News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[CaptinEO]

Who else could they get to agree on half a day's notice who would have the first clue about what they're doing?

This time, it's supposed to be a planned exit rather than whatever the hell him yelling "What's that behind you?!" before running like a madman was supposed to pass as at the onset of the pandemic.

We'll see how it plays out but this reads like a specific agreed upon goal of his return is finding and grooming a suitable replacement.

Iger spent years extending his contract to find a successor, and when he "exited" it was planned and he remained with the company for an additional year to advise Chapek.

That being said he did literally hand things over at the worst time possible.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

We'll see how it plays out but this reads like a specific agreed upon goal of his return is finding and grooming a suitable replacement.

Oh god no, not this again!

 

[Tay]

I'm honestly a bit surprised how many people are excited right now. What did Chapek do other than say the stuff that had been going on under Iger out loud? Don't get me wrong, Chapek was awful, but Iger isn't some great improvement. The guy bailed as soon as he saw trouble coming for the parks. He sees the trouble subside, and he comes back to reap the glory.

This! He cowardly left at the brink of the pandemic after wastefully spending billions and now wants to come back to be a savior. Dude is a straight narcissist. Honestly this seems like his plan from the jump. Get out of dodge, and choose the person with the personality of a cactus to step in until things rebound and comeback to be a savior.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Iger spent years extending his contract to find a successor, and when he "exited" it was planned and he remained with the company for an additional year to advise Chapek.

That being said he did literally hand things over at the worst time possible.

That is complete crap…no way you believe That

 

[Skibum1970]

The only issue I see (not being an expert on the streaming business) is that most of the park issues started when Iger was still CEO. TRON, the Epcot rework, Galaxies' Edge (both parks), all started when Iger was still CEO. Until Disney is willing to focus on efficiencies when building rides (does every ride need to cost $500M?) and to lay out a thoughtful cohesive plan to developing the parks, we won't see any positive changes to WDW or the other parks. I am somewhat curious about what happens with Genie+, if anything, as it seems to need addressed as it doesn't really work. However, what do I know? Not enough.

 

[note2001]

CNBC said that Chapek was only informed last night (presumably time enough to craft a statement on his exit) and that Iger was reached out to on Friday. Incredibly quick but this was clearly brewing with the Board for some time.

He knew it was coming, maybe not that his replacement would be Iger himself, but I'm sure he had plenty of warning that his days were numbered if things didn't change for the better.

 

[alexdisney]

I'm finding it harder than ever to book DVC. It's frustrating.

5 and a half months out I got a studio for 5 nights at Grand Floridian for the first week of May

 

[pdude81]

I am too…that’s low by todays standards

Ovitz got $67 25 years ago


So not only was chapek an awful manager…he’s got bad lawyers too

Depends on the fine print in that contract extension.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The PR machine built under Iger puts long storied histories of state-run propaganda networks to shame. Russia should have hired them out when Bob the Elder left Burbank.

Indeed

Watch the imagineering story…what revisionist nonsense

The doc is good…but you can taste the Iger stench on it

 

[note2001]

If absolutely nothing else happens, I'm still happy to have a CEO up there who treats people as humans, and not just as wallets to dip into.

I'm sure we will see more humanity from the top toward the cast members and guests. He's already started by sending his message out to the cast members before the press.

 

[BobPar]

For the billionth time: Disney has never been out of politics

No American company with more than 5 e employees ever has been

Agree but i think for the 1st time they openly & loudly chose a side….

 

[Dan Deesnee]

They don't even mention the parks in their official statements, what are you talking about?

I know this board is all about the parks, but let's not get delusional. Just because you wanted Chapek ousted doesn't mean your reasoning is the same as the Disney board's.

The parks generate more revenue than any other division so it's logical to assume the parks will be a focus for Iger...

 

[fgmnt]

Indeed

Watch the imagineering story…what revisionist nonsense

The doc is good…but you can taste the Iger stench on it

My eyes about rolled out of my head when I saw the documentary pivoting to make Iger a hero of the parks division. I wish I could get credit for just phoning in 1/3 of my job and called a savior. Give me a break!

 

[FigmentFan82]

Hell…streaming is morphing into cable

They’re rebundling and want to sell ads…which won’t fly.

Steaming is definitely here to stay…but it won’t yield the profits the one Robert Iger has promised. That’s the kicker

The kicker is that Disney is in the best position to yield external profit from streaming, merchandise etc. The streaming doesn't need to be the earner as long as they sells the toys from the shows.

 

[CastAStone]

I am too…that’s low by todays standards

Ovitz got $67 25 years ago


So not only was chapek an awful manager…he’s got bad lawyers too

I mean the Ovitz thing was a uniquely special case. that’s an extreme outlier in all corporate buyouts.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Agree but i think for the 1st time they openly & loudly chose a side….

I don't think they exactly wanted to get involved in all that. No doubt Iger, for all his other failings, handles that situation a million times better than Chapek did.

 

[brideck]

1. Try to get theatrical/streaming mix back on track. The mix is off, and it is clear that too many movies that could be decent hits theatrically are going straight to D+, which has very little value add compared to a TV show.

Not just what gets released where, but the release window itself is way too short for so many things. There is little to no incentive for a family to wrangle their kids to go see something like Lightyear in the theater when they know with certainty that it's going to be turning up on D+ in just a few weeks (6-7 in that case), and it's a terrible trade for Disney's short-term bottom-line. ~$40 for a family of four at the movies is replaced by a single monthly D+ sub that the family would probably have anyway. Despite all that, Lightyear still made more than $100 million at the US box office (one of only 17 movies to-date this year to do so). I have to imagine it could have done better without changing anything about the movie.

 

[gerarar]

They really need to do a better job of controlling Genie+.
I was in Paris and decided to go to the resort.
Got up early made it to park before opening and the mess to enter the studio park was awful. Took me 30 minutes to get in because people sure like to cut lines and staff was short.

When I got inside the park crush coaster was already at 60 minutes then within minutes 90 minutes.
Within an hour the tiny park had wait times on everything over 60 minutes.
One thing I noticed that made Crush coaster balloon in time was the fact that there were lots of people using the paid service. Line looked like it wasn’t moving.
Then when I decided to check if it was worth paying I saw they were charging $12 or $15 can’t remember.
No way I was going to pay that price for multiple people.

That is ridiculous especially after paying a high ticket price.
Sad to say I never got to go on the coaster because the wait time just kept going up u til the app showed it closed 2 hours before park closing. The ride was open but looks like they closed off the line to accommodate those in line already.
I really felt cheated that I needed to pay extra to enjoy something that should have been part of my ticket

That's so weird! I had a somewhat different experience when I was there this past July.

Crush Coaster was hovering between a 80-120 minute wait almost the entire day. And this was also Bastille Day, so the 2 parks were extra crowded. I was hopping between WDS and DLP all day long (think I did 7 hops in total, lots of walking lol!).

By 7pm, when WDS was to close for the night, ToT was advertising a 10 minute wait, in reality a walk-on. I did like 7 back to back rides in the last hour. I then went over to Crush Coaster which was showing a 55 minute wait. Line moved pretty quickly and got on within 25 mins. It was okay, but man did it spin a lot haha.

I only purchased one Premium Access ride pass that day, and that was for BTMR. Also got one for Mickey and the Magician. I rode everything I pretty much wanted in the 2 parks on a very busy day, and didn't shell out much for fastpasses. PA for Crush's Coaster sold out by like 12pm that day, it's really the only one that sells out. Everything else is pretty much has instant return times.

Also entering the parks wasn't that bad for me. Maybe 5 mins but there were plenty of lanes. As the day went by, WDS did have fewer and fewer lanes to enter, I think only like 2 by the last couple hours of the park being open. I can see how that can become a bottleneck like you saw/experienced.

 

[matt9112]

$23 million.

Serious question….why aren’t golden parachutes tied to performance of the stock or company etc? Obviously I know there are often bonuses for performance but why is the base severance so large and disconnected from performance?

 

[Tomi-Rocket]

Have we ruled out a possible Bob Chapek presidential run?

God no. Please.