Imagineering
I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to finish.
But I did complete the L.A. marathon and it was fun.
The next day, surprisingly, was a stronger endurance test.
Because 24 hours after crossing the finish line I saw the entrance to Disneyland ($DIS).
When I was little, I would occasionally go to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando because my parents owned a condo nearby.
Aside from a few childhood family photos and memorabilia, I don’t remember much about the theme park apart from it being very hot but still having a swell time.
Yesterday, I spent almost all day at Disneyland, the west coast origin story, and I have to admit that it was pretty worthwhile.
It was a Monday (not a U.S. holiday) with nice weather so I wasn’t sure how attendance would be.
Well, it was absolutely packed.
I’ve never seen so many baby strollers parked together like sardines, completely abandoned as the kids and parents had lunch or went on rides together.
Sure, there were international tourists who paid anywhere from $149 to $199 per ticket, but the majority were middle-of-the-road Americans who were likewise glad to be there.
Do I think Disney will buy Roku ($ROKU)?
No.
Do I think the Disney+ app will gain more subscribers than ESPN+?
Probably not.
Do I think that Avengers: Endgame (2019) will debut at number one at the box office?
Oh, sure. Absolutely!
Do I think I will make a return visit to a Disney theme park in the next decade?
Unsure. But others will. And that’s good enough for me.
Especially, when you now add 21st Century Fox ($FOX, $FOXA) to the family roster:
“Disney didn’t buy the Fox titles to tuck them away in a vault. It may take time, but Disney will find ways to integrate Fox’s lineup of well-known characters into the family and eventually into the parks. Disney has plenty of experience incorporating outsider brands into its parks with Indiana Jones, Pixar, Marvel, Avatar, and Star Wars.
Rest assured that Walt Disney Imagineering is already dreaming up attractions, lands and even entire theme parks based on the Fox properties. Expect talk of a third gate at Disneyland and a fifth gate at Walt Disney World to begin percolating again.
Walt Disney always wanted his parks to change, grow and evolve. The next generation of Disney parks will undoubtedly look different in a post-Fox world. Just as the Fox acquisition allows the Disney studios to make more PG-13 and R-rated movies, the merger will change the Disney parks experience as we know it today.
There was a time when you couldn’t imagine Buzz Lightyear, Darth Vader or Spider-Man in a Disney park. Someday soon you may meet Bart Simpson, Deadpool, and even Archer at Disneyland. Laugh now, but the Imagineers are in a Blue Sky dreamland right now coming up with ways to find homes for their new Fox friends in Disney theme parks around the world.”
