I had an opportunity to talk with future Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro about his new function, and plans for the parks and management going ahead. Throughout a go to to Disneyland on Friday, Josh took time for a 25 minute assembly with me and 6 friends, answering questions in an on-the-record dialog. This publish relays a few of what he shared through the roundtable, together with earlier experiences, and why I’m optimistic about the way forward for Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
Since Parks Chair Josh D’Amaro was named Disney CEO, there have been lots of reactions. We’ve seen previous and current Imagineers reward the transfer, together with prime canine Bruce Vaughn. Ditto executives, like former CEO Michael Eisner and DLR President Matt Ouimet. There have additionally been scorching takes from Walt Disney World and Disneyland followers, together with the predictable and inevitable backlash.
This was wholly unsurprising. Anybody however Walt himself being named Chief Govt would’ve prompted a minimum of some contrarians to supply unfavorable reactions. However this isn’t simply web edgelords, and it’s not sudden. Sentiment has soured in some circles on D’Amaro, and generally for truthful causes. Not solely that, however except Bob Iger returning to switch Bob Chapek, there hasn’t actually been clear consensus amongst followers on any management adjustments. Even that one was a quick honeymoon interval.
Talking of relationships, throughout their media tour to tout the organized marriage between the 2 executives main the Walt Disney Firm into the longer term, Dana Walden, incoming President and Chief Inventive Officer, shared how the 2 have bonded. Particularly, Walden reminisced a couple of stroll with D’Amaro throughout a company retreat at Walt Disney World, and the way impressed she was when he swooped in Superman-style to assist a crying four-year-old.
“We have been at Walt Disney World, and it began pouring rain. We got here throughout slightly boy who had been separated from his household and was sobbing. I watched Josh in motion. It was as if he didn’t have to consider it. He moved rapidly, calmly, and with a lot care,” Walden stated. “The staff reunited the kid together with his household so quick, and watching Josh in that second spoke volumes. He cares deeply about each one who walks into our parks. He cares about individuals.”
Now, if I have been (extra) cynical, I’d suppose that D’Amaro was cognizant of the eyeballs on him throughout a company retreat and this was a little bit of a efficiency. Or possibly the anecdote is a bit hyperbolic to speak up D’Amaro and additional the narrative of their shut working relationship. In the case of executives making appearances within the parks, there’s all the time the query of what’s real versus what’s for the cameras to domesticate a Walt-like persona. There’s just one little drawback with this cynicism and D’Amaro…
There are tons of, if not 1000’s, of tales like this about Josh D’Amaro spanning over the course of the final decade-plus. Anybody with a Disney-centric social media feed who opened Instagram or Fb within the final week has seen a sea of selfies fellow followers have taken with D’Amaro.
Critically, the dude has shaken extra palms and kissed extra infants (metaphorically) than Bubba in his prime. If this was all a part of some calculated lengthy recreation to ascend up the Disney ranks to the nook workplace with a bathe, it was fairly the frilly manufacturing. I’m cynical, however not that cynical. What D’Amaro has completed goes far past the compulsory photograph ops, and is just too long-running to not be real. No person faking it has that form of stamina.
There have been a couple of years after I noticed D’Amaro on the bottom at Disneyland and Walt Disney World on numerous events throughout his tenure as President of the respective resorts (and mine as blogger). He was principally on the bottom as a lot as a blogger, albeit one who with precise obligations (and presumably higher compensation).
D’Amaro would usually seem in random locations and with out an enormous posse. It’s one factor for him to be out and about on opening day of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a brand new attraction, or a particular occasion. And unsurprisingly, I noticed him round all of that.
It’s one other to see him wandering by means of EPCOT, selecting up trash in DCA whereas no cameras are on him, inspecting accomplished refurbishment work, having dinner at Takumi-Tei, or being randomly behind him in keeping with a visitor at Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. These are examples simply off the highest of my head; I didn’t foresee scripting this publish again in 2018 after I began crossing paths with him with such frequency.
I’m removed from the one one (simply seemingly the one one who by no means requested for a photograph, judging by social media). When he was President of Disneyland after which Walt Disney World, there have been common studies and images of him across the parks on social media.
After tens of 1000’s of Forged Members have been laid off through the closure, D’Amaro was at Downtown Disney apologizing to Forged Members and permitting them to vent for hours on finish. That was polarizing on the time, as some followers considered D’Amaro as having his cake and consuming it too. Subsequent revelations that then-CEO Bob Chapek was the architect of the layoffs, and was infuriated that Bob Iger had prevented them from being made earlier, recontextualize that.
D’Amaro’s ‘listening excursions’ with workers are well-known, too. It looks like each different Forged Member has first hand expertise with him, particularly at Disneyland.
I’ve heard from numerous Forged Members about D’Amaro since he was named President of Walt Disney World in November 2019. The commonest sentiments shared have been that D’Amaro “will get it” or “truly seeks suggestions and listens” or that they’d “observe him wherever” as a result of he’s the actual deal, a frontrunner who cares about Forged Members and the visitor expertise.
I discussed a few of this sentiment through the assembly with D’Amaro, who solely doubled-down on it.
Throughout the dialog, one factor that D’Amaro underscore a number of instances was how a lot he needed to be the “similar chief” he’s all the time been, simply as passionate and approachable as ever. He joked that he was going to drive some individuals behind the scenes at Disney loopy together with his need to be on the bottom.
He additionally shared that he had simply spoken with a spherical of recent Forged Members simply coming onto the job earlier that morning, as that was vital to him. So too was persevering with his reference to the followers and parks. “I’m not going to vanish,” he stated bluntly. A lot of the dialog could possibly be summarized with that line; good luck to whoever is tasked with prying him away from the parks.
D’Amaro defined that it’s critically vital to him to be current for face time with followers and Forged. I feel that is underscored by his actions, in assembly with Forged Members and representatives from fan websites just a few days after named Disney’s new CEO. The fandom by no means had a seat on the desk beneath the Chapek regime; he didn’t care what we needed to say. Fairly the alternative, and he made that abundantly clear.
D’Amaro needs to maintain his finger on the heart beat of the fandom and the in-park expertise. “Anybody who disconnects themselves from that, you’ll be able to form of lose contact with actuality. I’m not going to do this,” D’Amaro stated. From my perspective, this was crucial factor Josh may’ve stated through the dialog. (Properly, in need of a shock Journey into Creativeness 4.0 announcement; however that is most likely extra vital within the greater image.)
On the danger of stating the plain, Josh’s in-park expertise just isn’t that of a daily visitor. Though he’s spent as a lot time within the trenches as a mean blogger, the way in which he now visits the parks is essentially totally different.
Josh and I have been each at Disneyland on Friday (he for photograph ops with Bob Iger; me for photograph ops with a huge DCA 1.0 map). Nevertheless, he felt no friction through the arrival means of parking at Mickey & Buddies, the hassles of safety, individuals scuffling with ID verification on the turnstiles, and so on.
Nonetheless, there’s worth in his experiences on the parks. Most importantly, as a result of he is speaking to friends and Forged Members, letting them air their grievances, soliciting suggestions, listening and (hopefully) appearing. That is in contrast to so, so many Disney executives, a few of whom have considered the parks as “beneath” them. Having somebody on the prime who is definitely passionate in regards to the parks is large.
So too is somebody who goes out of his option to hear suggestions firsthand, versus it being rigorously filtered by subordinates. Quite a lot of suggestions gained’t be acted on, to make sure, however D’Amaro’s on-the-ground experiences and interactions will influence his management and decision-making, as will his ardour for the parks. These two issues alone make an enormous distinction.
Over the past a number of years, this weblog has not been shy in its favorable stance in the direction of D’Amaro, and that’s the essence of why. Now we have not been unequivocally optimistic; we’ve expressed considerations about D’Amaro not having a excessive variety of initiatives that have been his from starting to finish, and particularly the bungled EPCOT redesign. However by and huge, he was the individual we needed to see named CEO.
Some followers have urged that D’Amaro will get a “free move” on dangerous choices as a result of he’s good-looking and smoother than Chapek was. Primarily, that there’s little or no daylight between Chapek, Iger, and D’Amaro; they’re all reduce from the identical material and can make comparable choices on the finish of the day, simply with totally different optics.
That is condescending to all concerned. It presupposes that almost all followers and Forged Members are superficial, blinded by magnificence and forming opinions based mostly on surface-level assessments. It assumes that solely these with the supposedly ‘unpopular opinion’ are the one ones in a position to suppose in a deeper method, and everybody else’s mind breaks once they see a fairly individual.
In actuality, Iger and D’Amaro are comparatively common regardless of their similarities with Chapek due to their materials variations. Inform me, what number of instances did you see Bob Chapek wandering the parks? How about chatting with random friends or Forged Members?
As somebody who logs round 100 days within the parks per 12 months, the variety of instances I noticed Chapek make a non-media look was zero. He was the least-visible chief I’ve ever (not) seen. Equally vital, he had an infamously contemptible angle in the direction of the fan neighborhood and didn’t even trouble to cover it. In the direction of the top when the ship was clearly sinking, he pretended to care about Forged Members, however his actions by no means matched his phrases.
It’s truly a bit amusing that D’Amaro is handled by mainstream media as “one other” Parks & Resorts govt elevated to CEO, as if that’s what Chapek was. Walt Disney World and Disneyland followers by no means claimed Chapek as one in all our personal; he was a Shopper Merchandise man, by means of and thru. I can’t recall any optimistic tales about him from the frontlines.
Chapek didn’t appear notably involved with the visitor satisfaction or Forged Member morale. He made numerous cost-cutting choices, launched the half-baked Genie properly earlier than it was prepared for prime time, and degraded the in-park expertise to an unprecedented diploma, all whereas rising costs at a report clip.
We heard repeatedly from insiders that visitor satisfaction scores have been anemic on the ‘peak’ of the Chapek regime, one thing we commented on in a number of posts on the time. We additionally heard that leaders on the bottom on each coasts expressed concern and needed to vary this; Chapek was additionally infamously dangerous at listening to suggestions that countered his choices.
By no means have I heard or seen a lot Forged Member and fan rejoicing as on that fateful day in November 2022 when Bob Chapek was proven the door. Ask any Imagineer how significantly better the inventive arm of the corporate is beneath Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro, who introduced again Bruce Vaughn. (Or simply learn this about WDI’s comeback.) For no matter overlap there is perhaps in the case of enterprise choices, the contrasts are stark in the case of management.
Individuals are what makes Disney, Disney. D’Amaro will get that. I don’t know that anybody has ever gotten that greater than him. He has the compassion, humility, temperament, and need to honor the legacy of the Walt Disney Firm. That issues and is the antithesis of superficial.
Nonetheless, D’Amaro will undoubtedly make unpopular enterprise choices. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows from right here on out, with the fan neighborhood having a champion within the CEO chair. There will probably be adjustments with which we disagree vehemently.
There have already got been a number of of these throughout D’Amaro’s tenure as Parks Chair, and we now have not been shy about pointing these out. We are going to proceed to take action, and hope you all do likewise, as a part of our job because the fan neighborhood is to carry management accountable. To behave as a “test” and counterweight to shortsighted enterprise choices made on the behest of Wall Avenue. It’ll be good to have somebody on the prime who embraces this honesty and desires suggestions, even when unfavorable.
One factor about which we’re curious is how the Walt Disney Firm will look totally different beneath D’Amaro’s management. It’s widespread for brand new executives to return in and rapidly make their mark with a mixture of symbolic and assertion bulletins, as each a option to lengthen that honeymoon interval with followers and sign their very own priorities. One thing displaying, say, one little spark of creativeness.
Throughout the chat, I requested D’Amaro about this, usually, and whether or not he’s given any thought to it. He laughed and stated he’d solely been informed the information a couple of days in the past, and needed to get extra acclimated to the brand new function first. This clearly was not the time or place for any news-worthy bulletins, so I held off my follow-up Figment inquiry. However I’m certain that’ll be coming from somebody on the upcoming shareholder assembly.
For no matter it’s value, we do count on each a ‘visitor expertise enhancements’ package deal of bulletins and substantive information throughout the first few months of D’Amaro’s tenure, seemingly a bit after he’s named a brand new Parks Chair. The timing will probably be fascinating, because the 2026 D23 Expo can also be proper across the nook, however suffice to say, there’s some low-hanging fruit that might give the brand new staff simple wins.
Talking of the subsequent Parks Chair, another person requested in regards to the timing of that announcement. D’Amaro gave a diplomatic non-answer, suggesting he’s not but able to make the announcement but additionally that it’ll be a troublesome determination as a result of there’s such a deep bench of management at Parks & Resorts. In Who Will Change Josh D’Amaro as Head of Parks & Resorts?, our evaluation was additionally that any of the highest candidates are wonderful choices with many years of Disney management expertise.
He was additionally requested about whether or not he has a pet undertaking, just like how Iger clearly is enamored with Pandora and all issues Avatar. D’Amaro’s response was one other diplomatic one, which was the pragmatic method. In any case, if he stated one thing at one park, that’s going to create resentment amongst followers on the opposite coast. It’s a no-win scenario. With that stated, he sounded most enthusiastic about Villains Land at Magic Kingdom. It’s the one undertaking he mentioned extra extensively, and was outwardly captivated with it blowing friends away.
D’Amaro additionally talked about Napa Rose as a particular, latest instance. He shared how he was concerned all through the method, and had given suggestions on the seating and was actually pleased with how that undertaking turned out. As somebody who additionally favored how that undertaking turned out, particularly the seating, this resonated with me.
I additionally appreciated this as a result of Napa Rose was a restaurant reimagining, not a blockbuster growth undertaking, and seating is a reasonably mundane element. However these little particulars are a part of what defines Disney, and his feedback about Napa Rose struck me as particularly “Eisnerian.”
In the end, it’s these little issues that make an enormous distinction in the case of who’s CEO of the Walt Disney Firm. And I’d argue that spotlight to element, concern for the visitor expertise and satisfaction scores, and Forged Member morale should not little issues in any respect. They’re the essence of what makes Disney, Disney. Josh D’Amaro clearly will get this, and has the traits of a superlative chief and worthy CEO of the Walt Disney Firm.
The staff of he and Dana Walden on the prime just isn’t going to radically overhaul the Walt Disney Firm, however no critical CEO candidate was. Followers who needed paradigm shift have been all the time going to be upset. What this new management association ensures is continuity, and constructing off the muse and fixes made in the previous couple of years through the post-Chapek period.
Personally, I’m excited and optimistic as a parks fan firstly. Now we have a brilliant future forward of us, with the corporate investing a minimum of $60 billion on theme parks, and people growth plans being overseen on the prime by a parks one who will get it, cares about Forged Members, followers, and the outcome-determinative particulars. There’s a Nice Huge Lovely Tomorrow (I’ll chorus from making the plain D’Amaro pun) for Walt Disney World and Disneyland followers.
Want Disney journey planning suggestions and complete recommendation? Ensure to learn Disney Parks Trip Planning Guides, the place yow will discover complete guides to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and past! For Disney updates, low cost data, free downloads of our eBooks and wallpapers, and way more, join our FREE e-mail publication!
OUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider Parks Chair Josh D’Amaro changing into Disney’s subsequent CEO? Excited for an precise parks individual to lastly succeed Disney CEO Bob Iger? Suppose D’Amaro’s deal with followers and Forged Members illustrate how he “will get” Disney? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation that there’s an enormous distinction between Chapek and D’Amaro? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
