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Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Disney to expand parks investment to $60 billion over ten years
attractionsmagazine.com: Today, Disney executives – including CEO Bob Iger and Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro – attended a financial summit where they announced a significantly expanded Disney parks and experiences investment.
4 comments:
Joanne Jiang
said...
When I saw the word Disney I immediately wanted to read the article, because I really really love Disney, and want to know everything Disney related if I see it. I really like how they say they “have no shortage of space or regions of the world in which to tell new stories.” This seems like a foreshadow that they are building not only more Ships and ports for their Cruise line, but also new parks in the future maybe? As I said previously, I really enjoy seeing how Disney is always updating their parks and how they are constantly working on new projects. I think its really important for an artist to always be updating their work, and will always be improving themselves. I personally have also tried different art styles throughout my life, and I feel like its really refreshing to try new art forms, as it also gives me a very interesting experience, and I never know if I’m actually good at that art form unless I try it, and it’s the same with a lot of other things in my life. I don’t know if I like or am good at something until I try it for the first time, even if it is outside my comfort zone.
I love Disney, and even worked there through the Disney College Program. But I am always wary when a large corporation is expanding its reach even more. Disney is slowly gaining what could be considered a monopoly on the entertainment industry (which in this case includes amusement parks). But will I still go to the parks and immerse myself in childhood memories to pull what little joy I can from a cold corporation? Yes, I will. Because Disney is so good at storytelling. Every piece of the Disney parks is thought out with great detail. Where I worked, DinoLand (RIP), there was an entire backstory of a pair of cousins who wanted to open a road-side attraction but had to enlist his other cousins to help. Thus, Chester and Hester’s DinoRAMA was born. And that’s just one tiny section of the basically city that is Disney World. I have no doubts that Disney will be successful with their expansion, because corporate greed knows no bounds.
When I first read the headline for this article, I immediately started thinking about the negatives of this expansion. I have a complicated attitude toward Disney: I think they do a lot of fascinating and inspiring work, but at the same time they are a massive corporation whose overall goal (no matter what they may claim) is to make money and make as much of it as possible. Reading about Disney parks expanding just made me think "Oh, I guess ticket prices are going to go up even more." Disney park tickets are already incredibly expensive, and a greater increase will make the magic that Disney created inaccessible to even more people. I do understand that Disney is a huge business and can't make tickets as cheap as a local theme park, but I still think if they claim to aim on wanting more people to go to Disney parks, they need to start by putting ticket prices to a level where more people can afford them because I believe that is one of the greatest barriers at this point.
I have never been a Disney fanatic, and I don't think I ever will be; however, this article made me think about this franchise more seriously. In one way, I admire Disney because it is a company that has brought to life so many artist's visions, not just in movies but in TV shows, animation, and architecture. The amount of professional artists I know who have worked at Disney at some point in their lives is insane, and I appreciate how many artists Disney employs. On the other hand, I find the sheer amount of wealth and presence Disney has very unsettling. Despite the ‘magic’ Disney creates, it is still a major corporation that owns so much of our world. Seeing the amount of money that is going to be invested in just the theme parks, $60 billion dollars, makes me think about how many lives that amount of money could change in a non-commercial setting. So, while I think Disney is an important company in terms of artistic growth, I am not quite sure that they need that much money to create a magical experience.
4 comments:
When I saw the word Disney I immediately wanted to read the article, because I really really love Disney, and want to know everything Disney related if I see it. I really like how they say they “have no shortage of space or regions of the world in which to tell new stories.” This seems like a foreshadow that they are building not only more Ships and ports for their Cruise line, but also new parks in the future maybe? As I said previously, I really enjoy seeing how Disney is always updating their parks and how they are constantly working on new projects. I think its really important for an artist to always be updating their work, and will always be improving themselves. I personally have also tried different art styles throughout my life, and I feel like its really refreshing to try new art forms, as it also gives me a very interesting experience, and I never know if I’m actually good at that art form unless I try it, and it’s the same with a lot of other things in my life. I don’t know if I like or am good at something until I try it for the first time, even if it is outside my comfort zone.
I love Disney, and even worked there through the Disney College Program. But I am always wary when a large corporation is expanding its reach even more. Disney is slowly gaining what could be considered a monopoly on the entertainment industry (which in this case includes amusement parks). But will I still go to the parks and immerse myself in childhood memories to pull what little joy I can from a cold corporation? Yes, I will. Because Disney is so good at storytelling. Every piece of the Disney parks is thought out with great detail. Where I worked, DinoLand (RIP), there was an entire backstory of a pair of cousins who wanted to open a road-side attraction but had to enlist his other cousins to help. Thus, Chester and Hester’s DinoRAMA was born. And that’s just one tiny section of the basically city that is Disney World. I have no doubts that Disney will be successful with their expansion, because corporate greed knows no bounds.
When I first read the headline for this article, I immediately started thinking about the negatives of this expansion. I have a complicated attitude toward Disney: I think they do a lot of fascinating and inspiring work, but at the same time they are a massive corporation whose overall goal (no matter what they may claim) is to make money and make as much of it as possible. Reading about Disney parks expanding just made me think "Oh, I guess ticket prices are going to go up even more." Disney park tickets are already incredibly expensive, and a greater increase will make the magic that Disney created inaccessible to even more people. I do understand that Disney is a huge business and can't make tickets as cheap as a local theme park, but I still think if they claim to aim on wanting more people to go to Disney parks, they need to start by putting ticket prices to a level where more people can afford them because I believe that is one of the greatest barriers at this point.
I have never been a Disney fanatic, and I don't think I ever will be; however, this article made me think about this franchise more seriously. In one way, I admire Disney because it is a company that has brought to life so many artist's visions, not just in movies but in TV shows, animation, and architecture. The amount of professional artists I know who have worked at Disney at some point in their lives is insane, and I appreciate how many artists Disney employs. On the other hand, I find the sheer amount of wealth and presence Disney has very unsettling. Despite the ‘magic’ Disney creates, it is still a major corporation that owns so much of our world. Seeing the amount of money that is going to be invested in just the theme parks, $60 billion dollars, makes me think about how many lives that amount of money could change in a non-commercial setting. So, while I think Disney is an important company in terms of artistic growth, I am not quite sure that they need that much money to create a magical experience.
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