2024 has been an interesting year for the Disney theme parks, with lots of changes made and new experiences opened in recent months. But has it all paid off?

Within recent months, we’ve seen CommuniCore Hall open in EPCOT, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure open in Magic Kingdom, Genie+ transformed into Lightning Lane Multi Pass, and more. On August 7th, Disney held its earnings call (and released its earnings report) for Q3 of fiscal year 2024 and now we can see just how the parks are doing from a financial perspective (and what that might mean for the future of the parks).

Overall

The Disney Experiences division includes the theme parks, Disney Cruise Line, and products.

As a whole, the division reported an overall increase in revenue by 2% between this year’s quarter 3 and last year’s quarter 3. However, operating income decreased by 3% compared to Quarter 3 2023. Revenue growth was impacted by lower consumer demand near the end of the third quarter more than what the company expected.

Comcast, which owns Universal theme parks, had posted their quarter 2 results in July and had seen a 10.6% decrease in revenue, so these results for Disney aren’t totally surprising.

Disney had in fact previously noted that the results of the third quarter were going to be impacted by a few factors, including higher wage expenses, pre-opening expenses related to the Disney Treasure and Disney Adventure, along with Lookout Cay.

A Disney executive commented, ““I think, again, we are going to be pretty consistent with what we saw in Q3. We talked about the fact that the lower income consumer is feeling a little bit of stress. The high income consumer is traveling internationally a bit more. I think you’re going to see more of a continuation of those trends in terms of the top line.”

Now, let’s take a look at how some of the different parks impacted these results.

International Theme Parks

When it comes to the international theme parks, there have been some big changes this year. This quarter, the especially large change came in the form of the opening of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea.

The international parks and experiences saw comparable operating results to the prior-year quarter. Disney attributes this to increased attendance and occupied room nights. There was growth in guest spending because of higher per-room spending at the international resorts. These increases were offset by an increase in costs because of new offerings, inflation, and increased depreciation.

Click here for a complete guide to Fantasy Springs in Tokyo DisneySea!

Disney World

Now, let’s turn to the domestic theme parks with a look at Disney World. In Q2 of fiscal year 2024, Disney saw an increase in revenue due to an increase in guest spending and higher ticket prices. So, how did this spot due in Q3?

In general, the domestic parks had a slight 3% increase in revenue, however, there was a 6% decrease in operating income. Disney attributes this loss to higher costs driven by inflation, increased technology spending, and guest new offerings. The previous year saw the closure of the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser which offset the depreciation seen this year compared to last year in this quarter.

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Disneyland

Hopping over to Disneyland, things weren’t looking all that great in Q2. The West Coast resort had lower revenue in Q2 when compared to the same quarter in the previous year. While there were higher volumes of attendance, there were lower occupied room nights at the hotels.

So did things change in Q3?

This quarter brought higher guest spending at the theme parks and higher per-room spending at the resorts. Disney also mentioned that they are continuing to expand their international and domestic offerings including the new DisneylandForward project that recently received final approval.

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Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise Line is one space where there are LOTS of new things coming. We’ve seen updates released recently about the Disney Treasure, Disney Destiny, and Disney Adventure — 3 NEW ships coming to the fleet in the future.

So how did this division do in Q3?

Disney saw an increase in per capita guest spending at Disney Cruise Line. Three new ships are in development for FY 25 and FY 26 — Disney Treasure, Disney Adventure, and Disney Destiny. They also recently announced an agreement with the Oriental Land Company to bring the Cruise Line to Japan.

Click here to learn all about cruising with Disney

Consumer Products

And finally, let’s look at consumer products. Consumer products saw a decrease of 3% in Revenue, but a 2% increase in operating income. Disney is working with Epic Games to bring Disney brands and franchises to the Fortnite world. They hope to capitalize on the “transformative industry-wide shift toward converged gaming ecosystems.”

That’s a full look at what’s going on with Disney Experiences. But, of course, things are subject to change as future announcements are made so stay tuned for all the latest updates!

What do you think about these updates? Let us know in the comments.