Amid lackluster results for its legacy TV business, Walt Disney made up a lot of ground in its most recent quarter ended January 1 with strong revenue for its Disney Parks unit, as well as adding 12 million Disney+ global subscribers -- more than expected.

Analyst estimates for worldwide subscribers pegged the total at around 7 million.

This helped boost Disney’s direct-to-consumer revenues 34% to $4.7 billion for the period. Operating losses were expected to to total $600 million, up 27%.

Globally, Disney+ surged 37% to 129.8 million subscribers. Domestically, Disney+ grew by 18% to 42.9 million, with ESPN+ boosted 76% to 21.3 million, and total Hulu business (on-demand and live TV) up 15% to 45.3 million.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for investors and industry analysts was the strong return of its Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products unit -- doubling revenues to $7.2 billion with operating income at a healthy $2.5 billion. The company credits higher park attendance, occupied room nights and cruise ship sailing business.

All this helped Disney's stock price rise a strong 8% after the stock market closed on Wednesday.

But it was a different story for Disney's global linear TV networks, which posted essentially flat revenues at $7.7 billion. Operating income sank 13% to $1.5 billion.

In the U.S., higher programming and production costs -- including College Football Playoffs (CFP), NFL and Major League Baseball programming -- pulled down operating income by 21% ($888 million) with revenue up 1% to $6.2 billion.

On CNBC, Bob Chapek, chief executive officer of Walt Disney, said the company would be looking to deepen its sports commitment, bidding on the highly sought after NFL Sunday Ticket for its streaming business. The NFL package allows consumers to see live all out-of-market games.

Disney’s domestic linear TV advertising posted uneven results.

While there was domestic advertising revenue, cable TV network growth -- from higher impressions -- there are decreases in advertising rates. Broadcast network ABC’s advertising revenue was comparable to the prior-year quarter -- with higher rates. But there were fewer impressions, due to a decrease in average viewership.