Disney Rumors for March 2023
Frozen is coming to half the Disney theme parks in the world…but not the one you visit.
We’ll talk about Disney’s potential plans here, plus the way the company is improvising while facing budget cuts. It’s an odd mix of Disney Rumors this month.
More Budget Cuts???
Let’s start with the frustrating news that Disney history just repeated itself.
Early in the pandemic, park officials learned that new Disney CEO Bob Chapek had cut the budget by nearly $1 billion.
Chapek reduced park-related capital expenditures (CapEx) by $900 million, which wasn’t surprising.
Remember that Disney suddenly found itself missing half its anticipated revenue, causing a stock drop from an all-time high to an eight-year low.
Throughout the pandemic, I stated that the reductions would prove temporary, a statement that only partially proved correct.
Disney eventually upped the CapEx budget enough that the real decline came closer to $700 million.
Alas, Disney’s stock price has fallen due to arcane Wall Street reasons involving profit margins and a lack of a stock dividend.
Disney faced a threat from a notoriously penny-pinching billionaire activist investor. To eliminate that distraction, returning CEO Bob Iger made concessions.
Most significantly, Disney has once again reduced capital expenditures by $700 million in fiscal 2023.
Before you freak out, I must stress that this isn’t the setback you may fear. It’s more of a temporary inconvenience while Disney balances its books.
Several Disney projects will be completed this year. Notably, The Villas at Disneyland Tower just confirmed a September opening.
Meanwhile, Mickey’s Toontown reopens in its new form in March followed by Magic Kingdom’s version of Tron Lightcycle Power Run in April.
The other significant American project in the offing, Journey of Water | Inspired by Moana, debuts later in 2023.
So, Disney is between constructions for the most part. Imagineers are currently working on an expansion at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and that’s about it.
For this reason, Disney can streamline the budget from now through September without doing any long-term harm. And that brings us to…
Cheap, Great Entertainment
During the most recent fiscal earnings call, Iger stated something crucial.
Disney’s returning CEO indicated that he had often communicated with Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro about integrating more intellectual properties at theme parks.
That’s a strange thing to say when you’ve announced a CapEx cut of $700 million. It’s that much odder since Iger also revealed an Avatar experience coming to Disneyland Resort.
The next Avatar creation of any kind that comes in under budget will be the first.
Why would Disney simultaneously announce a theme park budget cut AND an Avatar experience?
The answer involves a new approach to the parks, one that provides copious amounts of entertainment for a fraction of the cost of new attractions.
Let’s start with the surprise announcement for Rogers: The Musical. When Hawkeye debuted on Disney+, it instantly went viral due to this clip:
To its credit, Disney leaned hard into the phenomenon, releasing a full version that Christmas:
Then, the D23 Expo offered a live performance that left fans euphoric:
Now, Disney California Adventure park guests can watch the show live this summer at the Hyperion Theater.
This entertainment isn’t cheap per se due to the large number of cast members, but it’s frugal compared to, say, the previously announced King Thanos ride.
This announcement comes on the heels of recent character interaction additions like Chip ‘n’ Dale and The Incredibles.
These new engagements work perfectly from Disney’s perspective. They siphon guests out of the most crowded attraction line queues.
Meanwhile, they direct-dial the people interested in the experiences. If you don’t like Chip ‘n’ Dale, you’ll pay no attention. If you love the Rescue Rangers, it’s a must-do.
This kind of park content makes both practical and economic sense. So, we should expect much more of it.
Bigger Plans Abroad
Over the next 18 months, Disney unveils the future of theme park design.
Three different international Disney parks will reveal their versions of World of Frozen, a themed land based on Arendelle.
Disney recently showed its vision for World of Frozen. You can watch a video in this tweet:
Hoo-hoo 👋 Want a look at how Imagineers build a land? This land animatic of #WorldofFrozen coming to Hong Kong Disneyland shows in video what it will look like once finished. Used alongside models & concept artwork, this ensures all teams are on the same page! #FirstLookFromHKDL pic.twitter.com/ahSSF8zBO8
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) February 23, 2023
Not coincidentally, Disney also announced a third Frozen film coming to theaters at a later date.
You should expect some movement on a Frozen themed land at Walt Disney World around the same time Frozen 3’s release date approaches.
Disney announced the themed land coming to Hong Kong Disneyland in 2016. We’re in 2023, and it still hasn’t opened yet due to the pandemic.
Based on development at Disneyland Paris and its ETA for World of Frozen, we can safely speculate that this build takes three or four years.
If Disney announced something later this year, that would place the arrival time in 2027 or 2028.
That’s why the CapEx cut isn’t a big deal. Due to the pandemic, Disney’s between projects right there. It’s a rare gap in the schedule.
Park officials have done a good job in hinting (if not outright saying) what’s coming next, but we know it’ll be a few years.
Still, World of Frozen looks like it’ll be worth the wait. The Frozen fractal designs mesh perfectly with the Norwegian architecture.
One building shows the thematic entrance to Elsa’s Palace. Then, a later shot displays the ice castle in all its splendor.
Finally, Disney highlights the upcoming thrill rides, especially Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs. It looks like a modern take on Matterhorn Bobsleds.
Overall, this video hints at the same trajectory as Tron Lightcycle Power Run. A different park gets the first one, but Walt Disney World catches up later.