I keep saying this - Disney does not need Florida. At all. Since their redirection in the Aughts, Disney has been exclusively in the business of the long game. This is why they bought Star Wars with zero concrete ideas on what to do with it. They saw how adult dismissal of the prequels gave way to ironic appreciation and genuine youth appreciation, because Star Wars doesn't have to be good to be profitable - it's fucking Star Wars. same with the Muppets, and Marvel, etc etc.
Disney is well aware of what is coming, ecologically, for Florida. Upkeep costs of a mini-city in a slowly sinking swampland are only rising, and some day the balance sheets will no longer make financial sense. Disney is going to squeeze everything they can from Florida before having to make decisions "with a heavy heart" and all that bs, probably in 50 years or so. And they already built an escape bunker in Shanghai (complete with Winnie the Pooh ride!), so...
Disney sure is making a lot of big investments at disneyworld for a company that plans to leave. The cost of building those new rides is not made up over a few years. disneyworld isn't going anywhere it is the park that brings all the traffic.
Not really. If they actually thought Florida was key to long-term success, they would be fighting a lot harder against the very strong pushes Universal has made than refitting the least popular park with Avatar theming and a single ride. It is a testament to just how much of a profit Disney parks turn that they can continue to expand without eating too much into their margins. The upsell works, because they are selling a fantasy, one of the most lucrative markets out there.
And again, they have Shanghai. Much much bigger market, and it's a market that has been rapidly rising out of abject poverty and is eager to capitalistically consume and indulge.
I keep saying this - Disney does not need Florida. At all. Since their redirection in the Aughts, Disney has been exclusively in the business of the long game. This is why they bought Star Wars with zero concrete ideas on what to do with it. They saw how adult dismissal of the prequels gave way to ironic appreciation and genuine youth appreciation, because Star Wars doesn't have to be good to be profitable - it's fucking Star Wars. same with the Muppets, and Marvel, etc etc.
Disney is well aware of what is coming, ecologically, for Florida. Upkeep costs of a mini-city in a slowly sinking swampland are only rising, and some day the balance sheets will no longer make financial sense. Disney is going to squeeze everything they can from Florida before having to make decisions "with a heavy heart" and all that bs, probably in 50 years or so. And they already built an escape bunker in Shanghai (complete with Winnie the Pooh ride!), so...
Disney sure is making a lot of big investments at disneyworld for a company that plans to leave. The cost of building those new rides is not made up over a few years. disneyworld isn't going anywhere it is the park that brings all the traffic.
Not really. If they actually thought Florida was key to long-term success, they would be fighting a lot harder against the very strong pushes Universal has made than refitting the least popular park with Avatar theming and a single ride. It is a testament to just how much of a profit Disney parks turn that they can continue to expand without eating too much into their margins. The upsell works, because they are selling a fantasy, one of the most lucrative markets out there.
And again, they have Shanghai. Much much bigger market, and it's a market that has been rapidly rising out of abject poverty and is eager to capitalistically consume and indulge.