Rumor Dropping the "Walt" from "Walt Disney World"

[TheGuyThatMakesSwords]

Let me just start out by saying this is a rumor from Jim Hill's Disney Dish podcast and should be taken with a very big spoonful of salt (that doesn't help the medicine go down at all).

If this rumor is to be believed, Bob Chapek and Josh D'Amaro plan to announce that "Walt Disney World" will become "Disney World" at D23 Expo next month.

I think it's wonderful. The real "Walt" should not be associated with the current mess .

 

[Disstevefan1]

I heard they were going to replace "Walt Disney World" with "Woke Disney World"
Sorry.... I couldn't help it

How about "Walled Disney World"
I kill myself LOL,

Seriously, this would be terrible. I think WDW was originally supposed to be called Disney World and Walt's brother specifically added Walt's name as a tribute.

That said, like many have said, I wouldn't be surprised.

You would think they would avoid doing this because MONEY! its gonna cost A LOT to re brand everywhere.

 

[WorldExplorer]

End off the 50th anniversary with a giant "screw you" to the guy whose shoulders they're standing on.

That sounds sadly believable.

 

[StarshipDisney]

I think it is probably appropriate. Bean Counter Chapek is doing everything he can to destroy Walt's dream. So, he may as well stop the association.

Disney has been going to crap since COVID. Just another episode in the ongoing saga: "Bean Counter Chapek strikes again."

 

[brb1006]

They'd have to redo all the audio that says Walt Disney World too.

Doesn't the monorail say it?

I mean, I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to fix audio, but that's just the start.
Just seems like something that's going to cause a lot of trouble and dissent for little gain.
I can't imagine they would be expecting a good reaction to this announcement at D23.

Editing out Jack Wagner saying "Walt" in Walt Disney World should be considered a crime in the Disney Community.

 

[John park hopper]

The real new name will be "Bob's World"

 

[MaryJaneP]

How much money would they save by dropping the 4 letter prefix and the space before Disney World? Seems like this is the province and wisdom of the bean counter brigade.

Is it conceivable that dropping the "Walt" part is just a prelude to making the parks name more generic so that they can be sold off piecemeal without the baggage of containing an individualized name?

Stupid is as stupid does.

 

[larryz]

The real new name will be "Bob's World"

I heard it will be called "Bob Chapek's Disney World."

 

[PizzaPlanet]

So much money would be wasted on rebranding. And everyone knows the story of how they named it as a tribute after Walt’s death. Kinda hard to get around that one.

But if they did this how would they sell retro merchandise? And what about all of the people who suddenly have outdated Tshirts?

 

[John park hopper]

So much money would be wasted on rebranding. And everyone knows the story of how they named it as a tribute after Walt’s death. Kinda hard to get around that one.

But if they did this how would they sell retro merchandise? And what about all of the people who suddenly have outdated Tshirts?

The old merchandize with Walt's name would become collectors items and be worth big tss. Just remember popcorn bucks

 

[lazyboy97o]

Why not both? Coca-Cola is officially referred to as both Coca-Cola and Coke. It seems like it would be possible to officially adopt the “Disneyworld” nomenclature for some sort of branding nonsense (complete with the generic logotype used in Paris and China) while the name is technically still Walt Disney World, slowly relegated to fewer and fewer uses.

 

[Lilofan]

It seems like it would be quite an expensive rebranding.

Duct tape to cover the Walt.

 

[Lilofan]

I heard it will be called "Bob Chapek's Disney World."

When the MVP of the Super Bowl answers the question he replies " I'm going to Disney World !" No mention of Walt.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Duct tape to cover the Walt.

Bobby C. loves that solution.

 

[Screamface]

I see no upside, and a lot of downside.

Which is why it's probably true. Corrosive ideologies are at play within the organisation.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Do they want some kind of weird synergy between Disneyland and Disney World or something?

Yep: two letters. DL and DW. No more three letters. Three letters cost more.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

"Ride the movies" at Disney Orlando Resort!

 

[esskay]

Nah can't see it. As already mentioned why would you do that. They already refer to it as 'Disney World' in a lot of places (the UK site for example - waltdisneyworld.co.uk redirects to disney.co.uk, and instead you have to go to disneyworld.co.uk) and have done for years but to come out and say they are dropping it officially would be suicide, especially announcing it in front of a bunch of die hard fans.

Also the source for this is basically nonexistant. Some random podcast with zero track record.

 

[LittleBuford]

If there is any truth to this, it’s probably because they’ve got data showing that most people already refer to it as Disney World. I’d prefer they left the official name as it is, however.

 

[Patcheslee]

Nah can't see it. As already mentioned why would you do that. They already refer to it as 'Disney World' in a lot of places (the UK site for example - waltdisneyworld.co.uk redirects to disney.co.uk, and instead you have to go to disneyworld.co.uk) and have done for years but to come out and say they are dropping it officially would be suicide, especially announcing it in front of a bunch of die hard fans.

Also the source for this is basically nonexistant. Some random podcast with zero track record.

The people I know who do talk about Disney parks drop the Walt. I remember first visit we had it set as a surprise for DD9. Had a "pirate" at the St. Augustine Pirate museum hand her a map. He showed it to her and showed where it lead to "DisneyLAND". Apparently even in the same state people get them mixed up already.