Disney, Iger Say No More New Disney Parks Are Coming

in Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World

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Credit: ITM

The Walt Disney Company is saying no more new theme parks are coming after making a shocking announcement.

Wade and Ember from Elemental smiling together
Credit: Pixar

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The last few months have been a whirlwind for The Walt Disney Company. The iconic home of Mickey Mouse has faced dozens of controversies in 2023 alone, with the last few years being especially difficult for the megacorporation. Starting with movies, The Walt Disney Company has struggled to produce as many box office hits as it used to, with recent releases like 2023’s Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny proving to be massive financial failures for the company.

Disney Pixar’s Elemental (2023) appeared to be a flop in the making, but the colorful film proved to have long legs, becoming one of the studio’s biggest earners post-COVID. Regardless, Disney still finds itself backed into a corner when it comes to finances and public reception. The transfer of power between former CEO Bob Chapek and Bob Iger can be seen as the starting point for many of Disney’s current-day headaches. Bob Chapek was an incredibly controversial figure in Disney’s history, but he was obviously dealt a difficult hand.

Chapek was given the keys to the kingdom months before a global pandemic would change the world as we once knew it. When digging into the history of Chapek’s time at Disney, one may actually find it hard to blame him for everything that went wrongThis, of course, does not mean Chapek was not responsible for Disney’s blunders during his short tenure as CEO, with Chapek leaving behind a mess for Bob Iger to take over. One of the biggest controversies Disney faced under Chapek was the dissolution of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.

reedy creek improvement district sign
Credit: WikiMedia

While the actual state takeover of this district occurred under Bob Iger, Chapek is the main reason this happened in the first place. We won’t take you through the entire history of Disney’s “Don’t Say Gay” debacle, but after Disney publicly criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new piece of legislation, all hell broke loose, and a war was effectively started between Walt Disney World and Florida itself.

While Chapek exited Disney before this occurred, the ramifications of his actions will affect Walt Disney World forever.

To take things in a little more positive direction, Disney has promised to expand and improve upon its theme parks across the world, announcing that it will be spending billions of dollars in the coming years.

Bob Iger in front of the Disney logo
Credit: Disney

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Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, along with Disney Parks, Experiences & Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro, announced this plan, as well as reiterated just how much land it has available at its gloved fingertips.

Unfortunately, Disney has seemingly said no to expansion outside of its core locations, those being Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney, Shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disney. The two executives stated that Disney has access to over 1,000 acres of land, which is the equivalent of seven new Disneyland Parks. However, a report from the New York Times claims that Disney is not looking at expanding in any new cities or areas.

Josh D'Amaro claps next to Mickey Mouse
Credit: Disney

Josh D’Amaro was even asked about building new Disney locations to rival Universal stepping into Texas, but D’Amaro replied with Disney’s current plan being to focus on “core assets.” Universal recently revealed plans to build a new, family-oriented theme park resort in Texas, making it the first to expand outside of Florida and California.

As to what Disney will do with this massive amount of land, only time will tell. Disney is currently working on massive expansions all across its collection of theme parks and resorts, with lands based on franchises like Zootopia, Frozen, and Peter Pan being finalized by Walt Disney Imagineering in both Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney, and Shanghai Disney.

At Disney’s Destination D23 event in September, it once again teased the idea of renovating DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Last year, The Walt Disney Company revealed conceptual plans to transform this space into a Zootopia-themed land. Plans have seemingly changed since then, with Disney looking at plans to turn the space into something based on Encanto (2021). Zootopia is being brought into Walt Disney World, just at a different location. For everything announced during this special event, click here.

What do you hope to see Disney do in the coming years? Where’s your favorite Disney park or resort?

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