HOW A CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP SHOWS PROGRESS AT DISNEY PARKS AND THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY AS A WHOLE

The former CEO of Disney Bob Iger has returned to fill the role once again in a two-year agreement after what many fans and analysts called “the dark times” at the company. 

In February 2020, Iger felt he had done his time and chose to retire after 15 years of serving as CEO. A man named Bob Chapek was appointed to the role after a long career as a Disney executive. He went from the Home Entertainment division, then the Chairman of Parks & Resorts, and finally CEO. 

But becoming CEO of one of the largest companies in the world in February of 2020 was not the best timing. Because of this, In April the board extended Iger's mandate to last until the end of 2021. With this, he could assist Chapek through the early COVID-19 pandemic. 

I would equate Iger’s return to the final scene of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi when the rebels celebrate the empire falling after Luke defeats Palpatine on the Death Star.

The Chapek era was… not the best for a Disney fan and parkgoer. 

Here are some (but not all) changes and errors made during this time by Chapek and the Walt Disney Company:

• Fastpass+ was removed at Walt Disney World and substituted for a paid version called Genie+ themed around the Aladdin character. With this service, guests would pay a per day, per guest fee to access fast passes and skip lines. The previous Fastpass+ was a free service.

• He created a process where the majority of Walt Disney Imagineering (the team behind creating attractions and events at Disney) would move from Burbank, CA to Lake Nona, FL to receive a massive tax incentive from Florida lawmakers.

• Had beef with Scarlett Johansen and her compensation for her role in the Black Widow film being released on Disney+.

• The free Magical Express bus that took guests from the Orlando airport to their on-property Disney hotel was eliminated at the end of 2021.

• Disney gave money to every sponsor and co-sponsor of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida state legislation that states: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."

• Chapek then emailed employees and cat members at Disney apologizing, but this apology led to disagreements between Chapek and Florida governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis then threatened to terminate Disney’s Reedy Creek program (Reedy Creek is a joint between Disney and the Florida government that essentially allows Walt Disney World to operate their own emergency services and utilities).

• Immense increases in park tickets, concessions, and merchandise.

• Introduced park reservations to “control crowds and limit capacity” during covid, but this system is still currently in place. It most likely stuck around to evenly distribute the numbers of guests to all four parks (which vary in popularity) at Walt Disney World.

• For example, if the most popular park Magic Kingdom is “full” or sold out of reservations, it forces guests who have still paid for a day ticket to use that ticket at a less popular park, Animal Kingdom. 

I am aware the majority of park issues mentioned revolve around Walt Disney World Resort and that is because it is my home resort. That is not to say that Disneyland in Anaheim, Paris, or the resorts in Asia did not also see similar changes.

Now a little about me. I along with my family are pretty frequent visitors of the parks in Orlando. We have owned annual passes on multiple occasions and do our best to stay alert on what is happening on the executive level.

My sister and I grew up in the original Iger era and as we became adults is when the Chapek era began. Because we knew the magic that Disney parks could bring to us as children, we could see that it was not being translated to today’s youth.

But, with Iger back in the captain's Chair, things have already begun to change back to a more magical state. This past Tuesday many announcements were made including the following highlights:

• Happily Ever After, the nighttime firework show at the Magic Kingdom is returning.

• Epcot’s nighttime show Harmonious and its horrendous barges permanently parked in Epcot’s lake are being removed with Epcot: Forever returning to fill its place.

• Guests staying at Walt Disney World hotels no longer have to pay for parking at the hotel (a thing put in place admittedly in 2018 under Iger’s original tenure). “Overnight parking previously cost guests between $15 and $25 a night, depending on the resort,” according to USA TODAY.

• Park reservation rules will be eased, allowing annual pass holders to not require a reservation for any of the four parks after 2:00 pm. An exception to this is Magic Kingdom on weekends.

• Tron Lightcycle Run, a new roller coaster in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom finally has an opening date of April 4th.

I hope to see many more things like this in the future. Disney is a global brand that makes an enormous amount of money, but in recent years they forgot where that money comes from. 

Guests and audiences of Disney pay for a park experience, movie, or cruise, all to get a level of service and magic that no one else can offer.

I believe that under Iger’s short two years coming up, he can put the company back on the track it needs to be on to deliver on this.