and even Disney overspent on international growth after intense pandemic interest subsided, Delaware and Ontario court filings reveal,
The company now expects to only operate shows in four or five cities by the end of September, down from its height of nearly 20. Lighthouse publicist Nick Harkin said in an e-mail that the restructuring “in no way impacts the operations in Canada and our presentation of ‘Immersive Disney Animation’ is proceeding as scheduled.”
The filings illustrate that Lighthouse’s expansion did not go smoothly. Despite operating “at a significant profit” in 2021, it swiftly expanded operations to about 20 venues globally in the absence of “having a solid, long-term chief financial officer or a substantial financial department to keep up with the rapid expansion of the business,” the company wrote.
At some point thereafter, Lighthouse’s U.S. affiliate missed a payment, at which point Impact locked Lighthouse out of several locations, forcing it to “refund approximately $1.5 million in tickets sales and cancel all ongoing ticket sales” in those locations.