Here’s how much money Disney World *probably* lost closing down for two days
Here’s an obvious fact: Walt Disney World makes a lot of money, and if you’ve ever visited the theme park before, you are likely well aware of this already. Take the price of park tickets, and add that with food, souvenirs, photo pass pictures, and that Dole With you’ve got to have, and you can easily drop $200+ in a single day.
And now times that $200+ by the 50,000+ visitors, at least, that pass through the Magic Kingdom every day. Times that by four parks, and also Disney Springs, the Water Parks, and also all the resorts. Disney’s makes so much money just from one operational day.
So what happens with the parks close down, and how much money does Disney lose? The last two days saw the unprecedented closure of everything across the property due to Hurricane Irma. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Disney Springs, and the water parks were all closed, and guests were sequestered at their hotels. They couldn’t go anywhere, and aside from the resort gift shops, they couldn’t buy anything.
While Disney will (probably) never come right out and say how much money they lost closing everything down for two days, we can guess. Last year, Disney World closed down for one day, due to Hurricane Matthew. During a shareholders call in February of this year, it was revealed that one day for Matthew cost Disney around $40 million. For one day.
Figuring out how much money was lost on Irma is easy: Just times that $40 million x 2. But also maybe x2.5, because the parks closed early on Friday night, and a Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was canceled as well (and that is like, THE BEST place to buy Halloween merchandise).
It’s conceivable that the theme park lost around $90 million over the span of two days, if not closer to $100 million. But honestly, looking at the destruction left behind in Irma’s wake, it was a decision that needed to happen. Knowing that Beauty and the Beast made Disney a bajillion dollars earlier this year, and we’re 93 days away from the opening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Mickey Mouse should be fine.