# Bob Iger is back as Disney CEO effective immediately



## CPNY (Nov 20, 2022)

A friend told me that CM received the news via emails this afternoon









						Disney replaces CEO Chapek with predecessor Bob Iger effective immediately
					

Iger just stepped down as executive chairman 11 months ago after four decades with Disney and 15 years as CEO.




					fortune.com


----------



## dioxide45 (Nov 20, 2022)

Didn't Chappy just sign for a new contract extension? I am sure his departure comes with full payout of that contract and a golden parachute....


----------



## noreenkate (Nov 20, 2022)




----------



## billymach4 (Nov 20, 2022)

Bob Iger named Disney CEO in shocking development | CNN Business
					

In a move that shocked Hollywood, Bob Iger, one of the most notable CEOs in the history of the Walt Disney company, is returning to run the media empire.




					www.cnn.com
				



Cross Confirmed. Real News.


----------



## CPNY (Nov 20, 2022)

Cross cross confirmed. It’s Def real! LOL









						Robert Iger Returns as Disney CEO as Bob Chapek Is Ousted
					

Walt Disney’s board replaced Chief Executive Bob Chapek with Robert Iger, the company’s former chairman and CEO who had left at the end of last year.




					www.wsj.com


----------



## noreenkate (Nov 20, 2022)

Dear Fellow Employees and Cast Members,

It is with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility -and, I must admit, a bit of amazement -that I write to you this evening with the news that I am returning to The Walt Disney Company as Chief Executive Officer.

When I look at the creative success of our teams across our Studios, Disney General Entertainment, ESPN and International, the rapid growth of our streaming services, the phenomenal reimagining and rebound of our Parks, the continued great work of ABC News, and so many other achievements across our businesses, I am in awe of your accomplishments and I am excited to embark with you on many new endeavors.

I know this company has asked so much of you during the past three years, and these times certainly remain quite challenging, but as you have heard me say before, I am an optimist, and if I learned one thing from my years at Disney, it is that even in the face of uncertainty -perhaps especially in the face of uncertainty – our employees and Cast Members achieve the impossible.


You will be hearing more from me and your leaders tomorrow and in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, allow me to express my deep gratitude for all that you do. Disney holds a special place in the hearts of people around the globe thanks to you, and your dedication to this company and its mission to bring joy to people through great storytelling is an inspiration to me every single day.

Bob Iger


----------



## heathpack (Nov 20, 2022)

It’s probably on account of that scathing letter of complaint I wrote last week!


----------



## noreenkate (Nov 20, 2022)

heathpack said:


> It’s probably on account of that scathing letter of complaint I wrote last week!



Well than thank you!


----------



## AnnaS (Nov 21, 2022)

Effective immediately.  Definitely WOW news to be waking up to this morning.


----------



## pedro47 (Nov 21, 2022)

noreenkate said:


> Dear Fellow Employees and Cast Members,
> 
> It is with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility -and, I must admit, a bit of amazement -that I write to you this evening with the news that I am returning to The Walt Disney Company as Chief Executive Officer.
> 
> ...


That is an early Christmas gift for all lovers of Disney. IMHO.


----------



## pedro47 (Nov 21, 2022)

billymach4 said:


> Bob Iger named Disney CEO in shocking development | CNN Business
> 
> 
> In a move that shocked Hollywood, Bob Iger, one of the most notable CEOs in the history of the Walt Disney company, is returning to run the media empire.
> ...


Outstanding! Outstanding.... IMHO


----------



## pedro47 (Nov 21, 2022)

It has been reported that Disney board members have been reading the many Disney's social media websites including TUGS and someone said enough is enough. .


----------



## TheTimeTraveler (Nov 21, 2022)

It will be interesting to see how Disney stock reacts today when the market opens........




.


----------



## heathpack (Nov 21, 2022)

Last week I hit my limit with Disney.  With no advance warning, they opened Disneyland Annual Pass sales.  Various social media sites picked up on it abd reported it, but I was working that day and therefore not on social media.

At 7pm the day sales started, I tried to purchase two SoCal resident annual passes.  I was put in a virtual queue that was “longer than an hour”.

In the end, it was 15 hours.  Finally my turn came, I put my APs in my basket, hit purchase and for some reason they required me to enter my date of birth to complete the transaction.  Mind you I’m logged into my DL account, and part of my stored account info is my date of birth, and I’m buying adult passes with jives with my account.

Entering my date of birth caused the system to crash and empty my cart.  This went on for 40 min, eight attempts.  Attempting to call customer service during this process consisted of listening to an excessively long prerecorded announcement, then when you pushed 1 as prompted to speak to a customer service rep, you’d get disconnected.   Until I finally got a message that the Socal AP was sold out.

Called customer service afterward and finally got a human- snarky, then <shrug> “sorry for the inconvenience“

The issue itself- wasting 16 hours on an attempt to purchase APs only to have Disney’s IT fail- was maddening.  The customer service resonse was the final straw.

There been a lot of building dissatisfaction for me with DL- cuts in entertainment, forcing people onto attraction lines, Genie+ being a PIA to use and manipulating standby lines to ensure long waits, frequent ride breakdowns, all of which contributes to the sense of overwhelming crowds (because everyone’s trying to do the same few things), combined with the new <shrug> attitude towards the quality of the customer service experience.

I am pretty cost insensitive- but when you grab for more money constantly while making the littlest things huge hassles, at some point I’m out.

I reached that point last week.  I cancelled every upcoming dining reservation I had, including a Club 33 reservation for four, and a tour.  I unsubscribed from Disney Plus.  And my plan is to rent my DVC VGC reservations this year rather than go myself.  PS if anyone wants to do a quick overnight stay in the Christmas season, PM me.

Its pretty hard to push me to this point but Disney its just awful from a customer service perspective right now and all I can do about that is vote with my wallet,  my letter of complaint from last week has gone unanswered.  Another shrug.  Not unexpected, which is the crux of it and why I’m tapping out.


----------



## TravelTime (Nov 21, 2022)

FastPass was incredible to me. It totally changed the WDW experience. I can’t believe they got rid of the best innovation that Disney World ever had. I hope Iger brings it back but he probably has more problems than this to deal with.


----------



## CPNY (Nov 21, 2022)

TravelTime said:


> FastPass was incredible to me. It totally changed the WDW experience. I can’t believe they got rid of the best innovation that Disney World ever had. I hope Iger brings it back but he probably has more problems than this to deal with.


I like individual lightning lanes and the virtual lines. The reservation system Is annoying but if it actually kept crowds low I wouldn’t mind it.


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Nov 21, 2022)

dioxide45 said:


> Didn't Chappy just sign for a new contract extension? I am sure his departure comes with full payout of that contract and a golden parachute....


Yes, I see a headline that says “at least $23M.”


noreenkate said:


> View attachment 68874


That’s the first thing that came into my head when I heard the news.


----------



## bnoble (Nov 21, 2022)

The difference between the Bobs is that when one is fleecing you, you feel good about it, but when the other fleeces you, you don't.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Nov 21, 2022)

I want annual passes to return, and I want to stop the Genie + service.  I couldn't believe how great it was to be in lines during Covid with short wait times.  It was amazing.  

Our kids went in early June of this year and did baby swap.  The wait for the roller coaster at Hollywood Studios was over two hours.  Two hours for a two-minute ride?  They saw hundreds of people going through the "Lightning Lane."  That just sucks.  During Covid, the wait was never more than 30 minutes.  Baby swap was so easy back then.  Imagine our daughter watching two little kids for over two hours in the Rosie's dining area.  What a waste of time.  

No wonder people scam the DAS system.  

Genie Plus for 6 people is $120 per day.  Get the money out of us in the way of food.  We were taking sandwiches and leaving the parks to eat out.  We weren't about to pay for food at the parks after paying that much for several days of Genie Plus, and the system crashed several times, losing our reservations, and we had to go to the blue umbrella to fix it.  

I don't know if they will take out anything that is making them money, so Genie + is probably here to stay.


----------



## bnoble (Nov 21, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> want to stop the Genie + service.


This was announced while Iger was CEO, and was in development long before that. I would not bet on it changing anytime soon.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Nov 21, 2022)

bnoble said:


> This was announced while Iger was CEO, and was in development long before that. I would not bet on it changing anytime soon.


Yep, probably here to stay.


----------



## PcflEZFlng (Nov 21, 2022)

Based on literally everything I've read about Disney for the last 3 years, I'm extremely glad I severed ties with them when I sold my DVC contract in 2019. No regrets, ever.

A couple of times since then, DW, who is largely unaware of what's been going on in bubble-land, said it might be fun to take another Disney cruise, since we had a blast on one in 2014. And I said yeah maybe, but for half the price, it would be a lot more fun to take a Princess-or-anybody-but-Disney cruise.


----------



## SmithOp (Nov 24, 2022)

According to this SoCal reporter at the OCRegister Chapeck failed to read the room. Link is behind a paywall, but you get the gist from this excerpt.

Incidentally, we shared the berth next to a Disney cruise in Mazatlan yesterday, the ship was tiny compared to our Discovery Princess. Our captain enjoyed making fun of the mouse ship at sail away, as it played Wish Upon a Star on the ships horn in passing.


===================================================
Bob Chapek‘s biggest blunder in his brief tenure as Walt Disney Co. chief executive was a mistake made in numerous executive suites in the past year.

Forget all the chatter about his managerial style. Tough calls, right or wrong, are why CEOs get the big bucks. And if the bottom line and stock price trend up, many executive sins are forgivable.

What Chapek misread – and he’s by no means alone – is that the pandemic is over to the American consumer. And this change of heart, perhaps not totally medically endorsed, called for fresh corporate thinking.

Disney under Chapek seemed oblivious to the public’s “I’m going back outdoors” mindset even as profits withered and its Wall Street value tumbled by $116 billion.



Sent from my Lenovo 10e using Tapatalk


----------



## mdurette (Nov 25, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Genie Plus for 6 people is $120 per day.



This past Monday (11/21) I paid $61.78 for 2 people!


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Nov 25, 2022)

mdurette said:


> This past Monday (11/21) I paid $61.78 for 2 people!


How well did it work?  How many rides did you get for your $$$.


----------



## noreenkate (Nov 25, 2022)

I don’t believe genie+ will be going away…it’s an easy money grab…I do think that we will see it become the new “free dining” promotion to encourage onsite stays if and when demand for rooms slows down….


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Nov 25, 2022)

Parks were packed when we were there this past year, and we were there for several weeks.  How is Disney stock not doing well?  I don't get how the financial markets work.  The crowds at the parks should be an indication of an increase in the stock price and the total profit, right?  I understood that DVC members and annual pass holders were not buying food and souvenirs, yet they got rid of AP's and are charging outrageous daily prices for admission.  Stock prices should be crazy high right now.


----------



## ljmiii (Nov 25, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Parks were packed when we were there this past year, and we were there for several weeks.  How is Disney stock not doing well?  I don't get how the financial markets work....


Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products is making record profits. It's Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution that is losing truly unbelievable amounts of money. Chapek created this monster (taking responsibility away from the content divisions) and put his handpicked guy to run it (into the ground). Iger's #1 priority was/is firing the guy and undoing the damage to the media businesses.


----------



## bnoble (Nov 25, 2022)

DMED was in the black for both the quarter and the year. It did not lose "unbelievable amounts of money" but it was significantly less profitable than it was a year ago. Bob 2.0's immediate sins were (a) not giving enough guidance about how much they'd be spending (aka losing) on D+ and (b) not being sufficiently apologetic about it. The narrative that is emerging from what appears to be a carefully placed whisper campaign is that he also wasn't sufficiently nurturing of the creatives in the company (which may well be true).

It's probably also fair to complain about the fact that at the P&L level, the broadcast, theatrical, and streaming units were all combined into one thing, but they are arguably very different businesses. The profits from broadcast and theatrical are hiding the massive losses in streaming. Iger played the same game at a smaller scale by folding what was then electronic gaming (a big loser) into consumer products (always profitable).


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Nov 25, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Genie Plus for 6 people is $120 per day.





mdurette said:


> This past Monday (11/21) I paid $61.78 for 2 people!


Yep, Genie+ pricing now varies, and you don’t know until day of purchase what the price is. Today it’s $29 plus tax per person. Many with park plans for Christmas week are anticipating $50 pp, but no one will know until then.


----------



## gln60 (Nov 25, 2022)

Replacing the Wicked Witch of the East….with the Wicked Witch of the West


----------



## mdurette (Nov 25, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> How well did it work?  How many rides did you get for your $$$.



Not bad, especially since the parks were so darn busy.   But, I really had to "work" it.
Some of us had left over days on Salute tickets that already had Genie+ so, we purchased because easier for all of us to have it.  


MK:  Big thunder, Buzz, Parade viewing spot, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Pooh, Monsters, Pirates, Little Mermaid.
Could have gotten splash, but didn't want to get wet.
Could not get Dwarfs or Space Mountain

Epcot:   used on everything, except Frozen Did Virtual Que for Cosmic


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Nov 25, 2022)

Staying at Disney and arriving one hour before park opening, not just the 30 minutes for early park hours, seemed to do the trick for us in getting into lines for the key rides.  But we were there for 28 days.  Didn't buy Genie + and waited in lines.  The predicted wait times were at times completely off.  

We did go to the Halloween party.  The two little kids and I rode Peter Pan that night 3 times, and some other rides were also just walk-on.


----------



## Deb & Bill (Nov 27, 2022)

Chapek was Iger's pick.  Most of what happened when Chapek was in charge was in the works under Iger.  Don't expect much different.  Just a bit friendlier way of grabbing your wallet.
[_Political comment redacted._]


----------



## pedro47 (Nov 28, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Staying at Disney and arriving one hour before park opening, not just the 30 minutes for early park hours, seemed to do the trick for us in getting into lines for the key rides.  But we were there for 28 days.  Didn't buy Genie + and waited in lines.  The predicted wait times were at times completely off.
> 
> We did go to the Halloween party.  The two little kids and I rode Peter Pan that night 3 times, and some other rides were also just walk-on.


That was an awesome 28 days vacation for the children and your family. Wow,  I bet those were some magical Disney moments for everyone at Disney World. OUTSTANDING.


----------



## DanCali (Dec 5, 2022)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Parks were packed when we were there this past year, and we were there for several weeks.  How is Disney stock not doing well?  I don't get how the financial markets work.



Parks are just one aspect of their business. There are also movies and now Disney+ is a big chunk too.

On the movies side, things have never really recovered since the pandemic (perhaps the upcoming Avatar movie may help), several movies went straight to streaming, and recent box office releases failed to impress revenue-wise for reasons that can generally be debated elsewhere. I will just briefly quote several lines from Variety Online describing their last 2 box major office flops, leaving personal commentary out:

Variety Online: (Lightyear) _Pixar’s next feature film, “Lightyear” — starring Chris Evans as the putative real-life inspiration for the “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear — does feature a significant female character, Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba), who is in a meaningful relationship with another woman. While the fact of that relationship was never in question at the studio, a kiss between the characters had been cut from the film. Following the uproar surrounding the Pixar employees’ statement and Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, however, the kiss was reinstated into the movie last week._

Variety Online: (Strange World) _"The animated feature introduces viewers to Ethan Clade, a biracial, openly gay teenager who gets completely tongue-tied when he’s near his crush, Diazo."_

Lightyear grossed about 25% of what Toy Story 4 grossed back in 2019. Strange World just came out recently and is on track to lose the company $100M+. Regardless of one's opinion regarding the plots, keep in mind that quite a few countries refused to even air both of these movies at all, including China and it's 1.5 billion population, because some of the content is banned in those countries.

On the Disney+ side, I am actually surprised myself that they are losing money. I guess content acquisition is expensive, and there is a lot of competition with other streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Paramount+, Peacock etc). But they did just raise prices and also had lots of people who went from paying $4/month to full price (the 3-year advance purchase promo they had back in 2019 through D23 - I was on that myself). That may help.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Dec 5, 2022)

pedro47 said:


> That was an awesome 28 days vacation for the children and your family. Wow,  I bet those were some magical Disney moments for everyone at Disney World. OUTSTANDING.


Yes, it was!  Two weeks with our oldest son and his family, two weeks with our son #2 and his family.  We had a blast.  It was all about being together.  I would not hesitate to go four weeks again, but school schedules are standing in the way of those long trips.  Even our Elizabeth is in kindergarten now.


----------



## nomoretslt (Dec 6, 2022)

Here now and have noticed a huge improvement in cast members.  They seem happier….we were here end of October also…..and many seemed unhappy and not the usual ”go out of their way to help “ attitude.  And they are saying Merry Christmas.  And on the monorail we heard “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls”.  Chapek had eliminated that greeting For the opening of the MK in the mornings and other places.  The crowds seem lighter than they were in October, but that was Food & Wine and Halloween.
The Candlelight Processional at Epcot was very moving (Isabella Rossellini was narrator).  And we did the extra Magic hours at Epcot last night.  So between 9:30 and 11:30 we did Soarin, Finding Nemo, looked at some aquariums in that pavilion, spaceship earth, test track (single rider line), and Frozen (twice in a row).  
The weather has been nice too.  
seems to be more Christmas decorations in the resorts than last year too.


----------



## dioxide45 (Dec 6, 2022)

We went to MK yesterday afternoon. We have Florida APs. We noticed the park was very busy. Though people didn't start getting spots for the parade until about 30 minutes before. There are a lot of shenanigans that happen for parade spots. We were next to a thoroughfare that was to remain "open" till the parade starts. here is a tip. Show up last minute to one of these places where they have people crossing the parade route. Then voila, you have a front row seat. We did notice that the people tending to the parade route seemed to be quite happy. I am not sure the new CEO has that much to do with it as I would expect they are pretty far removed from any decisions he is making, but maybe not. Perhaps it is more just a mental thing than anything actually tangible.


----------



## DanCali (Dec 7, 2022)

dioxide45 said:


> We went to MK yesterday afternoon. We have Florida APs. We noticed the park was very busy. Though people didn't start getting spots for the parade until about 30 minutes before. There are a lot of shenanigans that happen for parade spots. We were next to a thoroughfare that was to remain "open" till the parade starts. here is a tip. Show up last minute to one of these places where they have people crossing the parade route. Then voila, you have a front row seat. We did notice that the people tending to the parade route seemed to be quite happy. I am not sure the new CEO has that much to do with it as I would expect they are pretty far removed from any decisions he is making, but maybe not. Perhaps it is more just a mental thing than anything actually tangible.



I know they renew, add, and reinvent the parks a lot and we sometimes may splurge on FL resident deals to go for 3-4 days and we have lots of fun.

We had annual passes back in 2011, and kept them for 2 years until the kids stared to complain "Disney again???". I also wasn't happy about their annual price hikes at the time, but when you look at where prices today, my aggravation at the time about $30 price increases is somewhat laughable. Here is what we paid in 2011 for 2 adult and one child annual (FL resident) passes - about $400/person on average. I just dug this up in an old email...





And those were not the cheapest - parking was included, spring break and summer were included etc. I just looked how it compares to current passes (all looks very different from then) - I think what we had was probably equivalent to the Sorcerer's Pass. Looks like they are not even selling those now because they are so busy, but that seems to cost about $950 - That's a 135% price increase in 11 years (8% compounded growth per year). Their inflation index seems to exceed even college tuition! 

Yet they still fill the parks, so they must be doing something right.


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 10, 2022)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/11/21/disney-parks-iger-chapek-ceo/
		


9 changes Disney fans want returning CEO Bob Iger to make at parks​Disney die-hards cheered Iger’s return. Now they’re demanding changes.​​…Their overall request: Bring back the magic. Many had specific ideas about how to do that.​
Stop requiring reservations for parks
Allow park-hopping earlier
Abolish Genie Plus
Make annual passes available again
Reinstate the free airport shuttle
Bring back dining plans
Stop charging for MagicBand
Lower prices
For conservative fans, abandon ‘woke’ changes


----------



## DanCali (Dec 10, 2022)

TravelTime said:


> https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/11/21/disney-parks-iger-chapek-ceo/
> 
> 
> 
> ...



While I agree with a lot of that, it's hard to see how they give up the lucrative profits associated with the current strategy to appease these fans.

There was a very interesting article in the WSJ recently describing their relatively new strategy of maximizing revenue per visitor instead of the actual number of visitors. The Florida/California Resident annual passholder who comes for half a day with a sandwich in a ziploc bag, rides a couple of rides and maybe buys an ice cream cone is not that critical to them. They would much rather have the people who come from far away, splurge on hotels, expensive souvenirs, and all the extra add-ons to maximize the rides that can enjoy over 3-4 days. Apparently, it's working... they are making a lot more money with fewer visitors. Here is a link to a slidehow summary of that article (no WSJ subscription required)









						It’s Not Just You—Everyone Is Paying More at Disney
					

Even with attendance down, the 'magic kingdom' is focused on increasing how much money each visitor spends




					www.wsj.com


----------



## TravelTime (Dec 11, 2022)

Maximizing revenue/profit per visitor makes a lot of sense to me. I agree that people who pay more should get more. I wish Marriott Vacation Club would use this approach.


----------



## nomoretslt (Dec 11, 2022)

Regarding cast members and my previously stated observations.   We always chat with cast members…..and as DVC owners, we see many of the same ones at our different resorts.  A lot were not very happy with Chapek.  Apparently he reduced the nice perks they received for admission to parks.  He also caved to demands of a very small group of employees….many were very upset about that…this same small group also causes other issues amongst fellow employees.  The consensus is the aftermath of that ”caving” helped propel Chapek out the door.  Disney had a great thing going with Reedy Creek. 
I read in a financial piece from Bloomberg or Forbes?  Can’t remember….but it seems Chapek was using some creative accounting to make it seem like Disney + was doing better than it actually was. 
Also, WDW can’t continue to cater to wealthier people and expect to fill all of their value and moderate resorts going forward if they don’t return to some of the things that made a trip seem more affordable.  We‘ve heard from friends and friends of our adult kids and other acquaintances…….once and done.  People were shocked at how much food cost them on property.  Those trying to save money by driving had to pay $20 to $25 a day to park at their resort.  If you wanted to get on the popular rides, you had to shell out $15 per person per day for Genie…..plus extra (from $12 to $20 depending on ride and day of the week) for lightening lane for newer rides. They seem to be changing rules and pricing every few days too.
I can’t figure out why Iger hand picked Chapek as his replacement.  Chapek was carrying out many things Iger had already put in place (Except the Reedy Creek thing).  And I thought the timing of his “retirement” was interesting…..       I do give credit to Chapek for navigating Disney (in Orlando anyway…can’t speak about Disneyland because I don’t pay attention to it) during the pandemic.  Slowly reopening resorts, then parks and trying to get things back to normal took tremendous effort…..am wondering how much they lost on a daily basis with Shanghai Disney…..it just reopened a few days ago.
We did not purchase any food or meals on our recent 10 day trip.  Everything is way way way overpriced.  Not having the dining plan or the Tables is Wonderland card keeps us away from the restaurants and counter service.  We bring and cook most of our food and beverages.  We have been going off property to places like Chick Fil A or getting grab and go at Publix or Winn Dixie.  I would spend my money on site if it felt like I was getting something for my money. 
We are lucky we didn’t let our annual passes lapse.  I would probably be renting out my points to others if I didn’t have an AP  …… it just would not be worth it, as we go at least 3 to 4 times a year.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Dec 11, 2022)

We take sandwiches to the parks and eat them, then we leave early enough to get dinner elsewhere.  Saves a lot of money, and I can stay on my eating program without worrying about it much.  We also take canned soda, but that is for Rick, not me.


----------



## noreenkate (Dec 11, 2022)

DanCali said:


> . The Florida/California Resident annual passholder who comes for half a day with a sandwich in a ziploc bag, rides a couple of rides and maybe buys an ice cream cone is not that critical to them.



Look - they kinda IMO threw the baby out with the bath water on this IMO. Not all AP holders were Fl/CA residents bringing a sandwich. Out of state we’re always welcome to purchase the top tiered passes at full price…& let’s not forget DVC I was lucky enough to get most of my families APs back after the reopening…Lots of DVC owners not so much…it’s crazy to me that DVC isn’t being offered passes it’s insane that you have a large group dubbed as Disney’s “CASH COW” cannot purchase even if they are benefit eligible- people that have promised to spend their vacations there for minimum 20 years an exemption can’t be made- seriously a Florida resident can still purchase a pixie pass or discounted multi day tickets


I am not local, my neighbors on both sides also aren’t local and aren’t DVC but the current state of the AP and what kept us all going to WDW year after is largely gone. On both sides neighbors that went every school break for a week have not only given up their passes this year but are no longer vacationing @ WDW…

The park reservations system alone has been keeping me personally away. Last week if took me 2hours to get through the dam park reservation system for 1 day at MK with stitch eating the page at that point I was discussed and no way was I about to look for dining…, another profit source they aren’t using- where is the dam dining plan Josh D promised to return in 2022- (20 days to go and no word) we all know that the ddp and TiWL were hugely better for disney than the consumer. 

We headed over to universal for the rest of the 5 day stay- no reservations for park or dining necessary heck they even handed us cute little window decals for the car when we valet parked the car. If I wanted to get on a ride I got inline, if I wanted to use express pass ( cause it’s built into UAOP ) I did not pay extra no playing with my phone nonsense…

I booked an exchange into  OKW for next year- mostly as a hail Mary room for Tron previews and pretty sure I will be spending most days at Universal, Seaworld ect if my guesstimate is wrong…


----------



## Frankly-Frankie (Dec 12, 2022)

DanCali said:


> Parks are just one aspect of their business. There are also movies and now Disney+ is a big chunk too.
> 
> On the movies side, things have never really recovered since the pandemic (perhaps the upcoming Avatar movie may help), several movies went straight to streaming, and recent box office releases failed to impress revenue-wise for reasons that can generally be debated elsewhere. I will just briefly quote several lines from Variety Online describing their last 2 box major office flops, leaving personal commentary out:
> 
> ...


My understanding is the a Disney insider went to the Board about the financial games Chapek was playing. His number one mission was to build Disney+. It was losing massive amounts of money (8.5 billion since 2019). To hide this fact, he played shell games, opening content made for Disney+ in other venues first so he could then charge their entire budgets to those budget lines. Thereby, hiding the losses. The Scarlett Johansen debacle also didn't help. You don't want to alienate your A-list stars. All of whom were aware of that incident.


----------



## mdurette (Dec 22, 2022)

I received this email yesterday.    A step in the right direction trying to reconnect with guests.

​




Dear Mxxxx

As we approach the end of 2022, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to the biggest Disney fans in the world – all of you.

Disney is fortunate to have the most devoted and enthusiastic fans, and I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I visited Disneyland Resort and attended the Candlelight Processional. It was invigorating to be surrounded by so many guests who make what we do possible. We love your passion for our company and your enthusiasm for what we create, and we will continue to do our best to exceed your highest expectations.

As you know, next year Disney will mark its 100th anniversary. We are immeasurably grateful to the generations of fans all around the globe who have invited our stories and characters into their lives, and we look forward to celebrating the groundbreaking moments, the cherished memories, and the creative visionaries that made Disney the most beloved name in entertainment over the past century.

During the coming year, D23 will launch a slate of exciting events to mark this historic milestone. More information can be found here.

Looking at all the opportunities ahead, I can honestly say there has never been a better time to be a Disney fan. It is an extraordinary privilege to lead this remarkable company again, and I am so grateful for your continued passion for Disney. On behalf of all of us at The Walt Disney Company, I wish you a wonderful holiday season and a very happy and prosperous New Year.​



Best,​





















© Disney​


----------



## TheHolleys87 (Dec 22, 2022)

We got that letter too.  I knew immediately it was sent to D23 members due to the email address it came to. 

It would be lovely if he sent something to DVC members too. There seem to be more than a few on various forums who feel neglected, ignored and disrespected.


----------

