Vis DisDining.com
Today the Walt Disney Company held its Q1 earnings call to discuss earnings in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. While CEO Bob Iger didn’t address any new additions or significant updates during the call, he did hint to some pretty remarkable things that are going to make Disney fans (many who have felt left out for a long time) very happy.
Chief among those is that Iger has hinted that there won’t be price increases coming to the domestic parks anytime soon. This was not a direct quote but one could infer it from statements he made including saying that recent price increases, particularly the December increases (which were put in place before Bob Chapek was fired), “alienated a lot of guests”. He went on to say that one of their core beliefs has always been that the Parks should be accessible to most people, even if it is just a once in a lifetime trip. This is a stark departure from the “playground for the rich only” mentality of Bob Chapek. This leads us to strongly believe that we won’t see steep increases in theme park tickets or resort hotels in the near future.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Park Pass Reservation system isn’t likely to go away anytime soon, but we already suspected that. Iger reiterated how integral the reduced capacity in the domestic parks has been for the guest experience. Though he again left cryptic hints about what could be on the horizon saying he is “working with Josh D’Amaro to bring franchises in to increase park capacity without sacrificing guest satisfaction.” He went on to say that they won’t increase capacity without cause but specifically mentioned park additions as means to increase capacity. He cited the Pandora the World of Avatar and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge additions and related them to increased peak attendance. Those statements coupled with the blue sky ideas pitched at D23 lead us to believe a new land or addition is coming soon!
All in all this was the most positive we have felt from an earnings call in a long time. Big things seem to be on the horizon and while Bob Iger wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details, he gave enough information to leave us very excited about what is to come. We will, of course, watch these developments closely and bring you updates as they occur.
