Iger is back and Chapek is out...

[ConnerK]

I think this is probably an issue that has a couple of levels. Obviously, the thing that's making the most in terms of revenue right now for Disney is probably Disney+, and while no one can deny the smashing success it had out of the gate, I think it's safe to say that it's original slate (IE the Marvel and Star Wars shows) haven't exactly lit the world on fire. That, almost certainly, will take priority. In terms of parks, though, I don't think you can overstate the role Universal is playing in this.

The gains those parks have made in the time that Chapek was CEO is astounding. I am both shocked and happy about just how quickly the divide can shrink between Disney and Universal. A couple of misteps by Disney and Universal is practically breathing down their neck (an overstatement, but just barely) We all should be happy about that. As fans, we don't want Disney becoming complacent, and a competitor who is gaining ground by offering great service and a better value for our money is the best way to ensure that Disney stays on their toes.

We often think about how lucky we are to have Disney theme parks, and we are. But we don't need to forget that we're paying customers who have to be earned and re-earned over and over again. Especially in economic times like these (I'm speaking for myself, but I'm sure a lot of people are right there with me) we have to do what's right for our family and our pocket books. The pr Disney has been generating because of recent decisions has been devastatingly bad. We see it as fans, and now we know the board sees and understands it too.

It's Monday morning, Mr. Iger. Let's see what you can do.

(Also, my first post yay!)

 

[Smugpugmug]

Paid is one thing, pay even more per single popular ride is another.

Sure but I was responding to the previous post and many others that want free Fastpass+ back. That is unrealistic and will never happen. Genie+ is something Disney wanted to do for a long time and they used Covid as a way to initiate it.

 

[whiteness]

Triple the price of Genie+. That would be a win for most people.

If you can afford a truly premium, no line experience, that's what you'll get. But it will cost you $$$.

Everyone else will get manageable standby queues and freedom from having to plan their days in advance.

The Genie+ product that Disney is currently selling doesn't give the folks that purchase it a great experience, but gives everyone else a horrible experience. All Disney had to do was look at what Universal or Cedar Point had, and copy it.

But Chapek didn't do that. Why not?

Chapek made a system that he expected most ticketed guests to buy. Why did he do that? Because the passholders are "undesirable" and this was just another way to ruin their experience or force them to pay more per visit. So they'd be less undesirable.

 

[nikem3]

If Iger truly wants to win favor with the fans, he should build a PizzeRizzo in every single park. In fact, franchise out PizzeRizzo and open them across the US. We need more PizzeRizzos in this world.

 

[Parkhopstacker]

We won’t see huge changes, especially to revenue generating things, but we might see tweaks to help with brand and satisfaction (APs back sooner, park pass changes, park hopping stuff, etc..)

One thing I see a lot is when people say a CEO is too far away from the action and they have little impact on the end user experiences that we are seeing. False. The CEO sets the tone and the vision(or lack of). They also set the goals of all the divisions. Bob set revenue and net income goals for the parks. He set cost goals. He tells Josh you gotta hit this number. He tells the studios you gotta contribute to bringing in this many Disney+ subs. Etc etc. so those folks then go out and make policy closer to the customer. And it filters down down down. So yea. That’s how these companies work. Top sets the macro vision, strategy and goals. The levels below come up with ways to hit that.

One example: Bob tells the CFO that you need to pay down the fox debt and make sure we have enough money for Disney+ to hit its goals because that’s the priority. The CFO then goes out and recommends cutting capital expenses to the parks, double down on Fox debt payments. All leaving the parks with next to nothing, slow slow slow completion of rides, etc.

So yea, the CEO absolutely has an impact on the end customer.

If nothing else, I hope Iger brings in more balance to the investments the company makes (more to the parks), increases the quality of the parks and resorts, and removes/improves a few of the things that make us fans angry. (Won’t be rev generating things but other stuff)

 

[Flamingeaux]

He needs to tell Kevin to fire Taika.

 

[DisneyFive]

A bright day for the parks!!!! However, I’m not sure if they can roll back so many of these recent negative changes

 

[mwmom]

Glad to hear there is hope of change! I realize the mega-corporation Disney has become has a lot of moving parts, so there will obviously be a focus on different areas. As far as the park goes, a big win in many ways is to put money towards repairing ongoing issues with rides. I keep reading reports of rides going down. When that happens, it inevitably is going to create longer lines on other rides, regardless of what is happening with Genie +. It seems like an easy win and one that, if managed correctly, could maintain Disney standards and improve the guest experience. I doubt Walt had the vision of rides being down all the time due to maintenance issues. I imagine that would have been a priority for him.

 

[mwmom]

A bright day for the parks!!!! However, I’m not sure if they can roll back so many of these recent negative changes

They can, but it probably won't happen as quickly as we would like! I wish he would pick a couple to tackle quickly to change the narrative of what Disney has become.

 

[DisneyFive]

Triple the price of Genie+. That would be a win for most people.

If you can afford a truly premium, no line experience, that's what you'll get. But it will cost you $$$.

Everyone else will get manageable standby queues and freedom from having to plan their days in advance.

The Genie+ product that Disney is currently selling doesn't give the folks that purchase it a great experience, but gives everyone else a horrible experience. All Disney had to do was look at what Universal or Cedar Point had, and copy it.

But Chapek didn't do that. Why not?

Chapek made a system that he expected most ticketed guests to buy. Why did he do that? Because the passholders are "undesirable" and this was just another way to ruin their experience or force them to pay more per visit. So they'd be less undesirable.

The more you raise the price of Genie plus, the more exclusive it gets and makes the parks “standby only” for almost everyone. With the crowd levels what they are today and what they will be in the future, being in a park standby only is a disaster. Believe me I’ve been there.

Fastpass was introduced in the late 90s for a reason. Guests #1 complaint was long lines. Once the fast pass was introduced people loved it and park attendance grew. The last thing I want to do is go back to the days when everyone has to stand in long lines all day.

What Disney needs more rides and capacity. This is why G+ works so well at Magic Kingdom for instance

Dan

 

[Tuffcookie]

Wonderful news! I stopped going to WDW when the pandemic struck and took a wait and see attitude. I have been in mourning with all the changes that have happened. This gives me hope that, maybe, some things will get better.

TC

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1. If this is the First 10-Year Iger (call it "Iger 1.0"), it is the best thing since Roy !
2. He revived and saved The Disney Company and Walt Disney World.
3. In my opinion,
. . . In his first 10-years, Iger made wise (although sometimes unpopular) moves
. . . He became autocratic in his second 10-years, and hurt his reputation
. . . During Iger "2.0" he let managers go untrained and rogue
. . . I truly look forward to see which Iger comes out.
. . . If it is Iger 1.0, we think folks will be overjoyed and applaud the company's decision.
4. I believe we can look kindly to invigorated WDW and a fresh experience.

 

[Lisse24]

That being said I could see Genie+ being tweaked to where it's more like FP+ but at a paid level.

They had the system already in place, I could see by 1/1/23 you pay $10 or $15 and you get access to FP+ where you can make 3 reservations and actually pick the time slot convenient to you, and if you utilize all three slots you then can make an additional slot over and over as long as you use them. Plus this would allow people who say only want to ride something like Haunted, Buzz Lightyear, or Pirates to be able to keep making reservations for those rides if there are open return times instead of the 1 and Done Genie+ experience. People will still be upset about paying for something that was once free, but it would give people a closer experience to what they were used to with FP+.

This isn't likely going to happen. The tweaks they've been making to G+ made it more casual visitor friendly and IMO that was a positive experience I'd like to see more of. FP+ was extremely unfriendly to the experience of the average guest, and I wouldn't want it back. I would like to see the G+ experience simplified and expanded though.

Triple the price of Genie+. That would be a win for most people.

If you can afford a truly premium, no line experience, that's what you'll get. But it will cost you $$$.

Everyone else will get manageable standby queues and freedom from having to plan their days in advance.

The Genie+ product that Disney is currently selling doesn't give the folks that purchase it a great experience, but gives everyone else a horrible experience. All Disney had to do was look at what Universal or Cedar Point had, and copy it.

But Chapek didn't do that. Why not?

Chapek made a system that he expected most ticketed guests to buy. Why did he do that? Because the passholders are "undesirable" and this was just another way to ruin their experience or force them to pay more per visit. So they'd be less undesirable.

You'll get a lot of hate for posting this, but you're not wrong. Making it closer to Universal's Express Pass is a legit way to go, especially until the point where the smaller parks can fix their capacity issues.

 

[Jonfw2]

Triple the price of Genie+. That would be a win for most people.

If you can afford a truly premium, no line experience, that's what you'll get. But it will cost you $$$.

Everyone else will get manageable standby queues and freedom from having to plan their days in advance.

The Genie+ product that Disney is currently selling doesn't give the folks that purchase it a great experience, but gives everyone else a horrible experience. All Disney had to do was look at what Universal or Cedar Point had, and copy it.

But Chapek didn't do that. Why not?

Chapek made a system that he expected most ticketed guests to buy. Why did he do that? Because the passholders are "undesirable" and this was just another way to ruin their experience or force them to pay more per visit. So they'd be less undesirable.

I hear you. But...on busy days, Cedar Point's insanely expensive Fast Lane+ STILL sells out and you're left with hour long lines for the best rides even after paying all that extra money. Same at Universal.

The only way your idea would actually work at Disney is if they set a hard limit per day on how many these sell or if they charge more like ten times the current amount.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

I've read many articles about this since this was announced and zero have to do with anything parks related. So don't expect anything different to happen at the parks IMO

Anything negative about chapek in these articles are around other issues, not one word about parks management

 

[georgina]

Didn't read the whole thread, but personally I don't care about this at all. Don't believe it will affect me in any meaningful way.

 

[BarbLynnM]

My opinions fluctuate, but as of now I don't think (sadly) that Iger will roll back any of the genie+, AP, park hopper changes. They definately won't decrease pricing or bring back free fastpass. BUT.

What I hope is that, while he may not roll back these things, he'll rehire much needed Cast Members to corrolate with the increased park attendence, add back Epcot entertainment like the Drummers at the Japan pavilion, etc., give us back Magical Express, etc.

Maybe Iger will funnel some money to the hotels and the Fort for some much needed maintenence (I wote a laundry list detailing some pretty ucky and/or irritating experiences we've had with upkeep at PO Riverside and the Fort, but that list got too long.

Whatever he does or dosen't do, hopefully at least Iger will improve customer service, lift morale, and at least pretend to listen to the customer. Like a tiny pebble in one's shoe, the little things can become huge irritants after a while, especially when they add up.

While my pragmatic side is saying none of the above will change, the pixie dusted part of me has hopes.

 

[tigertides]

Let’s work on Aladdin+ (priced into park tickets). He can put the evil Genie back in the bottle and go on a magic carpet ride to any ride at any time.

You get 3-4 rides (combo of Tier 1, 2 and 3) like the old FP+) and you choose a combo and times 10 days in advance of your trip at 7 am. Then you can add a $5 Genie+ rolling pass for the left over tier 3 rides on the same day (or skip the stress of booking).

I never liked the tier system. Too confusing.

 

[Flamingeaux]

Beast Rabban is gone but here comes Feyd-Rautha. Still under Harkonnen rule.........

 

[HopperFan]

. The pr Disney has been generating because of recent decisions has been devastatingly bad. We see it as fans, and now we know the board sees and understands it too.

Here is where you lost me. The Board was fully aware of his lack of resume for the job when they hired him. The Board was fully in view of all his missteps and the way in which he was inflating profits (it was in their interest). The Board was aware of the constant PR blunders from he and other high level employees made. The Board is aware of his way to create profit is to reduce quality. The Board was aware that there is no long term plan for the company. The Board was aware of his debacle with Scarlett. The Board was aware of Disney+ underperforming from projections. The Board was aware that he kept some iffy people yet let good people go (especially if they were competition for his job). It goes on and on.

THE BOARD WAS AWARE, they saw and understood .... and yet they just offered him a 3 year cush deal. The Board is equally responsible for the financial situation the company is in and they ALL need to go. They know this because in these announcements we keep hearing the "oh but the Board Chair and gang are staying." Why say that? Because they know they should not be staying. Next vote I will be voting against every single one of them.

And they have things so mucked up they have to bring Iger back. I hope he is getting a SWEET gold mine of a deal.