A key to streaming success is park staff
Will theme parks turn out to be the winning weapon in the streaming wars?
Hollywood studios are racing to become the king of online streaming services as more customers “cut the cord” with cable TV. Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount offer their own streaming services, with Apple also joining the battle to carve up the market that Netflix once pretty much enjoyed for itself.
Companies are spending billions of dollars to create new movies and series to drive subscribers to their streaming services. Those investments are sinking corporate bottom lines deep into the red throughout Hollywood. Yet strong performance from their theme parks is helping to stanch the bleeding at Disney and NBCUniversal. Both companies reported massive gains in their theme park businesses in their most recent earnings calls.
With the most visitors and revenue in the industry, Disney’s theme parks are giving the company an even bigger financial edge over its Hollywood competition. Disney reported operating income of $2.2 billion from its theme park resorts and cruise line in the most recent quarter, while NBCUniversal owner Comcast reported $782 million in adjusted earnings for its Universal Parks & Resorts segment during that period.
That money helped cover some of the losses that both companies incurred launching their Disney+ and Peacock streaming services, respectively. The two companies also share ownership of Hulu.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount continued to struggle under the expenses of their HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services. While both companies license their brands for attractions to other operators, neither owns and runs its own theme parks, as Disney and Universal do. Paramount once was in the business but sold its parks to Knott’s Berry Farm owner Cedar Fair years ago. Warner Bros. offers studio tour attractions around the world, including the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood in Burbank, but those welcome only a tiny fraction of the number of visitors that Disneyland or Universal Studios Hollywood draws.
Theme parks are giving Disney and NBCUniversal a billion-dollar head start in the race to capture the online entertainment streaming market. But is that fair?
I’m not talking about whether that’s fair to Warner Bros. and Paramount. Both companies had plenty of opportunities over the years to invest more heavily in theme parks and attractions — investments that could be paying off for them today. They didn’t, and now they are suffering as a result.
What I question is whether spending this financial windfall on streaming services is fair to the cast and team members whose hard work has made Disney’s and Universal’s theme parks so wildly popular and profitable. Walt Disney World’s cast members recently rejected a proposed $1 an hour raise from the company, with their union saying they need more to keep up with rising housing costs.
Streaming might be the future of the entertainment business, but theme parks will continue to be part of that future, too. Investing in the people who make the magic in real life is as important as investing in those who put it on the screen.
Disneyland and Disney World fans nervously awaiting Princess Tiana’s takeover of Splash Mountain on both coasts are worried the new water ride is starting to sound more like an elevator pitch for a boring business venture than a fun-filled bayou adventure.
Walt Disney Imagineering announced the transformation of Splash Mountain in Anaheim and Florida way back in 2020, and the creative arm of the company has been teasing out backstory details ever since about the twin attractions debuting in late 2024.
The latest reveal has left fans scratching their heads rather than building buzz for the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure log ride coming to Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.
According to the backstory, the entrepreneurial restaurateur has started Tiana’s Foods as an “employee-owned cooperative” and “multifaceted enterprise” in an old salt mine that has been transformed into a boutique farm with teaching kitchens.
“This is one heck of an elevator pitch or cover letter for a
Small Business Administration loan, but it doesn’t sound like a very exciting ride,” according to MousePlanet. “So far, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure sounds like a good Business Week feature, but not something I’m eager to make a Lightning Lane reservation for.”
MiceChat initially thought swapping in “Princess and the Frog” characters, music and special effects would be the “perfect fit” for Splash Mountain.
“The story really has us shaking our heads and wondering if perhaps Imagineering has lost control of this project,” according to MiceChat. “There is way too much backstory about restaurants and ingredients and nothing about drama and thrill.”
Disney doesn’t need to write an unnecessary sequel to the popular 2009 film for the new theme park rides, according to MiceChat.
“Someone please call Bob Iger and beg him to take a look at what’s going on with this seemingly misguided project,” according to MiceChat. “There’s a real opportunity for this to be a great ride. Why purposely make it sound so boring?”
Commenters on the official Disney Parks Blog blasted the attraction backstory as bland, underwhelming and uninspiring.
“Is there a section on the ride where Tiana has to visit the permitting office and fill out the proper tax forms?” a user named Bishop wrote on the Disney Parks Blog. “Could this ride be any more tedious?”
The reimagining of the rides will remove thematic elements related to “Song of the South” — the controversial 1940s animated and live action film criticized for perpetuating racist stereotypes that has been disowned by Disney.
“If there’s a conflict driving this story, Disney’s new details don’t really reveal it,” according to Theme Park Insider. “Given that Disney is trying hard to distance itself from the divisive history behind ‘Song of the South,’ I would not be surprised to see Disney’s Imagineers write a less conflict-driven narrative for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.”
Amid all the vitriol, hard-core Disney defenders are urging detractors to give Tiana’s Bayou Adventure a chance — especially since the ride won’t open for more than a year.
“Everyone really needs to calm down,” a user named Fred wrote on the Disney Parks Blog. “So far, Disney has kept the actual ride experience largely under wraps.”
The Magic Kingdom version of Splash Mountain closed in January, with fans waiting in fourhour lines to wish farewell to the venerable log ride. Disneyland has not announced a closing date for the attraction.