Disney Reveals Guest Spending Is Up 40% at Parks

Despite the controversy, people seem to keep visiting the Disney Parks in swarms, spending record amounts.

Today, Disney had its Earnings Results Webcast, discussing how the company has done during the second quarter of 2022. We covered the call and throughout the meeting, several higher-ups at Disney, including CEO Bob Chapek discussed all the major facets of the company like its streaming service Disney+, its movies, and television content, and of course, its Parks division. Disney Parks reported they brought in $6.7 billion in revenue in Q2, an impressive number when compared to last year’s $3.2 billion.

This marked a whopping $3.5 billion increase. The Walt Disney Company claims that the revenue growth is primarily due to the domestic Parks, with a slight increase in revenue at the international Parks.

Disney also claimed a big part of that revenue comes directly from Guests visiting the Parks, citing that per-capita spending is up 40%.

CEO Bob Chapek praised the domestic Disney Parks for revenue growth and attributed billions in revenue to “strong demand with customized and personalized Guest experience enhancements”. These “enhancements” he was talking about are surely the near-limitless amounts of merchandise Guests can find in the Parks as well as newer services like Genie+ and Lightning Lane.

Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane were released last year to lots of confusion and frustration, leaving some Guests feeling confused by the service. In theory, this paid service should enhance Guests’ experience at the Parks, but in practice, it seems to just be an expensive itinerary planner for some, while others love it. These paid services allow Guests to skip lines for a price, meaning Disney now has a financial incentive to have long lines.

At Disney World, for $15.00 per day per Guest, you can skip the long standby queue by making a Lightning Lane reservation (new FastPass) and returning at that time. At Disneyland, the cost is slightly higher at $20.00 per hour.

In the past few months and years, we have seen several price increases when it comes to tickets and admission, most recently with the annual Halloween party at Walt Disney World. You can read the full earnings report here.

What do you think of these numbers?

Let the expert team at Academy Travel help you plan your next magical vacation to Disneyland Resort, including Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, and the Downtown Disney District. Or what about Walt Disney World Resort’s four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — and the Disney Springs shopping and dining district!