News Josh D’Amaro Named Next CEO of The Walt Disney Company

[_caleb]

It's the equivalent of "No one hates Star Wars more than a Star Wars fan".

It's like a drug

 

[flynnibus]

So, let’s actually do the math here.

I picked a random week in July 2005. Basically, EMH hours looked like this: at each park, one day per week there would be a day of 1 extra magic hour in the morning and a day of 3 extra magic hours in the evening. Therefore, each park would get a total of 4 extra magic hours for the week. 4 EMH hours times 4 parks and you get a combined total of 16 EMH park hours for the week.

I chose the same week in 2025. Today, Disney operates all four parks for an additional 30 minutes for Early Entry every day. That’s a combined total of 2 park hours per day times 7 days: 14 early entry park operating hours per week. In addition, there was 1 day each of extended evening hours at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom for a total of 4 extended evening hours for the week. And that brings us to a grand total of…18 EMH park hours for the week.

You're looking at this as a total # of hours - but in a way a guest can't actually consume. In example #1 it's 4 hours an individual can individually consume.. in example #2 it's concurrent hours in different parks.. aka hours not available to the guest. These are apples and oranges.

Second.. 30mins is a joke. For many headliners it's basically enough time to get through 1 ride. The whole thing is a bit of a shell game.. selling more value than it is. 90% of your benefit here is just getting there at the start of opening - so no preloading. Which is the same benefit if you were there at regular opening.

So, why were the EMH changes made? The logical conclusion is to improve the guest experience by reducing crowding and perhaps further differentiate the deluxe resorts from their competition. Reducing costs is not among the reasons.

Congrats - you've taken the bait.. hook, line, and sinker. They cut hours, then give some people a little bit back, in a lesser form, call it a 'perk' and you lap it up as if they are doing you a favor.

 

[flynnibus]

Spreading out the mornings to all the parks every day massively reduced guest demand for a particular park and spread out the crowds. A park with EMH would get absolutely swamped that day resulting in a significantly worse guest experience.

The 'swamped' is simply the fact if you came at regular opening vs EMH... you were already behind because there was a focus on that park. Your waits at 9:15 on a EMH morning would be worse than waits at 9:15 on a non-EMH morning.

You could also use this to your benefit if you wanted to avoid focus days. But this whole optimization/avoidance topic is largely chasing pennies. The biggest gain is ACCESS - something you don't have if the park isn't open.

In terms of cost to Disney, the new system is the equivalent of 2 additional hours of 4 park operations every single day versus when it was 1 hour of morning EMH at one park on some days. Providing Morning EMH is much more expensive today than it ever was.

It's mostly slight of hand. It wasn't uncommon for Disney to open early anyway when there is demand.. actual opening was a way to deal with crowd management. Where it mattered most is the time tables for complex attractions where they have an expected ready time that is pushed forward. It's not like they had to duplicate staff to pull off this concurrent park stuff.. nor did they go 'you know, lets add 4x more labor because our guests really deserve it!'.

And by restricting evening Evening EMH to deluxe guests, it limited the impact on attendance at a particular park because only deluxe guests would be eligible, thereby improving the guest experience for the majority of guests that never attended Evening EMH whether they were eligible or not.

huh? majority of deluxe hotel guests would skip EMH? But now are taking advantage of the EMH-replacement?

Also, statistically speaking, most guests at value and moderate resorts took advantage of the morning EMH and left the parks due to fatigue before Evening EMH. Deluxe guests, due to the ease of transportation, would stay later for the evening EMH.

What is this fantasy universe you are concocting? The monorail is not some magic time saver when it only applied to a fraction of the instances involved... and people are managing their fatigue based on their own circumstances.

Disney introduced EMH in the early 2000s as a business response to the massive decline in tourism following 9/11 and subsequently the increased competition from the new hotels outside the bubble. The business dynamics have shifted dramatically and those old pressures are either non-existent or dramatically reduced.

Tell me you never visited during these periods without telling me you never visited during these periods...

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I find it strange that so many who complain that the parks are poorly managed also continue to visit the parks regularly.

For the most part I think the parks are being managed well - but they aren’t being expanded particularly well.

There is always room for improvement.

 

[Jrb1979]

I find it strange that so many who complain that the parks are poorly managed also continue to visit the parks regularly.

I haven't been in 3 years and have no interest in going back. Don't like the direction of the parks. Going from each having their own theme and attractions that fit to all being IP parks.
I want more Disney Sea type parks less MK type parks.

 

[_caleb]

For the most part I think the parks are being managed well - but they aren’t being expanded particularly well.

There is always room for improvement.

Sure. I certainly don't think paying customers shouldn't point out weaknesses and failures!

But anyone who posts that the parks are "a disaster" and "completely mismanaged" should probably vote with their dollars, don't you think?

 

[flynnibus]

But anyone who posts that the parks are "a disaster" and "completely mismanaged" should probably vote with their dollars, don't you think?

My last WDW hotel reservation was 2018. And it's not because I didn't do Disney stuff since then...

 

[Chi84]

I understand that people are different, like different things and have different circumstances.

That said, I personally find it impossible to think of the parks in terms of mathematics or comparing past to current experiences.

It's not taking the bait, lapping it up, lowering my standards, taking a drug or any of the other terms being thrown out there.

I do tend to be a realist who enjoys WDW vacations. In my experiences over 40 years of visits, there has always been more to do in a week than we could manage to accomplish. When planning, I use whatever system is in place - combine it with the particular circumstances of our group - and then come up with a plan that satisfies everyone.

When it gets to be too difficult or expensive (and it may) we will either adjust or stop going. I'm not saying others should do the same because I don't care what anyone else does.

At the end of the day a vacation should bring joy and a respite from everyday problems. WDW does that for us.

If I had to go through the mental processes to figure out all the ups and downs through the years, I don't think the experience would be enjoyable.

 

[_caleb]

I understand that people are different, like different things and have different circumstances.

That said, I personally find it impossible to think of the parks in terms of mathematics or comparing past to current experiences.

It's not taking the bait, lapping it up, lowering my standards, taking a drug or any of the other terms being thrown out there.

I do tend to be a realist who enjoys WDW vacations. In my experiences over 40 years of visits, there has always been more to do in a week than we could manage to accomplish. When planning, I use whatever system is in place - combine it with the particular circumstances of our group - and then come up with a plan that satisfies everyone.

When it gets to be too difficult or expensive (and it may) we will either adjust or stop going. I'm not saying others should do the same because I don't care what anyone else does.

At the end of the day a vacation should bring joy and a respite from everyday problems. WDW does that for us.

If I had to go through the mental processes to figure out all the ups and downs through the years, I don't think the experience would be enjoyable.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. As long as you enjoy it, by all means, enjoy it!

When I said, "it's like a drug," I was referring to people who still go, but (according to their posts here) don't enjoy it.

 

[Chi84]

Thanks for sharing your perspective. As long as you enjoy it, by all means, enjoy it!

When I said, "it's like a drug," I was referring to people who still go, but (according to their posts here) don't enjoy it.

Oh I understood. But there are some posters who have suggested that people who continue to enjoy Disney as it is are deficient in some way.

 

[ManicMillennial]

Oh I understood. But there are some posters who have suggested that people who continue to enjoy Disney as it is are deficient in some way.

I absolutely can not wrap my head around some of these posters. If they hate Disney so much what do they get out of going to a site devoted to Disney World aside from unhappiness?

It’s like still being facebook friends with an ex after a bad breakup. I wish some of these people would just cut ties and stop hurting themselves and other with the memories of what was.

 

[Jrb1979]

I absolutely can not wrap my head around some of these posters. If they hate Disney so much what do they get out of going to a site devoted to Disney World aside from unhappiness?

It’s like still being facebook friends with an ex after a bad breakup. I wish some of these people would just cut ties and stop hurting themselves and other with the memories of what was.

I personally don't hate Disney. I would love to see D'Amaro bring some of what Disney unique back now that he's CEO. One bring to drop the IP mandate and synergy. Go back to making each park different and not a collection of new IP.

 

[Chi84]

I absolutely can not wrap my head around some of these posters. If they hate Disney so much what do they get out of going to a site devoted to Disney World aside from unhappiness?

It’s like still being facebook friends with an ex after a bad breakup. I wish some of these people would just cut ties and stop hurting themselves and other with the memories of what was.

They say it’s disappointment rather than hate but then you just end up wallowing in disappointment. To each his own I guess. It’s a site for everyone.

Sharing information, good or bad, is understandable. So is disagreement. But suggesting people who still enjoy Disney are wrong in some way is going too far. At that point I wonder what they think they’re accomplishing.

 

[Chi84]

I personally don't hate Disney. I would love to see D'Amaro bring some of what Disney unique back now that he's CEO. One bring to drop the IP mandate and synergy. Go back to making each park different and not a collection of new IP.

I’m not optimistic about that happening but would love to see it.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I find it strange that so many who complain that the parks are poorly managed also continue to visit the parks regularly.

I visit regularly because it is one of the few places that my child with disabilities can go and experience pretty much everything as all children do, and she can just be a kid. It is a week of respite from constant therapies and doctor appts that allows us all to relax.

We've changed how we visit over the years. Spent many years offsite entirely. Went back onsite to CBR last year as it was a last
Minute whim of a trip - fitting it in before a major surgery for DD(then 12) that had a 4+ month recovery time. She'd never stayed onsite and we wanted to do something a bit special. The benefit of the skyliner and the intentional time we spent at the resort (which we haven't done much of in the past) made it worth it.

If one can't understand that people can identify concerns or places where benefits have decreased while also still experiencing a benefit enough to make finding alternative ways to visit worth it, then that's their issue

 

[ManicMillennial]

I personally don't hate Disney. I would love to see D'Amaro bring some of what Disney unique back now that he's CEO. One bring to drop the IP mandate and synergy. Go back to making each park different and not a collection of new IP.

I can agree with that, the IP mandate was an ill conceived idea that showed Iger had lost all touch with the point of the parks. IP in the makes makes sense and generally fits well but there was always meant to be room for original stories and experiences within the parks too.

I have no idea if it’s one of Josh’s priorities but it’s only a matter of time before something original shows up in the parks again.

 

[Chi84]

If one can't understand that people can identify concerns or places where benefits have decreased while also still experiencing a benefit enough to make finding alternative ways to visit worth it, then that's their issue

No one is complaining about this, though. At least not that I can see. Can you give an example?

That’s basically the way I visit. Finding alternative ways to experience the joy despite the changes.

 

[FigmentFan82]

Btw, it is not at all uncommon for a new CEO to carve their own path and do things their way pretty quickly.

 

[Brer Panther]

His stubbornness is astronomical and it nearly caused the downfall of Disney Animation forever.

I was gonna say "To be fair, didn't Iger basically cause the downfall of Disney Animation after 2016 too?", but then I realized that if I did, somebody would bring up Encanto.

I liked Strange World and Zootopia 2 as well, but the first one was a flop and the second was another sequel.

Failing to expand MK in a meaningful way.

And despite all of their replacing, there's still a lot of wasted space. The empty Stitch space, Princess Fairytale Hall and the Tomorrowland Speedway, to name a few.

I find it strange that so many who complain that the parks are poorly managed also continue to visit the parks regularly.

Maybe they still visit because there's still things about the parks they like? Y'know, attractions that Iger hasn't taken an axe to or wasn't involved in creating?

 

[Chi84]

Maybe they still visit because there's still things about the parks they like?

I doubt too many people are going if they don’t like anything at all about the parks.

Maybe if they’re dragged along by family?