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Disney CEO Bob Iger has said the company has the ability to build seven full themed lands around the world, including expanding the size of Disneyland by up to 50%
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 07 Mar 2024
Bob Iger says that Disney has thousands of acres of land on which it could develop new attractions and themed worlds Credit: Disney
Disney CEO Bob Iger has said the company has the capability to build seven new lands worldwide - if it wants to.
Iger has had a significant impact on Disney’s fortunes since returning as CEO and subsequently extending his Disney contract to 2026, with the company’s Parks and Experiences unit “turbocharging growth” among other successes.
Speaking as keynote speaker at Morgan Stanley’s TMT conference this week, Iger said that the Parks and Experiences unit has shown “extraordinary” returns on invested capital, with the Disney chief pointing to “thousands of acres of land” left to still develop.
“We could actually build seven new full lands if we wanted to, around the world, including the ability to increase the size of Disneyland in California - which everybody thinks is kind of landlocked - by 50%,” said Iger.
When Iger returned to the Disney helm, the company was in need of fixing, something he admitted was “a little bit more significant or more challenging than expected”.
Fifteen months later, Iger has worked toward removing US$7.5bn (€6.8bn, £5.8bn) in costs, with the company’s streaming service notably cut back and now heading towards profitability by the end of the year. Iger has also worked on improving the Disney studio’s slate of films, including returning to a formula that saw it make just under US$30bn (€27.5bn, £23.5bn) from its 33 films inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For parks, resorts and cruise lines, Disney has promised US$60bn (€55bn, £47bn) worth of investment over the next decade to make its attractions bigger, better and more appealing than ever before.
“We're at this hard every day,” said Iger. “And when you go from fixing, which was significant and heavy lifting, to building - to really creating meaningful growth for our shareholders - the only way you achieve that is by focus.”
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