Best Seven Words to Describe Disney in 2024
As we reach the end of 2024, it’s time to distill 12 months of constant headlines into a few basic terms.
Here are the best words to describe Disney in 2024.
Calm
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As part of my research for today’s evaluation, I went back and looked at the past four years of this premise.
After reviewing, I realized that A) I repeated words three times in four years, which was sloppy and B) I started the annual series with eight words.


Photo: WHO
I guess I lost a word during the pandemic. Anyway, one of the concepts that became clear was how chaotic Disney had been.
We don’t think about these days much now, but March 2020 through early 2024 felt like a series of ongoing battles.


Photo:NYpost.com
Disney was fighting politicians on both sides of the political aisle; it was employing healthcare practices many disliked, and it was struggling financially.
Neither Wall Street nor Hollywood found Disney’s pandemic performance satisfactory, which is a bit ridiculous with the benefit of hindsight.


Photo: History.com
Disney weathered the storm better than all its peers in the theme park industry and (eventually) the film industry as well.
In the streaming war, only Netflix rivals Disney’s foothold in terms of revenue, subscribers, and advertising viability.


Image: The Wall Street Journal
These facts have become clear in 2024, with the primary reason being Disney is no longer under constant attack.
Now, that could change at any point – it’s an unpredictable world we live in – but it’s definitely true for a moment.



Walt Disney Company
Disney finally calmed its storm after four years of endless chaos grenades.
As you’re about to read, many of the complaints critics (relentlessly) shared about Disney have been addressed.
Right now, if nothing changes, this is the calmest Disney has been since before the pandemic.
Cinematic
We’ll discuss this situation in detail throughout our end-of-year evaluations.
Still, you don’t need to have kept up with Disney much to know the deal here.


Photo: Getty
Disney finished a frustrating 2023 where it claimed several solid hits but lacked any billion-dollar blockbusters.
Even worse, four Disney titles last year wildly unperformed, with three of them flat-out bombing.


Getty
Disney needed a comeback year at the box office in 2024. Thankfully, it got just that.
As I type this, the studio claims three of the top four blockbusters of 2024 to date. It could feasibly wind up with the top three.


(Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
In a matter of six weeks this summer, Disney fully established that it remains the seminal storytelling brand in society.
Conciliatory


Photo: Getty Images
Part of the reason why Disney has grown so calm is that it took a turn for the conciliatory in 2024.
At the start of the year, Disney was seemingly feuding with everybody.


Photo: Getty Images
Disney and the state of Florida were suing each other, while DisneylandForward’s progress had stalled.
Also, Disney stopped advertising on Twitter/X, which caused its mercurial owner, Elon Musk, to attack Disney repeatedly.


Photo: The Hollywood Reporter
As Disney entered 2024, it also wasn’t providing any political donations, an interesting decision during an election year.
Fast forward to late December, and everything has changed.


Central Florida Tourism oversight district
After the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District made some changes to Disney’s benefit, the two parties kissed and made up.
Disney got the development agreement it wanted, while both parties dropped their lawsuits.


@HazenWESH on Twitter
On the West Coast, the DisneylandForward project passed by unanimous vote, a far cry from just a few years ago.
Disney and Anaheim’s City Council were feuding then, and the Governor of California was in a battle with CEO Bob Iger, too.


Photo: Disney
Contrast that to 2024, when the same Governor attended a Disneyland After Dark event as a photo op.
On the Twitter/X front, Disney has restored a minimal amount of advertising on the service.


Photo: Disney
Finally, we have the flip side of that political component, as Disney chose to donate to members of both parties during the 2024 election.
In short, Disney laid down its weapons and chose the path of peace in 2024.
Expanding
After years of empty promises and vague blue-sky hints, Disney finally gave the people what they wanted in 2024.
Park officials revealed widespread expansion plans at virtually all Disney theme parks.


Photo: OC Register
As an extreme example, Disney California Adventure will add a new Avatar area and ride, a Coco boat ride, and two rides at Avengers Campus.
Magic Kingdom is fully reloading by rebuilding parts of Frontierland as a Cars area and finally creating a Villains themed land.


Photo: Disney
Disney’s Hollywood Studios will add a themed land based on Monsters, Inc., and Imagineers have already broken ground at the Tropical Americas.
These expansion plans are so dramatic that Disney Cruise Line will more than double the size of its fleet by 2031.


DCL
In 2023, Disney promised that it’d spend tens of billions of dollars to improve parks, resorts, and cruises.
At the end of 2024, we know much of what that entails, and the expansion plans have us all dreaming of the Disney of tomorrow.


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This is an exciting time to be a fan of Disney theme parks and other related experiences.
Modernizing
During the summer of 2024, EPCOT completed a seven-year journey to reinvent itself for modern tourists.
Since the inception of EPCOT festivals 30 years ago, fans have begged Disney for more hangout spots.
Park guests wanted to relax and enjoy the ambiance of an EPCOT festival.
Alas, doing that proved challenging due to a lack of seating and modern necessities like USB charging ports.


Photo: themeparkhipster.com
Disney finally listened, and EPCOT has become exactly what fans requested. It’s now the place to go to relax and relish your vacation.
Somehow, the modernization of EPCOT is only part of the story, though.
Disney also took a hard look at some of its least popular attractions and made some tough choices.
In 2024, we learned that we would lose the entirety of DinoLand USA and Muppets Courtyard.
Disney also shuttered Test Track 2.0 to create something fresh and current.
The same thing will happen with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster soon as well. The Muppets will replace Aerosmith as the stars of the show.


Photo: Disney
Then, we have the surest sign that Disney is modernizing and leaving part of its sacred history in the past.
Country Bear Jamboree, one of Walt Disney’s final attractions, closed for retooling.


Disney
Disney canceled the old show and introduced a new one with popular music hits from the 21st century.
Generally, park strategists have acted reverentially toward Disney classics. That’s no longer the case as of 2024.
Profitable


HEIDI GUTMAN/CNBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK/NBCUNIVERSAL/GETTY IMAGES; SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY IMAGES
Early in 2024, an activist investor and true Disney villain tried to push his way onto Disney’s Board of Directors.
Iger and his team launched the most expensive Board battle ever to ward off this attempt.


Photo: Variety
While conversing with various investment groups, Iger recognized the danger.
Wall Street viewed Disney as not concerned enough about profit margins.


Families Streaming Disney+
Iger heard the message loud and clear and focused on profitability across the Disney empire.
The results speak for themselves, as Disney has reduced its debt to the lowest total since the Fox acquisition.


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Streaming is now slightly profitable and promises significant growth this year.
Most importantly, Disney has its Experiences division, aka the theme parks division, running more smoothly than ever.


Photo: Disney Careers
You and I may not care about Disney’s profitability, but we don’t get the theme park expansion without this economic recovery.
Resurgent



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Across the board, Disney improved in calendar 2024.
Frankly, this sort of resurgence is rare among Fortune 500 companies, much less ones of Disney’s scale.


Walt Disney Company
I’ve already highlighted several of the reasons why Disney proved resurgent, but here’s a quick refresher.
Disney made peace with the legislators, the ones who ultimately decide Disneyland and Walt Disney’s World fate.


Photo: English Jargon
The company also experienced a total reversal of fortune with its movie releases and streaming business.
Somehow, the company even found a new direction for its cable television channels and ABC.


Venu
Live sports and other broadcasts carried Disney to record sports viewer totals at a time when that shouldn’t be possible.
Folks, Disney proved so resurgent in 2024 that Iger should retire now and go out on top. It’s only downhill from here.
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