Disney Planning Massive Layoffs, New Avatar Experience Coming to Disneyland

Image: Pandora—The World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom (photo by Lauren Bowman)
Image: Pandora—The World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom (photo by Lauren Bowman)
Donald Wood
by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:47 AM ET, Thu February 9, 2023

During an earnings call on Wednesday, the Walt Disney Company revealed plans for new theme park experiences and three upcoming movies.

According to Deadline.com, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the Disneyland Resort in California would plan, build and open an Avatar-themed experience after the success of "Avatar: The Way of Water."

While Iger and other Disney officials provided no further details about the new theme park experience, he said more information would be shared "very soon."

The news wasn't all positive, though, as the company revealed plans to cut around four percent of its workforce, totaling about 7,000 employees who will be laid off. The decision comes as Disney works to trim more than $5 billion in costs.

"After a solid first quarter, we are embarking on a significant transformation, one that will maximize the potential of our world-class creative teams and our unparalleled brands and franchises," Iger said.

"We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity, while reducing expenses, will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business, better position us to weather future disruption and global economic challenges, and deliver value for our shareholders," Iger continued.

The company also revealed that sequels are planned for several popular film franchises, including Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia. In addition, Disney officials said it would release a live-action Little Mermaid, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Pixar's newest animated film Elemental in theaters.

Overall, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products revenues for the quarter increased 21 percent to $8.7 billion and segment operating income increased 25 percent to $3.1 billion. Higher operating results for the quarter reflected increases at our domestic parks and experiences and international parks and resorts.


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