Walt Disney Co. revealed Tuesday it plans to invest $60 billion in capital expenditures for its Parks, Experiences and Products division over the next 10 years, but it didn’t reveal any specific projects.
That amount would be double what it spent in the past decade on that part of its business, Disney said in an SEC filing.
Potential growth at Walt Disney World could get entangled with the entertainment company’s high-stakes political and legal battle with Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked tourism oversight board.
“Orlando business interests should be concerned Disney might not carry through with that proposed investment in light of legislation and lawsuits involving the state and Disney World,” said Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor who wrote “Married to the Mouse,” a book about Disney World’s origins.
Disney officials say development agreements at the center of a lawsuit it has filed against the state are critical to their plans.
“We will continue to fight vigorously to defend these contracts because these agreements will determine whether or not Disney can invest billions of dollars and generate thousands of new jobs in Florida,” company officials said in an unsigned statement earlier this month.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro were gathered Tuesday with Wall Street analysts and investors at Disney World for an investor summit focused on the parks business.
“We want to keep growing and investing and have ambitious plans in Florida,” D’Amaro told the New York Times. “For the benefit of our guests, our cast members and the economy of Central Florida, we hope the conditions will be there for us to do so.”
Parks, Experiences and Products includes four Walt Disney World theme parks, two at California’s Disneyland Resort and four additional theme parks in Europe and Asia. Disney Cruise Line also is part of the division.
Its growth strategy will have a focus on “stories, scale and fans,” a Tuesday post on the company’s website said.
“In addition to development plans already underway, there is significant room for further expansion on land and at sea,” the website post reads. “In fact, Disney Parks has over 1,000 acres of land for possible future development to expand theme park space across its existing sites – the equivalent of about seven new Disneyland Parks.”
Disney is going through a metamorphosis, said Dennis Speigel, CEO and founder of International Theme Park Services.
“I think what they’re doing is they’re putting their chips on what I would call the right horse,” he said.
“I think they’re betting on the back-to-basics, let’s continue to build our theme park product. Let’s continue to build all of our physical-touch type of product, which is the things that come face-to-face with people, the hotels, cruise lines, etc.” Speigel said.
While the company has had issues with its broadcasting, streaming and other segments, the theme park numbers have been solid, he said.
“They still have an amazing amount of market to tap, both domestically and internationally,” Speigel said.
In Central Florida, Disney faces increased competition as Universal Orlando adds a third theme park and hotels. Epic Universe is scheduled to open by the summer of 2025.
“Like it or not, it is a battle in that market with Universal, and Disney has always held the throne,” Speigel said. “And they’re not going to relinquish that, in my opinion. … How do you do that? You spend money to make money.”
The DeSantis feud started last year when Disney opposed legislation that critics called the “don’t say gay” bill. Disney paused its political giving in Florida, and the governor blasted the entertainment giant as a “woke” corporation while building his profile for a presidential run.
As the dispute escalated, Florida lawmakers overhauled the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which Disney used for decades to effectively self-govern its Central Florida theme parks and resorts. Lawmakers put the governor in charge of appointing the district’s five board members and renamed it the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. DeSantis appointed five Republican allies to the board earlier this year.
When the new board members took over, they discovered their predecessors had approved agreements with Disney keeping the corporation in control of development.
The new board sued Disney in state court, asking a judge to declare the agreements null and void. Disney has sued DeSantis and state officials in federal court, accusing them of engaging in a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
“I think this announcement works on Disney’s behalf. And I think it does send a signal to the Florida government, and the Florida population and tax base, that we are here and we are continuing to grow,” Speigel said. “Now, what the fallout of that is, we will see.”
In the past decade, Disney World has expanded Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park to include Toy Story Land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway; added Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Future World development including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride at Epcot; created Avatar — The World of Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom; and opened Tron: Lightcycle/Run and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coasters at Magic Kingdom.
The resort has expanded Disney Springs at Disney Vacation Club options including Disney’s Riviera Resort.
But there have been setbacks, too. Disney pulled the plug on the planned $1 billion Lake Nona campus in Orlando and next week will shut down Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, a two-night immersive experience that opened in early 2022. The resort also shut down for four months as a pandemic precaution in 2020.
In April, Disney said it planned to invest $17 billion in Disney World and create 13,000 jobs over the next 10 years. D’Amaro has said that included the Magic Kingdom’s transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which is set to open in late 2024, and Epcot projects such as the Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana attraction, which opens to the public in mid-October.
D’Amaro recently announced an upcoming refurbishment of Magic Kingdom’s Country Bear Jamboree and plans to overhaul Animal Kingdom’s DinoLand USA area. He has also talked openly about the potential of “beyond Thunder Mountain,” an attraction on the edge of Magic Kingdom’s current development.
“The Disney of 2023 is not the Disney of 2013,” Speigel said. “And it certainly will not be the Disney of 2050.”
dbevil@orlandosentinel.com and sswisher@orlandosentinel.com
