A lot of analysts have been looking at the future of Disney right now. As one of the biggest companies in the world, Disney’s outlook will have an effect on the overall market.
Walt Disney World
Recently, a Wells Fargo analyst made the statement that it could take two years for the Disney parks to return to normalcy after their closures end. Of course, this has been concerning for Disney fans everywhere. Today, however, an analyst from J.P. Morgan says otherwise: The parks could reopen by June and the company could even turn a profit.
Wall Street analyst Alexia Quadrani mentioned that her team is assuming that the domestic Disney parks will reopen on June 1st. Her reasoning is that the reopening is based on when some of the health measures will become less stringent and that June 1st is the date that Disney is currently accepting reservations.
Magic Kingdom
To be fair, Disney parks have been adjusting their plans as the health situation develops. So, just because Disney is accepting reservations doesn’t mean the parks are guaranteed to reopen at that time. On the other hand, Disney Chairman Bob Iger recently commented on some of the measures they are already considering once the parks reopen, such as temperature checks at the park gates.
Bob Iger presenting a model of Shanghai Disneyland
Now, Quadrani doesn’t believe that Disney will rocket back to normal attendance levels. She acknowledged that international guests are not going to be able to travel and many domestic guests will have financial limitations. Still, Quadrani also noted that “there’s tremendous pent-up demand.”
Epcot Monorail
Finally, on whether or not Walt Disney Company will weather the crisis well, Quadrani said, “I have a huge degree of confidence in their ability to endure this crisis. This is a top-notch management team…I’m very convinced this is an outperformer in the long term. They have the best content. They have a fantastic flywheel in terms of assets.”
To read more about what other analysts are saying about the Disney parks, click here.
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What do you think about the analyst’s predictions? Let us know in the comments!
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Thank you JPM, hope you are correct. Just booked 7nights at Grand Floridian in June. We are AP & can’t wait to get back. Just hope Disney doesn’t go crazily ‘overboard’ with the temp checking… and/or other measures!
Luckily, I booked my next trip for late November/early December, so my trip was never in jeopardy. Hopefully things will be up and running semi-normally by then. Even if they’re going to do temperature screening, it’s not a huge deal, just to be in my happy place again.
Personally I agree on the early June open prediction. However, JP Morgan is Chase, and they have a business relationship with Disney as they do the credit and debit cards. When you’re financial futures are that entwined it seems suspect to be commenting on the success of your business partner. They have a huge vested interest in Disney reopening as soon as possible and them pulling in money again.
It would be great to offer Canadian $ at par with our $ getting so low…..or a really good deal at least!!
It might be open then but when those of us who live in the UK will be able to get there is another matter. I have a trip booked for September and if travel restrictions have been lifted by then I’ll be there with bells on !
Unless Orange and Osceola counties lift their “ stay at home “ mandates, by June 1st , can Disney still open ?
Just wonder if they temp check at park gates they will need to do it entering resorts too right? If sick and in a resort then on bus then to park everything in between infected…
Our trip is currently booked for Aug 16. I’m totally looking forward to it assuming it can happen. We are driving down and are looking into whatever we can do to make our trip as safe as possible (masks, extra sanitizer, wipes, whatever it takes)
We were planning to visit Universal too but that is the only thing we think we might cancel if we can make it down there. We will take that day to hang but the pool and eat some take out. We will see how everything plays out. In the meantime, I pray for everyone who may have lost someone and hoping all of you and your loved ones stay safe. ❤️
I hope so!!! Have a trip in July and end of September! Need to be there and can’t wait!
Should have been going next week, had to cancel everything, but I am still staying at home as we are all in lockdown, will Attempt next year, have lost the latter end of my AP but still safe at present. I think June will be too early for this devastating virus to have gone away. Stay safe everyone. UK
Confirmed, businesses(Disney and Chase Disney VISA) who wag the dog have more interest in finance then the health of their patrons or even Cast Members. And anyone with plans to return to the park before health concerns of the world are fully squared away may be a few cards short of a full deck. I’m sooo impressed that a potential “second pandemic origination point” would then likely be able to be traced to the “Happiest place on Earth”. Likely due to utter greed on the company’s part “including their banking entity” and stupidity on the part of patrons who still have not taken the severity of our current state of a health and global shutdown. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, mine just happens to be based more in common sense.
We r happy that Disney is taking special care foe their employees and also for us park visitors we r annual
Pass holders out of state I ha w family that florida Passholders and e fine with temperature checks it’s for the good for All of us we have family reservations for December please
Everyone DO NOT start doing things and being reckless bro k of everyone else we can get thru this only if everyone cares for their fellow Human.being and thinks first so we can ALL have happier times and always b mineful of each other god bless dis
I was really beginning to despair about my August 1 trip. All of the talk about limited openings when they do open and all that still scares me as I’m not staying on property. I have a timeshare in Orlando that we bought about 30 years ago or more so there’s no hotel cost when I go and stay there. Unfortunately Disney seems to care less and less about those of us that don’t stay on property, so limited opening may mean even though I have an AP I may not get in the gates if they let people staying on property in first and they limit the number of people they let in. I’m just waiting for the real news and not worrying about it yet.
Maybe…but I won’t be there. I think they’re being too optimistic.I think it will be while before people are comfortable crowding together.
I think Quadrani under estimates the “tremendous pent-up demand” for Disney. I think people are going to be more than ready to return to Disney when all this is over, and if Disney takes extra precautions, all the better. I don’t think that will deter people from going to Disney en mass. I don’t believe even Iger realizes what Disney means to people. It’s not just a park, or rides, or entertainment. It’s family tradition, an escape from the reality of the stress of real life. I know the moment we arrive on property, my whole outlook changes. Disney is like a drug(for loss of a better word) for A LOT of people, and we are in withdrawal right now. I have no doubts that Disney will bounce back from this much quicker than anyone can estimate.
This sort of speculation- based on a single JP Morgan analyst’s opinion – is sadly worthless.
Disney is the most safety conscious company and is aware that their guests will expect a level of safety which they cannot guarantee – until a vaccine is available, and that’s a year or more away.
Not to say that Disney will remain closed for a year, but will guests risk their families with a vacation that, by its nature, means that social distancing is either highly challenging and totally impossible? Come to Walt Disney World and risk coronavirus?
What is needed now is more realism and less speculation based on a single ‘business’ source.
Stay safe!
Sure, it sounds good…but wouldn’t you rather live and not bet your life just to spend up all your money just to contract the covid19 and die for an overpriced trip?
Disney isn’t going anywhere people. It will be just as over priced and crowded as ever in 2021, so chill out.
I’m a bus driver and I sure hope they do temperature checks at the resorts before guests board my bus. 😳
June 1st seems far too early. It will take a while for Disney to set up food preparation and get staff back for one thing. Our Prime Minister Trudeau is telling fellow Canadians to expect tight social restrictions til the end of summer. Trump would open up tomorrow if he could. We need more time for this to level off. Remember how crowded the parks are. It only takes a couple of infected people touching tables or handrails for every thing to start over. Please respect social distancing so Disney can open by the Fall. Stay safe and for those of you going sooner take care and watch out for scooters and we’ll see you next Spring.
CRAZY!! So in 6 weeks I will be able to go into a Disney park with hundreds if not thousands of people and as long as I pass a temperature check I’m good to go?? I can’t even go to the grocery store without standing in line with a mask on my face waiting for my turn because they are limiting the amount of customers that can go in a store and then have to distance 6 ft apart! I can’t even go to a restaurant that seats 10-20 people in a huge space with tables set 6 ft apart because they’re closed! Kids can’t even go to school and the governor of FL has closed all NON-essential businesses. Today Florida’s numbers of infected are soaring, not to mention those that are dying!! And the peak isn’t expected until the later part of April but by June it should ALL be gone and safe enough to go pack into a Disney park or resort or pool??? TOTALLY UNREALISTIC!!! Really makes me mad as Orlando has one of the fastest growing cases right now and they think it’ll totally go away in 6 weeks?? GET REAL!! What about the people who live there or will have to work at Disney?? Yes I understand people need to get back to work but at the risk of what, making it worse?? Have they need read about China’s reinfections or Japan getting worse, several months after their peaks?? Sounds like “spring break” all over again…anything to make a buck for forget about people’s lives.
That’s perfect Judi. I really wish everyone of my good neighbour’s to the south could hear and heed the message the Canadian Prime Minister and all of the government officials in Canada are saying. Stay home and expect this to last into the summer. Michigan has the same amount of cases as Canada but with twice the amount of deaths. Stay home, stay safe and we’ll all be to Disney a lot sooner.
That’s absolutely perfect Judi. I wish everyone of our good neighbour’s to the south could hear the truth that our Prime Minister and all provincial officials are saying. Stay home and we might be out of this by end of summer. Michigan has the same amount of cases as Canada does but there are twice as many deaths. Stay safe and we’ll all be there soon.
Geez people, nothing wrong with looking forward and hoping it opens. Because that will mean a step towards normalcy. WIll it happen, by June 1 who knows. I do have confidence that Disney, when they do open, will do it right.
When they do open I would imagine it will be in stages. Disney Springs, maybe some hotels. Parks could open in stages, possibly more limited hours, restrict number of guests etc…
For those make Disney the bad guy (profit over safety), I haven’t seen anything that they have done thus far that shows that. If it was profit driven, would not have seen the agreement w/the union or the 125% credit for cruise or full cash refund, or returning cancelation fees on cruises to guest who had previously cancelled. I’m all in about the greed with ticket, food, merchandise prices, but that is NOT the case here.
Seeing as they today just announced an additional 46K employees being furloughed, I think anytime in June is optimistic. Disney will need to have new many safety measures in effect and since they have so many different facets to consider and plan for, I don’t a reopening happening at all this summer.
The real question might be….When will Disney be Allowed to Open!
I am shur that the Florida State Health Department and the State Governor will have to give the All clear before any large crowds will be allowed to assemble, and WDW is permitted to resume operation.
Temperature checks don’t help with asymptomatic carriers, and right now that percentage is understood to be very high. A temperature check would give a very false sense of security and little way of knowing who is bringing the virus into the park.
Seriously, you think State Governor is going to allow large crowds by June 1st?
As someone in the “high risk” group I am no more afraid of this then I am every year I travel to WDW during flu season when all of you have no concern for passing that around at all! Just comparison, just as contagious and deadly for the same risk group as covid-19 AND we have a vaccine for the flu but we have never done this (closed the country) before, as a person with one lung & kidney for the last 35 years I am still more worried about the flu.
US 2018 -2019 flu season
42.9 million people got sick
647,000 people were hospitalized
61,200 died
US 2017-2018 flu season
48.8 million illnesses
959,000 hospitalizations
79,400 deaths
Can’t wait to get back to Disney!!
How will the Disney parks and be able to sell merchandise ? How will they display ?
Mickey plushies are germs “bombs”…
How will states control self-isolation for 14 days.
I also don’t think Disney’s going to risk the liability just to open quicker. They’ll take reasonable precautions and I for one will not complain if they want to take my temperature, ask me to count back from 10 to 1 while I’m hopping on one foot or whatever. I’m just looking forward to going back. Currently have a trip planned for the last week of August. Fingers crossed!
I also think a June opening is highly unrealistic. In Canada, Trudeau said we are expecting on a better outcome that by summer self-isolation measures will slowly lift. Our trip is booked for August and at first I was hoping it wouldn’t get cancelled but now I’m scared to even go. Why would you want to risk the health and safety of your family, then spend all the money you’ve been saving to just be paranoid the whole entire time you’re there. I can’t wait to go but I’d rather go when it’s safe and at a time you can truly enjoy the vacation. If they do re-open in June I hope they will provide credit to those who want to re-book for a later time.
I don’t think Disney has any say so as to when they reopen! The State Governor will decide when large crowds can congregate Again!
So they are going to take temperatures and look for a fever? How are they going to determine if you have a fever? My body temperature is normally 97.4F. If I am running a temperature of 100 F, I may as well be dying! My friend has a “normal” temperature of 98.6 F. Her husband is truly “hot blooded” as his normal temperature is 99.5F. So if our temperatures are all 100 F, we have different degrees of illness! Also, how will they determine what is causing your temperature? A cold? The Flu? An infected wound? An abscessed tooth?
If Disney opens in June, will they hand out gloves, masks, eye protection? And imagine the length of lines if you have to stay six feet apart!
I want to believe – but we changed our reservation from mid-June to late July and the person on the phone said that was a “very wise decision”. She had a “hint hint” quality to her voice. Just saying. But I am still hopeful!
I believe that the federal government is protecting businesses that open/move the economy by granting them zero liability….This was the case with meat packing industry, and seems to be one of the sticking points for businesses that are reluctant to open. That said, Disney would
naturally want to protect the Disney name and not be associated with families becoming ill or dying, so I am sure they are taking a measured approach to opening. How could they ever do contact tracing for an infected person in Disney Parks; not everyone uses magic bands.
Well everyone. Today is May 13 and Shanghai Disney just opened the other day. We shall see how that goes. I’m in Florida and an annual passholder. We go all the time to Disney World. We are currently in a Phase 1 reopening of the state here in Florida. Limited to restaurants and retail, some beaches all of these with just 25% capacity allowed. We still have new cases, new deaths but it seems to have slowed down some. We shall see. June 1st is only a little over two weeks away and we are still just in Phase 1. Disney Springs is reopening on March 20th but only a few non-Disney restaurants and shops not owned by Disney are opening. Last I saw it was only 6 restaurants. Shanghai Disney first opened their Downtown Disney area about a month or so ago prior to reopening the parks there, so if Disney World does the same as Shanghai Disney it probably might do a limited opening of the parks sometime in July maybe if we are lucky. Knowing Disney they will be very careful in reopening. I heard word from the Coronavirus task force in Florida that Disney World may just open the parks for Florida residents first, then eventually to U.S. residents and lastly international people. All of this with a limited amount of people allowed on any given day until this virus goes away (if it ever does). I’d say Disney will take their time and carefully make their decision once they have a safe plan in place. In the meantime, be safe and well everyone. Wear your masks. Do social distancing! It’s for your own good so you can go back to Disney again!!!