Disneyland dropped some huge news last week. But the news that resonated deepest with many fans was the information that Disney did the least to promote.
Disney’s theme parks segment last week released an Oxford Economics analysis that claimed the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts together accounted for almost $67 billion in annual economic impact across the United States. More than $16 billion of that economic impact came from the Disneyland Resort in California.
After releasing the analysis, Disneyland hosted community leaders for a presentation in California Adventure’s Hyperion Theater that evening. There, new Disneyland Resort President Thomas Mazloum detailed some of the first new construction projects at the resort since Anaheim’s approval of the DisneylandForward initiative last year.
Those include the start of work on the new eastside parking garage and Harbor Boulevard pedestrian bridge in the fall of 2026 and the start of construction this fall on a new Coco-themed boat ride between DCA’s Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens Park.
But it was the news, buried in a Disney Parks Blog post later that evening, that DCA will close its Monsters Inc. dark ride early next year that hit hardest for many fans. Monsters Inc. is going away because Walt Disney Imagineering has selected the park’s Hollywood Backlot as the site for the Avatar ride that Disney announced at its D23 event last year.
Disney executives love talking about the tens of billions of dollars than the company plans to spend on its theme parks over the next decade. But to build some of those new rides and shows, Disney will remove old ones. In Florida, Walt Disney World this month closed its popular Muppet Vision 3D movie to make way for a new Monsters Inc.-themed land. Next month, my beloved Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America will close at the Magic Kingdom in advance of construction of two new Cars-themed rides.
It’s hard for many of us to wrap our heads around huge numbers such as “$16 billion in economic impact.” Concept art of new construction at the parks is nice to look at, but it is never as tangible as a longtime attraction that we know and love.
Like many fans, I understand what Disney is trying to do. The Avatar movies made a lot more money than the Monsters Inc. franchise. Imagineers likely will create a new ride that will accommodate and even please more people than the current Monsters Inc. ride has. In Florida, no one loves Tom Sawyer Island more than I do. But I also look forward to a new generation of fans falling in love with the upcoming Cars rides and their setting like I did with that island decades ago. Yet that hope does not make the loss hurt any less.
Disney’s news about economics and future plans provide food for thought. But announcements about attraction closures hit many of us in the heart. Disney’s theme parks earn all that money because even their most expendable attractions connect emotionally with significant numbers of fans.
The lesson? Disney’s emotional impact is what makes makes Disney’s economic impact happen.