The Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme parks are worth nearly $67 billion a year to the U.S. economy and support more than 400,000 jobs across the country, according to a newly released study.
Oxford Economics' Tourism Economics conducted the economic impact analysis of the Disney theme parks, which Disney released this morning. It claims $40.3 billion in total economic impact in Florida from the Walt Disney World Resort in 2022, $16.1 billion in economic impact for the Disneyland Resort in California in 2023, and an additional $10.2 billion in annual economic impact across the rest of the country from the Disney theme parks.
In addition, the report claimed that Disney's operations in Florida created or supported 263,000 jobs, while the Disneyland Resort in California supported 102,000 jobs across the region. The report also claims that business with Disney helps support an additional 38,000 jobs across the other 48 states.
The economic impact report measures direct spending by Disney's guests as well as spending by Disney on wages and supplies for its theme parks. The study also accounts for induced effect of all that spending by estimating the further economic impact of Disney employees' and contractors' spending in their communities.
"Disney defines the themed entertainment business in America, and our presence is felt across the country," Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro said. "Our destinations create economies far beyond the gates of our parks, and when we invest in the groundbreaking experiences that only Disney can deliver, growth follows."
Disney previously released Tourism Economics' report for the Walt Disney World Resort: Study claims Disney worth more than $40 billion a year to Florida. But this is the first time that Disney has combined reports to offer a nationwide look at its theme parks' economic impact to America.
Nevertheless, this study does mix two different years for Disney's two U.S. theme park resorts, using the year when each resort's estimated theme park attendance was at its post-pandemic highest - 2022 in Orlando and 2023 in Anaheim. (The TEA/AECOM attendance report for 2024 will be released in September.) And attributing induced economic impact to a specific business always is a bit of a guessing game. It's unreasonable to assume that none of the people employed by Disney would be working any other jobs nor spending any money in their communities if it were not for Disney. So it's an educated guess to determine what percentage of their economic activity would be lost without the company.
Still, it is undeniable that Disney's theme parks are worth enormous amounts of money to their communities and to the nation as a whole, even if people want to quibble over exactly how many billions of dollars that is.
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Thanks Robert
This is an excellent reminder of the Huge Impact of Disney and the economy.
Just Think The Clown Florida Governor did not and or Does not understand the partnership of a Great company and its importance to the local economy.
And tried to battle with Reedy Creek. And Lost...
Now I sit and wait for all the GOP ball washer to show up and Tell us How much gooder they are...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Economic impact studies should be taken with a grain of salt. They're based on a million unverified assumptions that are run through a black-box methodology and output exaggerated values, especially with their whole "indirect benefits" estimates. It's not like statistical modeling where they can validate a model against actual values. I've always thought that doing consulting in economic impact studies would be a perfect business because no one can even vaguely ballpark what the correct value is, so no one can question your work.
For potential context: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-succession-war-1236236327/
Ask yourself this:
Where would Florida Be without Disney?
Sure we love orange groves and Farms - But is that enough for you to plan a vacation around?
Universal - SeaWorld - The Convention Center - Hotels - Resorts and pretty much all of I-Drive - would not he there if Disney did not come to Lake Buena Vista, correct?
Sure Florida has a nice climate for Beaches. And that's all they would have..
Yeah, my home state would be nowhere if not for the mouse. But Russell is right, what does Disney want with this study. . .?
Did no one read the link in my last comment? I have an imaginary Disney Dollar that something is up there. Let's show who's making the big impact in TWDC.
@Robert - So are you insinuating that D'Amaro had this report released to show how much revenue/influence his division of the company is generating, and that he is far better positioned to lead the Walt Disney Company than his predecessor, Chapek, who rose to the CEO seat, and other candidates? I guess that could be feasible, and the Hollywood Reporter does highlight the cutthroat nature of industry executives.
While I do think D'Amaro seems to have the inside track, there's also the rumor that he was willing to greenlight a deal between Disney Parks and Experiences and Saudi Arabia, and Iger actually had to step in to veto it and forced the pivot to Abu Dhabi. If true, that would be a sequence of events that would appear to leave egg on D'Amaro's face. I just have a feeling that Dana Walden will be the choice, because Iger doesn't want to repeat the Chapek mistake, and would be the first female CEO, especially important with Kathleen Kennedy likely leaving Lucasfilm.
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This is odd timing for a report like this. Is Disney trying to exert leverage to accelerate the Disneyland Forward development? Are they looking to buy additional property and open an additional resort in the US, which would be a lot of work on the company's plate with the Abu Dhabi project and major expansions coming to both US resorts? Or is this typical Wall Street banter that's being used to counter negative news from other divisions of the Walt Disney Company (reports have swirled that there have been major layoffs on the entertainment and marketing sides of the house)?
I really don't understand the point of this, because I think it is pretty common knowledge that Disney generally creates positive impact within the communities where they operate and generate significant revenues for those regions (and even beyond). I guess this quantifies that impact, but uses a lot of cherry-picked data and paints a very narrow picture skewed to paint Disney Parks and Experiences in the most positive light possible. Again, this just seems like an odd release that must have some sort of purpose that Disney is keeping close to its vest right now, but it leads me to believe that there must be something pretty big brewing from the company that almost certainly will get announced before they release their next quarterly financial report.