Disney Exec: Rising Gas Prices Won't Derail Economic Recovery

Filling up at the pumps certainly costs more these days and might even leave some consumers with a serious case of sticker shock. This past week, a top Disney executive said he doesn't expect the price of gas to adversely affect the number of theme park visitors.

A quote about rising gas prices from Chief Financial Officer for Disney, Joe Rasulo, from a conference earlier this week: "Historically, we have not seen that, in and of itself " separate from a downturn it might cause. In and of itself, oil prices have not dampened visitation or interest in visitation to our theme parks."

There are fears out there that the cost of gas will hinder consumer spending and slow the country's economic recovery. Disney, its theme park business linked to such recovery, has seen its first quarterly profit growth in over two years with 2010's ending quarter.

Says Rasulo: "Even in other trips, non-Disney trips, the price of gasoline plays such a small role in the overall cost of even a drive vacation that it tends not to derail somebody's vacation plans."

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