The Walt Disney Firm held its 2026 Annual Assembly of Shareholders this week, and new CEO Josh D’Amaro outlined his imaginative and prescient for the long run, making a case for why Disney is unmatched, and highlighting the strengths of the streaming companies, field workplace slate, and on the theme parks–whereas additionally trying ahead to the billions of {dollars} of deliberate investments throughout his tenure.
Of specific curiosity was D’Amaro discussing the state of Hollywood: “Merely put, whereas others in our business are consolidating simply to compete, or struggling to be related in a fragmented and disrupted world, Disney is in a class of 1, poised to speed up into our subsequent period of innovation and progress. And this subsequent chapter shall be pushed by staying targeted on world-class creativity, enhanced by know-how, bringing unforgettable tales to audiences wherever they’re.”
He went on to clarify how Walt Disney was pondering past the silver display to music, tv, merchandise, and theme parks. That imaginative and prescient has grown to embody sports activities, information, video games, streaming, cruise ships, lodges, and extra–with Disney’s companies reinforcing and amplifying each other.
D’Amaro credited the followers on the heart of all of it, and that there’s nothing just like the extraordinary connection between Disney and its followers. There’s nothing fairly prefer it, and a long time later, that connection has by no means been extra highly effective than it’s immediately. It’s Disney’s best aggressive benefit.
It was a strong assertion when contemplating the subtext: Disney is nothing like Paramount or Warner Brothers. I’m unsure the argument is sort of as persuasive (to traders–the target market of the assembly) when evaluating Disney to Netflix, which has seen its inventory rise over the last a number of years whereas Disney has largely traded sideways.
It however would in all probability be honest to argue that whilst Netflix has outperformed the business, there usually are not followers of Netflix in the identical approach as Disney. About the one firm I may see as even enjoying the identical sport from a fandom perspective is Common (not simply the theme parks, the respective guardian corporations as an entire), and even that isn’t the identical league.
Unsurprisingly, D’Amaro acquired pushback throughout the Q&A portion of the assembly. Along with the two questions at first and finish about the way forward for Journey into Creativeness, this additionally included the compulsory query about Disney’s pricing drawback on the parks & resorts, which has been an ongoing subject for the final year-plus, and a few different areas of widespread concern. Right here’s a rundown…
Disney Parks Pricing & Attendance Progress vs. Visitor Satisfaction
One shareholder requested how does Disney Parks & Resorts stability income progress with greater ticket pricing and attendance whereas sustaining constructive visitor satisfaction scores?
“This is a vital query,” D’Amaro responded. He continued by acknowledging that visiting Walt Disney World or Disneyland is “a significant funding for households.”
“Our purpose is for each single visitor to really feel that their expertise is value it,” defined D’Amaro. “Mainly, we wish this expertise to be the most effective day of a visitor’s life. And we’re all the time measuring our success right here.”
In evaluating the parks’ success, Disney cited visitor satisfaction and intent to revisit or suggest metrics, that are “very excessive” throughout all Disney parks.
“In the case of how we take into consideration pricing,” D’Amaro continued, “we deal with providing a variety of choices at completely different worth factors in order that households can go to in ways in which work for them, whether or not that’s throughout a worth season or profiting from multi-day ticket financial savings and even particular gives.”
D’Amaro pointed particularly to Disneyland’s Children’ Summer season Ticket Provide, which gives youngsters’s Park Hopper tickets for $50 per day, in addition to the stackable Children Eat Free in 2026 at Walt Disney World promo. (D’Amaro didn’t emphasize stackability…however possibly he ought to’ve!)
“We attempt to present a good quantity of selection and suppleness for visitors whereas on the similar time ensuring that we’re managing day by day attendance and the general visitor expertise,” D’Amaro concluded.
A really related query was requested final yr, expressing concern in regards to the affect of worth will increase on affordability and attendance, and the necessity to additional improve capability to stop dropping followers in the long run. At the moment, it adopted shortly after the bombshell reporting that Walt Disney World is Frightened About Its Excessive Costs by the Wall Road Journal.
In case you missed it, that report revealed issues about Disney pricing out the center class, not simply amongst followers, however that alarms are additionally being sounded inside the corporate, as executives worry worth will increase are alienating followers and souring sentiment. In keeping with WSJ, “some inside Disney fear that the corporate has turn into addicted to cost hikes and has reached the boundaries of what middle-class People can afford.”
Present and previous workers of the Walt Disney Firm who have been concerned with discussions about pricing and company methods for the theme parks revealed that “inside discussions over whether or not Disney parks could also be dropping their grip on the hearts and wallets of households with younger children have turn into extra frequent.” After which there was this: “Beginning in late 2023, the corporate’s personal inside surveys of Walt Disney World and Disneyland visitors discovered that the variety of them planning return journeys had ticked sharply down.”
Whereas that was an enormous story that truly resulted in a response (or a number of) from Disney, it wasn’t precisely new information. In truth, it struck us as strikingly much like a earlier WSJ piece after the Chapek ouster. In that, Bob Iger made it clear that he had been “alarmed” by worth will increase at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, and was involved that Chapek was “killing the soul” of Disney.
A little bit over a month later, Walt Disney World made 3 huge modifications to revive worth and enhance flexibility, together with the return of free in a single day parking on the lodges. Mere months after that, the corporate introduced 5 main enhancements to make your go to simpler. Then there was the swap from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross together with different queueing modifications aimed toward higher balancing the pursuits of all visitors.
In one thing of a full circle second, former CEO Michael Eisner criticized the “wild” overpricing drawback of Walt Disney World and Disneyland in an interview final month when discussing how his successor, Bob Iger, has carried out issues otherwise from him. He additionally provided a ‘mild’ reminder of the old-fashioned Disney philosophy that each visitor is a VIP (or ought to be) when congratulating Josh D’Amaro on being named Disney CEO.
Most of what D’Amaro stated in his reply was strikingly much like a solution Iger gave final yr to an analogous query, which felt pulled from the press launch that was issued in response to that WSJ piece (therefore referencing it once more, a yr later).
Probably the most notable portion of D’Amaro’s reply, from my perspective, is his assertion that visitor satisfaction scores and different key metrics are all “very excessive” for all Disney parks. This wasn’t the case at one level throughout the Chapek period, though lots has clearly modified since then.
Within the yr for the reason that WSJ report, there have additionally been a variety of particular gives aimed toward younger households and most people, as an entire. D’Amaro highlighted a few of these, however there have been loads of different offers and clear efforts to deal with affordability and enchantment extra to center class households.
This isn’t to say that Disney has undone the huge costs will increase throughout the pent-up demand period or the parks are moderately priced once more; simply that the final yr or so has provided a number of steps in the correct path.
Lightning Lane Guidelines at WDW vs. DLR
One other shareholder inquired about Disney’s reasoning behind the Lightning Lane variations between Walt Disney World and Disneyland, significantly the foundations about experience reservation reserving occasions.
As you may recall, the change from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross introduced with it pre-booking at Walt Disney World, bringing it extra in keeping with FastPass+, albeit paid and with completely different reserving home windows, attraction tiers, and different minor distinctions. (Costing cash is unquestionably the large one!)
In the meantime at Disneyland, the swap from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross was in identify solely. On the time, we defined that this was nearly actually as a result of Genie+ model being so irredeemably tainted and poisonous, like Philip Morris, Monsanto, or Robert Chapek.
We’ve additionally defined repeatedly that variations in line-skipping merchandise from one coast to the opposite have been nearly completely attributable to divergent demographics. Whereas purchasers of Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World are overwhelmingly vacationers, and lots of of them first-timers or on as soon as in a lifetime journeys, it’s predominantly Californians and repeat guests at Disneyland.
Josh D’Amaro kind of confirmed our earlier explanations, albeit with completely different phrases. He defined that Walt Disney World and Disneyland “function in actually other ways, and our Lightning Lane techniques are designed to replicate how visitors expertise every of these resorts.”
He shared that at Walt Disney World, visitors sometimes plan farther prematurely and have extra theme parks to select from. Against this, Disneyland is contained inside a extra compact footprint with two theme parks situated aspect by aspect.
D’Amaro added that there’s “a variety of dynamic circulation between points of interest and the parks” at Disneyland. He however emphasised that Disney’s goal is identical no matter coast: “to supply a handy and an optionally available strategy to cut back time, spent ready in line, and add flexibility to the day in a approach that matches how every resort truly operates.”
He concluded by sharing that Disney is all the time evaluating visitor suggestions, analyzing how visitors use these merchandise, in addition to operational efficiency to be sure that they’re giving visitors the most effective expertise attainable.
DAS Restructuring
In the direction of the top of the assembly, there was a query that requested whether or not Disney would think about “restructuring the Incapacity Entry Service program to make sure it advantages everybody who wants it?”
This wasn’t the primary time within the assembly that DAS got here up. Previous to the Q&A, there have been 4 shareholder proposals that have been offered and voted on, together with #7: “Unbiased Assessment and Report on Accessibility and Incapacity Inclusion Practices.” As mentioned in Incapacity Entry Service Assessment Proposal Fails, Solely 5% of Disney Shareholders Help, that was voted down.
We additionally defined there how utilizing the shareholder proposal mechanism was an creative angle for contesting the DAS modifications, versus utilizing the Q&A. That the proposal introduced extra consideration to the continued DAS dialogue, particularly earlier than the annual assembly.
In the end, the result there was no completely different than it could’ve been arising throughout the Q&A, the place “Josh D’Amaro may’ve given a diplomatic reply that provided false hope, however that’s about it.” Nicely, because it turned out, it was a two-pronged method throughout the assembly. Right here’s D’Amaro’s diplomatic response.
D’Amaro didn’t say that Disney would think about restructuring the DAS program. As a substitute, he started by acknowledging the “undeniable fact that we all know that accessibility is deeply private, and for a lot of households, our companies for visitors with disabilities, they make it attainable to take pleasure in our parks collectively.”
“Making a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for all visitors, particularly these with disabilities,” D’Amaro continued. “It’s foundational to who we’re.” He defined that the present method to Incapacity Entry Service “displays actually intensive work that we’ve carried out with accessibility specialists, and medical professionals, all in an effort to raised perceive particular person wants, after which actually thoughtfully match visitors with the correct ranges of assist.”
D’Amaro defined that it’s essential for Walt Disney World and Disneyland to have particular person conversations with households, and that the parks provide a broad vary of lodging that Forged Members can suggest following particular person conversations.
He concluded by providing a glimmer of hope: “As we glance forward, as we all the time do, we’ll proceed to hear, we’ll study and apply knowledgeable steering, we consider these lodging over time, and we’ll all the time be targeted on offering nice experiences and designing these companies to assist our visitors.”
In the end, none of those questions got here as big surprises, and actually, I don’t suppose D’Amaro’s solutions provide any new perception. As with the questions on Journey into Creativeness, the corporate doubtless anticipated these questions or others prefer it, and D’Amaro was prepped on reply, selecting his phrases very cautious.
Maybe the largest takeaway from all of that is that D’Amaro is deftly expert, like Iger, of sticking to the script whereas giving a heat and prolonged response…that doesn’t actually say something. That’s not backhanded criticism! It’s an essential ability for the CEO of the Walt Disney Firm to have in such situations, and virtually the other of Chapek, who typically provided blunt and succinct responses that managed to inflame and enrage. The Q&A not providing an entire lot in the way in which of latest info is proof constructive of this being a easy succession to date.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider D’Amaro’s response to the questions of balancing worth will increase with attendance and visitor satisfaction, Lightning Lane guidelines at Walt Disney World vs. Disneyland, or the potential for future DAS modifications? What would you wish to see carried out to enhance the visitor expertise and satisfaction at Walt Disney World? Assume that runaway worth will increase are the large concern, or is the worth proposition an equally or extra important matter? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
