Disney Parks just posted $8.3 billion in revenue for the fiscal third quarter of 2023, and Disney has pulled back the curtain a little bit on their theme parks performance for the quarter. The headline is that domestic revenues were up just 4% over last year, but that international theme parks have bounced back wonderfully.
Digging into the report a bit more, Walt Disney World experienced lower attendance – something that we’ve been tracking here at BlogMickey.com through the summer, and Disneyland results “were up modestly” compared to 2022. Disney blamed the decrease at Walt Disney World on “higher costs and lower volumes”.
Lower volumes at Walt Disney World were due to “decreases in occupied room nights and attendance”, whereas the increased costs to the resort were due to “inflation and accelerated depreciation related to the planned closure of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser”. Disney has previously said that they plan on writing off up to $300 million for the planned closure of the Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel.
A bright light in the theme parks earnings was the international parks, which were up 94% versus last year, contributing $1.5 billion to the $8.3 billion in topline revenue in the division. Disney says that the increase in the international segment was “due to growth at Shanghai Disney Resort and, to a lesser extent, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort”, noting that Shanghai Disney Resort was open the entirety of the third quarter this year compared to just 3 operating days in the same quarter last year. Hong Kong Disneyland was also affected by a partial closure last quarter.
For more on the Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products results, check out the full results in our earlier report.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!