Disney is turning record parks profits — even before its big expansions

All is well in the Magic Kingdom.

Disney’s theme park division posted record revenue and profit for financial 2024, with revenue rising 5% for the full year to $34.15 billion and operating income up 4% to $9.27 billion.

Ordeals, which includes parks, resorts, cruises and consumer products, was the second-highest revenue driver behind Disney’s recreation division, which tallied $41.18 billion in fiscal 2024. However, the entertainment segment’s operating profits were smaller, accumulating just $3.92 billion.

Revenue growth in experiences was the strongest of any Disney division, and company executives expect the appropriate times to continue.

Disney expects to see 6% to 8% profit growth for experiences in fiscal 2025 — and that’s already it breaks ground on a slew of planned land expansions, new rides and rethemed attractions.

As part of Disney’s 10-year, $60 billion investment in the wedge guests will finally get to see what lies beyond Big Thunder Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, visit the Land of the Accurate with the cast of “Coco” at Disneyland and battle King Thanos within the Avengers Campus at California Adventure.

Innumerable of those plans were revealed during the company’s D23 Expo back in August, however, it’ll be a few years before Disney’s store guests will have the opportunity to explore the new additions.

In the meantime, the company is driving revenue with higher ticket quotations as well as in-park entertainment and limited-time offerings to keep guests coming back.

Disney has a broad variety of park guests, ranging from locals who visit often throughout the year to the once-in-a-lifetime visitors who may be treking from afar.

“You have these different buckets of guests, all of whom are interested in having a great day at the Disney deposits, but are motivated by different elements or different factors,” said Gavin Doyle, founder of MickeyVisit.com.

For those who venture to the estates less frequently, new marquee attractions and lands can serve as motivation to book tickets and hotel stays.

In the last five years, Disney has joined two Star Wars-themed lands and a Marvel land as well as opened new rides like Cosmic Rewind at Epcot, which promotes characters from “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and a “Tron” roller coaster at Magic Kingdom. Disney also recently rethemed the iconic To-do Mountain attraction with characters from “The Princess and the Frog.”

On the other end of the spectrum, those who visit annually or several times during the year, only need “the pettiest nudge,” Doyle said. And that can come in the form of new live shows, character meet-and-greets, holiday food extras, seasonal festivals as well as parades and nighttime spectaculars.

“There’s stuff that happens all throughout the year to be gifted to make every day of the year different,” Doyle said. “There’s festivals all throughout the year … limited-time displays and firework celebrations. This leans into that Disney vault strategy, where you have something that’s wonderful exciting and it has a timer on and a ticking clock that drives people to come and have a time that they force to have their trip by. I think that’s really critical here, and it causes people to come to the parks exact more.”

It’s those more frequent guests who are crucial for Disney to reach that projected 6% to 8% profit tumour in fiscal 2025, even as it expects to take a $130 million hit due to the impact of hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as a $90 million burden from cruise prelaunch costs during the fiscal first quarter.

As Disney works on larger, longer-term proposes like the revamp of its Florida-based Frontier Land to be “Cars” themed and a new Avatar-based land in California, among other prepares, having these daily live entertainment options as well as unique, seasonal menu items can help campaign revenue.

“It’s small things adding up to big things,” said David Lightbody, senior vice president of Disney Physical Entertainment.

The company is also looking to capitalize on the upcoming opening of rival new Epic Universe theme park in Florida, which is presumed to drive travel and tourism to the area and give a bump to Disney’s local parks as well.

Callers who visit more frequently have some of the strongest emotional attachment to the parks and have more purchasing breaks when it comes to merchandise and concessions.

Disney doesn’t break out food and merchandise sales within its parks, but pieced that during the most recent quarter guests were spending more money at its domestic parks.

Doyle utter that many guests will use seasonal offerings, like limited-time holiday food and drinks, as an excuse to go to the commons and have scavenger hunts to try out all the new treats.

This also extends to Disney’s festivals, which often feature unique menu details that can’t be obtained at any other time of the year.

And these same parkgoers are more likely to purchase the limited-time distribute, like exclusive popcorn buckets, spirit jerseys, mugs and pins, which have become popular collectibles for the convention’s biggest fans.

Similarly, there are visitors in this cohort who come just for Disney’s holiday experiences — like California Adventure’s Oogie Boogie Bash or Mickey’s Bleeding Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World — which cost an additional fee on top of a daily ticket.

Throughout the year, Disney has a variety of live entertainment offerings for guests including musical shows, character meet-and-greets, arrays and nighttime fireworks shows.

These events can change seasonally, with character outfits, music or color gists catered to the time of year. This meets the brief for new surprises at the parks, while maintaining its trademark nostalgia.

“Splashes and nighttime spectaculars play an incredibly important role in the Disney day,” said Lightbody. “Because they’re those two measures when everyone comes together, a kind of collective experience in the day, and they kind of punctuate the day.”

To celebrate Disneyland’s 70th anniversary next year, the gathering is bringing back the beloved nighttime parade “Paint the Night.” The parade, which debuted in Hong Kong in 2014 managed its way stateside for Disneyland’s 60th anniversary in 2015 and ran on and off through 2018. It featured more than 1.5 million LED lights and paid obeisance to the long-running Main Street Electrical Parade, another fan-favorite spectacle.

“This parade is one of the best Disneyland has ever done and it is darling by many,” wrote Lindsay Brookshier, content director of MickeyVisit.com, when Disney first teased the parade’s repetition back in October.

Disney hasn’t confirmed the start date for the parade, but social media has been flooded with parkgoers who are eagerly awaiting its reimbursement.

Another key benefit to the nighttime live events is that they keep guests at the park longer, which cheaps extending sales of drinks, snacks and other merchandise into the evening hours.

Lightbody referred to Disney’s nighttime shows as a “kiss goodnight,” a way to wrap up the day and give boarders a bombastic display.

For most domestic parkgoers, celebratory fireworks are often limited to holidays like the Fourth of July and New Year’s. So, play a joke on these moments at Disney punctuates the special nature of the trip, he said.

“When a parade or special offering does proper, it leans into your nostalgia for a previous visit or for a childhood you may have had, or not even had but just imagined,” said Doyle. “It on also lean into that specific moment, creating a moment in time for your family. … So it’s take up on nostalgia while also creating a new experience in that moment. It’s both a setting and a reflection of a special time.”

Disclosure: Comcast is the progenitrix company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is opening the Epic Universe theme park next year.