Disney IP anchors theme parks. Here is why it really works

The “Happiest Place on Earth” turns 70 this week.

Disneyland, a pillar of the Anaheim, California, neighborhood since 1955, was a ardour undertaking of founder Walt Disney, a spot the place adults and their youngsters might have enjoyable collectively. It additionally served as a spot the place the longtime media firm might showcase and weave collectively completely different items of its enterprise from movies, tv exhibits and comedian strips to music and merchandising.

Disney’s portfolio of mental property has been the bedrock of its theme parks because the very first location opened its doorways. Lately, the corporate’s experiences division, which incorporates parks, resorts, cruises and shopper merchandise, stays one in all its greatest revenue drivers. Working revenue for the unit for fiscal 2024 was greater than double that of the content-centric leisure division, the place the IP originates.

Disneyland in Anaheim started with greater than a dozen sights, a lot of which had been pulled straight from Disney’s archive of theatrical movies. Amongst them had been Mad Tea Celebration based mostly on “Alice in Wonderland,” Mr. Toad’s Wild Journey from “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White’s Enchanted Want and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

Over the previous seven many years, Disney has opened a complete of 12 theme parks throughout the US, Europe and Asia, with one other set to open in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, within the coming years. It additionally has a fleet of cruise ships, which is ready to double by 2031, and practically 60 resort resorts and trip properties globally.

“When you return now 70 years in the past, Walt knew the nice tales that he was creating, if he mixed these with the applied sciences that had been at hand on the time with this concept of an immersive expertise that he might create one thing that nobody else had ever carried out,” mentioned Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Walt Disney’s parks and resorts. “And it actually set the Disney model aside.”

The primary rides at Disneyland had been interspersed with unique creations like Jungle Cruise, Autopia and the Disneyland Railroad.

Whereas Disney would convey various non-IP sights to life over the following few many years — Matterhorn Bobsleds, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Large Thunder Mountain and Area Mountain, amongst them — within the final decade, the corporate has dedicated to using its current catalog of tales to gas new and up to date sights in its home and worldwide theme parks.

Chief amongst his acquisitions was securing the IP for Star Wars and Indiana Jones — two of the largest franchises of the time — based on Gavin Doyle, founding father of MickeyVisit.com. Eisner “went and licensed it and introduced it into the parks,” Doyle mentioned.

A long time later, Disney acquired Lucasfilm, which owns each movie franchises, and expanded their presence.

In 2019, the corporate opened two similar Star Wars-themed lands, one in Florida at Hollywood Studios and one in California at Disneyland. A brand new Indiana Jones attraction is deliberate for Disney’s Animal Kingdom as a part of the park’s new Tropical Americas space. It’s set to open in 2027.

Final 12 months, income development in Disney’s experiences division was the strongest of any Disney division.

Experiences posted file income and revenue for fiscal 2024, with income rising 5% for the total 12 months to $34.15 billion and working revenue up 4% to $9.27 billion.

Heading into 2025, the corporate mentioned it anticipated to see 6% to eight% revenue development for experiences in fiscal 2025 — and that is earlier than it breaks floor on a slew of deliberate land expansions, new rides and re-themed sights.

“Whereas investor focus understandably stays on near-term attendance and shopper spending traits, renewed momentum in creating profitable content material with Disney’s premium IP play a vital function in producing long-term earnings energy throughout parks, Disney+ and accelerating the distinctive benefit of the Disney flywheel throughout its portfolio,” mentioned Robert Fishman, analyst at MoffettNathanson.

Disney is relying closely on IP as a part of its 2023 pledge to make investments $60 billion in experiences over the following decade.

On the docket is a brand new villains land coming to Magic Kingdom, a “Monsters Inc.” land at Hollywood Studios, an “Encanto” experience at Animal Kingdom and the enlargement of Avengers Campus with two new sights. Disneyland can be anticipated to open a brand new Avatar space impressed by the surroundings within the upcoming “Avatar: Hearth and Ash.”

After all, these new developments additionally include some drawbacks. Fan-favorite rides and even complete lands have shuttered or been re-themed in consequence.

Anaheim’s A Bug’s Land closed in 2018 so the house could possibly be used to construct Avengers Campus, a Marvel-themed land. DinoLand at Animal Kingdom is disappearing to create space for the brand new Tropical Americas space. At Magic Kingdom, Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Sq. Riverboat have shut right down to make room for an space referred to as Piston Peak — a second Vehicles-themed land modeled after America’s pure parks.

For particular person rides, the latest change was the re-theming of Splash Mountain at each Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It was refreshed as Tiana’s Bayou Journey, based mostly on the characters from “The Princess and the Frog.”

Whereas some Disney parks followers have balked on the modifications the corporate has made to the parks, the technique has expanded the corporate’s fan base and pushed income development throughout its international footprint.

“It is fascinating as a result of the IP shouldn’t be at all times for probably the most vocal theme park fan,” Doyle mentioned. “By definition, the IP is supposed to broaden the viewers.”

“The entire firm’s premised on entertaining, nice storytelling,” D’Amaro mentioned. “And in all of our tales, whether or not they be in animation or by means of our conventional characters or Star Wars or Marvel or Pixar, there’s this sense of connection to those characters. There’s this emotion that is created, after which we supply that by means of into the theme parks.”