The spherical numbers are beginning to overlap for Walt Disney‘s (DIS 0.11%) home theme parks. Disneyland is celebrating the 1923 founding of the corporate with a flurry of festivities, and the centennial started on Friday morning with a pair of nighttime exhibits and the debut of the brand new trip on the authentic Disneyland theme park in California.
Three time zones away, Disney World will finally hop on the one centesimal anniversary bandwagon. It will possibly’t play alongside in the mean time. It is busy commemorating the Florida resort turning 50. The milestone was formally hit again in October 2021, however stretching the occasion 18 months finds the family-friendly soiree occurring till the top of March this 12 months.
Spherical numbers are a very good factor. Did I point out that Disney inventory is lastly again above $100?

Picture supply: Disney.
Nothing can cease Disney now
The large draw at Disneyland on Friday morning is the opening of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the park’s first trip starring the Massive Cheese himself. It is a trackless attraction with friends on prepare compartments gliding by high-tech animated scenes. There aren’t any top necessities, so it is actually a trip for the entire household. It is the star attraction of a reimagined Toontown part of the park that can reopen to friends on March 8.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is new to Disneyland, but it surely’s not new to the media big’s theme parks. Disney World in Florida launched the trip in early 2020 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Each rides are an identical, however the colourful queues rife with surprises for Mickey Mouse lovers are fully completely different.
Visitors sticking round on the California resort by the night must determine between two new exhibits that includes themed projections and fireworks or fountain shows. Wondrous Journeys premieres at Disneyland. World of Coloration-One debuts at Disney’s California Journey. A daytime Disneyland parade that solely ran just a few weeks earlier than the COVID-19-related shutdown three years in the past will return in February.
It isn’t simply theme park followers who ought to be giddy about all the new issues to do at Disneyland. Shareholders must also be celebrating these overlapping milestones. It isn’t simply the attract for people to go to both home resort throughout these limited-time occasions. Disney rolls out distinctive merchandise and even meals gadgets that grow to be widespread purchases. From high-tech bracelets that work together with new statue installations to commemorative attire and housewares honoring the fiftieth and one centesimal anniversaries there’s extra money to be made than simply admissions. With Disney’s ecosystem all the time brimming with a pipeline of iconic franchises and new characters there’s nothing higher than proudly owning the world’s most visited theme parks to drum up gross sales in shopper merchandise and curiosity in upcoming films and exhibits.
Disney’s theme parks have been a shiny spot at Disney currently. Regardless of the pandemic disruption, the media stock‘s home theme parks are cranking out document outcomes. Visitor spending per capita is 40% increased than it was in 2019, as Disney made the a lot of the lull to improve its choices, introduce new premium experiences, and regulate its worth factors. In any case, ultimately it is all about celebrating spherical numbers.
Rick Munarriz has positions in Walt Disney. The Motley Idiot has positions in and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Idiot recommends the next choices: lengthy January 2024 $145 calls on Walt Disney and brief January 2024 $155 calls on Walt Disney. The Motley Idiot has a disclosure policy.