The One Thing that Can Make or Break Disney's $60B Expansion Plans
Details may be lacking, but one thing is clear: if Disney doesn't get the guest experience right with their big expansion plans, they risk alienating the existing core group of guests (and the 700 million new guests they're targeting for Disney Parks attendance).
Listen to the Disney Travel News Podcast
Disney's Global Parks Expansion Plans Sound Great, But Details are Lacking and there are some Risks
In the last episode, we discussed the potential future developments for Disneyland and, as if on cue, Bob Iger and Disney executives shared a little more this week about the Disney Company's future park investments around the globe. Here's what we know and what it may mean for you, the Disney traveler.
The Disney Company is working on plans to increase the timing and investments in Parks, Experiences and Products globally. They plan to almost double the spend over the next 10 years to roughly $60 billion, including both American and international parks and Disney Cruise Line (not to mention DVC).
Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro met with Wall Street analysts and investors at Disney World to discuss how they plan to invest in experiences that leverage the ever-growing library of Disney stories.
Which Disney Stories will Be Featured at New Disney Parks in North America?
Not unlike Destination D23, this presentation was a lot of talking with little detail.
Disney does plan to fuel future growth with stories that haven't had a significant presence in parks. We know that Frozen-themed lands are coming to Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort, and that a Zootopia-themed land is coming to Shanghai Disney Resort. But Disney specifically stated it will explore even more characters and franchises, including some they've never done before.
“We have a wealth of untapped stories to bring to life across our business,” said D’Amaro. “Frozen, one of the most successful and popular animated franchises of all time, could have a presence at the Disneyland Resort. Wakanda has yet to be brought to life. The world of Coco is just waiting to be explored. There’s a lot of storytelling opportunity.”
No Shortage of Park Space for Disney to Build
In a shot likely aimed at Universal, Josh D'Amaro said “We stand alone when it comes to scale and while our scale is impressive, we have no shortage of space or regions of the world in which to tell new stories.”
Disney Parks has over 1,000 acres of land for possible future development to expand theme park space across its existing sites – the equivalent of about seven new Disneyland Parks.
Disney to Focus on Converting Disney Consumers Who’ve Never Been to a Park
For every park visitor today there are 10 other Disney consumers who've never visited a park. So DIsney has a plan to convert those 700 million Disney fans to become park guests. That's a lot of people in Disney Parks.
This sounds great if you're a Disney exec, but could prove to be a nightmare for Disney travelers who sometimes have to navigate parks that are already over crowded. How they do this is critical.
“Ultimately what is most important to us is the relationship that we have with every guest,” said D’Amaro. “Guests can spend a day with us at our Parks, a week with us on a Cruise, or the rest of their lives with us through Disney Vacation Club membership.”
What Disney needs to consider is that every guest includes existing loyal Disney travelers. It will be a balancing act to bring in that many more new visitors, without disrupting the experience for everyone (and that includes convoluted tech processes for just about everything).
The Grand Vision to Make Every Disney Fan a Disney Vacation Club Member
Having enough hotel space is critical to making this vision work. While they did not mention hotels, they did talk about Disney Vacation Club (DVC).
The DVC expansion strategy is currently to have a thousand new "keys" (aka DVC rooms) coming on board by the end of 2024. That's a lot of new DVC members.
340 DVC rooms came online with the opening of DVC Disneyland Hotel in September and
there will be approximately 360 Fort Wilderness cabins opening in 2024,
plus approximately 270 new Polynesian Villas also in 2024.
Having every possible guest become a DVC member is clearly a "key" strategy for Disney.
So what does that mean for the future of Disney travel and the management of crowd levels and an overall enjoyable experience? Only time will tell. For now let's focus on the positive fact that somehow somewhere, there will be a new park or parks at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Thank You for Listening to the Disney Travel Podcast
Thank you very much for listening to this episode, Amelia and I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, we would be very grateful if you could rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts/iTunes (or on whichever app you choose to listen). A brief review about what you liked most about an episode truly helps to keep the show going by exposing it to new listeners. We look forward to continue producing new episodes each week.
Sharing the podcast with your friends and on social media is also extremely helpful and very much appreciated.
Contact 1923 Main Street
Thank you for listening to the Disney Travel News Podcast at 1923MainStreet.com. As always, we love to get feedback and questions from our listeners and to hear your suggestions and ideas for future episodes.
Please be sure to follow along on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Help support the show by shopping at the Emporium at 1923 Main Street for original apparel and merchandise, inspired by the magic.
Thank you for listening and have a magical day!
Mike Belobradic and Amelia Belobradic