Disney has plenty of room to build new rides, CEO Bob Iger says

Thousands of acres of land are available for development at Disney theme parks, company CEO Bob Iger said, as the entertainment giant plans to spend $60 billion in 10 years at its parks around the world.

“We could actually build seven new full lands if we wanted to around the world, including the ability to increase the size of Disneyland in California — which everybody thinks is landlocked — by 50%,” Iger said during a question-and-answer session at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference.

“You can look at every single location that we’ve got, and there’s land opportunity. But most importantly, we have so much IP to mine.”

Iger previously said the company is planning to reinvest in its theme parks and cruises over the next 10 years, but hasn’t revealed details about what is actually coming or when.

At Tuesday’s talk, Iger pointed to the Avatar-themed lands at Orlando’s Disney World and coming to Disneyland as one example of how the company can expand and replicate the land “somewhere in Asia, somewhere in Europe.”

“We opened up a Frozen Land in Hong Kong in November. Tremendous response to that,” Iger said. “Big investment, but build it right, build it with excellence, and they will come.”

During the Q&A, Iger said the company has rebounded since his return, a messy sequence of events from when Iger stepped down as CEO before the pandemic unfolded and then was brought back to replace then-leader Bob Chapek in 2022.

“I came back and discovered right away that it was a company in need of a lot of fixing,” Iger said about Disney+ streaming services suffering big financial losses and problems within the Disney creative division in his absence.

Today, Disney+ is “on the path to profitability,” the company has restructured, and films like “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool and Wolverine” are on the Disney movie slate for this summer.

“I’m very optimistic. I feel the momentum,” Iger said.

Iger is currently fighting with billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz and former Disney executive Jay Rasulo, who are seeking seats on Disney’s board at next month’s shareholders meeting.

“Disney is the most advantaged consumer entertainment company in the world and should have had a ‘winning hand’ in today’s evolving consumer entertainment landscape. But instead, Disney lost its way over the past decade,” according to their argument in a 130-page document released by the management firm Peltz founded regarding why they should get elected to the board.

“We believe the root cause of Disney’s underperformance is poor oversight from a Board that lacks focus, alignment and accountability.”

Iger called the proxy fight a distraction as Disney focuses on building value to shareholders.

“This campaign is, in a way, designed to distract us to take our eye off all those balls,” he said Tuesday.

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