Walt Disney World’s second gate wants customers to return while Covid concerns remain
Walt Disney’s (DIS) – Get Walt Disney Company Report Epcot lacks a clear identity. The park, which launched as the company’s second Florida-area theme park in 1982 began as EPCOT Center, with the acronym requiring the capital letters standing for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
That name came from an idea company founder Walt Disney had to build an experimental city. The theme park was never that. Instead, it was a disjointed park where the front half was vaguely based on the whole tomorrow idea — with pavilions sponsored by corporations — and a back half featuring World Showcase, a collection of areas devoted to different countries.
World Showcase still exists, though a new country has not been added in decades. But the front of the park currently sits in a state of construction as Disney tries to reimagine Epcot, which has become more famous for its collection of alcoholic beverages from around the world available in the World showcase, than its rides.
To cover up its deficiencies, Epcot has supplemented its offerings by having three major events each year. The Food & Wine Festival lasts for over four months running from July through November. That event then gives way to a holiday festival, before the International Flower & Garden Festival takes over from March 2 through July 4.
Each festival includes pop-up booths offering a variety of food and drink options. Flower & Garden also fills Epcot with the signature topiaries based on Disney’s classic characters that make serve as the signature attraction of the Flower & Garden Festival.
And, for 2022, in addition to food, drinks, and flowers, Disney plans to bring back a very popular event that was dropped as part of the festival due to the Covid pandemic.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet.
The Garden Rocks Concert Series Returns
In a normal, non-pandemic year, the Food & Wine Festival has “Eat to the Beat,” and the Flower & Garden Festival offers “Garden Rocks.” Both are free concert series featuring well-known names performing multiple shows per day in the concert venue in the United States pavilion in World Showcase.
You’re not getting Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen for free, but Disney usually offers up a compelling mix of two-hit wonders (Smashmouth and Plain Whites Ts have been regulars in past years) and bands with classic names, but maybe not all the original members (“hey, it’s some of the guys from Styx”).
Eat to the Beat has been a pandemic casualty for the past two years, Concerts don’t allow for social distancing, and name/semi-name bands cost money that it made little sense for Disney to spend in a period of lowered capacities and limited attendance.
By March, however, Disney hopes that omicron has faded and the pandemic stops being a major factor in people opting against a trip to the company’s four Florida theme parks. Because of that — and to give people another reason to shell out the thousands of dollars a typical Disney vacation costs — the company has brought Garden Rocks back for the 2022 Flower & Garden Festival. It will, however, be a little different.
“The Garden Rocks Concert Series returns to the festival this year, featuring internationally recognized artists on the America Gardens Theatre stage Friday through Monday; local bands will rock the house Tuesday through Thursday.,” Disney posted on its theme park blog.
Disney has always mixed in big-name cover bands, but using local acts regularly represents a bit of a change from past years. Still, weekends are the busiest days for the parks and the company has lined up a lineup that’s similar to past years.
“Artists recently added to the lineup include Gospel singer CeCe Winans and Tommy DeCarlo, singer of the band Boston. They’ll join returning favorites such as The Guess Who, Rick Springfield, and Kool & The Gang, as well as popular Latin hitmakers Melina León and Claudia Leitte,” the company said.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet.
Disney Hopes for a Theme Park Comeback
The pandemic, as you might imagine, hit Disney’s theme parks very hard. The Florida parks were fully closed in March (as were all its parks around the world) before beginning a phased reopening in June. That hit the company’s bottom line in a dramatic way.
“The most significant impact on operating income was at the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment due to revenue lost as a result of closures and/or reduced operating capacities. Although results improved in the second half of fiscal 2021 compared to the second half of fiscal 2020 from reopening our parks and resorts, we continue to be impacted by reduced operating capacities,” the company said in its fourth-quarter earnings release.
Despite all of the Covid-related problems, Disney turned a slight profit of $455 million in 2020 and $471 million in 2021 across its global theme parks. If the second quarter of 2022 begins a return to normal for the theme park division — which the company appears to expect given its Flower & Garden Festival choices — the company could see theme parks move closer to the $6.7 billion in operating income the theme parks delivered in 2019.
Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival will offer 18 Outdoor Kitchens and “‘Garden Graze’, a fun food stroll highlighting five delicious sweet and savory offerings listed in the Festival Passport,” according to the company. “Complete the graze to receive a special treat.”
