Disney Headlines for July 1st, 2025
This week, Disney announced a sequel, Dana Walden revealed her process, the stock soared, and politicians revealed a tantalizing proposal.
THIS was a fabulous week for Disney Headlines! Let’s quickly cover the highlights.
Let’s Start with the Possibly Fake One
Look, there are no guarantees in life. I say that as Disney prepares to refurbish Spaceship Earth.
Five and a half years ago, that version of Spaceship Earth was dead. Disney had already announced its public execution.
(Mariah Wild, Photogrpher)
Fast forward to today, and it’s still here. Not only that, but Disney is probably about to modernize the interactive part of it.
So, Spaceship Earth is here to stay in its current form, the point being that anything can change with long-term theme park plans.
Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
Still, THIS is a very real Headline. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has reached an agreement.
This Florida entity has agreed with The Walt Disney Company on a 20-year development plan.
Photo: CFTOD
You don’t need to know the bureaucratic details here, just the endgame. And the endgame is the one you want.
At some point during the next 20 years, Walt Disney World will build a fifth theme park*.
Central Florida Tourism oversight district
I added an asterisk there for the same reason as the Spaceship Earth scenario. Anything could change.
If penguins suddenly invade Florida from their native homes in Antarctica, well, I think it would be a bad strategy for them.
Disney
But our new penguin overlords may not want a fifth theme park at Walt Disney World. They’d probably favor (or hate) SeaWorld.
I’m being goofy, but the point is that anything can happen. America had a military strike seven days ago.
Disney
Something like that could damage the tourism industry and wreck Disney’s finances.
Presuming that we have status quo, though, Disney WILL build this park.
My current expectation is that construction begins in the early 2030s, placing its timeline similar to Disneyland Abu Dhabi.
Also, don’t be surprised if this fifth gate is primarily indoors. Disney will probably learn from Epic Universe’s mistake.
Speaking of Disney Business
Photo: measureupgroup.com
I’m writing this on Saturday, June 28th. And given what I just mentioned, I’m no longer confident in the economy on a daily basis.
So, presuming there isn’t tariff nonsense or a declaration of war, Disney’s stock should be at or near $120 when you read this.
Photo: Bank rate
What’s the big deal there? Well, Disney has only reached those levels one time over the past three years.
Even that one should come with another asterisk as well. It occurred in the run-up to the Disney/Nelson Peltz vote.
HEIDI GUTMAN/CNBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK/NBCUNIVERSAL/GETTY IMAGES; SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY IMAGES
Since investors needed to purchase shares to vote in that battle, the stock’s price artificially increased.
Ignoring those three days in 2024, Disney’s stock position hasn’t been this lofty since April 2022!
Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
As I type this, the stock sits at $122.34. Disney last reached that level through legitimate means on April 21st, 2022.
That date reflects the beginning of the end of Wall Street’s brief infatuation with former CEO Bob Chapek.
Photo: Disney
You may not recall this now, but Chapek promised to convert Disney into a digital company.
Businesses like that multiple in value, perhaps best demonstrated recently by Nvidia.
Source: “Once Upon A Disney Wish”
Here’s a chart of Nvidia’s market cap by year. That looks like a roller coaster incline, doesn’t it?
Wall Street looooooves digital businesses. So, when Chapek made that promise, everyone believed him.
Photo: CNBC
The problem was that he overpromised and underdelivered. Since Bob Iger’s return, for all his faults, he has done the opposite.
Since that activist investor battle ended, Disney has delivered steady gains and the promise of explosive future growth.
Photo: CBR.com
You’re currently witnessing a master class in how to run a major multinational conglomerate.
Iger certainly has his fair share of critics, but the dude is objectively Disney’s best CEO since Roy Disney.
Did You Celebrate 6/26?
I’ve got the Disney Visa Card, and I often stockpile credit for Disney trips. This past week, I burned through all of it.
That’s because it was 6/26, which Disney fans know as Stitch Day. And that’s a remarkable part of Disney.
The company’s brands are so powerful that they own multiple days on the annual calendar.
We have 6/26 for Stitch and May the 4th for Star Wars. No other company even has one day.
LILO & STITCH, (aka LILO AND STITCH), from left: Maia Kealoha, Stitch (voice: Chris Sanders), 2025. © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Disney is everywhere, so much so that the company doesn’t always get out of its own way.
As proof, here’s an article about the Disney’s Hollywood Studios location where animators created Lilo & Stitch.
Photo: Amazon
In 2002, Disney produced one of its best animated movies ever, which executives finally realized in 2025.
For years now, I have marveled at the sheer volume of Lilo & Stitch merchandise available.
Photo: Disney
I’m acutely aware of it because I own most of it, including this award-winning puppet I find creepier than an A24 movie.
We celebrate 6/26 as much as Christmas in this household, and I know we’re not alone.
Photo: Spencer’s
The Wall Street Journal recently revealed one of my holy grail searches for the past decade: Stitch merchandise revenue.
In fiscal 2024, consumers purchased $2.6 billion worth of Stitch products. That’s Star Wars/Cars territory.
This Is My Shocked Face
Photo: Disney
Despite this fact, Disney never made another Stitch movie until now.
On a seemingly unrelated note, after 23 years of hype and organically grown demand, Lilo & Stitch has earned nearly $1 billion at the box office.
Photo: Disney
This happened in barely a month, and I swear to you that it will cause Disney problems on its next earnings report.
When a film stands out too much on the balance sheet, it causes problems for the following fiscal year’s calculations.
Photo: Disney
The company went through the same thing with Black Panther a few years ago. And it really is an issue.
So, Disney has done something logical. It announced this project on Stitch Day.
Why does this make sense? If Disney does some clever accounting, it can toss some of the production cost of the sequel on the original.
Basically, Lilo & Stitch performed so well that Disney gets the sequel for free…and all the money it makes.
Folks, Lilo & Stitch is legitimately a top ten brand for Disney at this point. And I’m not just saying this because I want to stay married.
Photo: Disney
Of course, there’s plenty involved with getting any sort of project off the ground.
That’s why I recommend this interview of Dana Walden by The Hollywood Reporter.
Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Walden, who remains the co-favorite to replace Iger as Disney CEO, provides insights about her Midas Touch.
The executive is currently riding an unprecedented wave of success thanks to projects like The Bear and Shogun.
(Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)
In this interview, she explains Disney’s decision-making process in greenlighting a show. It’s a fascinating insight.
Okay, that’s it for this week. Enjoy your July 4th shenanigans, everyone!
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