Taxes

Image: DisneyThe main reason why anyone knows anything about Anaheim, California is that Walt Disney built a theme park in the orange groves there. Despite the company’s significance in the history of the city of Anaheim, the two parties rarely see eye to eye on taxes.

Part of the explanation is that cast members comprise roughly eight percent of the town’s population, and their influence is felt everywhere. Since they’ve been in a protracted dispute with their corporate overlords about salary and Disneyland Resort accounts for 19 percent of all the city’s jobs, Anaheim officials don’t let Disney run all over them. The same isn’t true at Walt Disney World, where Uncle Walt negotiated to run the local government.

Image: DisneyAt the time of publication, Disney’s in a dispute with Anaheim about a $267 million tax incentive spread out over twenty years. The company countered by asking to drop multiple tax deals in place. It’s a nuanced, fluid situation that impacts Disneyland’s future. We can still draw conclusions from its recent past, though.

According to the Orange County Register, Disney “paid more than $125 million in taxes to Anaheim and its schools” in 2016. That’s $344,000 in taxes EVERY DAY. As the author of the article points out, “Disneyland is Anaheim’s largest taxpayer, by far.” And you thought you hated filling out your taxes in April!

Keeping the lights on

Image: DisneyYou may wonder about the utility bill at Disneyland. Disney’s stressed enough about their energy expense that they’ve added solar panels. These green-friendly devices are – no joke – on top of the building that houses Radiator Springs Racers. Space issues in Anaheim prevent the company from adding a massive solar farm like the one in Orlando. 

Until park planners can solve this issue, they’re still on the hook for all ride, shop and restaurant operations. The bill for each one of these is hilariously complex. A Stanford math paper for a roller coaster in a state with cheaper electricity has some interesting results. The calculations suggest that each ride on a roller coaster costs 7.5 cents.

Image: DisneyDisneyland would have a fluctuating rate that’s a bit higher, but that’s more of an information statement anyway. It’s impossible to make projections on literally dozens of attractions with varying throughputs. And I can’t use Walt Disney World as a comparison, because Disney was smart enough to build its own power plant there.

The one caveat in all of this is that Disney’s so good at power consumption savings that they’ve written many white papers on the topic. In other words, the answer here is less than you think. After poking around, I’ve come to the conclusion that Disney spends about $10,000 a day on power, and that number will decline in future years as they add more solar panels.