News, Analysis and Reviews of the Disney Entertainment Business
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Showing posts with label Disney Cruise Line. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney Cruise Line. Show all posts
Disney Cruise Line has been a very busy arm of the Disney company of late, between launching new ships and opening a new private island - Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point - for cruisers to the Bahamas. Today (July 9), Disney Cruise Line announced a partnership with Japan’s Oriental Land Co., Ltd. for a new Japan-based ship that will offer year-round service from Tokyo.
Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog
This ship will be in addition to the Disney Adventure, the Singapore-based ship which is expected to set sail in 2025.
Oriental Land Company (OLC) is also the owner/operator of Tokyo Disney Resort, so they, too, have had a busy run, with the new Fantasy Springs port opening at Tokyo DisneySea in the past few weeks, with new Frozen, Tangled and Peter Pan areas for guests. In Disney fan circles, Tokyo Disney is often considered the dream trip, because of the high quality and state-of-the-art inventiveness of the Tokyo rides and attractions. (Plus, we really are jealous of their much-coveted merchandise…)
The yet-to-be-named ship will be the ninth vessel in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, and is anticipating its maiden voyage in early 2029. OLC will be responsible for the construction of the ship, and will operate the vessel under a licensing agreement with Disney. (The Tokyo Disneyland park agreement works much the same way, with OLC maintaining ownership of the resort.) Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983, and its sister park, Tokyo DisneySea, opened in 2001.
“I am sincerely proud that Disney and Oriental Land will be able to work together to create a world-class cruise business in Japan,” said Yumiko Takano, representative director, chairperson and CEO, Oriental Land, in a press release today. “Oriental Land will use their knowhow from the theme park business to continue pushing boundaries and provide family entertainment cruise experiences filled with inspiration and surprise.”
The new Japan-based ship will be the fourth DCL ship in the “Wish Class”, with about 1,250 staterooms; a 4,000-guest capacity; and 1,500 crew members. It will be constructed at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany (where other recent Disney ships have also been born). The 140,000 gross tons ship will be powered by liquified natural gas.
Disney Cruise Line is currently sailing the Disney Magic; the Disney Wonder; the Disney Dream; the Disney Fantasy; and the Disney Wish; with the Disney Treasure hitting the high seas in December 2024. The Disney Destiny is still to launch, with expected delivery in 2025.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at
Disney surprised the markets with a strong earnings report today, along with a boatload of announcements. Indeed, the first quarter 2024 earnings report was one to be appreciated by stockholders.
Let’s get to what I see as the key takeaways, and there are a good many.
First, diluted earnings per share (EPS) excluding certain items jumped by 23 percent versus the same period last year – from $0.99 to a $1.22. For good measure, Disney offered some rare earnings guidance, projecting that full year fiscal 2024 EPS excluding certain items would increase by at least 20 percent versus 2023, to approximately $4.60.
Second, the company announced a 50 percent increase in its semi-annual dividend to $0.45 per share, which will be distributed in July.
Third, Disney also announced a stock buyback of $3 billion during the current fiscal year, with further buybacks seemingly slated for the future.
Fourth, the company was bullish on its cost savings and efficiency undertakings, noting that it would hit or exceed the previously announced $7.5 billion cost savings for the year.
Fifth, the company confirmed, once more, that it was on track to arrive at streaming profitability by the end of the current fiscal year. CFO Hugh Johnston pointed out that the objective on the streaming front is to achieve double-digit margins. According to Johnston, the path to such levels of profitability lies with growing subscriptions via paid sharing (which got a good deal of attention), lower churn, and international growth, as well as pricing and assorted efficiencies. Iger noted that the company is “working toward” what Netflix has achieved.
In terms of streaming subscriptions, Hulu saw subscribers increase by 1.2 million in the quarter. Meanwhile, as largely expected, Disney+ subscriptions decreased by 1.3 million, but Disney also projected Disney+ core subscribers to increase by 5.5 million to 6 million in the second quarter.
Sixth, Disney announced that it entered into a partnership with Epic Games, with a $1.5 billion equity investment in the gaming enterprise. This partnership will result in the creation of a Disney Universe existing alongside and interconnected with Epic’s Fortnite. Disney CEO Bob Iger noted the need for the company to tap into demographic trends regarding gaming, and the opportunity to leverage the company’s intellectual property (IP) accordingly. He also highlighted the opportunity in this Disney digital world to purchase digital goods and perhaps in the future physical goods.
Seventh, since Taylor Swift seems to be everywhere, Disney announced that her “Eras Tour” concert film will come exclusively to Disney+ on March 15, with additional content not in the original release.
Eighth, it was noted that 70 percent of the announced plan to invest $60 billion on parks over the coming decade will go to increased capacity, with every park location and the high seas being affected. Annual announcements are expected to come from the company each year starting in 2025.
Ninth, a full-slate ESPN standalone streaming option will be launched in August 2025 or the fall of that year. This ESPN streaming option will include all ESPN programming, and will integrate betting, e-commerce, stats and personalization. In addition, the previously announced streaming sports joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery is scheduled to launch this fall.
Tenth, all parks were profitable in the quarter, with growth in international parks particularly strong. And it was repeated that the company is expecting to “turbocharge growth” in the parks. The cruise line got notable attention in terms of expanding opportunities. It was noted in the earnings report: “At Experiences, we generated all-time records in revenue, operating income, and operating margin in the first quarter…” As for key sources of profitability on the Experiences front for the quarter, four were highlighted: Shanghai Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, the Disney cruise line, and the latest Spider-Man video game.
Eleventh, on the movies and franchise fronts, it was announced that the planned Moana television show was being transformed into a theatrically released movie, set for November of this year. Meanwhile, it’s hard to say if something should or should not be read into the fact that the only Star Wars movie specifically mentioned by Iger was the one featuring The Mandalorian and Grogu. For good measure, Iger noted the slowdown in production on the Marvel front, declaring that there would a “focus on stronger franchises” going forward. In addition, the forthcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes movie received a fair amount of attention. It has a release date of May 10, 2024.
Iger’s assessment was summed up in a statement in the earnings report: “Just one year ago, we outlined an ambitious plan to return The Walt Disney Company to a period of sustained growth and shareholder value creation. Our strong performance this past quarter demonstrates we have turned the corner and entered a new era for our company, focused on fortifying ESPN for the future, building streaming into a profitable growth business, reinvigorating our film studios, and turbocharging growth in our parks and experiences… Looking at the renewed strength of all of our businesses this quarter – from Sports, to Entertainment, to Experiences – we believe the stage is now set for significant growth and success, including ample opportunity to increase shareholder returns as our earnings and free cash flow continue to grow.”
Finally, regarding the activist investor challenges facing the company with the upcoming April 3 shareholder meeting, when asked about it on CNBC, Iger declared that those individuals didn’t understand the Disney business, nor the Disney brand. He also spoke of the company “acting with a sense of urgency,” and that “all of us are optimistic.” When it came to streaming, Johnston also used the word “urgency,” that is, there is an “urgency to get to a good sustainable business.”
Why all the “urgency” talk? That’s what happens when activist investors lurk heading into a shareholder meeting, and people have been focusing on the under-performance of your stock.
In after-hours trading, at the time of this writing, Disney’s stock price was up by more than six percent.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
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Theme parks are cash cows for The Walt Disney Company. As stated by the company, “Disney’s Parks business is a key driver of value creation for the company…”
Therefore, it’s not surprising that Disney announced today a vastly expanded investment commitment to double its projected capital expenditures in its Parks, Experiences and Products segment to $60 billion over the coming decade.
The commitment will cover “expanding and enhancing domestic and international parks and cruise line capacity.”
Given stepped up competition from Universal and others in the theme park and broader entertainment industries, critics might say that Disney was a bit late in stepping forward with this.
In the Disney statement, it was noted: “Already, new Frozen-themed lands are coming to Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort, as well as a Zootopia-themed land at Shanghai Disney Resort. However, Disney will explore even more characters and franchises, including some that haven’t been leveraged extensively to date, as it embarks on a new period of significant growth domestically and internationally in its parks and resorts.”
As for potential scale, Disney pointed out that “there is significant room for further expansion on land and at sea. In fact, Disney Parks has over 1,000 acres of land for possible future development to expand theme park space across its existing sites – the equivalent of about seven new Disneyland Parks.”
And in terms of market size, the company noted:
“Today, Disney has seven of the top ten most attended theme parks in the world, including Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park, which has been the #1 attended theme park on earth for decades. Disney Parks welcome approximately 100 million guests each year. Yet there is still enormous untapped potential for reaching more consumers. According to Disney’s internal research, there is an addressable market of more than 700 million people with high Disney affinity it has yet to reach with its Parks. In fact, for every one guest who visits a Disney Park, there are more than ten people with Disney affinity who do not visit the Parks.”
Disney is hosting an investor summit today at Walt Disney World, and more information will be forthcoming at the close of this meeting, according to the company.
Much of the future of Disney is about streaming and theme parks, along with cruise ships, movies and ESPN/sports, of course. And as always, Disney is about synergies among these endeavors, and so much of that synergy is evident in its parks and on its cruise ships. After some stagnation, the company seems ready to make investments to serve current fans (or guests, in Disney-speak) and future ones. This is much-needed, clarifying news from a company recently stuck in a fog. Naturally, though, the devil is in the details and the execution.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
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Disney often gets kudos for the level of service on its cruise line, and today (September 5, 2023), Captain Minnie and friends shared some of the fun features for their new ship – but not quite all of the details cruisers were waiting for. Disney is celebrating its 25th anniversary of cruising this year, and the Disney Treasure is the 6th ship to join the Disney Cruise Line fleet. It’s also the sister ship to last year’s launched Disney Wish, and the second of the three ships in the Triton class.
Courtesy of Disney Cruise Line
The Treasure will set sail in December 2024 with longer seven-night itineraries to the Eastern and Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral, Florida. The booking window opens September 20, 2023, though, so you won’t have long to wait to start planning your trip. (Early booking for Castaway Club members begins as early as September 12.)
To help kick-off their journey to ship’s launch, Disney dropped a virtual reveal of some of the ship’s details online this morning. We were getting some serious S.E.A. (Society of Adventurers and Explorers) vibes with this video introduction, helmed by the newly imagined explorer “Arthur Quinn.” And certainly the S.E.A. feel fits right in thematically to the Disney Treasure.
The video tour begins in Arthur Quinn’s study, a definite call out to the Adventurers’ theme, and Arthur receives a map (helpfully shaped like a ship!) that encourages him to follow various character-shaped clues to uncover some of the new details of the ship. (Since the Treasure is still under construction in Germany, most of the visuals are from artist renderings, but they’re shockingly realistic.)
The Disney Treasure honors Walt Disney’s love of travel and adventure, and becomes a gathering place for some of the characters most associated with the spirit of adventure. Think of Aladdin, for example, who just happens to be joining Princess Jasmine on a magic carpet as the focal point of the Grand Hall. (Captain Hook and Peter Pan are on the stern of the ship.)
Restaurants are a big deal on board cruise ships, and Disney Treasure will bring Santa Cecilia to life from the Disney/Pixar movie Coco at the new “Plaza de Coco.” It will give diners the feel of being in the middle of a great big family celebration in the plaza, with lots of music to enliven your “theater-in-the-round” dining experience. Live performances tell the story of Miguel and his family in two different versions over the course of your sailing.
As on the Disney Wish, there will also be a version of the “Avengers: Quantum Encounter” at the Worlds of Marvel restaurant during the rotational dining, this time with a Spider-Man appearance. More details will be released at a later time.
The Wish’s popular “1923” restaurant, named for the year The Walt Disney Studios was founded, will grace the Treasure as well, providing storyboards, sketches and props from various adventure-themed Disney films to create an elegant Hollywood atmosphere in the room.
Looking for desserts? A new dessert venue is themed to Zootopia, and called “Jumbeaux’s Sweets.” It will serve up scoops of specialty ice cream and 20 different flavors of gelato!
The Walt Disney Theater will be hosting two shows from previous ships, the “Beauty and the Beast” live performances, and “Disney Seas the Adventure” with a host of Disney characters showing off. A third, new Broadway-style stage show will be announced at a future date.
The ship will also have the 760 foot-long AquaMouse water coaster ride, and in addition to the Mickey Mouse animated shorts introduced on the ride on the Disney Wish, this AquaMouse will debut a new story, the “Curse of the Golden Egg.”
If you prefer your entertainment on the drier side, the Disney Treasure carves out a space called “Sarabi,” drawing its name from The Lion King. This savannah-styled entertainment area will host daytime activities such as games for the whole family, but will cross over to more adult-exclusive live entertainment at night.
The Oceaneer’s Club will also make an appearance on the new ship, with activities aimed at children ages 3-12. It’s where you’ll find things like the Marvel Super Hero Academy, Imagineering Lab, Fairytale Hall, and Star Wars: Cargo Bay. Vibe and Edge will be there, too, to offer up tween and teen-geared entertainment.
When you are ready to head to bed, you’ll have a wide variety of options from which to choose. The biggest and best will be the EPCOT-inspired “Tomorrow Tower Suite” with 2,000 square feet of space, set in the forward funnel of the Disney Treasure. It sleeps eight guests and has a full kitchen and private ensuite elevator. Did we mention the stunning two-deck high window?
Courtesy of Disney Cruise Line
Not quite ready to fork over that much money for the week? Maybe you’d rather opt for one of the 1,256 staterooms, or the concierge suites with private sundecks. There’s room for 4,000 passengers on board the Treasure!
The virtual detail drop was a fun and creative peek at some of the new offerings for the Disney Treasure, and you can get a closer look at it here while you wait for Disney Cruise Line to share the rest of the news about the newest ship in the fleet. You can find more details, sailing dates, and deck layouts on the Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Treasure page.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
Disney Cruise Line and the Singapore Tourism Board, under a new Memorandum of Understanding, have agreed to bring a new Disney cruise ship to Singapore for at least five years, it was announced yesterday (March 29, 2023).
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Singapore Tourism Board Chief Executive Keith Tan, with Captain Mickey and Captain Minnie (Courtesy of Disney Cruise Line.)
The ship, the recently purchased Global Dream, will homeport exclusively in Singapore beginning in 2025, bringing Disney cruising to Southeast Asia for the first time. Disney has said that details about the maiden voyage, itineraries and onboard experiences will be announced at a later date. The Global Dream was acquired in November by Disney when its former owner declared bankruptcy, and was purchased with the intent to visit new global destinations, with a planned base outside the United States. The ship will be renamed as part of the Disney Cruise Line fleet when Disney takes the helm of the partially-completed vessel.
“This is a very exciting year for The Walt Disney Company — 2023 marks our 100th anniversary,” D’Amaro said. “As part of this, Disney Cruise Line is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion with new ships and new destinations around the world. We are incredibly excited to make Singapore the home port to our seventh-launched ship, which will sail from here year-round starting in 2025.”
“We look forward to welcoming the magic of Disney Cruise Line to Singapore in 2025,” said Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board (STB). “This is an important milestone for STB and reflects Disney Cruise Line’s strong confidence in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The new Disney cruise ship will be an attraction itself and is expected to boost the tourism sector in Singapore for many years to come.”
Singapore is already a busy cruise hub in Southeast Asia. According to Disney, “the addition of a Disney Cruise Line ship in Singapore has the potential to add millions of local and foreign cruise passengers across the five-year period, including fly-cruise passengers who arrive in Singapore by air. It is also expected to bring about significant spillover benefits for the wider economy. These include greater demand for port and ship-related services, as well as on-ground spending in Singapore for the lifestyle and hospitality sectors.”
The new208,000-gross-ton ship will be the seventh to launch in the Disney fleet, and is being built by Meyer Werft at the MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany. Meyer Werft built the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish. Two additional “Wish-class” ships are also on order. The new vessel has a passenger capacity of approximately 6,000, with around 2,300 crew members. (Current Disney ships clock in at 4,000 guests or under.)
In addition to its larger size, the new ship will run on green methanol, one of the first in the cruise industry to use the low-emission fuel. The Disney Cruise Line first launched in 1998. Its current fleet boasts five ships, including the Disney Magic (1998), Disney Wonder (1999), Disney Dream (2011), Disney Fantasy (2012), and Disney Wish (2022), with more to come. The Disney Treasure, the sister ship to the recently launched Disney Wish, is expected to arrive in 2024. The Disney Cruise Line fleet sails to destinations in The Bahamas, the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, the South Pacific, and Australia and New Zealand.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
The 208,000-gross-ton Global Dream has been under construction in Germany since 2018, and was being built for Genting Hong Kong (Dream Cruises), which filed for bankruptcy, forcing a court-ordered sale of its assets, including the Global Dream. According to Disney, they were then able to acquire the ship “at a favorable price.”
Source: Disney Cruise Line website
The Global Dream’s capacity is about 9,000 passengers, but Disney Cruise Line plans for a maximum capacity of about 6,000 guests along with 2,300 crew members. Current Disney ships clock in at 4,000 guests or under, with the newest ship, Disney Wish (2022), at 1,254 staterooms for a 4,000-passenger capacity and 1,555 person crew. Disney Magic (1998), the first ship in the fleet, was only 875 staterooms with a 2,713-passenger capacity and 950 person crew. The Disney Wonder (1999) had the same capacity as Disney Magic, and both the Disney Dream (2011) and Disney Fantasy (2012) have 1,250 staterooms for a 4,000-passenger capacity and 1,458 person crew.
The Meyer Werft shipyard in Wismar, Germany, which built the Disney Wish, Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream, will continue construction on the Global Dream, which will be renamed as part of Disney’s fleet. While the Global Dream is slated to take to the high seas in 2025, Disney is also expecting to receive delivery of the Disney Treasure in 2024. The Treasure is the sister ship to the recently launched Disney Wish. A third Trident Class ship for Disney’s fleet will head to the water in 2025 under a yet-to-be announced name, before bringing the Global Dream to the team.
Global Dream will be based outside the United States, but its itinerary has not yet been announced. However, Disney Cruise Line plans to bring the ship to “new global destinations.” Disney has also indicated that the new ship will run on green methanol, one of the first in the cruise industry to use the low-emission fuel.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
The Disney Wish is the first new ship in the Disney fleet in more than 10 years, but it is just the first of three anticipated ships being added to the Disney Cruise Line family over the next few years. The additional Triton-class ships are expected to launch in 2024 and 2025.
The 4,000-passenger, 1,119 feet long, 144,000-gross-ton vessel made its transatlantic voyage to Florida from Germany’s Meyer Werft Shipyard, where it has been under construction since 2020. COVID delays pushed back delivery of the Disney Wish, originally scheduled for January, with an additional delay in June.
Among the Wish’s offerings is a new 760-foot-long “AquaMouse” water coaster with immersive show scenes and special effects. It takes riders out over the side of the ship before landing in a lazy river on board. Ten pools await guests, and a Toy Story Splash Zone features larger than life rubber bath toys to amuse swimmers.
Frozen, Marvel, and Star Wars will also feature prominently on board, with the Frozen characters and Marvel’s Ant-Man and Wasp making appearances in interactive theatrical dining shows, and an adult-themed Star Wars: Hyperspace Lounge open for guests.
Several Broadway theatre-style shows will also come aboard, including “The Little Mermaid,” and original productions of “Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular” and “Disney Seas the Adventure.”
The fleet’s Disney Dream, which arrived in Florida’s Port Canaveral in 2011, left for Port Miami earlier this month to make room in Canaveral for the slightly larger new Disney Wish. Dream will continue to offer sailings from Miami, but the Dream’s eventual destination is Europe, where it will offer new sailings next year. Among the specialties on the Disney Dream is the “AquaDuck” water coaster, as well as the immensely popular fine-dining locations Remy and Palo and the colorfully creative Animator’s Palate. The Dream’s sister ship, the Disney Fantasy, will remain at Port Canaveral with the Disney Wish.
Disney will christen the Wish on June 29, followed by a short preview sailing for media, before welcoming its first official maiden voyage guests on July 14.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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The cruise industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and Disney has taken its share of the hits. Yesterday, the company announced one more hurdle – the delay of the Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Disney Wish.
Courtesy of Disney Cruise Line
The Disney Wish was originally scheduled to be delivered from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, at the end of 2021, but Covid-related delays at the shipyard postponed the highly anticipated delivery for an additional six months. The newest delay means that the Disney Wish will not be ready until July, forcing the cancellation of a dozen scheduled sailings on board the new ship.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, “The shipbuilder, which also constructed Disney’s last two ships Dream and Fantasy, is prepared to give Disney Wish its first taste of water next week, depending on weather conditions. The float out will see the 144,000 gross tons vessel move to the next phase toward completion, leaving the enclosed building dock.”
The Disney Wish is the fifth and largest vessel in the Disney Cruise Line, accommodating 4,000-passengers, and was scheduled to begin sailing from Florida’s Port Canaveral on June 9. The new maiden voyage is set for July 14, 2022.
Among its new features, the Disney Wish will have the world’s first Frozen-themed theatrical dining experience; the “Avengers: Quantum Encounter” superhero tech mission during other meals; the Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge; the “Aqua Mouse,” 760 feet of twisting water tubes in an onboard water attraction; and a Broadway-caliber adaptation of The Little Mermaid, a theatrical performance created exclusively for the Disney Wish.
Guests with cancelled sailings can contact Disney Cruise Line to reschedule, and passengers booked on the June 9 inaugural voyage will be automatically shifted to the July inaugural sailing at a 50 percent discount. They can also opt for a full refund, or a 50 percent discount on a future cruise (departing by December 31, 2023). Guests on other cancelled sailings can also select a 50 percent discount on a future cruise (departing by December 31, 2023).
Disney Wish sailings for additional guests will be available for booking after February 8, 2022.
For more information, visit DisneyCruise.com or contact your booking agent.
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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.
Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!
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