Disney’s theme park expansion comes alongside the winds of change

Disney, similar to a player about to start their first RollerCoaster Tycoon adventure, is embarking upon a massive theme park expansion.

Over the weekend, the entertainment giant announced a series of new theme-park attractions set to roll out in the near future as part of its recent $60 billion investment in experiences.

A few examples:

• Villains Land, home of the company’s beloved (and feared) antagonists, breaks ground at Disney World in 2025.
• The first-ever Monsters Inc. Land is coming to Disney World’s Hollywood Studios, with construction starting next year.
• A reimagined Indiana Jones experience and a new Encanto ride will replace Disney World’s DinoLand USA starting in 2027.
• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – a redesigned version of Splash Mountain – is opening at Disneyland this fall.

The new park attractions come at a pivotal time for the House of Mouse. Last week, the company reported its first-ever streaming profit. But it also revealed weaker-than-expected results from its theme parks division due to higher operating costs and lower demand, which Disney says will continue in the coming quarters.

🔄 This marks a Freaky Friday-like flip-flop from recent years. Since the launch of the company’s streaming division in November 2019, strong sales and profits at theme parks have helped offset a combined $11+ billion in losses from Disney’s streaming ventures. As Michael Scott would say: Oh how the turn tables.