by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:25 AM ET, Wed November 9, 2022
The Walt Disney Company announced its theme parks showed financial growth in the fiscal fourth quarter despite temporary closures in Florida due to Hurricane Ian and in China due to coronavirus-related restrictions.
Disney's Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy announced during the quarterly conference call that the company's parks, experiences and products department reported revenue of $7.4 billion in the fourth quarter, increasing by more than 34 percent and beating the forecast of Wall Street analysts.
Officials reported that operating income increased by more than 66 percent and reached $1.5 billion for the theme park division, which was more than double the total earned during the same period in 2021.
Data showed that higher prices and new technology helped increase per-person spending by around 40 percent since 2019, due in part to the introduction of the Genie+ and Lightning Lane guest experiences.
The parks unit earned around $815 million in operating income, which was below the $919 million expected by Wall Street, which officials blamed partly on higher costs. McCarthy also revealed that Hurricane Ian-related closures cost the company an estimated $65 million.
As for Disney's international parks, improved results were a result of an increase in volumes and higher average ticket prices at Disneyland Paris, which offset some of the financial damage caused by the COVID-related closures of Shanghai Disney Resort.
Disney World should also receive a boost for the next quarter after announcing that its Blizzard Beach Water Park would reopen on November 13.
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