The Walt Disney Company has released its Q1 2025 earnings, and while the topline revenue was up some 3%, operating income at the domestic theme parks was down 5%. Disney says that the two hurricanes that moved through Florida had a negative impact on Walt Disney World operations. Disney’s fiscal Q1 2025 ended December 28, 2024. Here’s a breakdown.
Disney Parks Revenue Up to $9.4 Billion, Operating Income Dips
Overall, the Experiences business pulled in $9.4 billion in revenue and $3.1 billion in operating income. This represented a 3% bump in topline revenue and flat operating income. Despite a little bit of a rough start to the fiscal year from an income perspective, Disney is still forecasting 6% to 8% operating income growth for the Experiences line of business.
Disney adjusted down the actual impact of Hurricanes Milton and Helene to $120 million. Previously, Disney forecasted an impact of $130 million. Another significant impact on the domestic revenue was pre-opening expenses of roughly $75 million for the Disney Treasure cruise ship.
Disney says that domestic attendance for the quarter was down 2% and hotel occupancy was flat. Per guest spending was up 4%.
Here’s a breakdown of revenue and operating income by segment within the Disney Experiences line of business:
- Domestic Parks: Revenue was up 2% to $6.4 billion, but operating income dipped 5% to $1.9 billion. Disney says that Domestic parks and experiences’ operating results for the current quarter were unfavorably impacted by Hurricane Milton and, to a lesser extent, Hurricane Helene. As a result of Hurricane Milton, Walt Disney World Resort was closed for a day and we canceled a cruise itinerary.
Disney says that operating income was also down due to higher costs due to fleet expansion at Disney Cruise Line and inflation. There was also a dip in attendance, which Disney says was due to the impact of hurricanes. That said, there was higher guest spending. - International Parks: International theme parks saw a 12% increase in revenue, up to $1.6 billion, and a whopping 28% jump in operating income to $420 million. Disney says that there was higher attendance and guest spending, only offset by an increase in costs due to some new guest offerings.
Disney offered the following executive statement about the Experiences division’s performance in Q1 2025.
Our Q1 results for our Experiences segment demonstrated Disney’s strong and enduring appeal in family travel. We continue work on a robust slate of new projects as we bring our most popular IP to life in innovative ways and execute against a carefully designed and planned investment strategy. We also remain deliberate about pricing and the guest experience, and are focused on providing guests great value with a vast array of options to visit our theme parks.
This quarter we successfully launched the Disney Treasure – the sixth ship in Disney Cruise Line’s fleet – and we opened Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland Resort as well as the new Island Tower at Walt Disney World’s Polynesian Village Resort. Looking ahead, we are excited to kick off Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration in May and Hong Kong Disneyland’s 20th anniversary celebration later this year. And there are another seven cruise ships in development, with two expected to launch toward the end of calendar year 2025 – the Disney Destiny and the Disney Adventure – as we leverage this growing business to bring our beloved IP to more corners of the globe.
Overall, this quarter proved to be a strong start to the fiscal year. We are optimistic about the year to come, and we remain confident in our strategy for continued growth.
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!
