Disney says there were many days during its fiscal third quarter that attendance at its domestic theme parks regularly exceeded 2019 levels.<\/p>\n
During the company’s Q3 earnings call on Wednesday, CFO Christine McCarthy said attendance at domestic parks “continues to exceed expectations.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Disney’s park reservation system is improving the guest experience, too, she said, by managing park capacity versus simply increasing volume.<\/p>\n
While the average daily attendance at domestic parks across its first three fiscal quarters was slightly below 2019, McCarthy said Disney has delivered “significantly higher” operating income and revenue.<\/p>\n
Guest spending at the parks is up 10% compared to the same period last year and 40% over the same period in 2019. Disney attributed that increase in part to Genie+ and Lightning Lane, its paid options to access shorter attraction lines.<\/p>\n
McCarthy said hotel occupancy was 90%, “another sign of robust demand.”<\/p>\n
International visitation of Disney’s domestic parks, primarily the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, is still below its traditional level of 17% to 22% of total attendance, “but it’s made significant progress,” McCarthy said.<\/p>\n
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products’ fiscal Q3 revenue was up 70% to $7.39 billion. The division recorded operating income of $2.18 billion, an increase of more than 100%.<\/p>\n
Demand for the domestic parks remains strong going into the fourth fiscal quarter of 2022, according to McCarthy.<\/p>\n
When Universal Parks parent Comcast reported Q2 earnings in late July, CEO Brian Roberts said its theme parks recorded $632 million in earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), which was a company record even with its Beijing park closed for nearly two months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Comcast said theme park attendance and spending were higher than before the pandemic.<\/p>\n
NBCUniversal’s theme park revenue was up 65%, to $1.8 billion.<\/p>\n