This article is your complete guide to how much money does Disneyland make a day? The Walt Disney company is one of the largest media conglomerates in the world with almost 30% of their reveunes coming from the Disney Parks and Experiences division. When you are visiting Disneyland and see the price of a mickey pretzel on Main Street USA, you may be shocked and think to yourself “wow, if just a pretzel is almost $8, how much does Disneyland make in a day?”
Before we get into the Disneyland daily revenue, we want you to guess how much Disneyland makes in a day to see if you are close. Have a number? Good. Now triple that and that’s probably a more accurate guess! If you want to learn more about how much does Disneyland make? Then keep reading!
How Much Does Disneyland Make in a Day?
We know first hand that when you are planning to visit Disneyland, it is going to be an expensive trip. From the price of your admission ticket to the total bill of your Disneyland lunch at Blue Bayou. It’s hard to wrap your head around Disneyland daily revenue. To answer this question, we look to the Walt Disney Company’s quarterly earnings report. From January to July 2022, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products makes the company a whopping $116.9 million per day. After capital expenditures (expenses like employee pay, operations and development), Disney makes $35 million per day.
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products branch includes:
- 6 resort destinations in the United States, Europe and Asia
- Disney Cruise Line
- Disney Vacation Club Program
- Licensing businesses across toys, apparel, home goods, digital games, and apps
- Disney Store locations around the world
- shopDisney e-commerce platform
So How much does Disneyland make in a day? Based on The Walt Disney Company earnings report, Disneyland makes an estimated $10 million per day.
Disneyland Revenue Per Day 2023
Despite the ongoing pandemic that began in 2020, Disney is doing better than ever. The first quarter of 2022 resulted in a record revenue and operating income levels. Disneyland doubled their profits following the introduction of Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane Services. Disney Genie+ in Disneyland costs $30 per day (increased $5 from the previous year) plus additional costs for Individual Lightning Lane Attractions such as Radiator Springs Racers that can range from $7-$20 per ride. As of July 2023, Disneyland Resort saw higher attendance and increased guest spending due to higher ticket costs. This is a great example of the question “is Disneyland expensive?“ Disneyland is getting more and more expensive because as they increase the price, guests are still paying and thus they are increasing the Disneyland revenue per day.
Average Disneyland Attendance
Disneyland is the second most visited theme park in the world with 18 million visitors per year (behind Disney World at 58 million guests). As of 2023, Disneyland welcomed over 6,000 guests per day. For example, say 25% of those 6,000 guests are buying Genie+ at $30 per person. Disneyland just made $37,500 per day on the base Genie+ package alone.
Related Post: Is Disney Genie+ Worth It?
How Much Money is Disneyland losing a day?
In some ways, it is very easy for Disney to lose money in their parks because of how much they spend just to operate it. In the 2023 Q3 Earnings report, Disney invested 2.43 BILLION, yes billion in parks, resorts and other property. Looking at the operating income, Disney has made 6.4 billion dollars on parks in this same period. The Disney parks are profitable which allows for the Disneyland revenue per day to be around $6.5 million, which is a ton of money.
Disneyland must spend money to make money of course so let’s look at some examples of their costs.
How much do Disneyland employees make?
The average salary for Disneyland employees or “cast members” is $32,208 per year but salaries can range anywhere from $24,000 to $44,000 a year for cast members at the theme parks. To break it down, cast members make on average $15.50 per hour as of 2023. The cast member pay range varies greatly as there are many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience. For example, character attendants make $18.60 an hour compared to attractions cast members who may make closer to $15 an hour.
The typical length of a Disneyland cast member shift is 8 hours but this too can vary as they have options for 12-hour shifts if Disneyland has an event or needs more help in one area of the parks. So if the Disneyland pay rate is $15.50 an hour for 8 hours that means Disneyland cast members make $124 per day. Let us remind you that Disneyland makes an average $6.5 million per day.
How much does Disneyland spend on fireworks?
The fireworks at Disneyland are unlike any other fireworks show you have seen. The Disney Parks have incredible firework spectaculars that you just cannot miss. For Disney, this comes with a high cost. The estimated cost of Disneyland fireworks per day is $50,000! Did you know that Disney is the second largest purchaser of explosives in the United States? All for the fireworks!
Why is theme park food so expensive?
The reason your Mickey pretzel is $8 is because Disneyland likely spends about 5% to 8% of its daily operating costs to cover materials such as food and beverages. This equals out to roughly $356,000 per day spent on material costs in Disneyland.
Related Post: Discounted Disneyland Tickets
Daily Revenue Disneyland FAQs
Q: How much revenue does Disneyland make a day?
Based on The Walt Disney Company earnings report, Disneyland makes an estimated $6.5 million per day on tickets, merchandise, food, Genie+, and more.
Q: How many acres is Disneyland California
Disneyland is just 500 acres and is home to 2 parks, Disney California Adventure and Disneyland Park and 1 shopping, dining, entertainment district: Downtown Disney. This means cost to run Disneyland is less compared to Disney World which is 27,000 acres.
Q: How much profit does Disneyland make a day in parking?
Disneyland parking lots make the parks tons of money. Even if the parking garage fills half its spaces, it would still generate more than $35 million in annual revenue.
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