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Despite its spat with Gov. Ron DeSantis, disney Still committed to Florida.
The media and theme park giant is investing $17 billion in Central Florida’s Walt Disney World Center over the next decade, including potentially creating 13,000 jobs.
The numbers have been repeated by CEO Bob Iger and park superintendent Josh Damaro over the past few months as tensions between Disney and Florida lawmakers have escalated. The fight has become even more important now that DeSantis is officially running for president.
In April, the company filed a lawsuit accusing DeSantis and his new D.C. board members of political retaliation against the entertainment giant.
DeSantis took aim at Disney’s special zone, which previously Known as the Reed Creek Improvement Area.
“We never wanted, and certainly never wanted, to have to defend our business interests in federal court, especially as we have had more than 50 years of relationship with state governments,” Iger said in the company’s earnings report earlier this month. on the conference call.
Disney recently canceled plans to open a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, citing the “changing business environment.” That means the company will also no longer require its more than 2,000 California employees to relocate to Florida. The site is not part of Disney’s $17 billion investment plan.
Damaro, who oversees Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products division, reiterated Iger’s point earlier this week at JPMorgan’s Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference. The $17 billion investment, he told the audience, “gives you a sense of how aggressive we are at Walt Disney World.”
“This includes the transformation of Epcot,” he explained. “It includes things like a new Star Tours attraction that’s coming up, we’re going to have a new Tiana attraction. So we’re looking very actively at where we can go in Florida.”
Epcot has opened Remy’s Ratatouille adventures at the French pavilion in late October, and last year launched Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, a roller coaster in the wonders of the Xandar pavilion based on the fictional planet of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The park also has a new restaurant called Space 220.
Coming to the park, there is also a Moana-themed park area called Water Journey, a self-guided outdoor walk where guests can play and interact with the water. It will open in late 2023.
At Disney World’s Hollywood Studios, as well as Disneyland in California and Disneyland Paris, the company will add more stories and characters to its Star Tours attractions. Additionally, it has updated Splash Mountain at two domestic resorts with a “Princess and the Frog” theme.
The company also updated several hotels and resorts in Florida.
D’Amaro added that Florida’s $17 billion figure also includes some of the “blue sky” ideas the company presented at last year’s D23 expo in Anaheim, California. These projects are still in early development and may not be available.
In a presentation last September, D’Amaro talked about the possibility of revamping Orlando’s Animal Kingdom dinosaur park. Initial ideas for the space include the possibility of bringing Zootopia into the park, with its various areas and animal species, and even Moana.
In Magic Kingdom, Disney posed the question: “What’s behind Big Thunder Mountain?” The company joked that an area based on “Coco” might be in that location or “Encanto.” Maybe both.
D’Amaro even hinted at the possibility of bringing to life an area of the Magic Kingdom overrun by Disney villains.
Price points for these projects will vary, should they ever materialize, but for reference, the two Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands at Disneyland and Disney World are estimated to cost $1 billion each.
Disney’s theme parks have been a bright spot for the company, as visitor numbers rebounded sharply in the months after the pandemic shut down. Revenue in the parks, experiences and products segment rose 17% year-over-year to $7.7 billion in the most recent quarter.
About $5.5 billion of that revenue came from its theme parks. The company said guests spent more time and money visiting its domestic and international parks, hotels and cruise ships during the quarter. Its cruise business in particular has seen an increase in passenger cruise days.
“We see this business as a major growth driver for the company,” Iger said on Disney’s most recent earnings call.