News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[lazyboy97o]

You understand that if this were Thanksgiving 2012, the lines would be just as long, FastPass ticket distribution would have closed at most attractions three hours ago, and you wouldn't have any skip-the-line options, right? Not for $270 or any other amount. You'd have no choice.

There are a lot of good arguments against Genie+. "But Thanksgiving week is hella crowded" is not one of them.

Neither FastPass, FastPass+ nor Genie+ are skip the line options. That is an important distinction that very much is part of how they make busy times a worse experience.

 

[TQQQ]

You understand that if this were Thanksgiving 2012, the lines would be just as long, FastPass ticket distribution would have closed at most attractions three hours ago, and you wouldn't have any skip-the-line options, right? Not for $270 or any other amount. You'd have no choice.

There are a lot of good arguments against Genie+. "But Thanksgiving week is hella crowded" is not one of them.

terrible arguement..........in 1980 i had a rotary phone and had to stand up to change my TV station,...................2+ hour waits and $270 extra dollars.....thats all that needs to be said

especially when the argument is that they are controlling attendance to make the guest experience (i mean balance sheet) better

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I suspect his main focus will be on digesting Fox, which means more belt-tightening.

I think he's going to do a deal. He's going to buy something, sell something, or spin something off.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I know it is a small group but I really don’t understand the people who are not happy about this. Iger is an improvement, not a savior, not perfect, not even ideal, not someone I EVER thought I would want to see again but absolutely an improvement. Can anyone, with a straight face, tell me that Chapek was a better CEO than Iger?

Even if they have the exact same ideas and strategies (which they don’t as we are already seeing), doing them in a way that doesn’t p*** off all your employees and customers is a large bonus. Additionally, saving the other divisions that have struggled under Chapek will stop them from using the parks to cover losses/underperformance elsewhere and that will help all aspects of the company.

Even their management style can make a big difference. Chapek seems to have been a control freak while Iger put people in charge to do a job and let them do it. That means the parks have a chance to get better now. It isn’t going to change overnight and who knows, maybe it won’t change at all, but now it has a chance.

Sure, I would have rather them gone out and found the next Walt but given how things played out, this is the best we could realistically hope for and it will at least start to put out the raging dumpster fire Chapek was overseeing.

Iger is the reason the current company is the way it is.

He is why:
- The company ignores its greater history (with the exception of merch rollouts) in order to promote the legacy of things created under him
- Disney continues to price us out in the parks as a means of “controlling capacity” rather than properly investing in the parks to keep up with demand
- Remakes and acquisitions take priority instead of new ideas.
- Parks are merely viewed as an advertisement for toys and recent movies. Everything must be tied to a movie franchise!
- We got a horribly unqualified successor because he removed all of the executives that could have done a better job than him (famously also an Eisner problem, but Iger never gets criticized for it).
- Disney completely abandoned any interest in the video game industry, ignoring a massive entertainment medium that constantly increases in popularity.

I’m sure I’m missing a lot, but this guy has been horrible for the parks as a whole and has sucked all of the ambition of the company, turning into a soulless machine for Wall Street and the BoD.

 

[Br0ckford]

They should just charge more when people try to tap in. "Sorry, family from Denver, it's busy today, it's going to cost you an additional $89 each, plus tax, to get into the park today. Will you be using Visa, MasterCard, or American Express to pay for that?"

OR!!!

Put Mickey's out front holding sandwich boards telling guests how much more it will cost them before entering the tapstiles. Then security can legitimately say to people who complain, "Sorry folks, the mouse out front should have told you".

This poor family from Denver gets bounced around so much.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Neither FastPass, FastPass+ nor Genie+ are skip the line options.

Not in the grand scheme of the system, no. But when PP wants to cherry pick a point-in-time in the middle of the afternoon on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, that narrows the focus.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It has the most thrill rides. I find it to be the best park these days (EPCOT is my nostalgia park).

It has a couple of moderate thrill rides

They never put in much else and they have had every chance to

 

[castlecake2.0]

It has the most thrill rides. I find it to be the best park these days (EPCOT is my nostalgia park).

It has some great thrill rides for sure, but overall experience ain’t great

 

[TQQQ]

I think he's going to do a deal. He's going to buy something, sell something, or spin something off.

ESPN is def gone and Hulu next.....they will move all content from Hulu to D+

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It has some great thrill rides for sure, but overall experience ain’t great

I still love Galaxy's Edge when crowds are light-to-moderate, which is almost never, but still.

 

[_caleb]

Chapek largely continued Iger’s work.

Obviously things can be seen from this perspective. But reports are that Iger has been critical of Chapek’s execution/leadership of these things that Iger started. While that’s clearly a PR narrative, it’s one many of us actually agree with. It hasn’t always been a problem of what, but of how.

That absolutely can tell us a good deal because it is very unlikely that Iger is going to come in and undo his own work.

If Chapek‘s bungled implementation of Iger’s ideas revealed the shortcomings of those ideas, of course Iger is going change (undo his own work)! He’s coming back to repair his legacy, and he has the benefit of a fall guy for some of his worst ideas. In order to be the savior and to raise morale and build trust, you’ve got to believe he will do at least a few things that please the fans/guests/customers/subscribers.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I think he's going to do a deal. He's going to buy something, sell something, or spin something off.

I would be surprised if another big acquisition is on the cards as it doesn't seem like the right moment for that and not sure there are any logical targets. Wouldn't be surprised if Disney spins or sells something off in the coming years.

 

[TQQQ]

Not in the grand scheme of the system, no. But when PP wants to cherry pick a point-in-time in the middle of the afternoon on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, that narrows the focus.

The point is, the PP said it wont be crowded because WDW is limiting attandance with park pass reservations in order to improve the experience


Thats simply not true and I dont think you would even argue with that

 

[jpinkc]

It all goes back, I would even say pre Eisner. Euro Disney, Shanghai, etc to expand the World Market by forgetting the place that made them World Class. Disneyland & WDW. Disneyland expanding is problematic, but the LACK of real Capacity additions in Florida is the biggest crime of all. Walt even said the greatest strength of WDW would be space to build......... to grow and dream.

 

[DCLcruiser]

Genie+ at $29 and ROTR at $25 pp, that would be an extra $270 for my family of 5 for today only!.....NO THANKS

I only need 2 tickets. The Genie+ increase would just have been part of the base price increase. Now it is transparent. Buy it or don't. ILL I find to be great, just pay up if you want it that badly.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

If Chapek‘s bungled implementation of Iger’s ideas revealed the shortcomings of those ideas, of course Iger is going change (undo his own work)! He’s coming back to repair his legacy, and he has the benefit of a fall guy for some of his worst ideas. In order to be the savior and to raise morale and build trust, you’ve got to believe he will do at least a few things that please the fans/guests/customers/subscribers.

I tend to agree. At least Iger can read the room and course correct, which Chapek didn't seem able to do. If Chapek implemented Iger's ideas and they didn't work out, I don't see Iger as so stubborn he would come back and still keep pushing them rather than doing something else and pretending everything that went wrong was all Chapek's doing.

 

[Fordlover]

You know you can just wait in line right?

And when ROTR goes down after waiting in line for 1.5 hours, I really get that special magic Disney feeling deep inside. ”Well, you can wait longer, the ride might come back up today, but if you leave you lose your spot in line.” Oh and no refunds on our up charge to allow you to ride a ride that isn’t operating.

 

[DCLcruiser]

I've seen Safari FP+ lines stretch back towards the drummers. And Space Mountain lines that folded over to the CoP bathrooms.

I'm just better at picking when I go? Dunno. I liked FP+ a lot.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I would be surprised if another big acquisition is on the cards as it doesn't seem like the right moment for that and not sure there are any logical targets. Wouldn't be surprised if Disney spins or sells something off in the coming years.

I think the other media chiefs are crapping their pants watching Disney get raked over the coals for streaming results. Outside of maybe some niche products here and there, I think there's going to be one or two competitors left for Netflix when the dust settles. The industry needs consolidation.

 

[_caleb]

I would be surprised if another big acquisition is on the cards as it doesn't seem like the right moment for that and not sure there are any logical targets. Wouldn't be surprised if Disney spins or sells something off in the coming years.

Yeah, I don’t expect a major purchase. I think he’s going to do stuff that boosts confidence without costing any money, like making big announcements (parks expansions, new films/series, etc.). I think selling his acquisitions might feel like losing for him, so I’m not sure about that, either.