Tag Archives: Super Heros

Disney Cruise Line’s Super Plans

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Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor Disney Cruise Line logoPHOTO: Spider-Man, Captain America and Thor posing in front of the Disney Cruise Line logo. (photo courtesy of DIsney Cruise Line)
Several famous superheroes are currently sailing aboard Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic from New York City, but that’s only a fraction of the excitement on its way.We had the opportunity to ask Ms. Jennifer Haile Tinn, Senior Manager of Marketing Strategy some questions about just what can be expected now and into the near future—including current Caribbean itinerary concerns—for the growing fleet.

TravelPulse: How would you say Marvel Day at Sea will compare to Star Wars Day at Sea? Being on the smaller Disney Magic versus the larger Disney Fantasy, will the scope be any different?

Jennifer Haile Tinn: The scope of Marvel Day at Sea is just as epic as Star Wars Day at Sea. From character experiences to deck show spectaculars, both Marvel Day at Sea and Star Wars Day at Sea offer unique and epic experiences for our Guests. Marvel Day at Sea is home to the largest assembly of superheroes ever on a cruise ship with some of the most popular Marvel Super Heroes.

Guests can sign up for guaranteed meet and greets with Spider-Man, Iron Man and, for the first time, Black Panther during the sailing. In addition, guests have the chance for heroic encounters with Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot and the sinister Loki. Even adults can get in on the action with the Guardians of the Galaxy, celebrating a galactic dance party in Ravagers Nightclub.

TP: With the fleet nearly doubling soon, what future itineraries are being considered? Might we see more frequency of departures on the West Coast, Hawaii and Asia, for instance? When can we expect to hear more in regard to the new ships’ onboard features?

JHT: While we are excited to nearly double our fleet by 2023, we aren’t ready to share details about the new ships’ features quite yet. We will be returning to the West Coast in early 2018. The sailings will depart from San Diego with seven Disney Wonder cruises to Baja and the Mexican Riviera—five-night sailings visit Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico and two- and three-night cruises call on Ensenada.

TP: How is Disney Cruise Line reacting to the Caribbean’s recent hurricane damage and port changes? Do you foresee them affecting the new itineraries from January through April at all? (For 2018, Disney will embark on eight Caribbean cruises from Miami during this time.)

JHT: We are continuing to monitor the condition of ports in the Eastern Caribbean and making modifications to our itineraries as needed. Please check our website for the latest updates to our itineraries: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/advisory/.

TP: So, what does it all mean? By the time Disney has seven ships, deployments are likely to greatly expand. Currently, the latest Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy sail exclusively from Florida with only the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder heading elsewhere. That’s sure to change.

The brand will probably want to base its three newest sister-ships from Port Canaveral to pair up with Walt Disney World vacations, freeing up the other four to more regularly go elsewhere. The Disney Wonder already seasonally deploys on the West Coast up to Alaska.

However, the line may opt to send the larger Dream or Fantasy up North instead to offer greater capacity with jaunts to Hawaii in between. There’s definitely reason to reach the islands more often with Disney’s Aulani on Oahu, after all.

I then foresee the remaining larger sister-ship going to Europe and the Wonder to Asia, both potentially year-round. With so many Disney theme parks in these other destinations, there are plenty of international fans to cater to.

Remarkably, that still leaves the Magic open to doing additional itineraries. It could easily embark on exotics, becoming a more prominent ocean extension of Adventures by Disney, for instance.

Needless to say, with seven ships versus four, Disney’s options are considerable, and its guests will benefit substantially.

Disney plans Star Wars and Marvel attractions for theme parks

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Disney plans Star Wars and Marvel attractions for theme parks

By Michelle Baran

On the heels of announcing the date for the next Star Wars movie — Dec. 18, 2015 — and that it would begin developing a Marvel-themed series for Netflix, executives at the Walt Disney Co. said that its two most recently acquired franchises will eventually have a greater presence at the company’s theme parks.

“Both of today’s announcements underscore the value of two of our major acquisitions, Marvel and Lucasfilm,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday.

“As you know, over the last several years, we’ve made a number of major acquisitions and capital investments to drive growth and create shareholder value. Now that some on those investments have been completed and the acquisitions are fully integrated, their positive impact is clear in our results, especially in parks and resorts.”

Iger said that the Disneyland Resort in California had record attendance, revenue and profitability during Cars Land’s first full year of operation at Disney’s California Adventure. It was an example of how the Pixar franchise enhanced the parks experience.

As for integrating the newer franchises, Hong Kong Disneyland will become home to the company’s first Marvel themed attraction, the Iron Man Experience, in late 2016.

Disney’s Parks and Resorts division continues to be a strong and growing segment of the company’s business. Revenue for the fourth quarter, which ended on Sept. 28, increased 8% to $3.7 billion, and segment operating income increased 15% to $571 million. For the year, Parks and Resorts revenue grew 9% to $14.1 billion and segment operating income increased 17% to $2.2 billion.

Walt Disney World set attendance records for the year, assisted by the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland expansion, which will be fully completed in 2014. Disney has also begun construction on an Avatar-themed area at the Animal Kingdom park in Florida, and is continuing to work on a full rollout of the MyMagic+ program.

The Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland also had record attendance this year.

The Walt Disney Co.’s fourth-quarter revenue grew 7% to $11.6 billion, and net income grew 12% to $1.4 billion.

Full-year revenue increased 7% to $45 billion, and full-year net income increased 8% to $6.1 billion.