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What is Bob Chapek's Vision?
- Thread starter NelsonRD
- Start date
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
Expanding margin in an inflationary environment
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
All I see is Disney's version of Lex Luther...
I’ve stated this before on other threads - but the danger here is the loyalty aspect. Many of us (me included) grew up on Disney. The IPs, the yearly trips - all of it.
I still like Disney. But I’m not as loyal as I once was. Now fast forward 15/20 years and think about the kid who never really got to go to Disney because his family couldn’t afford it. When that kid had kids of his own - do you really think he’s going to have the overwhelming urge to take them there?
I still like Disney. But I’m not as loyal as I once was. Now fast forward 15/20 years and think about the kid who never really got to go to Disney because his family couldn’t afford it. When that kid had kids of his own - do you really think he’s going to have the overwhelming urge to take them there?
ChrisFL
Premium Member
He doesn't seem to have a long-term vision to me within Disney. As Walt would call him, a "pencil pusher". He says a lot of things that are only pointed to the Wall Street types and is really bad at trying to speak to the general audience/parkgoers.
I think he's just planning to take what Iger has done and milk more out of it, but I don't expect that there's a lot of planning beyond what is opening in the next few years. Instead they're going to take a lot of other ways to get money out of customers.
I don't hate Iger as much as most people, he did a lot of good to steer Disney in the right direction, but felt a bit monopolistic and the push for synergy was even higher than in the Eisner era I think.
I have a feeling that Chapek is only going to focus on the new stuff and will see the classic Disney stuff pushed aside (we're already seeing that).
I'm hearing a lot of chatter that he's not well liked within the Disney organization, so it's possible he might not last for more than a few years if he alienates a lot of customers and other organizations they work with (Marvel Studios for example)
I think he's just planning to take what Iger has done and milk more out of it, but I don't expect that there's a lot of planning beyond what is opening in the next few years. Instead they're going to take a lot of other ways to get money out of customers.
I don't hate Iger as much as most people, he did a lot of good to steer Disney in the right direction, but felt a bit monopolistic and the push for synergy was even higher than in the Eisner era I think.
I have a feeling that Chapek is only going to focus on the new stuff and will see the classic Disney stuff pushed aside (we're already seeing that).
I'm hearing a lot of chatter that he's not well liked within the Disney organization, so it's possible he might not last for more than a few years if he alienates a lot of customers and other organizations they work with (Marvel Studios for example)
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
But when he's gone, the deed has been done. I doubt there's any going back. He could turn out to be the useful idiot they needed to take the heat. It's not unprecedented.
ChrisFL
Premium Member
Agreed, and that makes our critiques of his tenure more challenging because we have to put an asterisk with some of the decisions. Disney+ saved Disney a lot of money that they lost otherwise with the cinema and theme parks shutting down for so long. Now there's a lot of push to recoup investments and even though the movies are coming back, they're not making nearly the same amounts that they did pre-pandemic (only going by the official numbers, not counting what they don't tell us related to Disney+ premium access)
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
Hasn't Disney made a profit even during the pandemic though it may not be as large as pre pandemic
SteveAZee
Premium Member
They had a couple of quarters that were in the red, I believe. I honestly thought it would be a lot worse, with cruises, parks, and theaters closed. I think he wants to be seen as the guy who rescued Disney from the brink of financial disaster (or whatever) and brought it back stronger... at least from the bottom line perspective. None of that matters to us guests/customers/consumers, though, other than the pain of all cuts and extra fees.... just answering what the OP asked.
DVCakaCarlF
Well-Known Member
He was placed when the place was on fire and he’s leaving when the fire is out.
He’s simply the hold over because Iger was creating a liability for the board, and he won’t drive the place into financial ruin.
No vision because there’s no need for vision, at this time.
He’s simply the hold over because Iger was creating a liability for the board, and he won’t drive the place into financial ruin.
No vision because there’s no need for vision, at this time.
This is by far the biggest miscalculation to me. The parks are a division of the company that rely on "feelings" more than any other part of the company, and they are a huge portion of the company’s revenue. So even from a pure monetary standpoint, the fact that very few of their plans seem to be answers to the question "how can we protect this tens of billions of dollars and make sure it stays healthy for decades to come?’ is insane. This is a generational company and they’re concerned with extra money this quarter and this fiscal year over almost everything else. Congrats you made an extra $500 million this year, at the expense of several billion over the next 10 years, genius move!
Weirdly, it’s also completely out of step with trends in corporate leadership these days. "Delight your customer" is the motto behind plenty new successful companies these days, because every dollar you put into exceeding your customers expectations has a very healthy ROI. Meanwhile Big Boy Bob is playing dangerous games of chicken with the disposable income demographic, forgetting how fickle people are these days, and how quick you can lose control of a narrative once it belongs to the public.
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Indy_UK
Well-Known Member
While he wasn’t a parks guy, I was a big fan of Iger.
He knew exactly what Disney needed to set them up for the next 50 years. He’s made Disney into the biggest of brand juggernauts that can’t ever be matched.
Chapek knows he won’t be around for long so is rinsing every $$$ for return as quickly as possible to keep him in the role as long as possible.
He is destroying relationships in the company with the whole Scar Jo fiasco (Feige) must be annoyed. He’s upset Pixar by relegating them to Disney+ and I think the likes of Peter Rice hasn’t been happy since he’s come in.
He needs to tread carefully
He knew exactly what Disney needed to set them up for the next 50 years. He’s made Disney into the biggest of brand juggernauts that can’t ever be matched.
Chapek knows he won’t be around for long so is rinsing every $$$ for return as quickly as possible to keep him in the role as long as possible.
He is destroying relationships in the company with the whole Scar Jo fiasco (Feige) must be annoyed. He’s upset Pixar by relegating them to Disney+ and I think the likes of Peter Rice hasn’t been happy since he’s come in.
He needs to tread carefully
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
I think this song perfectly sums up Chapek's vision. Take it away, Eric Idle...
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
Word of mouth is sometimes is the best PR for a company. I wonder how many people are influenced negatively towards Disney by one persons bad experience.
wdwfan4ver
Well-Known Member
He only care about money and how much he makes. He is the same one who bought a 12.5 million mansion during the pandemic at a time where Disney employees were losing their jobs.
His vision to milk the customer dry while having big profit margins while using synergy. I wouldn't be surprise if Chapek decides to charge people for going on WDW busses, WDW boats, and WDW monorails. Don't laugh about my transportation charging comment because he is the same person who ended free parking at Disney owned hotels.
He doesn't care about long term or what actions he's doing in general. Chapek is going to leave the parks and the movies part of Disney in a much worse place. The CEO after Chapek would have to fix Bob's mess, but its not completely possible to do that.
His vision to milk the customer dry while having big profit margins while using synergy. I wouldn't be surprise if Chapek decides to charge people for going on WDW busses, WDW boats, and WDW monorails. Don't laugh about my transportation charging comment because he is the same person who ended free parking at Disney owned hotels.
He doesn't care about long term or what actions he's doing in general. Chapek is going to leave the parks and the movies part of Disney in a much worse place. The CEO after Chapek would have to fix Bob's mess, but its not completely possible to do that.
jonnyc
Well-Known Member
Bring the gaming concept of "Micro Transactions" into the theme parks - it's there with Webslingers at DL, we are seeing it with Genie+ etc.
The parks/rides/dining/hotels/transportation will be two tier - a basic 'stripped back' experience and then an 'upgraded' paid experience to actually experience that thing how it is meant to be.
The parks/rides/dining/hotels/transportation will be two tier - a basic 'stripped back' experience and then an 'upgraded' paid experience to actually experience that thing how it is meant to be.