UPDATE 2-Disney profit beats Street, no sign economy hurts

(Recasts first paragraph, adds comments on Hollywood writers' strike, byline)

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) quarterly profit sailed past Wall Street targets as attendance rose at its Florida, Paris and Hong Kong parks and a new "High School Musical" DVD proved a hit, sending its stock up about 5 percent.

Disney saw no sign that the U.S. economic downturn had affected consumer products sales or theme park bookings, Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs told reporters, and the after-hours stock rise more than made up for a 2.3 percent drop in regular trade.

The Hollywood writers' strike, which started a month into the quarter, failed to hurt results. Costs dropped as production dropped, and advertising rates rose despite lower TV ratings, Staggs said.

But the company said on Tuesday it was optimistic the strike would end soon.

"Our bookings are modestly ahead of last year at this point and we are pleased with their performance so far," Staggs said. "Pricing on hotel (rooms) is slightly ahead of last year."

He added that the company will "watch the market and adjust (pricing) if we need to."

Net profit dropped to $1.25 billion, or 63 cents per share, from $1.7 billion, or 79 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter, when results had been boosted by the sale of interests in Us Weekly and E! Entertainment. Revenue rose 9 percent to $10.5 billion.