News Chapek FIRED, Iger New CEO

[pdude81]

No…they fired the PR guy months ago. That was the fall guy.

It’s clear Peter Rice was seen as a threat by Slappo to someone in his inner circle.

Look at the timing…doesn’t it look like he asked - and was granted - to fire rice when this extension was agreed upon?

No coincidence there.

Didn't it also come out around the same time that Rice tried to get a job at WB before his contract renewal and struck out? Perhaps that's another just Chapek finally playing the "leak" game better than his rivals for once, but it could have had an impact.

 

[GimpYancIent]

The Board wants profits. Bob & Josh need to deliver profits. Consumers pay the prices being charged. Where does the dysfunction in the chain start? With the consumers. All of those in the chain shoulder the blame, but the consumers are the ones who continually enable the idiots in charge.

Bottom Line! True!

 

[el_super]

Sorry wrong guy. Yes Peter Rice Was deemed a threat to others and Chapek got rid of the issue.

Knowing what we know now about the board's opinion of Chapek, there far less reason to believe this. The board wouldn't have approved of firing Rice solely on the basis that he was a threat to Chapek.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Knowing what we know now about the board's opinion of Chapek, there far less reason to believe this. The board wouldn't have approved of firing Rice solely on the basis that he was a threat to Chapek.

What is the boards opinion of chapek?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

That’s just not true. Iger invested so much into the parks. He fixed DCA, built New Fantasyland, Galaxies Edge, toy story land, Pandora, Fastpass+, Radiator Springs, and completely okayed to rebuild Epcot and Disney Springs. That’s not even all of it. He’s done amazing things for the parks

That was over nearly 20 years though.

Galaxy’s edge is a massive investment but it was the first new rides in DL since Buzz in 2005 (or Nemo subs reopening in 2007), that’s a 14 year gap with nothing new.

The same is true of the other parks, I love Pandora but one major investment into AK over a decade wasn’t enough. (Everest 2006, Pandora 2017)

I agree he left the parks better than he found them but he only did the bare minimum to keep the crowds coming.

When he took over Disney was lightyears ahead of Universal but universal spent the last 20 years aggressively building while Disney did just enough to keep the existing crowds coming, they didn’t invest for growing crowds and the result is we now have parks turning people away in an attempt to overcome 20 years of underinvestment.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Knowing what we know now about the board's opinion of Chapek, there far less reason to believe this. The board wouldn't have approved of firing Rice solely on the basis that he was a threat to Chapek.

What is the boards opinion of chapek?

 

[bryanfze55]

That was over nearly 20 years though.

Galaxy’s edge is a massive investment but it was the first new rides in DL since Buzz in 2005 (or Nemo subs reopening in 2007), that’s a 14 year gap with nothing new.

The same is true of the other parks, I love Pandora but one major investment into AK over a decade wasn’t enough. (Everest 2006, Pandora 2017)

I agree he left the parks better than he found them but he only did the bare minimum to keep the crowds coming.

When he took over Disney was lightyears ahead of Universal but universal spent the last 20 years aggressively building while Disney did just enough to keep the existing crowds coming, they didn’t invest for growing crowds and the result is we now have parks turning people away in an attempt to overcome 20 years of underinvestment.

Not to defend Iger, but DL Park was a pretty complete park when he took the reins - both in terms of quality and space. There’s really not much room for additional expansion, and it was by far (and still remains) the most attraction dense Disney park in the world. He was right not to mess with a good thing. At the end of his tenure, he green-lit three net new rides in the park - RotR, MF:SR, and MMRR - none of which forced the closure of existing attractions so again, all net new.

He was right to focus his attention out East, but the problem is he created some good rides but never added much capacity - a lot of replacements rather than additions. And unlike DL, they had room to do additions at WDW.

 

[asianway]

Hasn’t anyone still posting here been following @WDW Pro on YouTube? I think we’re all well aware of his track record perhaps we should listen….

 

[pdude81]

It's dangerous to give out your own statistics

 

[MisterPenguin]

Hasn’t anyone still posting here been following @WDW Pro on YouTube? I think we’re all well aware of his track record perhaps we should listen….

It's because we're aware of his track record that we don't.

 

[mikejs78]

Which is unfortunate, because the earlier version of DHS was a more interesting and thematically consistent park. Galaxy's Edge gave it a boost (even though it's a B- effort for what should have been an easy A+), but Toy Story Land is a tremendous waste of space.

There are more attractions now, but I think I could spend more time/have more fun in the mid-late 90s version of Disney-MGM than the current DHS.

I think you vastly underestimate the appeal of toy story land. Every single person in my social circle who has been to Disney in the last few years raves about it. It may not appeal to you, but it definitely appeals to the masses. Personally I think it's a fun d-ticket land that does just what it's designed to do.

 

[bryanfze55]

I think you vastly underestimate the appeal of toy story land. Every single person in my social circle who has been to Disney in the last few years raves about it. It may not appeal to you, but it definitely appeals to the masses. Personally I think it's a fun d-ticket land that does just what it's designed to do.

The layperson Disney fan will love it solely because of the IP. Fans of themed entertainment remain disappointed… Slinky Dog Dash is really symbolic of what’s wrong with current leadership… IMO only, of course, because it gets 100+ minute waits all day.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I think you vastly underestimate the appeal of toy story land. Every single person in my social circle who has been to Disney in the last few years raves about it. It may not appeal to you, but it definitely appeals to the masses. Personally I think it's a fun d-ticket land that does just what it's designed to do.

Force people to stand in long lines under the Florida sun for short/mediocre rides? Mission accomplished. Slinky may be fun, but it isn't worth more than a 30 minute wait, at the very most.

 

[mikejs78]

The layperson Disney fan will love it solely because of the IP. Fans of themed entertainment remain disappointed… Slinky Dog Dash is really symbolic of what’s wrong with current leadership… IMO only, of course, because it gets 100+ minute waits all day.

That's a very elitist take.

 

[bryanfze55]

That's a very elitist take.

It might be, and I’m not trying to say anyone who likes Toy Story Land is “stupid.” They are just easier to please in this one regard. I’m perfectly content drinking Folgers, but many of my friends need some gourmet crap - they are coffee snobs. Some people are wine snobs. Not my thing, but I’m easier to satisfy in these areas.

My issue with Slinky Dog is many people think it’s an E ticket… I’ve read (I think on Disney Tourist Blog) that it’s the most popular Genie+ selection at the whole resort. But it has more in common with Six Flags than what we’ve come to expect from Disney. They built an unthemed roller coaster and slapped an IP’s name on it. I guess they took it one step further by having the coaster train be an actual slinky dog, but that alone doesn’t create a “theme” park ride IMO. For the prices being charged, I just expect more.

I don’t have the same issue with Gadget’s Coaster in DL or the Barnstormer in MK because they’re not pretending to be headliners… they’re the 25th-35th best attraction in their respective parks that are generally a reasonably short wait for children who can’t hop on the bigger coasters.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Not to defend Iger, but DL Park was a pretty complete park when he took the reins - both in terms of quality and space. There’s really not much room for additional expansion, and it was by far (and still remains) the most attraction dense Disney park in the world. He was right not to mess with a good thing. At the end of his tenure, he green-lit three net new rides in the park - RotR, MF:SR, and MMRR - none of which forced the closure of existing attractions so again, all net new.

He was right to focus his attention out East, but the problem is he created some good rides but never added much capacity - a lot of replacements rather than additions. And unlike DL, they had room to do additions at WDW.

Focused in the East? This should be good

I think you vastly underestimate the appeal of toy story land. Every single person in my social circle who has been to Disney in the last few years raves about it. It may not appeal to you, but it definitely appeals to the masses. Personally I think it's a fun d-ticket land that does just what it's designed to do.

Toy story land isn’t that great. I’ll have what your circle is drinking

 

[bryanfze55]

Focused in the East? This should be good

Anything east of the Mississippi River is “out East” for me… Orlando and Shanghai are the same thing for us!

JK - but I do realize now my statement could have worked for either location.

 

[el_super]

What is the boards opinion of chapek?

Oh you didn't hear?

“Disney was dealt a tough hand by the pandemic, yet with Bob at the helm, our businesses—from parks to streaming—not only weathered the storm, but emerged in a position of strength,” said Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board. “In this important time of growth and transformation, the Board is committed to keeping Disney on the successful path it is on today, and Bob’s leadership is key to achieving that goal. Bob is the right leader at the right time for The Walt Disney Company, and the Board has full confidence in him and his leadership team.”

 

[MrPromey]

Bro, those parks ain’t building Rise of the Resistance. Iger approved it, for all his flaws. And Galaxy’s Edge is very flawed. But it still is what it is.

So you think Iger would have approved the concept of a Disney park as we now know it from square one without precedent before him?

I'm saying I don't think he would have ever taken the company in that direction and if he had, we would be looking at something closer to six flags... I also don't think we would have gotten a Star Wars Land or Avatar Land with their whopping two attractions each if current management hadn't felt seriously threatened by something else.

All the "immersion" didn't really start happening at Disney until a land somewhere else had no Coke or Aquafina but Butter Beer and Gillywater and retail space that doubled as attraction space.

Most of the flaws you allude to with Star Wars Land are due to their knee-jerk reaction to competition after saying they had no competition - not in them trying to do grand things.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Oh you didn't hear?

“Disney was dealt a tough hand by the pandemic, yet with Bob at the helm, our businesses—from parks to streaming—not only weathered the storm, but emerged in a position of strength,” said Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board. “In this important time of growth and transformation, the Board is committed to keeping Disney on the successful path it is on today, and Bob’s leadership is key to achieving that goal. Bob is the right leader at the right time for The Walt Disney Company, and the Board has full confidence in him and his leadership team.”

I’ve read many statements…quote me the federal law that requires them to take a polygraph while making a written statement.

We don’t know at all exactly what details went into this. Not at all.