Why Bob Iger Isn’t Worried that Disney World Seems Empty

The Walt Disney Company has certainly changed in the last few years.

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No one knows that better than CEO Bob Iger, who returned to Disney in November 2022 after previously retiring from the position. The 100th Anniversary celebration is underway, and new restaurants and resort expansions have been announced. But, Disney is also in the middle of a few lawsuits and ongoing battles in Florida. It was recently announced that Iger would stay on as CEO through 2026 so we’ve got quite a few years more with Iger at the helm. But what is Iger’s take on the sometimes surprisingly low crowds seen in the Disney World theme parks lately and the future of the parks business? Is he worried? We have an answer.

Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke with CNBC’s David Faber on “Squawk Box” on Thursday, July 13th, and shared plenty of insight into The Walt Disney Company and various parts of its business including ESPN, linear networks, and more.

For now, let’s focus on what Iger had to say about the parks!

An Empty Disney World

First up, let’s tackle some of those surprisingly low crowds we’ve seen in Disney World lately. Take the Fourth of July for example. We saw some bigger crowds arriving a few days ahead of the holiday itself, but when the 4th of July date rolled around things were…interesting. While there were certainly some heavier crowds at the Transportation and Ticket Center (Magic Kingdom parking lot) and some other spots…

Main Street U.S.A. crowds

…crowds in other areas weren’t nearly as bad. And at around 10AM, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train only had a 65-minute wait.

Crowds are light over here!

In EPCOT, there was again a higher level of crowds in some places, but other spots felt VERY empty.

Things are really calm over here

We saw something similar over Memorial Day Weekend — another time when you might expect huge crowds. Certain areas of the parks felt very packed while others weren’t too bad and overall were fairly comparable to the levels we had seen earlier in the month.

Monorail line

We’ve shared that this summer could be EMPTY at Disney World for a variety of reasons. One aspect is the lower crowd levels we’ve seen, but there are other clues pointing to an emptier summer too like a LARGE amount of discounts being offered for the hotels, continued Annual Pass availability, a large amount of Park Pass availability, and statements from Disney’s own former CFO indicating that they expected an unfavorable outcome at the parks in the second half of the fiscal year now that the 50th Anniversary has ended which could impact demand.

But is Bob Iger worried about the situation? It seems not.

During the CNBC interview, Iger shared that, in his view, a few things have changed over the past year that could be impacting Disney World’s attendance levels. Specifically, he noted that Florida opened up pretty early during the COVID-19 pandemic which created a huge demand.

According to Iger, in 2022 there wasn’t nearly as much competition in terms of where people could vacation to compared to today. He indicated that because there’s more competition today, that could be factoring into changes in crowd levels that might be observed.

Disney Crowds

He also noted that Disney tracks hotel tax revenue and that there are counties in Florida where the hotel tax revenue has been down by 6-7% lately. In fact, the Orlando Business Journal recently reported that the Orange County tourist development tax collection dropped for the second consecutive month recently. That drop does seem to reflect some “cooldowns” in “local hotel occupancy.” It seems Iger could be indicating that a drop in some vacationing in the Florida area is a problem that expands beyond just Disney.

Iger also said that Disney is aware of the discounts being offered by its competitors — another thing that could be impacting the situation. But overall, his view is that pricing is not impacting things. In fact, he specifically said, “Pricing is not an issue.”

Annual Pass

Ultimately, Iger was asked whether he’s concerned about a significant decline in attendance to which he responded that he’s not worried about it at all. He shared, “We’re not wringing our hands over it.” He also noted that Disney does NOT have “long-term concerns” about the parks business.

Disney World Theme Park Ticket Cards

Could political matters be impacting the willingness of some guests to visit Florida? Iger discussed Disney’s ongoing battles with DeSantis during another part of the interview but said that he believes the parks’ near-term issues have nothing to do with politics.

Disney World Crowds Have Gotten Unpredictable. Here’s How To Make That Not Matter.

“Turbo-Charge” Growth in the Parks Business

So what about the future of the parks business? Well, Iger seems VERY positive. He said it is actually one part of the Walt Disney Company he has huge optimism about. He noted that the investments they’ve made in the parks are really paying off today, and cited Shanghai Disneyland and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as examples of that.

He noted that he really believes in the future of that business and believes there are opportunities to “turbo-charge” growth in the parks side of the business.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Could that “growth” in the business come in the form of new investments that bring new rides or lands to the parks? It’s possible. We have seen Disney announcing some projects for the parks lately like an expansion at Disney California Adventure Park’s Avengers Campus, a Figment meet-and-greet in EPCOT, and more.

But some announcements have been unconfirmed “teases” of what may come to the parks in the future — like a potential expansion at Magic Kingdom or a possible re-theme of Dinoland, USA in Animal Kingdom. Some Disney fans may feel eager for more CONFIRMED news of changes coming to the parks, particularly Walt Disney World.

Possible Land Expansion in Magic Kingdom

So what could Disney do to “turbo-charge” growth in the parks, particularly over at Disney World, soon? We’ll have to wait and find out.

Click here to see the opening timelines Disney has confirmed for several MAJOR projects

We’ll continue to be on the hunt for more news about Bob Iger and The Walt Disney Company. The Q3 2023 earnings call will take place on Wednesday, August 9th, at 4:30PM ET, and we’ll be sharing all the news from that call. So stay tuned to DFB for the latest Disney news and more!

Click here to see 10 controversial things Iger has said about Disney’s alleged “Woke Agenda”

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What do you think about Iger’s statements? Tell us in the comments.

The post Why Bob Iger Isn’t Worried that Disney World Seems Empty first appeared on the disney food blog.

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