Borrowings - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended																																									12 Months Ended													12 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2011 USD ($)	Oct. 02, 2010 USD ($)	Oct. 03, 2009 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Commercial paper borrowings	Oct. 01, 2011 Commercial paper borrowings USD ($)		Oct. 02, 2010 Commercial paper borrowings USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Commercial paper borrowings Minimum	Oct. 01, 2011 Commercial paper borrowings Bank facility matures in 2015 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Commercial paper borrowings Bank facility matures in 2013 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum U.S. medium-term notes	Oct. 01, 2011 U.S. medium-term notes USD ($)		Oct. 02, 2010 U.S. medium-term notes USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 U.S. medium-term notes Minimum	Oct. 01, 2011 European medium-term notes USD ($)		Oct. 02, 2010 European medium-term notes USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2007 Currency, Canadian Dollar Other foreign currency denominated debt	Oct. 01, 2011 Currency, Canadian Dollar Other foreign currency denominated debt USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Currency, Canadian Dollar Other foreign currency denominated debt CAD	Jul. 31, 2008 Currency, Japanese Yen Other foreign currency denominated debt	Oct. 01, 2011 Currency, Japanese Yen Other foreign currency denominated debt USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Currency, Japanese Yen Other foreign currency denominated debt JPY (¥)	Oct. 01, 2011 Capital Cities/ABC debt USD ($)		Oct. 02, 2010 Capital Cities/ABC debt USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Loan 5.15 Percent Due From 2015 to 2028	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Fiscal Year 2005 Through 2012 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Fiscal Year 2005 Through 2012 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Fiscal Year 2013 Through 2014 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Fiscal Year 2013 Through 2014 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)		Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings EUR (€)		Oct. 02, 2010 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)	Sep. 27, 2008 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)	Sep. 29, 2007 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2006 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings EUR (€)	Aug. 31, 2005 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Minimum	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Minimum Loan 5.15 Percent Due From 2015 to 2028	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Loan 6.33 Percent Due From 2012 to 2024 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Loan 6.33 Percent Due From 2012 to 2024 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Loan 5.34 Percent Due From 2012 to 2024 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Loan 5.34 Percent Due From 2012 to 2024 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Loan 5.15 Percent Due From 2015 to 2028 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Loan 5.15 Percent Due From 2015 to 2028 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Fiscal Year 2005 and 2006 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Fiscal Year 2009 and 2010 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Fiscal Year 2009 and 2010 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings First quarter of fiscal 2012 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings First quarter of fiscal 2012 EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Senior Debt Obligations USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Senior Debt Obligations EUR (€)	Oct. 02, 2010 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Senior Debt Obligations USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Senior Subordinated Debt Original and 1994 Financing USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Senior Subordinated Debt Original and 1994 Financing EUR (€)	Oct. 02, 2010 Caisse des Depots et Consignations Loans Disneyland Paris borrowings Senior Subordinated Debt Original and 1994 Financing USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Credit Facilities and Other Disneyland Paris borrowings	Oct. 01, 2011 Credit Facilities and Other Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)		Oct. 01, 2011 Credit Facilities and Other Disneyland Paris borrowings EUR (€)		Oct. 02, 2010 Credit Facilities and Other Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Credit Facilities and Other Disneyland Paris borrowings Minimum	Oct. 01, 2011 Maximum Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings	Oct. 01, 2011 Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)		Oct. 02, 2010 Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings Minimum	Oct. 01, 2011 Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings Fixed Rate Debt USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings Fixed Rate Debt EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings Floating Rate Debt USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Other advances Disneyland Paris borrowings Floating Rate Debt EUR (€)	Oct. 01, 2011 Senior and Other Borrowings Hong Kong Disneyland borrowings USD ($)		Oct. 01, 2011 Senior and Other Borrowings Hong Kong Disneyland borrowings HKD		Oct. 02, 2010 Senior and Other Borrowings Hong Kong Disneyland borrowings USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Senior and Other Borrowings Hong Kong Disneyland borrowings Interest Rates until March 12, 2014	Oct. 01, 2011 Senior and Other Borrowings Hong Kong Disneyland borrowings Interest Rates until March 12, 2022	Oct. 01, 2011 Senior and Other Borrowings Hong Kong Disneyland borrowings Interest Rates until September 12, 2030	Oct. 01, 2011 Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)	Oct. 02, 2010 Disneyland Paris borrowings USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2011 Disneyland Paris EUR (€)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Assets used for collateral, net book value																																																								$ 1,500,000,000	€ 1,100,000,000						$ 1,500,000,000		€ 1,100,000,000
Borrowings	13,977,000,000	12,480,000,000			1,583,000,000		1,190,000,000					8,400,000,000		6,815,000,000		91,000,000		273,000,000		317,000,000	328,000,000		703,000,000	54,000,000,000	114,000,000		115,000,000							1,440,000,000				1,417,000,000							58,000,000	42,000,000	633,000,000	466,000,000	749,000,000	551,000,000						322,000,000	237,000,000	326,000,000	369,000,000	272,000,000	373,000,000		116,000,000		85,000,000		228,000,000			425,000,000		468,000,000		413,000,000	304,000,000	12,000,000	9,000,000	330,000,000		2,600,000,000		473,000,000				1,981,000,000	2,113,000,000
Spread above LIBORS				4.50%				0.33%											0.225%			0.42%
Debt, Maturity date																																																																														Sep. 12, 2030		Sep. 12, 2030
Borrowings, Stated Interest Rate					0.15%	[1]						4.84%	[1]			1.65%	[1]			1.42%	1.42%		0.61%	0.61%	8.75%	[1]								5.04%	[1]	5.04%	[1]								6.33%	6.33%	5.34%	5.34%	5.15%	5.15%													4.55%	[1]	4.55%	[1]				3.04%	[1]			3.00%	3.00%	4.55%	4.55%	3.25%	[1]	3.25%	[1]		6.75%	7.625%	8.50%
Debt maturity, year																2013				2013	2013		2013	2013	2021			2024	2028														2012	2015																		2013						2012	2017				2012
Loans interest rate, benchmarked to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR)																																																															EURIBOR plus 3%		EURIBOR plus 3%											EURIBOR plus 3%	EURIBOR plus 3%
Credit facility, borrowing capacity					800,000,000
Borrowings facilities, interest rate description					At October 1, 2011, the Company had $1.6 billion of commercial paper debt outstanding. In February 2011, the Company entered into a new four-year $2.25 billion bank facility with a syndicate of lenders. This facility, in combination with an existing $2.25 billion bank facility that matures in 2013, is used to support commercial paper borrowings. These bank facilities allow for borrowings at LIBOR-based rates plus a spread, which depends on the Company's public debt rating and can range from 0.33% to 4.50%.
Credit facility, amount outstanding					315,000,000				47,000,000
Bank borrowings facilities to support commercial paper									2,250,000,000	2,250,000,000
Debt maturity period											82 years				1 year
Stated Interest Rate, Minimum												0.00%
Stated Interest Rate, Maximum												7.55%
Borrowing capacity																4,000,000,000
Remaining borrowing capacity																3,900,000,000
Additional deferral of royalties into subordinated long term borrowings																																																																																								9,000,000
Deferred interest payable																														20,000,000	27,000,000	23,000,000	31,000,000	21,000,000		15,000,000			0	0	20,000,000	20,000,000									47,000,000	27,000,000	20,000,000	7,000,000	5,000,000																																	20,000,000
Royalties and management fees subject to conditional deferral																																																																																								25,000,000
Accrued interest payable																																									7,000,000
Interest capitalized	91,000,000	82,000,000	57,000,000
Interest expense, net of capitalized interest	$ 435,000,000	$ 456,000,000	$ 588,000,000

[1] The stated interest rate represents the weighted-average coupon rate for each category of borrowings. For floating rate borrowings, interest rates are based upon the rates at October 1, 2011; these rates are not necessarily an indication of future interest rates.