Walt Disney World saw “softer” financial performance in its last financial quarter, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, a sign that Orlando theme parks’ post-pandemic boom period is coming to an end.
“We saw softer performance at Walt Disney World from the prior year, coming off our highly successful 50th anniversary celebration,” Iger said during Disney’s latest earnings call on Wednesday. “As post-COVID pent-up demand continues to level off in Florida, local tax data shows evidence of some softening in several major Florida tourism markets, and the strong dollar is expected to continue tamping down international visitation to the state.”
The company’s international theme parks saw a 94 percent jump in year-over-year revenue for the quarter ending July 1. In contrast, Disney World and Disneyland saw only a 4 percent increase in revenue and a 13 percent decline in operating income.
Still, Iger said that Disney World is “still performing well above pre-COVID levels, 21% higher in revenue and 29% higher in operating income compared to fiscal 2019” — after adjusting for $100 million in “accelerated depreciation” for the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the expensive, immersive hotel near Disney’s Hollywood Studios that is shuttering in late September after less than 18 months in operation.
Disney’s local rivals Universal and SeaWorld have also reported dips in attendance at their Orlando theme parks.
Theme parks, however, were not the focus of Disney’s earnings call. With the ongoing strike of actors and writers in Hollywood and Iger’s recent comments suggesting its TV holdings, including ABC and ESPN, may not be essential to Disney’s “core” business, most analysts had questions about the company’s future structure.
Iger largely swatted them away.
“I’m not going to comment on the future structure of the company or the asset makeup of the company,” Iger said in response to a question about breaking off the TV networks into a separate business. “As I’ve said, we’re looking at strategic options both for ESPN and for the linear networks, obviously, addressing all the challenges that those businesses are facing.”
The Disney chief, who recently extended his deal to helm the company through 2026, had a similar answer when asked about speculation that all of Disney would be sold, perhaps to a “larger technology company” — a reference to Apple.
“I just am not going to speculate about the potential for Disney to be acquired by any company, whether a technology company or not,” he said. “Obviously, anyone who wants to speculate about these things would have to immediately consider the global regulatory environment. I’ll say no more than that. It’s just — it’s not something that we obsess about.”