Yep…what he said…thanks for saving me the keystrokes
I think Iger is one of the best CEOs we’ve seen lead a developed, blue chip company in my lifetime. Most CEOs at companies that Wall Street views like they view TWDC are Chapeks.
??? The biggest price increases in the companies history were mid-Iger era. Recent %increases for tickets and hotels have been downright skimpy compared to those from ~10 years ago.
That’s fair but I think he was a much better CEO for the parks than the average person does. He clearly by the end of his tenure though had developed a mentality of cutting the small things to funnel more money to big things, and I don’t think that is good. Chapek has doubled down on that.
Chapek had proclaimed he became CEO through baptism of fire during the pandemic. Classroom case studies will discuss years later how Chapek navigated out of covid etc.
I think that’s a somewhat mythical ideal at this point.
I feel like it's hard to know how the parks will develop differently under Chapek than Iger at this point. The one thing that does seem to have notably changed is a ramping up of efforts to monetise every aspect of the experience while cutting whatever they judge they can get away with. Chapek said something about the pandemic presenting an opportunity to brush away old taboos and remake the parks business they way they wanted, and that is something he seems to have grasped with both hands. Disney getting into gambling through ESPN might be a similar example in another division of this mentality focussed almost solely on the business case.
I agree with all your criticisms, and ultimately land at this same place with probably a slightly more positive balance sheet that I'm guessing you have. The main reason is that I think we saw exactly how things could have been worse with parks like DCA and WDSP during the late-Eisner push into a 'post-theming' era. While the IP and franchise mandates made the parks less interesting and costs spiralled out of control, at least what they built was usually of a high standard under Iger. If he had just keep things going the way they were when he took over, I imagine we would have seen decades of A Bug's Lands rather than Carslands.
Eisner was already starting to change course by the time he left. Even Cars Land has its origins in the Eisner era.
The big price increases started after $lappie was installed as head of P&R in 2015. If I had access to my spreadsheet I could show some numbers.
Someone once said of Eisner, his greatest achievement was building a Disney company that financially and creatively could do anything.
Iger 2 the Wrath of Chapek…
It's not gonna happen of course. I just wish it would. Hell, OLC can have a crack at it at this point.
OLC’s contract terms with Disney and their corporate culture being rooted in 60s/70s Disney management philosophies is why that resort is the way it is.
