Disney reports strong growth, commitment to Abu Dhabi
Revenue and income soared at The Walt Disney Company's Experiences segment in the three months ending June 27, 2026, the company reported this morning.
Revenue increased 10%, to $9.968 billion in the Experiences segment, which includes Disney's theme parks. Operating income rose 20%, to $3.017 billion. The company attributed four points of that income growth to a $100 million tariff refund.
"We grew our global guests 4% year over year, with particular with particular strength at Walt Disney World, while also benefiting from additional capacity at Disney Cruise Line," CEO Josh D'Amaro said. "Forward bookings at Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line remain healthy."
Disney provided quarterly attendance growth numbers for the past two fiscal years, showing the accelerating improvement at its parks around the world.
Image from Disney's investors letter
D'Amaro attributed some of the company's attendance strength to targeted discounts.
"When you see promotions in the market, it's really not something to be concerned about, or it shouldn't be a measure or a gauge the health of our business. We've been deploying promotional offers regularly, and what they're really about is going after a targeted market segment to drive incremental value and ultimately make sure that we're making the best use of our assets and all the capacity that we have available to us," he said.
"Now, each of these programs, they're designed to reach a specific guest, and that could be a value consumer. Maybe we're going after a local resident. It might be a guest who's looking for some flexibility in how and when they visit. This is really consistent with how our commercial strategy has evolved and been refined over time - basically to deliver more curated and targeted offerings.
"Just a minute ago, I mentioned that Q3 global guests increased 4% above Q3 '25, and that our domestic parks attendance was up 3% in Q3. This strength was supported in large part by our sophisticated commercial tools. Inside of those tools are targeted discounts, and I think it's pretty clear that with 4% per cap growth, we're certainly not discounting our way to volume growth."
CFO Hugh Johnston also addressed the company's planned Yas Island Abu Dhabi theme park, which has been the subject of much speculation following the war in the Middle East.
"As relates to Abu Dhabi, that that new park is being designed with a long-term view. These are multi-year projects to put in place, and obviously, once we put them in place, they last decades and decades. We continue to believe in the strategic rationale behind the project, and we are fully committed to seeing that project through."
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Replies (8)
"When you see promotions in the market, it's really it's not something to be concerned about, or it shouldn't be a measure or a gauge the health of our business."
I find this statement pretty interesting, and almost an "I told you so" moment, because industry observers almost always claim frequent discounting as a sign of sagging demand. I guess it's easy as a new CEO to say this in a quarter that exceeds expectations thanks to new capacity (DCL's Adventure and WoF at Disney's Adventure World, formerly DSP), but it's also a bit disingenuous because discounting does not typically come to the fore in the quarter that it is initiated, particularly when launched in the second half of that quarter. Will D'Amaro make such a bold statement after Q4 results, and if this philosophy applies to Disney, does it also apply to Universal?
@MyHandsDontScan - I think Avatar is still the path forward for DCA because it works with the ride system WDI really wants to bring to the US. Also, Zootopia has been really successful in Shanghai solely because of that market's demand for that IP. The application of the IP in DAK, while not representing WDI's best effort, just has not connected with guests, and proves as a test case that the IP just doesn't resonate in the same way in the American market, and is probably not worth doing major rework to the DCA project plans.
income growth to a $100 million tariff refund?
Way to Go Mr. President - added an illegal Tax then have to add to the federal deficit to pay it back....... Yes I went there.
"Small Ball" bridging the gaps.
But…but…there are tons of videos on YouTube insisting that Disney and Universal are complete ghost towns and nobody goes there anymore…
They're all in line for the pin drops. /s
Only if those pins have small balls on them.
This report has a fair share of upside. And it comes as the company rolls toward the first D23 hype-fest of the D'Amaro administration -- hosted by the VERY popular Disney fanboy NPH.
After that, (in Florida) we move into Food & Wine, Magic of Disney Animation at DHS, Not So Scary and Very Merry. On into 2027 and Tropical Americas at DAK.
Then again the company carries the terrible burden related to the banality of concept art for its latest resort. I suppose that's why the Polynesian Island Tower has been such a failure.
(Chuckle)
Class dismissed.
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Interesting to see the DCA Avatar experience on their upcoming attractions graphic with the speculation of a Zootopia switcheroo.