Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney CFO Hugh Johnston held a Q&A during the company’s Q3 2024 earnings call. During the Q&A, the two spoke about expected revenue and projected attendance at the Disney theme parks. With attendance declining at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, that trend is expected to continue for the next few quarters.
Specifically, Johnston said that theme park revenue will be flat and the slight decline in attendance may continue moving forward. Johnston outlined that lower-income consumers are feeling more stress and higher-income consumers are electing to travel internationally.
Disney shouldn’t be surprised by these current theme park trends. Guests have been quite vocal about Disney’s rising prices and the perceived decrease in value. When it costs more to travel to Disney World and visit the Italy Pavilion in EPCOT than it does to visit Italy itself, that’s a big value problem.
Unfortunately, Disney has previously used these types of forecasts as an opportunity to slash operational costs. They’ve already slashed some of the entertainment at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, but there may be more entertainment cuts and staffing cuts coming soon.
We’ve already discussed that this year’s D23 parks presentation needs to impress. That goes without saying given Universal’s huge push in Orlando through Epic Universe, but it’s especially true seeing the current park trends and forecasts. Disney needs to get guests excited and feeling it’s worthwhile to visit the theme parks again.
