Articles tagged “theme parks”

Disney's international parks act as key consumer touch-points that drive brand awareness and cross-monetization of content in new markets. Macroeconomic issues in outbound mainland China tourism have impacted Hong Kong recently, but those pressures are abating and new park expansion projects should stabilize attendance trends.

Disney's unique theme park experience gives the company strong pricing power in the U.S., allowing Disney to consistently raise ticket prices above the inflation rate while growing attendance at the same time. By owning hotels on its properties, Disney is able to maintain an immersive experience, leading to high occupancy rates and steady growth in spending per room. The theme parks feed the hotels with guests and the hotels reinforce the park experience. This has, and will continue to be, a lucrative cycle for Disney.

Theme parks have found success in building immersive experiences around beloved characters. We have to wonder if the Nintendo strategy provides a glimpse of how Universal will use the recently acquired DreamWorks Animation.

Disney has a lot of plans for its theme parks — more hotels, attractions, price levels, and intellectual property tie-ins. As the current CEO prepares to depart in a year and a half, we're getting more curious about who will replace him, and what that person's vision will include.

SeaWorld has a couple of big goals: Cut costs in a big way and get more people to visit. We're not sure how those priorities are going to work together.

Today's theme parks are a far cry from the previous generation. Disney is still setting the pace, but the offerings, pricing, and technology are evolving fast.

The most famous theme park operators in the world are expanding globally and improving their original properties in an effort to attract bigger audiences at home and abroad. Listen to this episode for a wide-ranging conversation about how that's happening and whether it's likely to pay off.

We don't think these announcements will solve all of SeaWorld's woes, but new rides, attractions, and events should drive some visitors to the parks.

The Shanghai Disney victory lap will likely continue for some time, but we'd love to see some actual numbers one of these days.

NBCUniversal is expanding its theme park empire around the globe, but wisely continuing to up its game in domestic properties at the same time.