A general view of Disneyland’s Sleeping Room Castle on April 6, 2024 in Anaheim, California.
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“The happiest place on earth” turns 70 this week.
Since 1955, Disneyland, a pillar of the Anaheim, California community, has been a passion project for founder Walt Disney. It also served as a place where longtime media companies could flaunt and weave a variety of businesses, from films, television shows and comic strips to music and merchandising.
Disney The intellectual property portfolio has been the foundation of theme parks ever since the original location opened its doors. Recently, the company’s experience division, including parks, resorts, cruises and consumer products, remains one of the best profit drivers. The unit’s operating profit in 2024 was more than twice that of the content-centric entertainment division, which generates IP.
Disneyland in Anaheim began with more than a dozen attractions, many of which were drawn directly from the archives of Disney theatrical films. Among them were Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride from “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Adventures of the Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” the Flying of Peter Pan, the enchanting wishes of Snow White, and the crazy tea party based on Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
Over the past 70 years, Disney has opened a total of 12 theme parks in the US, Europe and Asia, and over the next few years, it has opened another set in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. It also has a fleet of cruise ships set to double by 2031, and nearly 60 resort hotels and vacation facilities around the world.
“If he went back 70 years ago, Walt knew the great stories he was creating. If they were to combine them with the technology of the time, they could combine the ideas of an immersive experience that could make something that no one else had ever done before.” “And that really sets the Disney brand apart.”
Vice President Richard M. Nixon, Mrs. Patricia Nixon, Tricia Nixon, 9th, Julie Nixon, 7th, Donnie Nixon (ne), Fes Parker (actor), CV Wood, Jr. (general manager of Disneyland), Anaheim, California, August 11th, 1955.
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The first rides at Disneyland were scattered with original works such as Jungle Cruise, Autopia, and Disneyland Railway.
Disney has brought many non-IP attractions to life over the next few decades – including Matterhorn Bob Thress, Caribbean Pirates, Ghost Mansions, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and more, over the past decade, the company has made its promise to use catalogs of existing stories to fuel the appeal of new and international themes of national and international themes.
Collect stories
Much of that strategy came from CEO Bob Iger’s acquisition of four major studios — Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Lucasfilm (2012), and 20th Century Fox (2019) — bringing the coveted franchise under the roof of the mouse.
“We’re lucky now that we’ve gone after that IP and brought it to Disney folding and made the brand even stronger,” D’Amaro said.
Many of these brands have already appeared in the company’s parks as part of a licensing transaction, including Star Tours, which opened in 1987. The Indiana Jones Adventure was added in 1995. The Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster debuted in 2005.
The company has also opened the entire land. This is a curate area with a focus on rides, food and entertainment. This includes the land of a bug that opened in Disney’s California Adventure Park in 2002. This was set on the fictional planet Pandora from Fox’s “Avatar” film, based on Pixar’s “Bug’s Life” and Pandora’s Pandora, and was built in the Animal Kingdom in Florida.
Generally, you’ll see the world of avatar dedication at Disney Animal Kingdom on May 23, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.
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Many of these additions were under the leadership of then CEO Michael Eisner, who led the company from 1984 to 2005.
According to Gavin Doyle, founder of Mickeyvisit.com, the chief of his acquisition was to secure the IPs of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, two of the biggest franchises of the time. Eisner “goed, approved, took it to the park,” Doyle said.
Attendees Sit at the Millennium Falcon: Following the announcement of Star Wars, smugglers will ride: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney’s Disneyland Theme Park in Anaheim, California, USA on Wednesday, May 29, 2019.
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Decades later, Disney acquired Lucasfilm, which owns both film franchises, and expanded its presence.
In 2019, the company opened two Star Wars themed lands. One was in Hollywood Studios in Florida and the other in Disneyland in California. A new Indiana Jones attraction is planned for Disney’s Animal Kingdom as part of the park’s new tropical American region. It is set to open in 2027.
We will supply the Disney Parks with IP
Last year, Disney’s experience division’s revenue growth was the strongest in the Disney division.
Experience recorded record revenue and profits for 2024, with revenues increasing 5% to $341.5 billion per year and operating profit increasing 4% to $9.27 billion.
Heading into 2025, the company expects to aim for a profit growth rate of 6% to 8% for its fiscal year 2025 experience. That’s before breaking the ground halfway through a number of attractions spanning planned land expansions, new rides and re-themed attractions.
“The investor focus remains unsurprisingly to trends in attendance and consumer spending in close terms, but will update the momentum to create successful content with Disney Premium IP, generating long-term profitability across the park, and accelerating the unique benefits of Disney freewheel across Disney+ and across the portfolio.
Disney relies heavily on IP as part of its 2023 pledge to invest $60 billion in experience over the next decade.
Docket has a new villain land coming to Magic Kingdom, the Monsters Company. Landing at Hollywood Studios, riding “Encanto” at Animal Kingdom, and an expansion of the Avengers campus with two new attractions. Disneyland is also expected to open a new avatar area inspired by the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash scenery.
Of course, these new developments also have some drawbacks. Even fan favorite rides and whole land have been either closed or re-themed as a result.
As Anaheim is a bug land that was closed in 2018, the space can be used to build the Avengers Campus, a Marvel-themed land. The dinosaurs of the Animal Kingdom are disappearing to create space for the new tropical American region. The Magic Kingdom, Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and Liberty Square Riverboat were closed to create space in an area called Piston Peak, a second car-themed land modeled after an American natural park.
The latest changes to individual rides were the retaming of Splash Mountain at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It was refreshed as Teana’s Bayou Adventure, based on the “Princess and the Frog” character.
People pass by while riding Teana’s Bayou Adventure Log Log Floor Thrill Ride at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park, held in Orlando, Florida on April 3, 2025.
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While some Disney Parks fans have been barking the changes the company has made to the park, the strategy has expanded the company’s fan base and driven revenue growth across its global footprint.
“IP is interesting because it’s not always for the most vocal theme park fans,” Doyle says. “By definition, IP is intended to broaden your audience.”
“The whole company is based on interesting and great storytelling,” Damaro said. “And in all of our stories, whether they are animation or traditional characters, there’s a sense of connection with these characters through Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar. This emotion is created and it conveys it to the theme park.”