We're heading into March, and it's fair to say that there's never a dull moment for Walt Disney (DIS -0.04%). The media giant is always making moves, and the month ahead won't be any different.
From the opening of a high-end lodging experience at Disney World to the Disney+ release of a new Pixar movie, there's a lot for Disney fans and shareholders to look forward to in March. Let's take a closer look to see what's happening in the month ahead.
Image source: Getty Images.
March 1
March kicks off with Disney World's most ambitious concept in theming and premium pricing with the "maiden voyage" of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser on Tuesday. Guests will have a two-night stay at the exclusive 100-room resort that is themed as a high-end spaceship cruise.
Guests are obviously staying in a non-moving hotel building, but with simulated transport vehicles -- both to the lobby as well as to and from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at the adjacent Disney's Hollywood Studios -- it's apparently easy to get swept into the experience. All "windows" in the cabins are galactic projections. Along the way guests will come across characters they know (Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, and Rey) as well as heroes and villains unique to the experience. There are signature dining experiences, and guests will be recruited to join one side or the other with unique storylines that involve missions and training sessions.
The immersive experience sounds out of this world, and some will argue that the same goes for pricing. The two-night experience starts at $4,809 for two guests. It's obviously going to be out of the price range of most visitors, but in a resort with more than 35,000 rooms, the 100 cabins here represent less than 0.3% of Disney World's on-site capacity. It will find its audience of affluent Star Wars fans, and for now it's working. The first couple of months are already sold out.
March 2
Disney World's second-oldest theme park -- EPCOT -- has carved out a solid living as an outpost for rotating festivals. The 2022 International Flower and Garden Festival kicks off at EPCOT on Wednesday. Like most festivals at the park, it will be a money machine, with kiosks serving a wide range of international food and beverage offerings around EPCOT's signature lake.
True to its name, the International Flower and Garden Festival is backed by topiary and garden displays. At the end of the day it's ultimately another way for adult foodies to eat and drink around the World Showcase.
March 9
It wasn't intentional to make this month's preview so Disney World-centric -- and April will have some Disneyland entries -- but parades will return to Disney's Magic Kingdom next week. The Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade is a 12-minute procession of iconic Disney characters on elaborate floats.
It's the latest step in a return to normalcy at the resort. Disney temporarily did away with traditional parades when the parks reopened in the summer of 2020. In order to avoid having crowds gather in the same place for too long, as a COVID-19 safeguard, Disney has run character cavalcades, much shorter processions that don't roll out at set times. Personally I find the cavalcades more enjoyable than the traditional parades -- at least in terms of the ability to navigate the park -- but I realize I'm in the minority. Parades will be back at Disney World a week from Wednesday, and a lot of enthusiasts will be happy about that.
March 11
Finally we get a non-Disney World entry. Turning Red is the latest animated feature release from Disney's hit factory Pixar. It will not be hitting theaters. Disney announced in January that Turning Red would follow in the footsteps of Pixar's Soul and Luca, hitting the market exclusively as a Disney+ release.
The coming-of-age computer-rendered flick about a 13-year-old Toronto girl who transforms into a giant red panda when she gets excited should've marked Pixar's return to theatrical releases. Disney likely dialed that back earlier this year with the omicron variant raging across the country, fearing that folks wouldn't turn out in large numbers to the local multiplex. Despite COVID-19 case counts thankfully shrinking again, it's not as if Disney needs a theater run to land a hit. Encanto bombed at the multiplex in November, only to become a pop culture and musical sensation when it hit Disney+ a month later. The media stock knows what it's doing.
