Disney parks could lose 100M visitors in two years

Report forecasts division may not be profitable until 2025

A recent Cowen and Company report projects a 47 percent drop in attendance at Disney-owned parks next year and a 35 percent drop the year after. (Getty)
A recent Cowen and Company report projects a 47 percent drop in attendance at Disney-owned parks next year and a 35 percent drop the year after. (Getty)

Attendance at Disney-owned parks could drop by nearly 100 million people over two years, a report by market analysts at Cowen and Company forecasts.

Cowen doesn’t expect the company’s theme park division to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and become profitable until 2025, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

That annual loss in attendance amounts to a 47 percent decline in fiscal 2020 and 35 percent for 2021.
Not all analysts agree. Goldman Sachs expects attendance and revenue to bounce back by 2022 or 2023, according to the Daily News.

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Disney reopened four theme parks earlier this month, but Disneyland in Anaheim remains closed. Unions representing employees fought to delay those openings.

The Florida parks opened with limited capacity and guests were required to have their temperature taken and to wear face coverings on park grounds. Orlando’s Disney World had about 10,000 guests on its first day open earlier this month, or roughly 17 percent of the park’s capacity, according to Florida Today.

The company reported a 10 percent year-over-year drop in second-quarter revenue, a roughly $1 billion decline. Disney’s four parks in Florida lost 18.6 million visitors in the roughly four months it was closed this year, while Disneyland and Disney California Adventure lost 10.2 million visitors during that time. [LADN] — Dennis Lynch