The Walt Disney Co. is gearing up to spend billions of dollars in Central Florida as part of a new development plan, ramping up speculation that the company could be eyeing a major Disney World expansion.
The agreement unveiled this week calls for a $17 billion investment into Disney World over the next 10 to 20 years.
Company officials have been tight-lipped on their vision for the future, but industry insiders wonder if something big is in the works, perhaps even a fifth theme park. Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney officials are striking a conciliatory tone after a two-year feud over what critics called the “don’t say gay” law with dollars and cents trumping culture war issues.
“What you’ve seen is a huge kiss and make up between Florida and Disney,” said Dennis Speigel, CEO and founder of International Theme Park Services, which provides management and development services.
Speigel predicts at least $10 billion could go to build a new theme park, something that industry insiders and Disney fans know as the “fifth gate.” Disney officials have not announced such a plan, but he anticipates it could come within the next 18 months.
“The fifth gate will be the most highly technologically driven attraction park in the world. And it has to be because it has to eclipse Universal Epic Universe,” Speigel said. He thinks Epic will cost between $5 billion and $6 billion.
Disney World’s newest park, Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998, joining the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
Epic Universe, Universal Studios Florida’s newest park, will open next year.
Confronted with the question of a fifth Disney World theme park, Disney CEO Bob Iger didn’t rule it out but he also didn’t say one is in the works. He said he didn’t want to put a timeline on a planned $60 billion investment into Disney parks and cruises worldwide.
“We’re already hard at work at basically determining where we’re going to place our new investments and what they will be,” he said during an earnings call in February. “You can pretty much conclude that they’ll be all over, meaning every single one of our locations will be the beneficiary of increased investment.”
A new Disney park has been four or five years in the making already, Speigel said, but the plan has been evolving because of changes in technology and intellectual property.
The remainder of the $17 billion could go to other projects, including work at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the announced expansion at Magic Kingdom in an undeveloped area that’s been dubbed “beyond Big Thunder,” a roller coaster in the park’s Frontierland, Speigel said.
Jim Hill, a theme park historian and podcaster, said he thinks Disney will focus on expanding its existing parks in Florida, rather than add a new one.
“I’ve given up on there ever being a fifth gate in Florida,” he said. “Disney has taken a look at the American vacation patterns and it’s not like we’re getting more time [off], right?”
At Magic Kingdom, he thinks Disney could follow the pattern set by Fantasy Springs, which opens at Tokyo DisneySea theme park in June. It features three mini-lands themed to “Frozen,” “Tangled” and “Peter Pan.”
It also has an in-park hotel, a feature that Disney World lacks but will be available next year with the 500-room Helios Grand Hotel at Epic Universe.
“People will pay top dollar for the privilege” of an in-park stay, Hill said. He’s also heard talk of another resort being built along the monorail route outside Magic Kingdom. The resort already is building a new tower to expand the Disney Vacation Club presence near Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
While $17 billion may be an eye-popping amount, it will be spread across decades, Hill said.
“The hard reality is when you look at Florida and 43 square miles for theme parks, 30 plus resorts, that’s not going to go nearly as far as one might expect,” he said.
The 15-year development agreement is between Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, a state-run entity that provides government services to Disney World.
In the pact, Disney agreed to make a capital investment of at least $8 billion during the first 10 years of the 15-year pact with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Those dollars will go to “existing infrastructure, new construction and technology investment,” according to the agreement.
It also allows for an additional “major” theme park to be built and up to five “minor” theme parks, which could include water parks or something similar to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The oversight district is committing to fund a variety of road, solid waste, sanitation, stormwater and other infrastructure projects. The district’s five-member, governor-appointed board will hold a public hearing on the plan on Wednesday.
Building a new theme park would cost billions of dollars based on recent projects. The Shanghai Disney Resort, which opened in 2016, cost $5.5 billion to build, according to CNN Money.
Florida’s Republican leaders are sounding a new tone after turning Disney into a political punching bag. Seeking to boost his national political profile, DeSantis bashed Disney as a “woke” corporation in response to its opposition to the so-called “don’t say gay” law, which limited classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.
DeSantis led an effort to upend a decades-long arrangement that essentially allowed Disney to self-govern itself in Florida, turning the Reedy Creek Improvement District into the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
The two sides clashed in the courts, but a state lawsuit was settled in March. A federal lawsuit is pending, but Disney asked for a delay to “facilitate” negotiations with state officials.
DeSantis backed a fifth Disney theme park in March, saying he expects Disney will need to do something to match Epic Universe.
“It’s going to be a huge game changer for this region,” DeSantis said. “I got to think Disney would have an interest in maybe offering another one. The district will be ready to negotiate something to be able to be good for the state of Florida, be good for jobs, be good for all those things.”
State Rep. Randy Fine, one of the most vocal Disney critics, called the $17 billion proposed Disney investment a “great development” that will bring more tourists, jobs and economic development to Florida.
“Central Florida is going to go through a transformation when Epic Universe opens,” the Brevard County Republican said. “I think Disney is going to respond. My biggest concern is I hope the Orlando airport will build more parking.”