Disney CEO Bob Iger answered a series of questions during the 2023 Walt Disney Company Annual Meeting Of Shareholders. While discussing Disney’s ongoing relationship with Florida, Iger made a particularly interesting statement about the future of Walt Disney World.
Iger mentioned that Disney has plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs at Walt Disney World over the next 10 years. Iger didn’t provide any additional information after his comment.
The financial investment of $17 billion could be explained by the creation of new lands at Disney’s existing theme parks, like a Moana expansion in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, for example. Iger’s comment could also include some creative financial embellishment by including regular operations costs, but that’s unclear. The real sticking point is the jobs figure, which seems to suggest major expansion.
It’s easy to jump to conclusions and assume this means Disney has another theme park planned for Walt Disney World. That’s fun to speculate about, but seems relatively unlikely – even though the competition is getting Epic Universe ready up the street. For what it’s worth Epic Universe is reportedly adding 14,000 new jobs for Universal.
Bob Iger has made it clear that he values investment in Disney’s theme parks. Where does he plan to spend $17 billion at Walt Disney World? Where could 13,000 new cast members work? We’ll have to wait and see.
