experience

A family-friendly UK holiday can be had for just £6.60 per person per night – but there are a few things you’ll need to know before booking this Kent caravan park

An online travel expert has discovered what he claims to be the UK’s most affordable holiday, costing a mere £6 per person per night. Haven, who runs the site, assures guests of “the warmest welcome possible” at their coastal holiday parks scattered across the UK.

YouTuber Steven decided to put this promise to the test by visiting their Kent Coast Caravan Park, just an hour’s drive from London.

On his Beachlife and Beyond channel, Steven meticulously outlined what you receive for your money, expressing overall high levels of satisfaction. However, there were a couple of unpleasant surprises that made Haven’s welcome slightly less warm than Steven had anticipated.

Upon arrival at the park for his off-peak getaway, Steven noted that the weather was “absolutely awful”. Despite this, he remained optimistic, and an initial inspection of the accommodation left a positive first impression.

Steven reported that everything was immaculately clean, but he wasn’t convinced by the comfort of the sofa-bed that unfolded from the large corner sofa. He advised: “I recommend, if you’re going to come to one of these caravans, bring your own duvet cover and sleep on top of that. Otherwise the poor sod who ends up lying on this is going to have a really bad back.”

Despite that initial hiccup, Haven staff were quick to provide extra bedding when Steven raised the issue. The caravan was equipped with a decent-sized telly, which was likely to be in high demand given the dismal weather that week.

Steven advised: “We’ve brought our own laptop and HDMI cable, that’s another top tip for you. Haven sites don’t tend to have very good internet…so download some films, stick them on a laptop, bring an HDMI cable and you’re grand.”

In a surprising twist, the caravan boasted not one but two microwaves. Steven also noted: “This is a first for us, a dishwasher in a Bronze caravan.”

The bedroom came complete with sheets and pillowcases – a rarity at similar sites, according to Steven. He was further impressed by the addition of a second TV in the main bedroom.

“I am beyond impressed,” he said.

For those looking for entertainment outside the caravan, there’s a Wetherspoons on site, along with bingo and other activities. However, guests will need to purchase one of Haven’s “Play Passes” to access these facilities.

Without these passes, Steven warned, you’re “effectively banned from the rest of the site”. He added: “They’ve got ‘Gandalf’ on the door stopping you getting into anything.”

While there’s a supermarket on site, prices can be steep, so Steven made the half-hour journey to an Aldi in nearby Rochester for his weekly shop. For those preferring not to drive, supermarket deliveries are available direct to caravans.

The park also boasts a fish and chip restaurant, a Papa John’s pizza franchise, and a Burger King offering caravan delivery.

With the miserable weather, the caravan grew rather cold by afternoon. He grabbed a quick evening meal before venturing out to experience the park’s entertainment.

“Microwave curry in a caravan,” he remarked. “Don’t tell me I’m not a man of culture.”

Despite being low season for British holidays, the bingo hall was surprisingly packed. “Everyone who’s a seasoned holiday park-goer will know that they take bingo very seriously,” he noted. “They are hardcore.”

There’s absolutely no mercy for anyone getting overexcited and calling “House” prematurely, with the entire room of holidaymakers chanting “Shame on you”.

Even when British weather disappoints, several indoor alternatives keep restless children occupied, including two sizeable amusement arcades.

However, disaster struck upon Steven’s return to his caravan when he discovered the shower’s temperature dial was jammed on the coldest setting. He resorted to boiling kettle water for washing.

Despite the shower malfunctioning, Haven responded swiftly by sending a security guard and arranging for a plumber to visit the next day. However, it became apparent that the shower issue couldn’t be resolved immediately.

On the third day, things took a turn for the worse when the site experienced a power outage. A representative from Haven was contacted, who expressed their pleasure that Steven had enjoyed his stay, whilst also apologising for the power disruption.

Regardless of these hiccups, Steven was thrilled with the value he got from his holiday: “We paid a total of £99 for five people for three nights.

“That’s the equivalent of £20 each for the stay, which makes it £6.60 a night.”

He further noted that without the entertainment passes, the cost would have been around £4 per person per night.

Make sure to pack some patience in your carry-on.

This Thanksgiving holiday travel period is expected to be the busiest in 15 years, federal officials said, as Americans brush off the recent government shutdown that snarled air travel across the country.

All told, more than 360,000 flights will take to the skies this week through Dec. 1, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Traffic was expected to have peaked Tuesday, with more than 52,000 flights set to ferry flyers to their feasts.

The number of flights was expected to drop to only 25,611 on Thanksgiving Day before ticking back up for post-holiday travel. In a chart posted on X, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated that 16.9 million people would fly throughout this holiday week.

Los Angeles International Airport officials estimated that 2.5 million travelers would come through the airport from Nov. 20 through Monday. Sunday is expected to be the single busiest travel day, with more than 230,000 people making their way through the terminals.

“Thanksgiving is one of LAX’s most important travel periods with so many of our guests connecting with loved ones or setting out on holiday trips,” said Courtney Moore, deputy executive director of strategy, innovation and experience at Los Angeles World Airports. “We’ve spent the year preparing to welcome our guests with smoother experiences throughout the airport.”

The uptick in travel comes just weeks after the federal government shutdown, which forced the FAA to cut air traffic across the country to relieve air traffic controllers.

While travelers might still feel on edge over possible delays, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a news conference on Monday that they should “travel with confidence.”

“Thanks to the dedication of our air traffic controllers and every FAA employee, we are ready for the holiday rush and take pride in helping travelers reach their friends and families during this important time of year,” Bedford said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to our entire FAA team. Even through a period of record-high traffic, their unwavering commitment keeps the system running safely.”

Travelers are encouraged to pack light to get through security and arrive early to the airport to avoid travel stress.

While California will largely be warm and sunny through the holiday, weather delays could still impact airports in certain parts of the country, including the New York area, JFK/LGA/EWR; Philadelphia, PHL; Houston, IAH/HOU; Memphis, Tenn., MEM; and Dallas, DFW/DAL.

BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty shared a rare family memory on Saturday morning as she warned weatherman Simon King about a popular Christmas gift.

Viewers watching BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning (November 22) got an unusual peek into Naga Munchetty’s childhood as she revealed a cautionary tale live on air.

Charlie Stayt was alongside Naga for presenting duties today, with the conversation quickly shifting to must-have Christmas presents from their younger days.

Charlie revealed that the BBC breakfast crew had been discussing “iconic” festive gifts, including items the team had desperately wanted but never received during their childhood.

“There are lots of people who will never forgive their parents for not giving them something that they really wanted,” he began, as Naga pushed him for his response.

“No, not me actually,” he clarified, before adding: “Though I did want an action man and it wasn’t allowed – but that was a very long time ago,” as giggles could be heard from the production team, reports the Express.

The presenting pair then turned to weatherman Simon King who revealed he had always longed for a slushie maker during his youth. However, Naga was swift to jump in with a cautionary message.

“My cousins had one,” she began. “And I was really envious of it.”

Carrying on with her story, she explained: “I’ll make you feel better. That product then, a long time ago, when you used to scrunch it because it was a slush-making machine, bits of plastic used to come out as well.

“So it was never very good, so you didn’t miss out,” she added, comforting her colleague.

A relieved-looking Simon responded: “Good, I’m glad for that thank you,” before returning his focus to the weather forecast.

BBC Breakfast is broadcast every day on BBC One and iPlayer starting at 6am.

A TRAIN journey across the UK can be a magical experience depending on the views – but a new train is launching that doesn’t actually go anywhere.

The Unseen Experience is set to open in London next month and unlike a normal train journey where you purchase a ticket, get on board and travel from A to B, this service stays in the same spot.

Visitors will ‘board’ in complete darkness, being blindfolded throughout their ‘journey’.

Then, each ‘passenger’ will be “transported through time aboard a mysterious train as 3D audio surrounds you from every direction”, according to the event’s creators, Fever.

The experience involves two stories on one train and is said to be “perfect for fans of mystery, crime and psychological thrillers” – so perhaps not one for people who are expecting the Orient Express.

The site for the experience explains: “You’re pulled into two worlds separated by time, where danger, tension, and unexpected turns reveal themselves only through sound.

Read more on travel inspo

TAKING OFF

I’ve visited 50 countries & this much-loathed budget airline is the world’s best

CHEAP BREAKS

UK’s best 100 cheap stays – our pick of the top hotels, holiday parks and pubs

“Whispers move behind you, footsteps close in from different angles, and voices emerge so close they feel real, all powered by cutting-edge 3D audio that lets your imagination build every scene.

“In this intimate, fully dark space, reality blurs and every sound becomes a clue, a sensation, a moment you can’t predict.”

According to Secret London, in the first world, you are a deserter on the run in 1980, during the Cold War.

Then, in the second world, you are a survivor on the same train, but this time it is around 100 years later in a post-apocalyptic world.

Your fate is decided by the fellow passengers.

The journey lasts for 35 minutes in total and each passenger must be over the age of 14 years old.

The experience is currently selling tickets for sessions between December 11 to December 21.

And currently, there is a Black Friday offer on tickets.

Instead of £14, some time slots are £11.20 per person as part of the deal.

This isn’t the first blindfolded experience to come to the capital – there is also a restaurant experience called ‘Dans le Noir?’.

The one-of-a-kind restaurant is completely in the dark, meaning that each diner does not know what they are eating.

The restaurant, which opened back in 2006, instead of focusing on sight and the presentation of dishes, uses high-quality ingredients to take diners on a taste journey, whereby flavours, textures and smells become stronger as your vision is taken away.

kell no

Jack Osbourne’s furious sister rips into ‘bully’ Kelly Brook after I’m A Celeb row

MUM PAIN

I was arrested in front of daughter for WhatsApp message, £20k won’t erase trauma

In fact, the capital is home to a plethora of different experiences, such as the first-ever Traitors live experience – it was a heart-pounding world of lies and best friend-betrayal.

Or perhaps for something a little more kid friendly, there is the Paddington immersive experience with ‘train rides’ and street parties.

We are at the dawn of the era of “experimental cinema.”

At least that is the pitch by entrepreneurs such as Jeb Terry of Cosm and James Dolan of Sphere, whose domed venues have embraced the idea of reviving older films to augment them with new technologies. Terry used the phrase Tuesday in his introduction to a resuscitation of 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” which debuts this week at Inglewood’s Cosm with modern, CGI animation, aiming to emphasize the whimsy and childlike wonder of the Gene Wilder picture.

“Wonka” is the sophomore attempt by Cosm to redefine the moviegoing experience — “The Matrix” got the Cosm treatment last summer and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” will follow next year. Seeing a film in what the venue calls “shared reality” can be all-encompassing and yet intimate as well as communal and, if everything works out, somewhat thoughtful. The 87-foot diameter spherical screen wraps above, below and behind us, but an emphasis on couch seating invites a cooperative environment. And guests are encouraged, for instance, to pull out their phones and capture and share the moment.

The spherical screen can give the illusion of dimension.

(Cosm)

It’s good fun, if you don’t take it too seriously, as experiential, in the case of “Wonka,” means a film dedicated to the power of imagination sometimes leaves a little less to it. Spirited and bright, Cosm’s approach to “Wonka,” a collaboration with experiential firm Secret Cinema and visual effects house MakeMake, is to ensure audiences are never not surrounded by eye candy. The result is alternately charming and clashing — why, I wondered, isn’t the animation done in a 1970s style to better complement the film?

In turn, has the film’s new magic replaced its subtle mystery? Or is that the wrong question to ask at screenings meant to feel like a social event, complete with chocolate tarts filled with peanut butter mousse and bright red vodka drinks with gold glitter salt rims?

“Willy Wonka” is the second Hollywood film, following “The Matrix,” to run at Cosm.

(Cosm)

For this is experiential at its most maximal. Opening credits that unfold in the film with streams of chunky chocolate are now accompanied with smoothed-out images that look partly inspired by “Super Mario Bros.,” as tubes and pipes aim to place the audience inside a milky-chocolate-pouring factory. It’s cute, and you’ll find yourself diverting your attention from the framed screen of the film to take in the toy-like animated mechanisms. My only qualm here was the edges of the filmed footage have been sharpened away by gleamingly untroubled animation.

Elsewhere, news reports in the film are elongated to show us an entire, cartoon-like studio, scenes of galloping children on the sidewalk rush by as added assembly lines churn out chocolate below them and the movie’s first major song and dance moment, “The Candy Man,” is now surrounded by carnival-inspired visuals with swirling Candy Buttons, slot-machine-like flowers and gentle prods to, if not sing along, at least mouth the lyrics.

“Wonka,” a moderate success when it was released, grew in stature over time as Sammy Davis Jr. turned “The Candy Man” into a hit and second-run screenings on television made it vital at-home viewing for generations to come. It is, at times, delightfully demented, a family film with a weird streak — perhaps at times even a slightly sinister one. And yet I went to Cosm’s “Wonky” premiere not as a film critic but as someone curious about burgeoning movements in the immersive industry, interested more in how Cosm could use its tech to enhance, revitalize or find ways to illuminate a second-run film.

At Cosm, when Charlie discovers his golden ticket, digital fireworks erupt.

(Cosm)

Illuminate is a key word, as when young Peter Ostrum as Charlie unwraps a candy bar with the much-sought-after golden ticket, the animated images around the framed screen erupted in fireworks. I remember watching that scene as a kid and feeling a bit tense, fearing, perhaps, the ticket would be snatched from him by the crowd that consumes him. Yet Cosm aims to turn “Wonka” into pure joy. Such a moment was a reminder at how much sway over the emotional tonality of the film such supplemental material can possess.

In that sense, the immersive ambitions of Cosm differ from experiments of the past — interactive dalliances in the ’90s that recently lived again on Netflix (see “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch”), or more recent 4DX theaters with movement-enabled seats (see the light, water and wind effects of “Twisters”). Perhaps that’s why what I thought worked best leaned more abstract, when, say, cartoonish cityscapes gave way to black-and-white pencil-like effects, or when the animations played up the wackiness of Wonka’s factory rather than try to flesh it out.

A whimsical scene featuring the Oompa Loompas.

(Cosm)

I was distracted, for instance, when Wilder’s Wonka made his grand limping entrance, as the sheepish building behind him was now dwarfed by sparkly, shiny warehouses. Yet I was transfixed when Wilder’s character near the end was framed amid blindingly fast streaks of light, or when the helper Oompa Loompa characters were depicted out of frame as colorful orbs that looked like strands of DNA.

I do feel it’s important to note that I’m more than two decades removed from having seen the original “Wonka.” Fresher in my mind are more recent cinematic explorations of the material and characters. While I chose to revisit “The Matrix” before taking that film in at Cosm, I opted for a different approach with “Wonka,” and I believe one’s likelihood to embrace what Cosm is attempting will increase exponentially by one’s attachment to the source material. Having forgotten wide swaths of the film, I found myself conflicted — watch the original film, or focus on Cosm’s accouterments — whereas with “The Matrix,” the material was recent on the mind and I was therefore more comfortable to wander and take in the dome’s impressive screen.

And it is impressive, indeed. When Charlie starts floating in Wonka’s factory, Cosm lifts the frame of the film, surrounding it with bubbles. Soon, depending on your seat, you may find yourself looking straight up. Cosm’s visuals are so crisp that at times they can simulate movement and dimension, and we get dizzyingly lost when the characters are trapped in a seemingly doorless room.

Elsewhere, Cosm takes on a buoyancy when Denise Nickerson’s Violet transforms into a bouncy blueberry. Another clever moment: When Charlie’s wall of moving hands is stretched beyond the screen and starts waving to the audience.

It’s in these instances when the film comes alive, and Cosm’s take on experiential cinema no longer feels like a novelty and becomes an experience.

Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka and Julie Dawn Cole’s Veruca Salt in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” as presented by Cosm.

(Cosm)

Annie Leibovitz strides onto the Wiltern stage to the thunderous cheers of 1,500 mostly female fans. She takes her place at the podium, a small, casually dressed figure on a big stage. On the screen behind her are images of the matching covers of her new two-book set, “Annie Leibovitz: Women.” Volume 1 is her 1999 collection. Volume 2 has 100 new photos captured in the 25 years since. Taken together, the slipcased set zooms in on the past quarter century of American womankind, rendered in 250 images of dancers, actors, astronauts, artists, politicians, farmers, writers, CEOs, philanthropists, soldiers, musicians, athletes, socialites and scientists.

“The book was Susan’s idea,” Leibovitz says on Tuesday, referring to writer Susan Sontag, her partner until Sontag’s death in 2004. “I thought doing a photo book about women was a bad idea, like going out and photographing the ocean. But then I heard what Hillary Clinton said at the U.N. Conference on Women in 1995 — ‘Women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights’ — and I reconsidered.” Applause shakes the Wiltern rafters.

An image from Volume 2 appears, featuring a somber-looking Sontag. “This is the last formal portrait of Susan,” Leibovitz says. “You could think she’s projecting a sense of strength, but really, she was mad at me for making her go outside to take the picture.” The crowd roars with laughter.

Think of Leibovitz, and some legendary photographs spring to mind. Whoopi Goldberg submerged in a milk-filled bathtub on the cover of Vanity Fair, July 1984. Also on VF covers: Michael Jackson, fittingly clothed and shot in black-and-white, in 1989. Demi Moore, fully pregnant and fully naked, two years later. But the photo that remains Leibovitz’s most iconic to date is the January 1981 cover of Rolling Stone featuring a nude, fetal John Lennon wrapped around Yoko Ono. “John showed up naked,” Leibovitz tells the audience. “Yoko wanted to wear clothes, so she’s fully dressed.” Leibovitz took the Polaroid on Dec. 8, 1980 — a few steps away from, and a few hours before, Lennon was shot and killed by former fan Mark David Chapman.

Joan Baez in Woodside, Calif., in 2007, from “Annie Leibovitz: Women.”

(Annie Leibovitz)

In Volume 2, we find a barefoot Joan Baez sitting in a tree strumming her guitar; a pregnant Rihanna draped in jewels and fur; Billie Eilish dreaming over a journal with pencil in hand; Shonda Rhimes with her feet up on a desk as massive as her oeuvre; and an uninhibited Michelle Obama as we’ve never seen her before: chin raised, eyes closed, hair tossed back, T-shirt and jeans parted to reveal her midriff. “I was in shock,” Leibovitz says. “But the first lady’s assistant was standing next to me, shouting, ‘That’s my first lady!’”

Familiar faces dominate, but woven between them are portraits of “regular” American women. A botanist precedes Oprah Winfrey, a philanthropist and a rabbi surround the founder of a Skid Row nonprofit, the reproductive rights activists of Moms Demand Action share space with a nude Lady Gaga. “I told her to bring a slip,” Leibovitz comments. “I’d rather people keep their clothes on at this point in my life.”

Volume 2 includes one essay each from activist Gloria Steinem, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Leibovitz herself. Steinem writes, “This book will help us to discover our adventurous true selves. … We are atoms whirling in place, affected by and affecting those near and far from where we are.”

Adichie agrees. “Taken as a whole,” she writes, “these photographs create a deeply moving experience, they refute the singular lens, they revel in plurality’s power, and because of — or perhaps in spite of — their wide range, they are infused with a spirit that is communal, collective, even unifying — and ultimately hopeful.”

Leibovitz concludes the second book. “For this volume I thought about issues that are important today,” she writes. In 2016, when she was beginning work on Volume 2, the notoriously cloistered Leibovitz told a New York Times reporter about the nationwide “talking circles” she and Steinem had organized, in which women shared their experiences with issues including sexual violence, technology and human rights. “Talking in groups like that, it brings me to tears,” Leibovitz told the reporter, adding that the new work she was making for Volume 2 was more “democratic.” Volume 2 is indeed more diverse, possibly in response to a widely discussed critique of Leibovitz’s photographs of Black women.

No celebrity survives fame without acquiring a layer or two of tarnish. In the decades between Volumes 1 and 2, Leibovitz’s representations of Black women painted Leibovitz with hers. A 2022 Guardian story was headlined, “Annie Leibovitz proves yet again: she can’t photograph Black women.”

“Leibovitz’s photographs are what happens when Blackness is seen through a white gaze incapable of capturing its true beauty,” contributor Tayo Bero wrote, referring to a list of Leibovitz subjects including Simone Biles, Viola Davis, Serena Williams and Rihanna. Bero wrote, “In all cases, she manages to make her subjects look dull, ashy, pained and sad, a far cry from the lively and graceful people that they usually are.”

Bero and others particularly criticized an image Leibovitz made for Vogue, depicting Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at the Lincoln Memorial. In the photo, the snow-white marble statue takes center stage, overlooking Brown Jackson on the lower left. At the Wiltern, when that image appears, Leibovitz speaks of her own experience shooting it, not the controversy surrounding its publication. “I was skeptical about that idea,” Leibovitz says. “But she walked into the rotunda and she started reading Lincoln’s words that are engraved into the wall. It was such a moving moment.”

Two years later, the controversy was reawakened by Leibovitz’s depictions of Zendaya, also in Vogue. An April 2024 piece on the website Screenshot Media reiterated the photos’ failure to accurately reflect “the beauty of melanated skin tones, with poor lighting that often results in lackluster portrayals.”

In her introductory essay to Volume 2, Adichie, on the other hand, praises Leibovitz’s sensitivity. “The first time Annie photographed me, more than ten years ago at my home, she sensed my discomfort right away and knew it was not merely about my general awkwardness with being photographed. It was specifically about my belly, which was newly postpartum, although I would probably still have worried even if it wasn’t. … Annie’s sanguine reaction was a relief. There was no divisiveness, no judgment.”

Rihanna at the Ritz Hotel, Paris, in 2022, from “Annie Leibovitz: Women.”

(Annie Leibovitz)

Leibovitz, her representatives and her publisher, Phaidon Press, declined to comment on the critique. In an email interview with Phaidon Vice President Deborah Aaronson, who worked on four Leibovitz titles, Aaronson said, “‘Women’ reaffirms Annie Leibovitz’s place in the photographic canon. In the ‘Women’ series, she captures a breadth of experience and people who live and work in different spheres that’s unparallelled. I believe the series makes her the most important chronicler of women over the past 50 years.”

Annie Leibovitz entered the San Francisco Art Institute at 22, intending to be a painter. But a night photography class she took on a whim changed her medium, and her life. While still a student, manifesting the confidence that would characterize her career, Leibovitz pitched a Lennon shoot to Rolling Stone. Three years later, rendered immortal as the final photographer of Lennon and Ono, Leibovitz became Rolling Stone’s chief photographer.

In 1983, Leibovitz joined the staff of Vanity Fair, where her field of exploration, and her social sphere, expanded to include actors, athletes and politicians. In 1991, she became the first woman to have a solo show at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. She was designated a Library of Congress Living Legend in 2000.

In 2001, at age 52, Leibovitz gave birth to her first daughter, Sarah Cameron Leibovitz. Sontag was at her bedside. In May 2005, via surrogate, Leibovitz became the mother of twin daughters, Susan (named for her beloved painter sister) and Samuelle. In 2009, Leibovitz was commissioned to make the official portrait of the first family — President Barack Obama; his wife, Michelle; and their daughters, Sasha and Malia — continuing the relationship that began in 2004 when she photographed Obama in his run for the U.S. Senate.

“I want to photograph the White House,” Leibovitz says, “but I don’t think there will be much of it left when I get to it.” The evening ended as it began: with the enthusiastic applause of her audience.

Whether he knows it or not, 6-foot-5 Zane Daoud of San Marino High is going to be a role model for kids born deaf.

He was one of them, 60% deaf since birth. He rebelled against wearing hearing aids. He’d take them off constantly while growing up. By high school, he says he figured out how much they could help him and stopped worrying what people thought. He should be a top basketball player for Rio Hondo League favorite San Marino this season.

“I’ve accepted I have hearing loss,” he said. “When I was younger, I didn’t really want to come to terms with it. I didn’t want to wear my hearing aids all the time. I didn’t want to use my accommodations. I denied I had it and acted like I could go through my life without my hearing aids. As I got older, I realized I can’t hear without them..”

He’s a straight-A student and discovered his parents were right.

“My parents were always telling me, ‘You need to wear them,’” he said. “I said I didn’t need to wear them.”

In high school, he learned he could hear better talking to people and listening to his coach. Maturity and experiences have taught him how to succeed.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Lukewarm performances at the box office from the likes of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “The Roses” and “Freakier Friday” dented Walt Disney Co.’s entertainment business for its fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported Thursday.

The Burbank media and entertainment company reported $10.2 billion in revenue for its entertainment segment for the three-month period that ended Sept. 27, down 6% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Entertainment operating income for the fourth quarter totaled $691 million, down 35% compared with last year.

The softer box office showing during the fourth quarter was being compared with the strong performance of the irreverent superhero flick “Deadpool & Wolverine” in the year-earlier period, as well as the tail end of the theatrical window for the animated juggernaut “Inside Out 2,” each of which would go on to gross more than $1 billion globally.

For the full year, however, Disney’s entertainment segment — which includes movies, TV, Disney+ and Hulu — posted revenue of $42.5 billion, up 3% compared with fiscal year 2024. Operating income totaled $4.7 billion, an increase of 19%.

Though the company saw a 16% decline in revenue for its linear networks in the fourth quarter due to lower ad dollars and viewership, Disney did see an increase for its streaming services. The company reported fourth-quarter streaming revenue of $6.2 billion, an 8% jump compared with the previous year, and operating income of $352 million, up 39%.

“This was another year of great progress as we strengthened the company by leveraging the value of our creative and brand assets and continued to make meaningful progress in our direct-to-consumer businesses,” Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said in a statement. “I’m pleased with our many achievements this fiscal year to position Disney for the future.”

Disney’s fourth-quarter revenue totaled $22.5 billion, about flat compared with the previous year. That put the company’s year-end revenue at $94.4 billion, up 3%.

Earnings, excluding certain items, for the fourth quarter totaled 73 cents per share, up from 25 cents a year earlier. For the full year, earnings per share was $6.85, up from $2.72. The company’s income before taxes in the fourth quarter was $2 billion, up from $948 million last year; for the full year, it was up 59% to $12 billion.

Disney’s experiences segment, which includes its theme parks, cruise line and Aulani resort and spa in Hawaii, was a bright spot for the fourth quarter. The company reported revenue of $8.8 billion, an increase of 6% from the previous year’s fourth quarter, with operating income rising 13% to $1.9 billion.

Operating income for domestic parks and experiences for the quarter was up 9% to $920 million, which Disney attributed to growth at its cruise line. Disney also got a boost from its international parks and experiences segment, largely due to an increase in attendance and spending at its Disneyland Paris resort.

For the full fiscal year, Disney’s experiences business reported revenue of $36.2 billion, a 6% bump, with operating income increasing 8% to nearly $10 billion.

Disney’s sports business, which includes ESPN, reported quarterly revenue of nearly $4 billion, up 2%, with operating income decreasing 2% to $911 million. The company said the decline in operating income was due to higher marketing costs associated with the August launch of the new ESPN direct-to-consumer service and increases in programming and production costs.

The sports business closed out the year with revenue of $17.6 billion, roughly flat compared with the previous fiscal year, and a 20% jump in operating income to $2.9 billion.

Times are tough and inflation is real, but this holiday season, it’s still possible to shower your loved ones in luxury without breaking the bank.

There’s no rule that says indulgence has to come with a hefty price tag. As my friend Nicole likes to say, a luxury item is one that you wouldn’t think of buying yourself.

Does anyone need an iPhone case in rich pebbled leather? Probably not, but they absolutely might enjoy one.

On this list of gifts that feel expensive (but aren’t), you’ll find a rich smelling high-end candle alternative, an elevated bottle of indie nail polish with a display-worthy brass cap and one of the best olive oils you’ll ever taste from the fruit of 100-year-old California olive trees.

My editor challenged me to keep all the gifts under $40, and dear Gift Guide reader, I rose to the challenge — if you don’t count shipping costs. Remember: Luxury is a matter of extravagance, not price.

If you make a purchase using some of our links, the L.A. Times may be compensated. Prices and availability of items and experiences in the Gift Guide and on latimes.com are subject to change.