The company’s Disney Parks, Experiences and Products division, which includes its worldwide theme parks, resorts and Disney Cruise Line, saw year-on-year revenues more than double to $5.5 billion in the three months to 2 October.
The division also made a profit of $640 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of $945 million during the same period in 2020.
The quarter marked the first time since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 when all of Disney’s worldwide theme parks and resorts were open for a full three-month period. Although some parks still operated on “limited” capacity due to Covid restrictions.
All four of Disney Cruise Line’s ships are also now sailing again, with Disney saying there has been “tremendous demand" for these itineraries. The line’s fleet will be boosted further by the launch of new ship Disney Wish in June 2022.
Bob Chapek, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, said: “We’ve made great strides in reopening our businesses while taking meaningful and innovative steps in direct-to-consumer and at our parks, particularly with our popular new Disney Genie and Magic Key offerings.”
The recovery in Disney’s theme parks business has been mainly fuelled by its US-based parks, where quarterly revenue reached $3.5 billion for the quarter (up from $935 million a year ago), while sales from its international parks rose by 46% year-on-year to $693 million.
Disney hopes the recovery in its theme park business will continue to gain momentum as Walt Disney World celebrates its 50th anniversary.
These celebrations, which started on 1 October, will include a range of new attractions at the Orlando park, including Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot and a themed restaurant Space 220.
While indoor rollercoaster Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is also set to open in 2022 at Walt Disney World.
