Disney World's Record Investments - A Decade for Shareholders to Remember!

March 21, 2013 - PRLog -- Masters of the entertainment business, Disney excel at 'putting on a show'.
Nothing less can be said of their shareholder meetings and PR campaigns if their 2010 onwards investment activities are anything to go by.
This 'not so lean' marketing machine has emerged from distant woes, as a champion of investment, spurred on, rather than deterred by a world recession and a successful competitor just up Interstate 4.

Critics believe that Disney Executives were caught napping as Universal steamed ahead like a Howgwart's Express with their Wizarding World of Harry Potter phenomena.
The mouse snapped back it seems, as Disney on a monthly basis, bombard our tablets, monitors, and smartphones with a barrage of carefully timed headlines.

A rather unscientific evaluation sees Disney's Florida activities nudging $4m since the turn of the decade.  An astonishing figure considering the fact that we are less than a third of the way through to 2020.

The headline investments include; a Disney Cruise line fleet doubling in size at a total cost of $1b, the New Fantasyland's investment topping out at around $425m, an all new AvatarLand due to open in 2016 at a cost of $500m, a mammoth redesign of Downtown Disney that could easily wipe away $500m, the now completed Art of Animation resort touching $100m and a high tech world-wide IT upgrade that will see wireless RFID being introduced to improve guest interaction.

While investors and diehard Disney fans alike may rejoice in this huge commitment to the future of Walt Disney World, it's always the devoted Disney guests that ultimately foot the bill.  
Rather like an awakened beast form a Potter novel, Universal is snarling, fit and hungry, and equally willing to invest further on the back of the scent of success enjoyed in the last few years.  Once all of the check books have inevitably been put back into the desk drawer, the price wars can begin, but for now, costs will rise for guests as the 'must see' attractions and experiences draw them deeper into the dream.

A classic case of 'If you build it, they will come!'

Prepared by Kevin Maw
Editor
http://www.totalorlando.com