Disney Just Told Us a Lot About Its Future
The Walt Disney Company recently shared its latest quarterly earnings.
Ordinarily, these reports include some details, but you really must search for them.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
This time proved different due to Disney’s recent change in leadership.
Josh D’Amaro took this opportunity to explain his ideas as the company’s new CEO.
Photo: Disney
He was remarkably transparent about his plans for his dream job.
So, Disney just told us a lot about its future. Let’s discuss a few highlights.
Disney Has Entered Its Gaming Era
Here’s a link to Disney’s latest earnings report.
I encourage you to scroll/swipe down to page six. You didn’t expect that, did you?
Photo: Disney
Yes, you’re looking at a picture of The Simpsons and Fortnite.
This phase of the game was only available for a limited time and has already ended.
Disney+
D’Amaro mentions it to emphasize the possibility of Disney as a digital company.
He wants investors to consider the tantalizing potential of Disney as a gaming company.
Fortnite
The earnings report casually tosses in a staggering stat about The Simpsons.
The beloved show’s Fortnite collaboration caught the attention of 80 million gamers.
Credit: Disney
They collectively played the Springfield version of Fortnite for 780 million hours.
Folks, that’s more than 89,000 years! Companies would pay a fortune for that level of engagement.
Photo: EPIC Games
Remarkably, Disney has gotten it for free…well, other than the ten percent stake in Epic Games.
Disney is likely to get its money back on that and then some, as Epic’s a great company.
Variety
To that end, we’re apparently getting a Disney x Epic game later in 2026.
Two other games were in progress, although one has allegedly been canceled.
Photo: Disney, Epic Games
D’Amaro clearly anticipates Disney to be a major force in gaming from now on.
He notes, “(games are) an increasingly relevant medium for younger audiences to engage with characters and stories.”
Photo: Epic Games
The CEO elaborates on how this collaboration fits in Disney’s ecosystem.
“Disney+ is the hub, but the hub needs spokes.” And Fortnite is a big spoke.
The Theme Parks Wars Are Over
For a long time, MickeyBlog played along with the media narrative of the Theme Park Wars.
Even though I repeatedly said the whole thing was a nothingburger, we still covered it.
Disney vs Epic Universe
Well, we can drop the façade now, as Disney has indicated it’s over.
CFO Hugh Johnston indicates that any impact from Universal Epic Universe is nearly over.
Photo: Universal
“We expect international visitation and Epic-related headwinds to ease in the coming quarters as we begin to lap both of those impacts.”
All along, MickeyBlog asserted that Epic’s opening barely even tickled Disney.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture | Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images, Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
Walt Disney World is simply too big a draw for another theme park to take a bite out of it.
The past calendar year has proven that fact, as Disney World’s attendance has held.
Hollywood Studios Crowds
During the most recent quarter, the Orlando parks suffered a one percent dip.
Overall, Disney World’s operating income increased during Epic’s first year.
Spring Break Crowds
So, I hate to disappoint all the people who swore Epic was the beginning of Disney’s demise.
The reality is that Disney barely even noticed, and Epic is now the one facing questions.
Spring Break Crowds
However, I don’t want to gloss over the other half of this equation.
International tourism to Disney’s domestic parks has been a problem.
President’s Day Crowds
The company explicitly states that this issue will be less problematic during the second half of 2026.
By the way, in case you’re wondering, Disney also isn’t adversely affected by the rising cost of gas.
Engagement Is the Coin of the Realm
If you’ve read my articles, you already know this one.
D’Amaro clearly spelled out his intentions, though. The new CEO bragged:
Photo: Disney
“We engage with fans around the world in both digital and physical environments at a scale unique to Disney.”
This circles back to The Simpsons/Fortnite conversation above.
Disney
When Disney gets eyeballs on its products, those potential customers grow more engaged.
And an engaged customer is much more likely to pay for products.
Photo: Fox
So, while Fortnite may be free, that person playing the game may buy Simpsons merch.
They also may decide to subscribe to Disney+, which would be a gold mine for Disney.
Disney+
When someone uses Disney+, they also get served ads, another revenue stream.
What I’m describing is the Disney Flywheel spinning, and it’s turning straw into gold.
Disney+
D’Amaro recognizes how lucrative this system is to his company. So, he adds:
“A top priority for our Company is improving the user experience on our streaming platforms.”
Photo: Getty Images/Ringer illustration
If Disney+ employs better tech that’s more engaging, the company earns even more.
To you, the Disney Bundle represents a trio of streaming services.
Photo: Disney
To D’Amaro, it’s a business core that will ultimately become his company’s financial hub.
The CEO intends to find Disney’s audience where they are, too. To wit:
Photo: Disney
“In March, we launched Verts on Disney+ with the goal of improving discoverability and ultimately driving more daily interaction.”
D’Amaro is clearly spelling out that short-form vertical videos are the next way he’ll drive engagement.
Disney Is Taking the Meta View
No, I don’t mean Meta, the company, which can lose tens of billions of dollars like nobody’s business.
What I’m referencing is that D’Amaro has adopted a holistic approach.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
On the Disney tourism front, he’s not fretting over theme park attendance.
D’Amaro doesn’t care about the specifics of whether a Disney fan goes to the parks.
EPCOT Crowds
What matters is that a Disney fan spends their money on Disney experiences.
I didn’t capitalize that, but I could have, as the division is Disney Experiences.
New Year’s Eve crowds
The experiences themselves are things like Disney cruises and Adventures by Disney.
D’Amaro is using a new term, “Global guests,” to identify consumers.
EPCOT Crowd
While domestic theme park attendance dropped one percent, “Global guests” went up by two percent.
So, more people participated in Disney tourism last quarter. It just wasn’t all at the parks.
Photo: Disney Adventure
The number of Disney vacationers is trending upward, but the nature of the trips has evolved.
Now, people could take a cruise or head to Italy, paying Disney either way.
Photo: Disney
Often, these vacations are more profitable to Disney than a theme park visit would be.
Thus, the Experiences division is making more money despite only a modest growth in tourism.
Disney Wonder Deck Pool
Nobody understands Disney Experiences better than Josh D’Amaro.
He’s taking the meta view about how to min-max revenue from these customers.
Photo: Mark Abramson for The New York Times
I applaud his discipline, as many new CEOs would panic at the thought of reports of lower attendance.
D’Amaro just shrugged it off and basically said, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
