LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – A day after the Walt Disney Company voted unanimously to extend CEO Robert Iger’s contract through 2026, the executive gave an interview dispelling any concerns about seemingly lower theme park attendance.
In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Iger said he had no concerns about theme park attendance, despite an article the Wall Street Journal published Monday suggesting Disney has seen thinning crowds recently.
“There are other elements of the business that I have huge optimism about, for instance, parks and resorts which is just a tremendous business for us,” Iger said in the interview. “We’re invested significantly but the investments we’ve made over the years are really paying off today.”
The Walt Street Journal article compares 2023′s July 4 holiday at the Disney parks to years past. According to touringplans.com, the average wait times on July 4 at Disney this year were about 27 minutes, compared to 31 and 47 minutes in 2022 and 2019 respectively.
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“The article that you referred to was not accurate actually. It was measuring attendance at Disney World on July 4, which didn’t really factor in temperature, which was about 100 degrees and 99% humidity on that day. But there are other factors as well,” Iger told CNBC.
News 6 spoke with Len Testa, the president of touringplans.com, a website that studies wait times for theme park rides to help families plan their trips better.
Testa said there’s no doubt Disney theme park attendance is lower in 2023 than in previous years.
“This is gonna be a lower attendance year for all of Central Florida,” Testa said. “Again, a lot of that has to do with the end of the revenge travel.”
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