In 2011, Patagonia faced the same pressure every retailer faces on Black Friday: maximize sales on the year’s biggest shopping day. Instead, they ran a full-page ad in the New York Times with a stark message: Don’t Buy This Jacket. The ad detailed the environmental cost of making their bestselling R2 fleece, such as 135 liters of water in the manufacturing process and 20 pounds of carbon dioxide for transporting it to the companys warehouse.
This wasn’t a clever marketing ploy. The ad directly urged customers to think twice before purchasing, to fix existing gear before replacing it, and to buy and sell second-hand. This was a real commitment to the values that had driven Patagonia since Yvon Chouinard founded the company in 1973: putting environmental protection above profit maximization, even when market logic demanded otherwise. As a result of staying true to their deepest values, Patagonia today has a fiercely loyal customer base and enjoys more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
Patagonia is a striking example of a business that has thrived not by giving in to pressure to change, but rather by doubling down on their core ideas. Another such example is fast-food favorite In-N-Out Burger, which has spent 75 years refusing to franchise, expand quickly, or add more items to its menu. Unlike McDonalds, which tried to reinvent itself as a purveyor of healthy foods a decade ago, In-N-Out has stuck to making burgers, fries, and milkshakes. The result? Cult-level customer devotion and some of the highest per-store revenues in the fast-food industry.
{"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/creator-faisalhoque.png","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/faisal-hoque.png","eyebrow":"","headline":"Ready to thrive at the intersection of business, technology, and humanity? ","dek":"Faisal Hoques books, podcast, and his companies give leaders the frameworks and platforms to align purpose, people, process, and techturning disruption into meaningful, lasting progress.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/faisalhoque.com","theme":{"bg":"#02263c","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#ffffff","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#000000"},"imageDesktopId":91420512,"imageMobileId":91420514,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
Patagonia and In-N-Out Burger are not dinosaurs that have failed to adapt. They are billion-dollar businesses with the kind of customer devotion and employee loyalty that money cant buy. And a large part of the reason for this success is that they have mastered a counterintuitive truth: the more things change, the more you need to stay the same.
The virtue of staying steadfast
In order to thrive in change, we need the ability to resist change. This ability, which I call steadfastness, is essential for two reasons.
First, organizations liberate enormous energy by committing to their identity and purpose in times of change. This commitment gives people a reason to endure change and turmoil. As the German philosopher Nietzsche famously said, those who have a why can bear almost any how. This reason, and the energy and strength it liberates, becomes a crucial resource for organizations that are confronted with changeand in our current era, that is all organizations, all the time.
Second, it gives you a fixed point by which to navigate, which is especially important in times of change. When an organization sticks to its core identity and purpose, it is better placed to understand how to respond to the changes it faces. In-N-Outs core mission is to make great burgers, and by sticking to it, the company can navigate major changes in the business landscape by asking a simple question: how can this change help us make great burgers?
Steadfastness should not be mistaken for the kind of dangerous rigidity that can run a company into the ground. Kodak didn’t fail because it stayed true to its purpose of helping people capture and share memoriesit failed because its leaders became overcommitted to the business model of maximizing profits by selling film. The critical distinction is this: be steadfast about your why (your purpose), but be flexible about your how (your methods). Patagonia’s purpose is protecting nature, not selling as many fleece jackets as possible. In-N-Out’s purpose is making great burgers, not resisting technology. When you are clear about this distinction, steadfastness becomes a source of strength rather than a path to obsolescence.
The dual demand of organizational resilience
Understanding the difference between purpose and methods points to a deeper challenge: organizations must somehow find a way to be both immovable and infinitely adaptable at the same time. They need to be unshakeable about their why while being completely willing to reinvent their how.
This is what makes building resilience so difficult. It requires holding two contrasting capabilities in perfect tension. Most organizations fail at one extreme or the other. Some chase every trend and lose their identity in the process while others cling to outdated methods and mistake their current business model for their reason for being.
But there is a group of people who have mastered implementing both sets of capabilities simultaneously: entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial journey demands both unwavering commitment to a vision and constant willingness to change tactics. This entrepreneurial mindsetthis ability to be both stubborn and adaptableis not just for startups. It is the key to building resilience in any organization. And it rests on four specific traits that enable leaders to navigate the tension between steadfastness and flexibility.
Four entrepreneurial traits that build resilience
1. Love. Entrepreneurs don’t fall in love with their productsthey fall in love with the problem they’re solving and the people they’re serving. This distinction is critical. When you love your product, you resist necessary changes. When you love your purpose, you’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill it. Love for purpose creates both the commitment to persist and the freedom to change. It’s what alows organizations to ask: “Does this method still serve what we love?” rather than protecting methods that have become comfortable but ineffective.
2. Embracing Suffering as Growth. Every entrepreneur knows the particular pain of watching a cherished strategy fail. But they learn to reframe suffering as a source of learning, a font of hard-won data about what doesn’t work. This reframing serves a dual purpose: it makes you quick to abandon failing tactics while simultaneously strengthening your commitment to the purpose that makes the suffering worthwhile.
3. Building Partnerships. Entrepreneurs know that the right partners don’t just share your current strategythey share your purpose. This distinction is crucial for resilience. Partners who are only aligned on methods will abandon you when those methods fail. Partners who are aligned on purpose will help you find new methods when the old ones stop working. True partners act as both innovation catalysts (pushing you to try new approaches) and guardians of purpose (keeping you honest about your why). They give you permission to change everything except what matters most.
4. The Power of Saying No. The hardest entrepreneurial skill is saying noboth to opportunities that don’t serve your purpose and to methods that no longer work. This dual discipline is what creates resilience. Every time you say no to a profitable distraction, you strengthen your commitment to purpose. Every time you say no to a failing approach, you free resources for innovation. This discipline is what allows organizations to be both focused and agile. It’s the skill that prevents both mission drift and tactical stubbornness.
Building the resilient organization
At the company level, the challenge is to master the tension of being steadfast about purpose while flexible about methods. Here are three ways to build this capability:
1. Define your non-negotiables. Write down your organization’s core purposethe why that will never change regardless of market pressureand separate it explicitly from your current methods, products, and business models. Make this distinction visible throughout the organization so everyone understands what must be protected and what can be reimagined.
2. Distinguish purpose from method in every decision. When facing changes or challenges, explicitly ask: “Is this about our why (which we won’t compromise) or our how (which we can reimagine)?” Make this question a standard part of strategic discussions, and promote leaders who consistently make this distinction well.
3. Practice strategic steadfastness. The next time you face pressure to chase a trend or copy a competitor, pause and ask whether it serves your core purpose. If not, say no publicly and explain why. Each time you hold firm on purpose while adapting methods, you build organizational muscle memory for true resilience.
Change is inevitable. The organizations that will thrive aren’t those that resist all change or embrace every trend, but those that know exactly what to preserve and what to transform.
{"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/creator-faisalhoque.png","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/faisal-hoque.png","eyebrow":"","headline":"Ready to thrive at the intersection of business, technology, and humanity? ","dek":"Faisal Hoques books, podcast, and his companies give leaders the frameworks and platforms to align purpose, people, process, and techturning disruption into meaningful, lasting progress.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/faisalhoque.com","theme":{"bg":"#02263c","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#ffffff","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#000000"},"imageDesktopId":91420512,"imageMobileId":91420514,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
Frida Kahlo’s “El sueo (La cama)” in English, “The Dream (The Bed)” is causing a stir among art historians as its estimated $40 million to $60 million price tag would make it the most expensive work by any female or Latin American artist when it goes to auction later this month.Sotheby’s auction house will put the painting up for sale on Nov. 20 in New York after exhibiting it in London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Paris.“This is a moment of a lot of speculation,” said Mexican art historian Helena Chávez Mac Gregor, a researcher at UNAM’s Institute of Aesthetic Research and author of “El listón y la bomba. El arte de Frida Kahlo.” (The ribbon and the bomb. The art of Frida Kahlo).In Mexico, Kahlo’s work is protected by a declaration of artistic monument, meaning pieces within the country cannot be sold or destroyed. However, works from private collections abroad like the painting in question, whose owner remains unrevealed are legally eligible for international sale.“The system of declaring Mexican modern artistic heritage is very anomalous,” said Mexican curator Cuauhtémoc Medina, an art historian and specialist in contemporary art.
Judas in bed
“El sueo (La cama)” was created in 1940 following Kahlo’s trip to Paris, where she came into contact with the surrealists.Contrary to contemporary belief, the skull on the bed’s canopy is not a Day of the Dead skeleton, but a Judas a handmade cardboard figure. Traditionally lit with gunpowder during Easter, this effigy symbolizes purification and the triumph of good over evil, representing Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.In the painting, the skeleton is detailed with firecrackers, flowers on its ribs and a smiling grimace a detail inspired by a cardboard skeleton Kahlo actually kept in the canopy of her own bed.Kahlo “spent a lot of time in bed waiting for death,” said Chávez Mac Gregor. “She had a very complex life because of all the illnesses and physical challenges with which she lived.”
Frida and surrealism
Although Kahlo’s painting is being auctioned alongside works by surrealists like Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning, she did not consider herself a member of the movement, despite having met its founder, André Breton, in Mexico and had an exhibition organized by him in Paris in 1939.“Breton was fascinated by Frida’s work, because he saw that surrealist spirit there,” said Chávez Mac Gregor.Kahlo, a committed communist, considered surrealism a movement proposing a revolution of consciousness to be bourgeois. As Chávez Mac Gregor noted, “Frida always had a critical distance from that.”Despite this, specialists have found elements of surrealism in Kahlo’s work related to the dreamlike, to an inner world and to a revolutionary and sexual freedom a concept visible in a bed suspended in the sky with Kahlo sleeping among a vine.
‘Crazy-priced purchases’
“El sueo (La cama)” was last exhibited in the 1990s, and after the auction, it could disappear from public view once again, a fate shared by many paintings acquired for large sums at auction.There are exceptions, including “Diego y yo” ( “Diego and I”), which set Kahlo’s record sale price when it sold for $34.9 million in 2021.The painting, depicting the artist and her husband muralist Diego Rivera, was acquired by Argentine business owner Eduardo Costantini and then lent to the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (Malba) where it remains on exhibit.Medina, the art historian, regretted that the “crazy-priced” purchases have reduced art to a mere economic value.He lamented that when funds purchase art as mere investments like buying shares in a public company the works are often relegated to tax-free zones to avoid costs. Their fate, he said, “may be worse; they may end up in a refrigerator at Frankfurt airport for decades to come.”
A female artist
The current sale record for a work by a female artist is held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1,” which fetched $44.4 million at Sotheby’s in 2014.However, the auction market still reflects a profound disparity as no female artist has yet exceeded the maximum sale price of a male artist. The current benchmark is “Salvator Mundi,” attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was auctioned by Christie’s for $450.3 million in 2017.
Berenice Bautista, Associated Press
Vaishnavi Srinivasagopalan, a skilled Indian IT professional who has worked in both India and the U.S., has been looking for work in China. Beijing’s new K-visa program targeting science and technology workers could turn that dream into a reality.
The K-visa rolled out by Beijing last month is part of Chinas widening effort to catch up with the U.S. in the race for global talent and cutting edge technology. It coincides with uncertainties over the U.S.’s H-1B program under tightened immigrations policies implemented by President Donald Trump.
(The) K-visa for China (is) an equivalent to the H-1B for the U.S., said Srinivasagopalan, who is intrigued by Chinas working environment and culture after her father worked at a Chinese university a few years back. It is a good option for people like me to work abroad.
The K-visa supplements China’s existing visa schemes, including the R-visa for foreign professionals, but with loosened requirements, such as not requiring an applicant to have a job offer before applying.
Stricter U.S. policies toward foreign students and scholars under Trump, including the raising of fees for the H-1B visa for foreign skilled workers to $100,000 for new applicants, are leading some non-American professionals and students to consider going elsewhere.
Students studying in the U.S. hoped for an (H-1B) visa, but currently this is an issue, said Bikash Kali Das, an Indian masters student of international relations at Sichuan University in China.
China wants more foreign tech professionals
China is striking while the iron is hot.
The ruling Communist Party has made global leadership in advanced technologies a top priority, paying massive government subsidies to support research and development of areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics.
Beijing perceives the tightening of immigration policies in the U.S. as an opportunity to position itself globally as welcoming foreign talent and investment more broadly, said Barbara Kelemen, associate director and head of Asia at security intelligence firm Dragonfly.
Unemployment among Chinese graduates remains high, and competition is intense for jobs in scientific and technical fields. But there is a skills gap China’s leadership is eager to fill. For decades, China has been losing top talent to developed countries as many stayed and worked in the U.S. and Europe after they finished studies there.
The brain drain has not fully reversed.
Many Chinese parents still see Western education as advanced and are eager to send their children abroad, said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.
Still, in recent years, a growing number of professionals including AI experts, scientists and engineers have moved to China from the U.S., including Chinese-Americans. Fei Su, a chip architect at Intel, and Ming Zhou, a leading engineer at U.S.-based software firm Altair, were among those who have taken teaching jobs in China this year.
Many skilled workers in India and Southeast Asia have already expressed interest about the K-visa, said Edward Hu, a Shanghai-based immigration director at the consultancy Newland Chase.
Questions about extra competition from foreign workers
With the jobless rate for Chinese aged 16-24 excluding students at nearly 18%, the campaign to attract more foreign professionals is raising questions.
The current job market is already under fierce competition, said Zhou Xinying, a 24-year-old postgraduate student in behavioral science at eastern China’s Zhejiang University.
While foreign professionals could help bring about new technologies and different international perspectives, Zhou said, some Chinese young job seekers may feel pressure due to the introduction of the K-visa policy.
Kyle Huang, a 26-year-old software engineer based in the southern city of Guangzhou, said his peers in the science and technology fields fear the new visa scheme might threaten local job opportunities.
A recent commentary published by a state-backed news outlet, the Shanghai Observer, downplayed such concerns, saying that bringing in such foreign professionals will benefit the economy. As China advances in areas such as AI and cutting-edge semiconductors, there is a gap and mismatch between qualified jobseekers and the demand for skilled workers, it said.
The more complex the global environment, the more China will open its arms, it said.
Beijing will need to emphasize how select foreign talent can create, not take, local jobs, said Michael Feller, chief strategist at consultancy Geopolitical Strategy. But even Washington has shown that this is politically a hard argument to make, despite decades of evidence.
China’s disadvantages even with the new visas
Recruitment and immigration specialists say foreign workers face various hurdles in China. One is the language barrier. The ruling Communist Party’s internet censorship, known as the Great Firewall, is another drawback.
A country of about 1.4 billion, China had only an estimated 711,000 foreign workers residing in the country as of 2023.
The U.S. still leads in research and has the advantage of using English widely. There’s also still a relatively clearer pathway to residency for many, said David Stepat, country director for Singapore at the consultancy Dezan Shira & Associates.
Nikhil Swaminathan, an Indian H1-B visa holder working for a U.S. non-profit organization after finishing graduate school there, is interested in Chinas K-visa but skeptical. I wouldve considered it. Chinas a great place to work in tech, if not for the difficult relationship between India and China, he said.
Given a choice, many jobseekers still are likely to aim for jobs in leading global companies outside China.
The U.S. is probably more at risk of losing would-be H-1B applicants to other Western economies, including the UK and European Union, than to China, said Feller at Geopolitical Strategy.
“The U.S. may be sabotaging itself, but its doing so from a far more competitive position in terms of its attractiveness to talent, Feller said. China will need to do far more than offer convenient visa pathways to attract the best.
Chan Ho-Him, AP business writer
AP writer Fu Ting and researchers Yu Bing and Shihuan Chen contributed.
Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw certain types of pitches, including tossing balls in the dirt instead of strikes, to ensure successful bets.According to the indictment unsealed Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn, the highly paid hurlers took several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two unnamed gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches.Clase, the Guardians’ former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB started investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched. Some of the games in question were in April, May and June.Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday by the FBI at Boston Logan International Airport. He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston on Monday. Clase, 27, was not in custody, officials said.Ortiz and Clase “betrayed America’s pastime,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said. “Integrity, honesty and fair play are part of the DNA of professional sports. When corruption infiltrates the sport, it brings disgrace not only to the participants but damages the public trust in an institution that is vital and dear to all of us.”Ortiz’s lawyer, Chris Georgalis, said in a statement that his client was innocent and “has never, and would never, improperly influence a game not for anyone and not for anything.”Georgalis said Ortiz’s defense team had previously documented for prosecutors that the payments and money transfers between him and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for lawful activities.“There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning. Luis looks forward to fighting these charges in court,” Georgalis said.A lawyer for Clase, Michael J. Ferrara, said his client “has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win. Emmanuel is innocent of all charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”The Major League Baseball Players Association had no comment.
Unusual betting activity prompted investigation
MLB said it contacted federal law enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity and has fully cooperated with authorities. “We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing,” a league statement said.In a statement, the Guardians said: “We are aware of the recent law enforcement action. We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue.”Clase and Ortiz are both charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. The top charges carry a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison.In one example cited in the indictment, Clase allegedly invited a bettor to a game against the Boston Red Sox in April and spoke with him by phone just before taking the mound. Four minutes later, the indictment said, the bettor and his associates won $11,000 on a wager that Clase would toss a certain pitch slower than 97.95 mph (157.63 kph).In May, the indictment said, Clase agreed to throw a ball at a certain point in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the batter swung, resulting in a strike, costing the bettors $4,000 in wagers. After the game, which the Guardians won, Clase sent text messages to one of the bettors with images of a man hanging himself with toilet paper and a sad puppy dog face, the indictment said.Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had a $4.5 million salary in 2025, the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract. The three-time AL save leader began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 but didn’t ask for payoffs until this year, prosecutors said.The indictment cited specific pitches Clase allegedly rigged all of them first pitches when he entered to start an inning: a 98.5 mph (158.5 kph) cutter low and inside to the New York Mets’ Starling Marte on May 19, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers that bounced well short of home plate on June 3, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. that bounced on April 12; a 99.1 mph (159.5 kph) cutter in the dirt to Philadelphia’s Max Kepler on May 11; a bounced 89.1 mph (143.4) slider to Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers on May 13; and a bounced 87.5 mph (140.8 kph) slider to Cincinnati’s Santiago Espinal on May 17.Prosecutors said Ortiz, who had a $782,600 salary this year, got in on the scheme in June and is accused of rigging pitches in games against the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.Ortiz was cited for bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to Seattle’s Randy Arozarena starting the second inning on June 15 and bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to St. Louis’ Pedro Pagés that went to the backstop opening the third inning on June 27.
Dozens of pro athletes have been charged in gambling sweeps
The charges are the latest bombshell developments in a federal crackdown on betting in professional sports.Last month, more than 30 people, including prominent basketball figures such as Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in a gambling sweep that rocked the NBA.Sports betting scandals have long been a concern, but a May 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling led to a wave of gambling incidents involving athletes and officials. The ruling struck down a federal ban on sports betting in most states and opened the doors for online sportsbooks to take a prominent space in the sports ecosystem.Major League Baseball suspended five players in June 2024, including a lifetime ban for San Diego infielder Tucupita Marcano for allegedly placing 387 baseball bets with a legal sportsbook totaling more than $150,000.
Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington and Ron Blum in New York contributed to this report.
Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press
Bitmoji is going back to 2D.
Snapchat announced Monday that a new Bitmoji style inspired by the classic 2D look will be an option for Snapchat+ subscribers in the coming days. The revamped style for the app’s popular avatars is called Comic Bitmoji.
Bitmoji’s 3D redesign in 2023 allowed Snapchat to launch new body types and deliver faster on top fashion requests, from low-rise jeans to saris, says Swetha Dhamodharan, a senior product director at Snapchat.
But there’s been growing calls to bring back the old 2D comic style. One online petition to bring back the style has racked up nearly 100,000 signatures.
“I think that there’s just a little bit of nostalgia, and the avatar is cute,” Dhamodharan tells Fast Company. “We’ve done a lot of work to make it cuter over time.”
[Image: Snap Inc]
Also key are the wide variability of customizable traits, from hair styles to clothes, which make a friend’s or family member’s Bitmoji, though cartoonish and exaggerated, so easy to clock.
That same volume of variability, though, also makes the redesign projects from 2D to 3D and back again technically complex. The design process included iteration across a range of body shapes and sizes and fashion items. “The scale of our traits is enormous,” Dhamodharan says.
Bitmoji are central to the Snapchat experience and show up across the app in different ways, like as the avatar of the person you’re talking to instead of just initials, or on the app’s Snap Map, which reached 400 million users this year. That means animations had to look right as both a profile picture and full body. The team made tweaks to get the proportions, shading, and the thickness of outlines just right.
The option for a classic-inspired 2D Bitmoji style comes one week after Snapchat’s parent company Snap announced a partnership with Perplexity AI and said its revenue was up 10% year-over-year.
“Bitmoji is so important to Snapchat and what makes it so different,” Dhamodharan says. “It’s not this avatar that you create once and then you kind of forget about. It’s truly how you see yourself, it’s how you see your friends and family. And I think it just makes communicating on Snapchat feel complete different anymore connected than other places.”
Disney has been in the cruise business for 27 years now, but over the past few years, the company has doubled down in an unprecedented manner. On November 20, the entertainment giant will see the inaugural sailing of the Disney Destiny, a 144,000 gross ton ship capable of carrying 4,000 passengers that is the latest in a growing fleet. It’s the fourth addition in the past four years. And five more ships are coming by 2031, which will bring the total to 13.
An expansion like that isn’t cheap, but Disney is making a lot of sizable wagers these days. The new ships are part of a $60 billion capital investment between now and 2033, which includes a variety of planned updates and changes at its park, updating legacy attractions and unveiling what it called the largest ever expansion plans for the Magic Kingdom.
Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, is overseeing the expansion of it alland when it comes to cruises, he’s particularly bullish.
“We believe in what we’re doing in this space,” he tells Fast Company. “Our fans believe in what we’re doing in this space and we’re being incredibly ambitious.”
There’s good reason for that optimism. AAA projects that 21.7 million Americans will hit the high seas next year, setting a record. That’s the fourth straight year of record-breaking cruise passenger volume. And according to Bank of America credit and debit card data from May 2024, spending on cruises was up 12% year-over-year.
Disney cruises have been especially popular. The existing fleet, including Destiny, is already nearly 50% booked for 2026 with newer ships showing higher booking percentages. Prices for a journey on the Destiny run from $1,994 to just shy of $10,000. Disney does not break out financial metrics for its cruise ships, but those are part of the companys Disney Experiences division, which saw operating income of $2.5 billion in the companys fiscal third quarter, a $294 million increase over the year prior. That figure included a roughly $30 million impact from pre-opening expenses at Disney Cruise Line, the company said.
Cruises are more than just a contributor to the company’s bottom line, says D’Amaro. They’re a chance to offer Disney experiences beyond the theme parks, including some areas where those parks may be difficult for families to get to.
“These ships are tremendous ambassadors for our brand,” he says. “We have an opportunity to take these experiences anywhere we want.”
After the christening of the 6,700-passenger Adventure in Singapore next year, Disney will introduce Disney cruise vacations to Japan in 2029, the result of an agreement with Oriental Land Co., Ltd.
And D’Amaro says the company is not tying its ships to a specific ports forever. In the years to come, they could rotate to new ports of call, giving passengers a fresh experience without a new capital outlay.
“We can move them anywhere in the world we like and you’re seeing us do that with the Adventure,” says D’Amaro. “That will be an opportunity to bring the Disney brand to a brand-new market and bring Disney to fans that may not have had an opportunity to experience one of our parks.”
The bet is: If someone experiences the Disney bubble on a cruise, it will whet their appetite to visit one of the parks. Analysts like that. In June, Jefferies upgraded Disney from a hold to a buy, citing, in part, the positive performance in the cruise business.
A different kind of storytelling
Entertaining 4,000 guests on a cruise is a bit different than hosting 40,000 at a theme park. While some of the experiences are roughly the same (character meet and greets, pin trading), a cruise ship can’t (and arguably shouldn’t) support all the rides of a theme park. It’s a slower pace.
On the Destiny, that means Imagineers focus on things like effects and details in gathering spots, like the Pirates of the Caribbean-themed Cast & Cannon bar or The Haunted Mansion Parlor. Younger passengers have dedicated spaces that incorporate the Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars universes. And teens have two areas to hang out with people their age.
The onboard shows, meanwhile, are Broadway-caliber and feature Imagineer-influenced effects. And familiar stories, like The Lion King, can be rethought as part of a dining experience.
Part of the secret to storytelling on a smaller basis, says D’Amaro lays in how the company steers guests through their stay onboard.
“[It gives] us a great opportunity to fully choreograph a show,” he says. “So if you think about a Disney cruise experience, you’re moving in a sequence from dining hall to dining hall. You are able to take in a show on specific nights. We’re basically trying to create a three-, four-, five-, or seven-day experience that we can completely choreograph and make sure you’re seeing everything on the ship, make sure you’re getting exposed to all the stories we have.”
Another difference between cruises and theme parks: Families also get to know each other on cruises, instead of bobbing and weaving around each other in a mad dash to get to the next attraction. And guests interact with the same cast members, forming a relationship. The rides that are offered are generally water attractions, such as Aqua Mouse on the Destiny, Wish, and Treasure ships. And each ship focuses on a different theme (the Wish centers around enchantment, Treasure tells a story of adventure and Destiny tackles heroes versus villains).
That, says D’Amaro, has made the cruise experiences among the most highly rated in the company.
Disney has plenty of intellectual properties it hasn’t tapped for Experiences yet. Villains are getting their own land in the Magic Kingdomand Zootopia and Encanto will be featured heavily in a new area in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
But the Disney catalog is deep. That gives the company plenty of opportunities to expand its experiences at sea, as well. (The focus on 1997’s Hercules film on the Destiny is a shining example.) D’Amaro says the company plans to continue exploring new destinations and push itself from a story-telling perspective.
Disney’s cruise efforts may still be tiny compared to industry giants like Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but its ambitions are sizable.
“We’re still relatively small in this space,” says D’Amaro. “I think there’s a tremendous opportunity for the Walt Disney Company here.”
Paul Tagliabue, who helped bring labor peace and riches to the NFL during his 17 years as commissioner but was criticized for not taking stronger action on concussions, died Sunday from heart failure. He was 84.NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Tagliabue’s family informed the league of his death in Chevy Chase, Maryland.Tagliabue, who had developed Parkinson’s disease, was commissioner after Pete Rozelle from 1989 to 2006. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of a special centennial class in 2020. Current Commissioner Roger Goodell succeeded Tagliabue.“Paul was the ultimate steward of the game tall in stature, humble in presence and decisive in his loyalty to the NFL,” Goodell said in a statement. “I am forever grateful and proud to have Paul as my friend and mentor. I cherished the innumerable hours we spent together where he helped shape me as an executive but also as a man, husband and father.”News of Tagliabue’s death came shortly before seven games kicked off Sunday at 1 p.m. EST. Several teams held moments of silence throughout the day for Tagliabue and Marshawn Kneeland, the Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle who died on Thursday.Tagliabue oversaw the construction of myriad new stadiums and negotiated television contracts that added billions of dollars to the league’s bank account. Under him, there were no labor stoppages.During his time, Los Angeles lost two teams and Cleveland another, migrating to Baltimore before being replaced by an expansion franchise. Los Angeles eventually regained two teams.Tagliabue implemented a policy on substance abuse that was considered the strongest in all major sports. He also established the “Rooney Rule,” in which all teams with coaching vacancies must interview minority candidates. It has since been expanded to include front-office and league executive positions.When he took office in 1989, the NFL had just hired its first Black head coach of the modern era. By the time Tagliabue stepped down in 2006, there were seven minority head coaches in the league.In one of his pivotal moments, Tagliabue called off NFL games the weekend after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was one of the few times the public compared him favorably to Rozelle, who proceeded with the games two days after President John Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. A key presidential aide had advised Rozelle that the NFL should play, a decision that was one of the commissioner’s great regrets.Tagliabue certainly had his detractors, notably over concussions. The issue has plagued the NFL for decades, though team owners had a major role in the lack of progress in dealing with head trauma.In 2017, Tagliabue apologized for remarks he made decades ago about concussions in football, acknowledging he didn’t have the proper data at the time in 1994. He called concussions “one of those pack-journalism issues” and contended the number of concussions “is relatively small; the problem is the journalist issue.”“Obviously,” he said on Talk of Fame Network, “I do regret those remarks. Looking back, it was not sensible language to use to express my thoughts at the time. My language was intemperate, and it led to a serious misunderstanding.“My intention at the time was to make a point which could have been made fairly simply: that there was a need for better data. There was a need for more reliable information about concussions and uniformity in terms of how they were being defined in terms of severity.”While concussion recognition, research and treatment lagged for much of Tagliabue’s tenure, his work on the labor front was exemplary.As one of his first decisions, Tagliabue reached out to the players’ union, then run by Gene Upshaw, a Hall of Fame player and former star for Al Davis’ Raiders. Tagliabue had insisted he be directly involved in all labor negotiations, basically rendering useless the Management Council of club executives that had handled such duties for nearly two decades.It was a wise decision.“When Paul was named commissioner after that seven-month search in 1989, that’s when the league got back on track,” said Joe Browne, who spent 50 years as an NFL executive and was a confidant of Rozelle and Tagliabue.“Paul had insisted during his negotiations for the position that final control over matters such as labor and all commercial business dealings had to rest in the commissioner’s office. The owners agreed and that was a large step forward toward the tremendous rebound we had as a league an expanded league in the ’90s and beyond.”Tagliabue forged a solid relationship with Upshaw. In breaking with the contentious dealings between the league and the NFL Players Association, Tagliabue and Upshaw kept negotiations respectful and centered on what would benefit both sides. Compromise was key, Upshaw always said although the union often was criticized for being too accommodating.Tagliabue had been the NFL’s Washington lawyer, a partner in the prestigious firm of Covington & Burling. He was chosen as commissioner in October 1989 over New Orleans general manager Jim Finks after a bitter fight highlighting the differences between the NFL’s old guard and newer owners.Yet during his reign as commissioner, which ended in the spring of 2006 after pushing through a highly contested labor agreement, he managed to unite those divided owners and, in fact, relied more on the old-timers who supported him than on Jerry Jones and many of the younger owners at the time.Tagliabue was born on Nov. 24, 1940, in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was the 6-foot-5 captain of the basketball team at Georgetown and graduated in 1962 as one of the school’s leading rebounders at the time his career average later listed just below that of Patrick Ewing. He was president of his class and a Rhodes scholar finalist. Three years later, he graduated from NYU Law School and subsequently worked as a lawyer in the Defense Department before joining Covington & Burling.He eventually took over the NFL account, establishing a close relationship with Rozelle and other league officials during a series of legal actions in the 1970s and 1980s.Tagliabue was reserved by nature and it sometimes led to coolness with the media, which had embraced Rozelle, an affable former public relations man. Even after he left office, Tagliabue did not measure up in that regard with Goodell, who began his NFL career in the public relations department.But after 9/11, Tagliabue showed a different side, particularly toward league employees who had lost loved ones in the attacks. He accompanied Ed Tighe, an NFL Management Council lawyer whose wife died that day, to Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a few blocks from the NFL office.Art Shell, a Hall of Fame player, became the NFL’s first modern-day Black head coach with the Raiders. He got to see Tagliabue up close and thought him utterly suited for his job.“After my coaching career was over, I had the privilege of working directly with Paul in the league office,” Shell said. “His philosophy on almost every issue was, ‘If it’s broke, fix it. And if it’s not broke, fix it anyway.’“He always challenged us to find better ways of doing things. Paul never lost sight of his responsibility to do what was right for the game. He was the perfect choice as NFL commissioner.”Tagliabue is survived by his wife, Chandler, son Drew anddaughter Emily.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Barry Wilner and Rob Maaddi, AP Pro Football Writers
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.The justices, without comment, turned away an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the high court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.Davis had been trying to get the court to overturn a lower-court order for her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney’s fees to a couple denied a marriage license.Her lawyers repeatedly invoked the words of Justice Clarence Thomas, who alone among the nine justices has called for erasing the same-sex marriage ruling.Thomas was among four dissenting justices in 2015. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito are the other dissenters who are on the court today.Roberts has been silent on the subject since he wrote a dissenting opinion in the case. Alito has continued to criticize the decision, but he said recently he was not advocating that it be overturned.Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was not on the court in 2015, has said that there are times when the court should correct mistakes and overturn decisions, as it did in the 2022 case that ended a constitutional right to abortion.But Barrett has suggested recently that same-sex marriage might be in a different category than abortion because people have relied on the decision when they married and had children.Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson praised the justices’ decision not to intervene. “The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences,” Robinson said in a statement.Davis drew national attention to eastern Kentucky’s Rowan County when she turned away same-sex couples, saying her faith prevented her from complying with the high court ruling. She defied court orders to issue the licenses until a federal judge jailed her for contempt of court in September 2015.She was released after her staff issued the licenses on her behalf but removed her name from the form. The Kentucky legislature later enacted a law removing the names of all county clerks from state marriage licenses.Davis lost a reelection bid in 2018.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
Mark Sherman, Associated Press
With his tariff policies potentially under threat from the Supreme Court, President Trump over the weekend took to Truth Social to float the idea of doling out a $2,000 “dividend” to every person in America who is not high income.
Although experts have expressed doubt about the fiscal feasibility of such a proposaland Trump’s own treasury secretary conceded that he knew of no such plan to send out checksTrump’s post is likely to spark a fresh wave of unsourced news stories designed to induce clicks and raise false hopes among millions of Americans who could actually use a stimulus boost.
Here’s what to know:
What did Trump propose?
In a Truth Social post on Sunday that began with the sentence, “People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!,” Trump suggested that the government might distribute some tariff revenue directly to Americans.
“Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” Trump posted.
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the idea when he made the rounds on Sunday talk shows. On ABCs This Week, after conceding that he hadn’t spoken to Trump about the issue, he speculated that the dividend could come in the form of “tax decreases.”
Fast Company reached out to the White House and Treasury Department for additional details. We’ll update this post if we hear back.
Are $2,000 tariff dividend checks feasible?
Not likely. As Bloomberg pointed out, such a plan could cost anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion. Even on the lower end, that’s more than 10 times more than the government has been generating in monthly customs receipts.
John Arnold, cochair of Arnold Ventures, posted on X that sending checks that size to every non-wealthy person would still cost more than the Tax Foundation’s projected tariff revenue for all of 2026.
Why does this sound familiar?
It’s not the first time that Trump has publicly entertained the idea of sending out large checks to Americans.
Recall that when his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was slashing government jobs earlier this year, the president appeared to endorse an idea first proposed on social media to distribute $5,000 checks to taxpaying households.
Although no such plan ever materialized, it didn’t stop news websites from posting updates about the supposed forthcoming payments for months after the fact
What happens next?
Expect a deluge of articles over the next days and weeks (and possibly months) about the tariff dividend checks, purportedly explaining who qualifies for them, speculating about possible timelines, and just generally flooding the zone.
During the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, website owners discovered that stories about stimulus checks could generate massive web traffic.
Except at that time, there was lots of legitimate news to report: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) distributed three such payments during the early pandemic years, and in many cases did so in a glitch-prone way that caused confusion among would-be recipients.
Although the IRS distributed the final stimulus checks (aka Economic Impact Payments) for the 2021 tax year, in a way, the news cycle never stopped.
Rumors of a fourth stimulus check persisted for months after that, followed by the emergence of increasingly sketchy content farms that seemed to exist solely for the purpose of spreading false details about nonexistent government stimulus plans, gaming Google’s trending searches, and generating clicks in bad faith.
As Fast Company reported last year, Google has sometimes moved to remove these sites from search results when made aware of them, but it’s a bit like a game of whack-a-mole. The websites tend to operate overseas, and they sometimes repurpose dormant URLs that have already built up a search history and reputation.
I dont know the last time I flew somewhere to visit a mall.
But Im here in King of Prussia, Pennsylvainaa Philadelphia suburbwalking around a vast shopping complex thats seemingly frozen in the 90s. Despite it being 11 a.m. on a Friday, cars whizz by to fill the endless parking lots, perhaps to peruse the Nordstrom or grab lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.
A few years ago, Id be looking up at a two-story Lord & Taylor. But instead, that big box retailer has been transformed into the next big bet in the experience economy: the inaugural Netflix House.
Netflix has been experimenting with expanding its digital footprint into IRL since 2020welcoming millions of people for live events like Bridgertons Victorian ball. But Netflix House is the company’s first permanent physical location. Its spent the past two years working with the global architecture firm Gensler and a handful of other companies to imagine what Netflix could be as a venue. I was invited as one of a handful of journalists to peek inside before it opens to the public this week.
As I walk through the front doora door cheekily framed by a classic red Netflix DVD mailera large atrium welcomes me. Im ushered forward by a long, painted red carpet that leads straight up the stairs in an entrance that ironically feels more Hollywood than Hollywood.
On the walls, youll see every Netflix thing you knowa 10-foot Thing hand from Wednesday, a spooky mansion from Stranger Things, an upside down, floating chess set from Queens Gambit.
But what is Netflix House?
My tl;dr version is that it feels like a cineplex for the modern era, but theres only one theater insideand that theater is actually free to attend. Instead, most of the 100,000+ square-foot footprint has been dedicated to amalgamating a millennial fever dream: a space thats part arcade, part store, part mini golf, part restaurant, andmostlya love letter to experimental, immersive theater.
However, after two hours of working my way through Netflix Houses spaces and attractions, I realized that Netflix isnt trying to reinvent the “outdated” movie theater for the streaming age.
Instead, Netflix wants to take over experiential retail the same way it took over video streaming.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
Why build Netflix House
Say what you will about the streaming wars, but Netflix is still the juggernaut of the global market of its own creation. Its 301.6 million global subscribers approach the population of the United States (the last figure Netflix reported before it stopped sharing subscriber numbers at the end of 2024). When the companys subscriptions began to plateau in 2022, the company finally dropped the ace up its sleeve, and cracked down on subscription sharing. Despite complaints, they added 70 million subscribers since.
Its a testament to the power of the Netflix brand, and its IP. But despite the fact that Netflix owns cultural mindshare (how many Rumi costumes did you see on Halloween), Netflix continues to draw 95% of its revenue from subscriptions. It lacks a truly diversified business model.
Over multiple interviews, Netflix shied away from outlining its own plans for how Netflix Houses might drive the companys bottom line. The company has committed to building three locations through 2027, and assures me that Netflix House is an idea that it intends to scale. I would love to see this in every major city, says Marian Lee, CMO of Netflix.
It would be silly for Netflix to not try. The global entertainment market (including broadcast and events) is a $3 trillion business globally according to PwC. Live experiences, ranging from concerts to podcast recordings to installations like 29 Rooms, are a growing phenomenon within that. The U.S. experiences market has been growing 21% a year since 2019, according to the research firm Habo.
In-person, experiential entertainment has been a big business for decades. Disneys theme parks represent 37% of its $90 billion in revenue, while Universal Studios and Super Nintendo World drive about 20% of NBCUniversals $39 billion business. (Its why the companies recently announced theme park investments of $60 billion and $7 billion, respectively.)
These figures dwarf Netflixs $3 billion marketing budget from which Netflix Houses seem to have been developed thus far. However, Netflixs approach isnt to build a single global destination that will require families take out a second mortgage to visit; its to craft a duplicatable model. To build a sort of Netflixland inside large scale, oft-abandoned big box retail spaces that dot the U.S.and perhaps nostalgic American malls in particular. It’s designed to be a cross between the classic cineplex and experimental theater, with enough new things to check out to keep up with Netflixs relentless release cadence.
We want it to be a place that’s not just like a special occasion destination, says Lee. We want you to come back over and over again.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
Modular by design
Interactive experiences are the big attractions at Netflix House. The company has been honing this idea for a while, having launched 40 experiences for brands like Stranger Things and Bridgerton globally. Theyve entertained 10 million people to date, at 450 openings in 300 cities around the worldlearning whats worked and what hasnt.
Every time we do it, it’s like, Oh, that game’s not working as intended. Let’s change that, says Lee. And so we are sitting on a mountain of information that allows us to put something into a permanent space, but we are still able to be flexible.
Indeed, Netflix House is built to reshape itself to embrace its latest viral hit. Even its stunning atrium is decorated in swappable set pieces, some of which were updated in the last minute before opening.
[Photo: courtesy of the author]
The level of detail in the designI really pushed this team to the brink, says Lee, who notes that as K-Pop Demon Hunters was a surprise hit, Netflix needed to figure out how to get the IP integrated at the eleventh houradding the cat Derpy onto a mural outside, and commissioning a big sculpture that will sit outside the space. They hustled and got it done. But we know that for fans who are walking through the mall and see Netflix, they know that that’s really [our] number one film in 2025. And so if we didn’t deliver for them, that wouldn’t be great.
As Aaron Birney, Genslers principal of retail and consumer experience, explains, Netflix usually spun up events ad hoc in unique locations. That meant Netflix commandeered big box stores locally, like a closed Best Buy, and transformed them into a proper theater.
Similarly, Netflix House is architected to be a barebones frame that recedes behind the content. But its been designed with the acoustics, expansive rooms, and technical framework to enable anything Netflix might want to build inside.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
Trying Netflixs experiences
At Netflix House, two 15,000 square foot sound stages represent a third of the overall footprint, each of which has been transformed into a different IP wonderland offering a different flavor of experiencecomplete with live actors who improv, and will even pull you aside, to round out the immersion. To book these experiences, you can simply scan a QR code and choose your time slot of choice.
[Video: courtesy of the author]
The One Piece experience, for instance, begins with a member of the Navy locking your group up into a pirate prison cell. And what follows is a long series of escape roomseach with a different puzzle or game. (I found myself running my hands over walls to push symbols at the same time, or turning cranks and switchesone challenge even forces your crew to band together their arms to stretch an electric current from one wall to the other). To manage capacity, two concurrent escape room tracks run at the same time, and doors open on a timer even if you suck. Its a linear experience with one clear story.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
Wednesdays exhibit is more freeform for you to explore as you like. It kicks off with a truly jaw dropping reveal as you step right into her bedrooma transportive, picture perfect recreation of the show. Her bubbly roommate, Enit, appears with her in silhouette behind the large window to kick off the story. It opens to reveal a maudlin carnival (complete with a laser crossbow shooting range and spinning wheel that will reveal how you will die).
Instead of escaping, youre there to play. But you can also follow along with a mystery on your phonewhich will draw you deeper into Wednesdays built world, from the carnival, through a forest, into more striking Wednesday sets like the headmasters office where you can hunt for clues.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
Netflix is coordinating with show runners so that the mini stories in these experiences feel like they are actually part of the world. And in some cases, the company is installing actual props from these showsas with the lockers installed in a Stranger Things experience coming to the Dallas Netflix House when it opens later this month.
That installation gives everyone a large, dark space to explore with a specially programmed flashlight (that, yes, will go out at the worst of times). Dallas will also host real life Squid Games, which Netflix toured with, for fans to compete to win (death punishments not included).
Each of these experiences are ticketed separately, starting at $39/head, and theyll actually be moved between Netflix Houses for regional variety. The company is insisting, however, that it doesnt want to take a rinse and repeat approach. Netflix says it wont simply reskin the existing spaces with different IP. Instead, the company is partnering with local artists and several technical experts so that each installation features a different experiential mechanism at its core.
Truth be told, its the sets that I found so appealing. To actually step inside a show is a powerful sensation. Its more than just an Instagram opp (of which, yes, the House has many). Youre actually living a piece of entertainment IRL.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
A theater that doesnt charge
Perhaps the biggest twist inside Netflix House is its movie theater, which doesnt charge for tickets. Instead, its a free programming space, where Netflix imagines people meeting up for Monday Night RAW viewing parties, or where actors might tour to promote a show.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
Its a coy bit of marketing, sure. (And you wont forget its Netflix. Even the walls inside the theater are lined with red, glowing columns that mirror the Netflix slate preceding each show.)
But perhaps Netflix also knows that its another way to get people into the House. Some attractions are sponsored (which shouldn’t be a surprise)I noted Mastercard logo adorning the wall near a Bridgerton photo oppand theres plenty of other stuff to spend money on when the show is over, too.
Because a considerable amount of the footprint goes to a retail store and a restaurant.
Not that its a competition, per se, but the store outperforms some retail Ive seen at Disney World and Universal. I particularly enjoyed a sculpture where One Pieces own Luffy spirals his rubber arm out of a barrel of tangerines to grab his hat. Its hard to resist the endless array of merch, which includes regionalized “NetPHLix” sweatshirts and totes. Who wouldn’t want to binge Love is Blind while chugging Josh out of its official steel wine glasses?
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
The restaurant called Netflix Bites, meanwhile, juggles a vibe between high touch entertainment and mall food court. Greg Lombardo, VP and head of live experiences at Netflix, says hes after an elevated diner concept. The menu is amusing. It offers fan service items like Red Bite, Green Bite chicken referencing Squid Game, and a 2lb pretzel that celebrates how every Netflix story has a big twist.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
But its the custom neon signs and lovingly created sculptures (the Emily in Paris croissant dress is more exquisite than it has any excuse to be) that make you remember that youre sitting inside a Netflix restaurant. These sculptures were designed by Netflixs own experiences team, and fabricated by F&D.
Regarding the menu, I cant help but wonder if they could push the idea of limited time specials further. I want to try a devil fruit of the month, or eat the exact olde English dish from the Bridgerton season finale. I desire more literality here across the board: I want to touch and taste the things that I see on the screen, not just have dishes inspired by Netflix shows. When Lombardo suggests we might see prix fix meals from Chefs Table restaurateurs, I realize thats just what I crave more of. Feed me the feed!
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
At night, a centrally positioned bar is sure to spill over into the attached Top Nine mini golf course, where the goal is to get a high score rather than low. Each hole represents a different show, and RFID balls mean your strokes are tracked automatically. A WWE hole urges you to bounce the ball off the ropes. An Is it Cake hole shows you a clip and makes you properly guess, is it cake? to get the highest score route opened. A One Piece hole actually places two putters against one other, head-to-head, each putting as fast as they can to fire cannonballs in a Skeeball-style arrangement to sink the other ship first.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
When I mentioned to Lombardo that I had my reservations about minigolf (seriously, minigolf?!?) at Netflix House, he counters that its actually been amongst the most successful pre-booked experiences. Indeed, even the actors being filmed for a promo do seem like theyve having fun between takes. It only costs $15 to play a game, while the largescale experiences run $40 a head (or $160 for a family of four). These prices are within market rate for sure, but its notable that Netflix House has so many tiers of pricing for a visit: Free, $15, or rates that edge into day-at-a-theme-park territory when you mix live experiences with the price of dinner.
Finally, Netflix House features a roomscale VR setup created alongside Sandbox VR. Its the one thing I didnt really try, and the one bit of architecture that verged more toward looser scifi framing than Netflix IP (if you didnt put the VR helmet on that is). Inside the VR world, youll be shooting the Demogorgon from Stranger Things.
[Photo: Kat Kendon/2025 Netflix Attractions, LLC]
The future of Netflix House
I have little doubt that Netflix Houses opening in Philadelphia and Dallas this year, and Vegas (2027), will do well in the short term. Research shows that people will travel for live experiencesa recent report found nearly 50% of people would travel up to two hours for an immersive experience, and another quarter would travel up to three.
Netflix is one of the most impactful entertainment companies of the modern era. And it doesn’t just have the Netflix brand to stand upon. Its power comes from leveraging its ongoing cadence of viral IP into big box entertainment thats designed to support the next big thing rapidly and fluidly.
Yet theres no doubt that Netflix is dipping its toe into the water before completely jumping in. Lombardo tells me he feels pretty confident about the overall structure theyve built, and their balance of entertainment options. But they do intend to keep learning and honing. When we spoke just days before the opening, he said his biggest unknown was actually around customer service. He wanted to ensure that, even in a space where you book tickets via QR code, every touchpoint with a Netflix House employee brought a fan deeper into the brand.
I think its reassuring that Netflix, a company known for digitization and scale, is focused on the human componentright down to the actors its hiring and training for its live experiences. I think about the ill fated end of Disney Questa 2000s-era attempt by Disney to reimagine the future of entertainment with arcade gaming but no live theateras something Netflix must have learned from when modeling its own thesis. I found myself framng Netflix House as an AMC for the streaming age, or maybe Planet Hollywood with less crappy food and more actual stuff to do. Maybe even a third space for bored teens, minus the matcha.
Ultimately, the market will decide if Netflix House is a worthy idea or not. But I left the space feeling positively nostalgic, remembering the weekends I used to spend staring at a big screen in the dark with my feet sticking to the floor, or recalling the liminal interactions I had with actors in immersive theater shows like Sleep No More.
Netflix is embracing some of the most exciting trends in theater while mixing in some of the most popular IP of the era, all within a middle American friendly wrapper of a classic cineplex.
If Netflix is a master of anything, its creating a spectacleand making it as easy to experience as possible.
