The Walt Disney Company hosted its first quarterly earnings call since Bob Iger returned as CEO of the company this afternoon, Wednesday, February 8, 2023.
During the call, Iger outlined profits and losses across all segments of the company, and the revenue increase over the last quarter for Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, and more specifically, the domestic theme parks, was astounding.
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According to the press release issued ahead of the latest earnings call, domestic Disney Parks and Experiences saw an increase of 36% over the last quarter. Operating income overall for Parks, Experiences, and Progress increased by 25% to $3.1 billion.
Comparatively, international theme parks offset the total Parks, Experiences, and Products revenues partly due to the most recent closure of Shanghai Disney Resort due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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As expected, CFO of the Walt Disney Company Christine McCarthy noted that income growth at the theme parks was largely due to increased Guest spending, though McCarthy also stated that profits would be slightly offset by higher operating costs as well.
Guest spending was increased largely due to ticket revenues with an increase in Genie+ and individual Lightning Lane purchases at both the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort. Additionally, McCarthy pointed out that occupancy rates are up on Disney Cruise Line across all ships, and the success of the Disney Wish which launched last summer, would attribute to the revenue increase, along with longer stays at other Disney Resorts.
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The revenue increases for theme parks are particularly substantial when we consider that the theme park reservation system is still in place. While Disney does not share current Park capacity numbers, executives continue to maintain that the system is providing a better Guest experience, and assuming some level of limitation is still in place, the 36% revenue increase is exceptional and therefore, visibly attributed to purchases of Genie+ and Lightning Lane.
We at Disney Tips will continue to share updates out of the latest company earnings call as they are available.