Disney is ready to name its next CEO, reports say, as theme parks continue to grow

Amid rumblings that Disney is ready to promote theme parks executive Josh D’Amaro to become its next CEO, the company posted strong quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street projections. 

Disney Experiences, the division that covers theme parks and the Disney Cruise Line, generated a record-breaking $10 billion in revenue for the first quarter, which ended Dec. 27, 2025. Operating income was up to $3.31 billion, increasing by 6% compared to the previous time in 2025.

Attendance at Disneyland and Disney World rose 1% for the quarter, while guests’ spending jumped 4%.

“Walt Disney World had a very good quarter,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said. “As far as bookings for the full year, bookings are up 5%.”

Next month, the World of Frozen opens at Disneyland Paris, and the Disney Adventure launches from Asia. 

Film hits like “Zootopia 2,” which earned more than $1.7 billion to become one of the 10 highest grossing films of all time, helped the company’s earnings.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that CEO Bob Iger isn’t planning to stay on for the full year. Iger did not address the succession plan or name his heir during the earnings call Monday.

“The good news is that the company is in much better shape today than it was three years ago because we have done a lot of fixing, but we’ve also put in place a number of opportunities including the investment across our experiences business to essentially expand at every location that we do business and on the high seas,” said Iger, whose contract currently expires at the end of the year.

“I also believe that in the world that changes as much as it does, that in some form or another trying to preserve the status quo was a mistake, and I’m certain that my successor will not do that.”

Iger famously led the company, starting in 2005 and then stepping down just before the COVID global pandemic. The company then went through a tumultuous time. Iger later regained the reins after then-CEO Bob Chapek was fired in 2022.

Jason Bazinet, the managing director at Citigroup, asked about the company’s future after Iger steps down.

“When you first became CEO, I remember investors would lament your parks business as the worst business in the portfolio,” Bazinet told Iger. “And now when I chat with investors, everyone says, ‘Oh, the majority of Disney is really the parks business.’”

So what will Disney look like in five years? Or a decade from now?

Iger admitted that “the return on invested capital in the then-parks and resorts business was not impressive, and actually not acceptable” when he first took over the company.

But since then, Disney added more intellectual property from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and 21st Century Fox, which pushed the company to invest and expand its parks and resorts with the new theming.

“When you look at the footprint of the business today, it’s never been more broad or more diverse, and the projects that we have underway are going to make it even more so,” Iger said. “As I look ahead I actually am very, very bullish on that business and its ability to grow.”