Answering Your Basic Disney Park Questions
From time to time, I like to know what’s on everyone’s mind as they think about Disney theme parks.
So, I’ll visit a search engine (or five) and read what the most popular queries are at the time.
Photo:Rappler
These answers change on a daily and even hourly basis, but it’s still fun to find out what Disney fans want to know.
Today, I’ll answer some of your basic park questions based on searches done at Answer the Public and QuestionDB.
Was Disney the First Theme Park?
Yes and no. The answer depends on how you evaluate the word, “first.”
A man named Louis J. Koch founded a place called Santa Claus Land in 1946.
Photo: Business World
Now known as Holiday World, the park fittingly resides in Santa Claus, Indiana.
So, that’s the argument this park makes regarding why it was first. However, Santa Claus didn’t include any adult rides at first.
Photo: Holiday World
Santa Claus Land started charging admission in 1955, which is the same year that Disneyland Park opened.
There’s no debate about which park earned more recognition.
Photo:Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images
ABC estimated that 90 million people watched Disneyland’s opening day.
No matter which theme park technically opened first is thereby irrelevant. It’s Disneyland that popularized the concept.
Photo: Disney
As a comparison, remember that Google was by no means the first search engine, but it’s by far the most famous.
What Is Early Theme Park Entry?
Photo: Disney
When guests stay at an official Walt Disney World hotel, they gain an added benefit called Early Theme Park Entry.
Disneyland Resort offers a similar amenity as well. The idea is quite simple.
You can enter the theme park 30 minutes before it officially opens to guests.
This amenity basically authorizes you to ride one of the park’s most popular attractions before it officially opens to guests.
Which Disney Theme Park Is Biggest?
Shanghai Disney
This answer depends on how you define biggest…and also what you count when measuring.
For example, Shanghai Disneyland Resort covers 963 acres of space, but that’s for the entire campus, including hotels and Disneytown.
In terms of sheer park size, nothing else can match Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which combines theme park attractions with animal habitats.
That park covers an almost incomprehensible 580 acres of space, making it the size of a decent-sized city.
However, I suspect the real question here is, “Which Disney theme park entices the largest number of tourist visits.”
We’ve got a close race for this one, but the answer is Magic Kingdom, which hosted 17.72 million guests in 2023.
Disneyland Park slotted just behind it with 17.25 million. So, Disney’s most famous parks are also its most popular ones.
Which Disney Theme Park Is the Newest?
Photo: Disney
This question has two answers as well, depending on your interpretation.
As far as theme parks go, Shanghai Disneyland is definitely the newest, having opened in 2016.
Photo: Deadline
This was the passion project of then-CEO Bob Iger and the head of Disney Parks at the time, Bob Chapek.
Shanghai Disneyland infamously ran late and over budget, creating a rift between the two men that never truly went away, even after Chapek succeeded Iger as CEO.
Photo: Willow Bay on Instagram (via PEOPLE)
In terms of the newest American park, that answer is Disney California Adventure, which debuted in 2001.
At Walt Disney World, Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the newest park, having opened in 1998.
Rumors persist of a new Disney theme park opening in a few years, with the prevailing before being it’ll be an international park as well.
Why Can’t Disney Build in Anaheim?
Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort
Oh, but they can! Presumably, this question comes from someone who is blissfully unaware of the protracted DisneylandForward negotiations.
Historically, Disney could build at Disneyland Resort.
(Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort)
Unfortunately, park officials couldn’t pick where they wanted, though.
Zoning ordinances prevented construction in the places where Disney executives preferred.
AARONP/BAUER-GRIFFIN/GC IMAGES
So, Disney engaged in multi-year negotiations with the Anaheim government before eventually agreeing to a proposal.
Now, Disneyland can and will add more attractions and experiences in the coming years.
Why Can’t Disney Build in Florida?
Photo: Getty Images
This question is similarly outdated, although understandably so.
For a period of roughly two years, Disney engaged in the Florida Feud, wherein politicians from one political party targeted the company.
Photo: Getty Images
As an outcome of that feud, Florida reinvented the former Reedy Creek Improvement District as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD).
The original members of that board were openly hostile to Disney.
Photo: Ron DeSantis
However, once Governor Ron DeSantis’ Presidential campaign failed, he returned to Florida as a term-limited politician.
At that point, he changed the composition of the CFTOD and placed a former Disney lobbyist, Stephanie Kopelousos, in charge.
Photo: The Wall Street Journal
Soon afterward, Disney and the CFTOD reached an agreement on a new development plan, with Disney dropping its lawsuit.
While the new setup isn’t quite as favorable to Disney, the parties appear to have kissed and made up, with Disney World theme parks adding new attractions soon.
Is Disney Building a New Park in Orlando?
One of the links in the past section addresses part of this answer.
As part of the new developer agreement, Disney secured the right to create a fifth theme park at Walt Disney World.
The fatal accident occurred on EPCOT Center Drive within the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Photo: CFTOD
That’s important to Disney in that before the CFTOD overtook the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the company had added that park into its own developer agreement.
So, Disney has afforded itself the ability to build a new theme park in Orlando. In fact, it’s done so twice.
Photo: Fox News
But the timing suggests that even if/when this does happen, it could be as long as 15 years from now.
For all intents and purposes, the answer is no for at least a year.
When the Destination D23 event occurs in the fall of 2025, the answer could change.
Since Destination D23 takes place in Orlando, Florida, that’s the ideal location to confirm a fifth gate.
Does Disney Make Money on Theme Parks?
Photo: skillastics.com
Yes! Of course, the answer is yes! How could it not be?!
In truth, the Disney Experiences division is among the most lucrative parts of the Disney empire.
Photo: Washington Post
During fiscal 2023, this segment earned an almost incomprehensible $32.549 billion.
That number represents 36.6 percent of Disney’s total revenue!
Even more remarkably, Disney Experiences netted $8.954 billion in operating income.
So, this division takes in 27.5 percent more revenue than it spends. That’s the breathing definition of a high-margin business.
Walt Disney Company
Note that fiscal 2024 has ended as of September 30th, 2024.
However, Disney won’t publish that data for another few weeks.
The expectation is that Disney Experiences growth will be similar, but the operating income (i.e., the profit) may be slightly lower.
How Many Disney Theme Parks Are There?
Oh, good! We get to end with an easy one. The answer to this question is six!
Here’s the list of current Disney theme parks:
- Disneyland Paris
- Disneyland Resort
- Hong Kong Disneyland
- Shanghai Disneyland
- Tokyo Disney Resort
- Walt Disney World
Photo: Disney
Note that Disney doesn’t own Tokyo Disney. A local entity, The Oriental Land Company, has licensed the Disney brand here.
Shanghai Disneyland technically has a majority partner named Shanghai Shendi Group, but Disney also owns 43 percent.
Photo: Disney
Disneyland Paris formerly had a similar setup, but Disney purchased full control in 2017.
So, Disney fully owns and operates four theme parks, (nearly) half-owns another, and has licensed a sixth.
Photo: Playbuzz.com
Hmm, maybe that answer wasn’t as easy as I thought.
Anyway, if you have any other questions, please let us know. I’ll answer them in a future article.
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