Disney Digest 6/25/24 (FastPass+Lightning Lane, Hong Kong Dollars, and More)

What’s Old Is New Again

Disney will be quick to point out the slight differences between the new Lightning Lane program and the Fastpass+ program of the pre-COVID era. But the most noticeable difference is that Lightning Lane costs money. So after a tumultuous four years, we are basically back where we started with Walt Disney World having a system similar to Fastpass+ and Disneyland having something similar to MaxPass.

But now it’s an upcharge. Let’s be frank: Disney needs to drive revenue from products like this as the events of the last few years have placed them in a box that will take years to get out of. Disney has determined that the admission price increases that far outpaced inflation have to slow down. Meanwhile, due to inflation, Disney’s operating costs have increased dramatically. With Disney not having any capacity increasing experiences under construction, the only way to increase revenue is to sell additional products, such as Lightning Lane, to their existing guest base.

Part of the rationale of investing in the parks is that they can have more guests visit. New projects will hopefully inspire more folks to visit while the additional capacity will allow the parks to handle more guests, and perhaps even further easing of reservation requirements. I think all Disney fans would agree that the best way to keep the business growing is to make more cool stuff, but those things take time. Disney, while facing cash issues due to COVID and investing in streaming made the decision to slow down investment in the parks. When Bob Iger came back, he seemingly realized the foolishness and reversed course. But attractions take time, and hopefully soon, we will discover that growth will come from new offerings and not from charging for things that used to be free.

Speaking of Money

Congratulations to Hong Kong Disneyland for reaching profitability in the 2023 calendar year. This rebound, fueled by the World of Frozen and new seasonal offerings, means the resort has finally turned a page into a post-virus world. But as we know, parks cannot rest on their laurels. It will be interesting to see where the next phase of growth for the park comes from. It was expected that the opening of Shanghai Disneyland would impact visitation from mainland China, but these results show that there is a path for Hong Kong Disneyland to be successful despite its relatively close sister park.

Congrats to the entire Hong Kong Disneyland. It is hard to believe that you are approaching your 20th anniversary next year.

Heroes Play Here

Speaking of Bob Iger, he has always been supportive of Veterans issues, including launching the Heroes Work Here program in 2012. Currently, the Department of Defense’s Warrior Games is being held at Walt Disney World for the second time. Doobie has a report from the media day, but you can tell the positive impact this experience has had.

I recently flew to and from Orlando and happened to be seated near participants in the games. While I am used to seeing the excitement of folks heading to Walt Disney World, seeing how much this moment meant to the heroes that were participating warmed my heart. Thank you to all the service members, including the participants of the games, as well as the countless volunteers who are working hard to make these games a reality.

Quick Hits

6 Things to Watch For Tomorrow