Remember Disney’s (DIS) Star Wars: Galactic Adventures theme park? That amazing experience that was largely hobbled by microtransactions everywhere you looked to the point where only the wealthiest park-goers could really enjoy it? Well, it was decommissioned not so long ago, and the Halcyon, the starcruiser that made up a lot of it, has met its ultimate fate. Investors responded to the unexpected recycling effort with disdain, and shares dipped fractionally in the closing minutes of Friday’s trading.
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Yes, the Halcyon, the centerpiece set of Disney’s Star Wars-themed park, is now a block of offices. More specifically, office space for Walt Disney Imagineering, which is oddly appropriate given that that division is responsible for theme park attractions, as well as cruise ship design and retail locations. Anyone who never got the chance to see inside it, sadly, will not get that chance now, as any hope of leaving it open to the public, even partially, is off the table.
However, that does not mean Disney is abandoning the idea altogether. Reports noted that several elements of the Galactic Starcruiser experience are currently being tested as “in-park experiences,” including a possible “dining experience in the theme park, not in the Starcruiser building itself.”
Good News, Strange News
Just recently, we heard about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, a new animated series set in, clearly, the Spider-Man universe. The series has hit Disney+, reports note, and is already doing quite well. It currently holds a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which will make this a hit for Disney+. Better, if it can hold that score for any length of time it will be the single highest-rated Marvel project in history, beating out even Black Panther at 96%.
There is plenty else to come as well; recently, 82 year old Harrison Ford was spotted promoting Captain America: Brave New World, with Thunderbolts and Tron: Ares set to follow. Disney has a lot coming out this year, and hopefully, most of it will find footing with audiences. The Marvel properties often do well, though there are exceptions. The surprise return of Tron, meanwhile, gets a boost from being particularly topical as it features an artificial intelligence (AI) hitting the real world.
Is Disney Stock a Buy or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on DIS stock based on 18 Buys and five Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 17.51% rally in its share price over the past year, the average DIS price target of $126.81 per share implies 12.17% upside potential.
