Disney CFO says its planned $60 billion parks and experiences investment will ramp up in the back half of the next ten years

Nov 08, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California

Posted: Wednesday November 8, 2023 5:15pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney's Interim CFO Kevin Lansberry has shed more light on Disney's previously announced plans to invest $60 billion in theme parks and experiences over the next ten years.

Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California

Lansberry said that while domestic parks and experiences is expecting solid growth for the next year, that growth will occur towards the end of 2024 due to continued comparisons in the first half of the year from the 50th anniversary at Walt Disney World and inflation.

He reiterated Iger's comments that the company continues to be bullish about the parks with plans to make significant investments over the next ten years to turbocharge growth in this area.

The outgoing CFO said to "expect those investments to ramp up towards the back half of that 10-year period with more gradual increases in the first few years."

Speaking in April 2023 at the Walt Disney Company Annual shareholder meeting, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Disney plans to spend $17 billion over the next ten years, specifically at Walt Disney World, bringing 13,000 new jobs to the area.

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BrianLo7 hours ago

It never has. The Entertainment segment of the company was still profitable last fiscal year. Linear made up the slack. Though I guess technically the parks bought out the rest of Hulu, in part.

TTA9418 hours ago

Entertainment wise can you say if that should be set for D23?

Indy_UK1 day ago

I hope they are on course for the Parks to no longer be funding the Box office and Disney+ losses by Q3

mrflo1 day ago

Thank you everyone for confirming. From that perspective, re-investing half of their profits into maintenance and adding more capacity for growth to that actual business no longer sounds that turbocharged to me. Not saying that it is not a good thing overall or not desperately needed. Though shouldn't this be/have been more standard practise for Disney parks after all? At least that seems to be standard in tech companies or other businesses relying on innovations. Any thoughts if each Resort will then also exclusively fund their own expansion plans - e.g. WDW profits not funding a major expansions in an overseas park?

doctornick1 day ago

Well, I think that is exactly what the company is suggesting. The money from those items contribute to the profitability of the parks division and they are using that profit to fund the planned $60B over 10 years.

Ayla1 day ago

Oh my lord, can you imagine what a cluster it would be if they allowed strollers? Thank god they don't.

imagineer971 day ago

I think the money from ILL and Genie+ should be returned to the guests' pockets so it can be spent elsewhere and those two things can cease to exist.

celluloid1 day ago

This means box office losing billions, Disney plus and target store merch sales could not earn it.

Indy_UK1 day ago

Slightly different but I think the money from ILL and Genie+ should be used to renovate and build new attractions.

doctornick1 day ago

Right, I think that comment was basically directly at investors saying "we plan to invest a lot of money in the parks division, but this is money the division already generates and is available"

MisterPenguin1 day ago

Ummm, are you forgetting that WDW will have to close down for a few years after EU opens?!?!

peter114351 day ago

And remember that $3 billion was itself after that quarters own cap ex expenses, not to mention revenue and profit should increase over the next 10 years.

MisterPenguin1 day ago

Last quarter, parks and experiences had a $3.B net profit. Over the 4 quarters of a year, that's $12B net profit per year. Over 10 years, that's $120B. So... I think parks and experiences can not only cough up $60B to fund TurboLand, but provide the company with another $60B to pay off debt and other miscellaneous expenses.

mrflo2 days ago

"Thus far, the parks chief says Disney is on track with its allocation of the $60 billion, calling the strategy “incredibly disciplined.” D’Amaro notes, “Every single investment that we make has to be justified unto itself.” The $60 billion is expected to be self-funded from the parks, a proclamation that helped counter some initial Wall Street reluctance on the spending. Iger has also said the company is not going to allocate all of the $60 billion initially, and wants to leave “flexibility” in the budget for new attractions or hotels if a new hit movie comes along." Source: Article in HW Reporter What is your interpretation of the $60 billion "to be self-funded from the parks"? Does that mean they are only using the income / cashflow within the Parks devision to fund the investments and not from the overall TWDC? I guess with the current performance it should not be an issue. Just wondering if that also means that each park/resort has to fund expansion plans itself as well - e.g. DLP would not get a budget transfer from the NA Parks business.