How Disney Tricked You Into Spending Money in 2023

Disney recently released its latest earning report for the first quarter of 2023.

Cinderella Castle

That report showed us a general idea of how the company is doing in terms of general revenue, streaming, and more. We also learned about how Disney Parks were doing financially, and it looks like Disney Parks are — in fact — doing VERY well.

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products revenues for the quarter increased 17 percent from $6.6 billion in April 2022 to $7.8 billion in April 2023. The segment operating income (the difference between segment net revenue and the sum of operating expenses and segment revenue) increased 23 percent from $1.7 billion in April 2022 to $2.2 billion in April 2023.

©Disney

The parks did have higher operating results for Q1 2023 due to increases at its international and domestic parks and experiences business, partially offset by lower results with Disney’s merchandising licensing business.

The growth in operating income with domestic parks and experiences has been attributed to an increase at Disney Cruise Line, partially offset by “the comparison to a real estate gain in the prior-year quarter.” These higher results with Disney Cruise Line were due to an increase in cruise days, including the addition of the newest ship in Disney’s fleet, the Disney Wish. The Wish launched in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Disney Wish at Castaway Cay

However, results at domestic parks were “slightly unfavorable” from the previous year. However, interestingly enough, a decrease at Disney World was largely offset by growth at Disneyland. So why were Disney World’s results unfavorable? Well, Disney says it’s because “higher costs reflected cost inflation, increased expenses associated with new guest offerings and higher depreciation.”

However, the company says the “increase in volumes was due to attendance growth and higher occupied room nights.”

Disney World

Over on the West Coast, though, Disneyland reported an increased operating income thanks to a growth in attendance and guest spending, partially offset by higher costs. Guests are spending more due to ticket price increases, as well as average daily hotel room rates. The increase in costs there “was primarily due to higher operations support costs and increased costs associated with new guest offerings.”

Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland

We’ll be covering even more details about the Disney Q3 earnings report and call, so be sure to stay tuned to DFB for more!

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What do you think about the Disney Parks revenue numbers? Let us know in the comments!

The post How Disney Tricked You Into Spending Money in 2023 first appeared on the disney food blog.