News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[Laketravis]

Ah, yes - the guy who brought us Nextgen, Fastpass+, and a host of other epic park transformations that provided endless fodder for complaints over more than a decade has returned to save the parks from.............himself?

 

[jaxonp]

The parks are heavily focussed on more revenue from less guests - of which Genie, reservations and LL are a key part. It will be difficult to change direction on that for at least several years. Will be interesting to see. I do expect Iger to do things in a more guest friendly way, but end result will likely be the same.

It seems like they could/should go back to the previous iteration of FP+ .. they could still charge for it but overall it was a superior system. I have yet to yield the results I want with G+. Individual LL could be sold day off but your predetermined 3 LL before you come would be helpful in the planning stage of a trip, imo. I think Disney would benefit from this as well.

 

[Br0ckford]

View attachment 679866

So Genie + is going away.

 

[bcoachable]

I think the point was to kill whatever was going to be announced before Chapek could announce it.

You mean Tron was going to finally open??

 

[MisterPenguin]

Yes, I need things to distract my kids...

Try Bluey. Super popular. And Dads like it, too.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Disney are the only ones who know how much of the past 12 months of crowds were DVC members using banked points before they expire.

Covid hits 2020, thousands of DVC members do the logical thing and bank points, cancel trips. Based on timing, and info in an excellent article on a different site entitled "The DVC Availability Crisis" it's safe to say that a large portion of the crowd from 2022 has been DVC members trying to keep up with the points they've been getting over the past 2 years.

If anyone is a DVC member. Go look at availability right now for 5-6-7 months out. It's generally much more available than I've ever seen it in the past 7 years.

My point with all this? Disney has this data, and although the economy is in bad shape I would imagine if DVC members are taken out of the numbers, general attendance was a huge miss for 2022. From there it doesn't take a genius to see that Chapeks-Changes are already having a dramatic effect on sentiment and willingness to go to Disney World.

Add in the looming spectre of Epic Universe and bringing back Iger becomes the most logical decision.

 

[erasure fan1]

I say they should give her until Indy 5 to see if she should stay or not. It's not popular to say, but there's been some Ws under her. Honestly, I'd say it's about 50/50 for her reign; Force Awakens, Rogue One, Mandalorian & Andor are all Wins.

Yes, those are wins. Unfortunately she's done more harm than good. The current state of the franchise shows that. They have no directions for theatrical star wars. Whatever props she gets for ep7 is all undone with how terribly 8 and 9 were handled. Only 1 movie had a smooth production and that was 8. And we all know how that went. More productions have been scrapped than finished. It's been more bad than good in my opinion. Now is a good time to start fresh. They have nothing official coming to theaters, so they won't need to publicly cancel anything. But if Iger wouldn't do it then, I don't see it changing now.

 

[jaxonp]

Disney are the only ones who know how much of the past 12 months of crowds were DVC members using banked points before they expire.

Covid hits 2020, thousands of DVC members do the logical thing and bank points, cancel trips. Based on timing, and info in an excellent article on a different site entitled "The DVC Availability Crisis" it's safe to say that a large portion of the crowd from 2022 has been DVC members trying to keep up with the points they've been getting over the past 2 years.

If anyone is a DVC member. Go look at availability right now for 5-6-7 months out. It's generally much more available than I've ever seen it in the past 7 years.

My point with all this? Disney has this data, and although the economy is in bad shape I would imagine if DVC members are taken out of the numbers, general attendance was a huge miss for 2022. From there it doesn't take a genius to see that Chapeks-Changes are already having a dramatic effect on sentiment and willingness to go to Disney World.

Add in the looming spectre of Epic Universe and bringing back Iger becomes the most logical decision.

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

 

[Heppenheimer]

Try Bluey. Super popular. And Dads like it, too.

Tried it. We liked it better than the kids.

The 1 year old also likes Goldie and Bear, but it doesn't hold the interest for the 4 year old.

And of course, this is all Chapek's fault.

 

[Ghost93]

Charlie and Vince were saying in interviews that their characters were the same, but then had to change their tune and say "it's up to Kevin."

Sounds multiversal to me.

But SHIELD and Mutants are in the same boat. SHIELD's story now seems incompatible with the MCU. Feige doesn't want what was once "Marvel TV" to touch the MCU.

So as I said earlier, nothing has been officially confirmed.

 

[Vacationeer]

Genie+ is $29 today, could it hit $35 this holiday weekend?

 

[epcotWSC]

As the father of a 4 and 1 year old, can they please just bring back Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? Mickey Mouse Funhouse was a complete dud, but the formula for Clubhouse has this almost magic appeal to them... My wife in particular needs something new to playing in the background to help her sanity.

Some new episodes of The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse would be nice too.

Yes, I need things to distract my kids...

I have a 3.5 and 1 so I'm in the same boat. You can get the 4 year old easily hooked on paw patrol. 4 year olds are willing to watch much more. I've had my daughter watch the entirety of Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers, she loved it. Sometimes I'll throw in Donald cartoons from the 50s and she'll watch them. She'll watch Lion Guard and all sorts of other things. The 1 year old is a bit more difficult.

Personally, I wish Disney would create legit shorts again. I know there are the new Mickey Mouse cartoons, but they're a bit too out there for the preschool age and you can only take so many before they wear on you.

 

[Br0ckford]

Genie+ is $29 today, could it hit $35 this holiday weekend?

On top of the ticket cost as well....get on it Bob 1.0

 

[Dan Deesnee]

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

What are you trying to book and when? 5-7 months out is wide open.

It's also likely due to different use years that there's going to be overflow of DVC park goers into the first half of next year. At some point though, that dries up. From what I'm seeing DVC availability around next spring onward is pretty abundant.

 

[Horizons '83]

While it seems Disney knew they needed to can Chapek, and while that is good, Iger is stepping in, so I am not sure I see a clear path to Disney correcting their wrongs.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

Tried it. We liked it better than the kids.

I am mildly ashamed to admit how much I like Bluey's opening song

 

[DCLcruiser]

I saw Strange World yesterday. Phenomenal movie, my favorite modern WDAS film by far. It absolutely reeks of box office bomb though because its barely been marketed, and what marketing it has gotten doesn't do it justice imho.

I have zero interest in that movie. I will wait for free on D+. Giant ballon animals is just being lazy. I hope I am wrong...

Streaming is here to stay, but the model will be reconsidered. And part of that reconsideration will be that cinemas are here to stay, too.

Streaming = TV + Direct to VHS movies
Theatrical = Big budget movie releases, and then move to the streaming Vault.

There is room for all of it. Series and reality shows can be on Hulu/D+. Plus, there are plenty of lower budget Disney movies that used to go straight to VHS/DVD and now they can be free streamers. Any big budget movie should be theatre only for X days/week.s

Absolutely nothing will change short-term. There could be changes mid-term, but this is happening because there are divisions in Burbank that are hemorrhaging red ink, namely the flagship animation studios and the live action studios. Only Marvel seems to make money at the box office now.

The Parks are a cash cow, even during economic tough times. Burbank knows that, and puts them on auto pilot for awhile in times like these. There will be no changes seen or felt in the parks because of Iger's return until a year from now at the earliest.

Short term, Bob Iger and the Board will be happy to let the amusement parks and cruise ships (that Burbank senior executives don't even like to visit, especially with all those middle class folks) keep providing monthly cash flow while they focus on the real problems at hand:

Bob Iger's Real Problems For 2023

• Studio entertainment's bloated budgets and/or box office flops
• Streaming is a bottomless money pit (see above)
• Complete lack of talent development in the senior executive ranks
• No showmen are leading a showman's company (see above)

I know we are not supposed to like you since The Scandal, but I agree.

CNBC thinks Chapek was fired because he wasn't woke enough. Let that sink it. They're blaming this on "Don't Say Gay."

Chapek was never a political force. He was a coward and waited for "DSG" to be a finalized before speaking out against it. If he was truly trying to take a stand he would have spoken out when it was just an idea being floated.

I will say that I could see this change as a preemptive move as Desantis is looking to run for 2024. In the off chance that he was to win, having Chapek as CEO, after DSG and the Reedy Creek brouhaha, I could see that as a strain on DIS. So, Iger at least can smooth that over, even though we know he is more outspoken.

 

[Heppenheimer]

I am mildly ashamed to admit how much I like Bluey's opening song

There's no shame in that. It really is catchy.

 

[Laketravis]

In the end, this is all that matters:

 

[jaxonp]

Stock is soaring