Disneyland visitor spending increases despite 20% smaller crowds during holidays

Disneyland is finding that well-heeled vacationers spend more when the Anaheim theme park is not bursting at the seams and there are fewer thrifty annual passholders clogging up Main Street USA.

The Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts significantly increased revenue and income despite reducing attendance capacity by 20% during the most recent quarter that ran from October through December, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said during an earnings call with investors on Feb. 8.

“If you look at our results this past holiday season, we actually reduced capacity, improved guest experience and were able to maintain not just profitability, but a very, very successful or robust bottom line,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on the call.

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Disney’s domestic theme parks reduced capacity during select peak holiday periods by approximately 20% versus pre-pandemic levels to “prioritize the guest experience,” according to McCarthy.

Shifting the attendance mix at Disney’s domestic theme parks from annual passholders to daily visitors who spend more on food, souvenirs and upgrades has helped manage crowds without hurting profits.

Disneyland and Disney World saw increased attendance and strong growth in visitor spending during the recent quarter, according to McCarthy.

“Based on reservation bookings we expect to see this trend continue,” McCarthy said on the call.

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Since the post-pandemic reopening of the parks, Disneyland and Disney World have been managing attendance by using tiered ticket pricing as well as advanced reservations for daily visitors and annual passholders.

“We’re going to manage capacity very, very carefully,” Iger said on the call. “Some of that, by the way, has enabled us to essentially shift the mix from annual passholders to people who may come just once in a lifetime. They tend to be good customers of ours because of their per capita spending when they’re there. That’s really helpful. Some of the things that we put in place to manage annual passholders was done to help us manage capacity without doing too much damage to the bottom line.”

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Demand at Disneyland and Disney World is “extraordinary” right now, Iger said on the call.

“We could lean into that demand easily by letting more people in and by more aggressively pricing,” Iger said on the call. “We don’t think either would be smart because if we let more people it is going to reduce guest experience. That’s certainly not what we want.”