Theme Parks: Walt Disney Co's 2010 results ' Woody and Buzz do the business Blooloop

"The 2010 fiscal year was a financial and strategic success for The Walt Disney Company with performance driven by great content like Toy Story 3 and the way we benefited from that content across our many businesses. Our fourth quarter earnings grew solidly after factoring out a programming writeoff at one of our equity networks, the timing of ESPN revenue recognition and the effect of one fewer week of operations this year than last, ” said Disney president and CEO Robert A. Iger. “With the acquisition of Marvel, our brand and franchise portfolio is stronger than ever and we’re confident our global growth strategy positions the company well to thrive in the coming years.”

Parks and Resorts

For the Parks and Resorts segment the results reflected a decrease in domestic operating income partially offset by international operations’ performance.

Domestic performance was affected by:

• Lower hotel and occupancy rates at Walt Disney World Resort partially offset by higher guest spending

• costs for new guest offerings including World of Color at Disneyland Resort

• Higher labour costs (cost inflation, higher pension and post-retirement medical expenses)

• Increased operating costs for Disney Cruise Line to support the fleet expansion of 2 new ships in 2011/12 and lower passenger days due to scheduled dry dock maintenance

• One less week of operations compared to prior years

Increased results at our international operations reflected:

• Hong Kong Disneyland Resort: increased attendance, guest spending, and hotel occupancy

• Disneyland Paris: higher guest spending and a sale of a real estate property, partially offset by lower attendance

• Higher guest spending at both resorts was driven by higher average ticket prices and average daily hotel room rates.

Consumer Products

The increase in Consumer Products’ operating income for the year was due to:

• higher licensing revenue driven by the strength of Toy Story and Marvel merchandise,

• lower costs at the Disney Store North America due to an improved global purchasing strategy

Capital Expenditure

Investment in parks and resorts increased from $1, 182 million to $1, 533 million in 2010 reflecting higher construction progress payments on the two new cruise ships, the expansion at Hong Kong Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, and the construction of a Disney Vacation Club Resort in Hawaii.