On July 30, 1998, the Disney Magic set sail from Port Canaveral, Florida on its maiden voyage.
This was the first ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet and the initial cruises were to Nassau, Bahamas with a stop at Castaway Cay over three to four nights.
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“With the flip of a switch, a three-foot-high bottle of Taittingers champagne smashed into the hull of the ship as it was launched by its ‘god parents’ Roy E. and Patty Disney,” Travel Weekly reported, referring to the son of company founder Walt Disney and his wife.
The vessel had 11 public decks, accommodations for 2,700 passengers in 875 staterooms, and a crew of roughly 950.
“We were in the design phase of the Disney Magic and I came out with the words ‘let’s do a modern classic’,” Michael Eisner, the entertainment giant’s then chairman and CEO said in a video interview.
“Classic in the sense of sleek and ocean going and romantic and Queen Mary Queen Elizabeth-ish and modern in the sense that it’s got all the modern conveniences that a ship can have today,” he added.
Image source: Alisha dos Santos/ComeCruiseWith.com
Disney expanding cruise line
Today, Disney Cruise Line has six ships in operation, with the Disney Destiny and the Disney Adventure scheduled to launch later this year.
The cruise line division is part of Disney Experiences, which also includes theme parks, resorts, and consumer products and which generated $34.15 billion in revenue for 2024, up 5% from the previous year.
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Last month, Disney beat Wall Street’s second-quarter expectations, bolstered by a boost in its Disney+ streaming business and strong results from its theme parks.
Disney (DIS) shares are up 11% in 2025 and the stock is up nearly 25% from a year ago.
Several investment firms recently issued research reports on Disney, including Jefferies analyst James Heaney, who upgraded the company to buy from hold with a price target of $144, up from $100, according to The Fly.
Heaney said that he now sees limited risk of a second half of 2025 Parks slowdown from the recently-opened Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, FL, and macro factors and is more positive on FY26 Cruise upside.
In addition, the analyst said that he views the content and sports slate for the next six months favorably, highlighting the ESPN direct-to-consumer launch in the fall, Zootopia 2 and Avatar 3 and expects continued direct-to-consumer margin expansion.
The Direct-to-Consumer or DTC segment focuses on streaming services like Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.
Bank of America Global Research, which has a buy rating and a $140 price target on Disney shares, said Experiences segment, the largest contributor to operation income, had been challenged by a combination of difficult comps, wage inflation and pre-opening costs for new cruise ships.
Additionally, concerns related to the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe and underlying macro trends which, when combined, amplified concerns around the trajectory of this segment.
Analyst says sports is bright spot
BofA said that it appears now Experiences is tracking at least in line with FY2025 expectations with the benefit of a robust pipeline of new cruise ships which should buoy results in the years to come.
In advertising, sports is a bright spot and continues to see strength relative to other categories. BofA said that it continues to expect the DTC sector’s net adds to be modestly positive in F3Q, in line with company guidance.
Related: Disney Cruise Line makes huge change that will delight cruisers
Exiting last quarter, Disney raised FY25 EPS guidance to $5.75 following a strong earnings beat, BofA said.
“We believe this increased guidance is highly achievable as DIS was reporting earnings around the peak of uncertainty related to tariffs which limited visibility,” the firm said.
“Moreover, while DTC is expected to be an investment year, we believe there will be some discretion around the magnitude of spend and momentum thus far in the parks (a key concern heading into the year) should be positive for underlying fundamentals.”
Guggenheim raised the firm’s price target on Disney to $140 from $120 and kept a buy rating on the shares.
The firm said it updated its Disney model to better reflect a refined operating expense outlook at linear networks, modestly lower theatrical revenue from relative underperformance of recent films, better than previously forecast Sports advertising revenue and “relatively resilient” attendance and travel trends in the Experiences segment.
Guggenheim noted that it lifted its full year segment operating income forecast to $17.7 billion from $17.6 billion, which is “modestly ahead” of consensus $17.65 billion.
With Hulu now fully under Disney control, the firm said that it views the company as “well positioned to pursue a unified direct-to-consumer strategy” and further lean into bundle packaging to drive incremental revenue, the analyst added.
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