Profit from operations in the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31 rose to $341million, or 16 cents a share. That was up from the year-earlier's $278 million, or 13 cents a share, and better than the 15-cents-a-share consensus estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomason Financial. Revenue rose to $7.31 billion from $6.82 billion a year ago.

Disney officials say the earnings gain was fueled by a record $1.7 billion in revenue from the company's theme parks, which offset a $253-million loss from its Internet business and sluggish sales at most of its retail stores. The gain was also tempered by the huge cost of building its new California Adventure theme park, which opens here on Thursday.

Disney is not only one of the county's largest employers, but also one of the bellwether stocks on Wall Street. Hundreds of analysts and reporters jammed into the new Grand Californian Hotel here to hear various Disney execs talk about the company's plans and financial expectations.

Disney Chairman Michael Eisner has sometimes feuded with government officials in Anaheim, home of both Disneyland and the new California Adventure. And in some of his sharpest public criticism yet, Eisner told the crowd that the city was "an urban blight area" before its recent redevelopment and that Disneyland had been "crumbling under its neighborhood decay."

Disney deserves some of the credit for helping the city regain its luster, Eisner said. Disney's stock was up 66 cents a share in early afternoon trading on Wall Street today, at $32.47 a share. It jumped $1.18 on Tuesday.