring these stories and experiences to as many people around the world as we can,” he said.
Financial implications and challenges
Despite its ambitious expansion plans, Disney’s parks and resorts division has faced challenges. The company reported lower profit at its resorts in its most recent earnings on August 7, which had been a growth engine in recent years. Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston noted that the company is forecasting flat sales in the resorts division until mid-2025 due to low-income consumers pulling back on buying tickets and merchandise and wealthier guests traveling internationally. Dennis Speigel, CEO of consultancy International Theme Park Services, commented on the impact of ticket price increases, stating, “Every 10 years or so, we start to hit a pricing wall. Disney and Universal were hanging in there pretty well, with guests who’d booked airlines and hotels months in advance still coming. But as we came into 2023, they kept raising the prices, and that’s when the burn-off came and we started hitting the wall again.”
D’Amaro expressed confidence in Disney’s ability to manage consumer shifts, saying, “We have in place very sophisticated tools to manage through these types of fluctuations. We’re in such a better position today than we ever have been before.” He also highlighted the company’s ongoing partnership with Epic Games to put its characters in the hit video game Fortnite.
