Letter To Shareholders
Always filled with excitement and magical experiences, our Disney Parks and Resorts also had a terrific year, highlighted by Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration, which resulted in outstanding attendance at Disneyland Park in particular. Also spurring attendance were new attractions such as the exhilarating new E-ticket adventure Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and The Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot. In addition, we are encouraged by the enthusiastic early reaction to The Year of a Million Dreams, a first-of-its-kind celebration that will grant more than one million special dreams to Guests visiting the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts.
The incredible realms of fantasy and adventure created by our Imagineers, along with our 50 years of experience in providing worldclass Guest service, have made our Disney theme parks among the world’s leading vacation destinations. This has allowed us to expand into successful related businesses, whether it’s our Disney cruises, our Disney Vacation Club or our newest vacation touring experience, Adventures by Disney.
Growing all of our businesses, particularly internationally, is critical to our future. I’m pleased to report that we made progress in 2006, especially in the rapidly emerging markets of China and India. In those two countries alone, there are more than 800 million consumers under 21 years of age, which poses a remarkable opportunity for Disney entertainment to be enjoyed by a largely untapped audience.
In China, Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in September 2005, anchors our presence. We are also rapidly boosting our retail merchandising through the licensing of thousands of “Disney Corners” at department stores throughout the region, while increasing our presence in the booming mobile entertainment sector. To expand in India, we made the strategic acquisition of one of the country’s leading kids television networks, Hungama. In addition, Disney channels in India reach 30 million households and hold the largest share of the children’s television market. I should add that High School Musical has been such a smash hit that we are localizing it with an original Bollywood version, which is currently in production in India.
