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Credit: Inside the MagicThink back to 2019. No one knew what COVID-19 was, and Disney just blew the doors off theme park fans with its announcements at the D23 Expo.
Bob Chapek announced that EPCOT would undergo a massive transformation, including a new Mary Poppins attraction in the United Kingdom pavilion, a complete remodel of Spaceship Earth, and the transformation of the former Body Wars pavilion into the Play! Pavilion.
Chapake also teases other projects like Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser and Avengers Campus at Disney’s California Adventure.
Then came COVID. While Disney was able to complete some of these projects, some were scrapped and, six years later, have yet to be revived.
Fast forward five years to 2024, and Disney made a massive number of announcements at last year’s D23 Expo. Disneyland will get a new Avatar Land and Coco attraction. Disney World will get a new Villain’s Land, Tropical America at Animal Kingdom, Monsters, Inc. Land at Hollywood Studios, and Cars Land replaced Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom.
With Disney pledging $17 billion for its Parks Division over the next decade, what could stop the transformation now?
And then came the tariffs—record scratch.
Last week, President Donald Trump unleashed his tariffs on the world, and the stock market reacted with a dramatic downward slide. Disney’s stock was no different. Over the past five days, Disney’s stop has dropped over 15 percent, and on Monday, it was at its lowest level since October 2023 before a slight rally in the afternoon.
Most in the market believe that Disney will see a lower demand now that consumers are facing higher prices for everyday needs, but Disney will also be facing higher costs to build its already announced projects.
Trump placed a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports, dramatically raising Disney’s costs. And Disney CEO Bob Iger has already cautioned the world that cutbacks could be coming.
Iger stopped by an ABC News staff meeting last week to discuss how to cover the new tariffs. Buried in what Iger said to the staff was a little piece of information that could derail Disney’s plans.
According to reports, Iger expressed concern over the impact tariffs could have on the company and allegedly said that they may force Disney to “scale back spending” if costs get too high.
COVID provides Iger with the precedent he needs to scale back some of the announced projects at Disney’s domestic parks. What happened at EPCOT has already been done. Just look at what became of CommuniCore Hall.
With prices rising across the board, consumers will have less disposable income for things like Disney vacations. For example, during the pandemic, consumer spending drives what Disney can accomplish next. When consumer spending drops, so will Disney’s.
Projects that have already started, like the Encanto-themed land in Animal Kingdom, will continue. However, other projects that have been announced could be shelved, and Disney fans know what happens to those.
Could the slide in Disney’s stock derail its theme park spending?