Politics
Bob Chapek says he discovered Josh D’Amaro, who also supported controversial theme park reservation system
In his new book, Bob Chapek accuses Bob Iger of backstabbing him and plotting to get him fired as CEO of The Walt Disney Co.
The drama behind the Disney boardroom dominates the storyline in Chapek’s “Behind the Castle Walls.”
However, Chapek weighs in on other topics such as the Star Wars hotel’s closing, the Disney Cruise Line expansion, Josh D’Amaro’s rise and more.
Chapek’s first day at Disney was awkward
People in the office were shocked when Chapek introduced himself as the new director of marketing for the Disney brand. “They had learned their former boss had been fired only five minutes earlier,” Chapek wrote.
Then, inside his office, a male staffer walked in and abruptly dropped his pants. “For another few long moments, he just stood here with his pants around his ankles,” Chapek wrote. He figured it was some office hazing to see if the Midwesterner could handle the West Coast.
“Welcome to Hollywood.”
Chapek was never afraid to shake up the status quo
Working in Disney home entertainment, Chapek and his colleagues developed the concept of releasing Disney classic movies out of the “vault” for a limited time. It was supposed to make older Disney movies suddenly exclusive. It paid off big for Disney, although some company skeptics questioned Chapek’s idea at the time.
“I’ve always considered myself a disruptor,” Chapek wrote. “Even when ideas or opportunities are obvious, many don’t have the courage — or sometimes the foolishness — to pursue them.”
Chapek was behind some of Disney’s sequels
Chapek had the idea to make “Return of Jafar,” the straight-to-video sequel of the beloved “Aladdin” movie. Animators were not thrilled with the project, but Chapek knew it would make a lot of money. Sales hit $300 million even with the sequel missing Robin Williams as the Genie and the movie being panned by most critics.
“Can we do more ‘Air Buds’?” Chapek asked.
Disney executives brainstormed more movies about the basketball-playing dog from the 1997 family film to turn it into a franchise.
“I’ll do more if you use CGI and make the dogs talk,” were Chapek’s orders.
Chapek pitches himself as CEO
As President of Disney Consumer Products, Chapek touted his vision for maximizing the company’s selling power by creating a synergy in the company to sell Star Wars figurines, Disney princess dresses and Winnie the Pooh items, turning around the struggling Disney Stores. Chapek understood that Disney films could be used to sell more merchandise at theme parks and stores.
Iger, during his first stint as CEO, called him into his office. Iger wanted Chapek’s advice on which of two other Disney executives seemed the best choice to succeed Iger as CEO.
Neither of them, Chapek answered.
“Since he asked, I was going to tell him. I felt this could be a moment,” Chapek wrote. “Without hesitation and while keeping my eyes locked on his, this time I answered even more boldly. ‘Me,’” Chapek wrote.
Iger smiled and said, “That’s what I thought you would say,” Chapek wrote.
Chapek wasn’t afraid to anger Disney pass holders
In another role overseeing Disney theme parks, Chapek complained that Disney was afraid to change its annual pass program for its most loyal returning visitors and locals.
The parks were often crowded and were completely filled during holidays. Chapek blamed pass holders, so Chapek raised prices on Disneyland annual passes. The number of pass holders fell from 1.1 million to 1.0 million, but revenue rose anyway from the higher prices, Chapek wrote.
“I considered that a huge win,” Chapek wrote.
A few months later, the number of Disneyland pass holders returned to 1.1 million, so Chapek hiked prices another 15%.
When Chapek angered pass holders, he wrote, “I was sympathetic. I understood that the superfans are a core part of the Disney magic. … At the same time, it wasn’t fair to the families who live farther away from parks, and who get there only every few years after saving up to make the pilgrimage and who are also paying more money per visit, to diminish their experience to give the pass holders completely unfettered access to the park.”
Chapek defended himself from his critics.
“I wasn’t just a magical, money-optimizing machine; I was protecting the guest experience … and that means all guests … not just local annual passholders,” Chapek wrote.
Chapek says Josh D’Amaro shared Chapek’s views on pass holders, reservations
Disney fans are often giddy when meeting the present-day Disney CEO, looking to pose for selfies with D’Amaro or shake his hand. Chapek, meanwhile, was nicknamed “Bob Paycheck” during his tenure.
But Chapek wrote that D’Amaro shared some of Chapek’s controversial and unpopular views on how to run Disney World.
Chapek called D’Amaro a “key ally” in his moves to reduce the number of pass holders visiting and increase higher-paying guests, as well as adding a reservation system.
D’Amaro, who was then head of Walt Disney World Resort operations, joined Disneyland’s top executive and “studied this issue with me in detail,” Chapek wrote. “After reviewing the trends, guest surveys and analytics, they presented me with a suggestion they thought made the most sense to maintain access to the park for everyone. They thought it was time to make some changes to the annual pass program.”
D’Amaro and the Disneyland executive “pointed out to me, the passholder experience was a fantastic deal for the passholder, but a terrible one for Disney and its more vacation-oriented guests,” Chapek wrote. “We understood we would get blasted if I attempted to eliminate annual passes altogether, so we moved to shift the math.”
Since 2020, the theme parks added an advance reservation system to make it harder for pass holders to show up spontaneously.
“Although Josh was my full partner in the reservations initiative, this time the tip of the spear, I was the one tarred and feathered when the reservations system proved unpopular among superfans,” Chapek wrote.
Chapek also takes credit for recognizing D’Amaro’s talent.
Chapek, who described D’Amaro as “smart” and a “people person,” wrote that D’Amaro had been a “relatively unknown in the company hierarchy” until Chapek “singled him out and put him on our internal succession radar.”
D’Amaro was named Disney CEO in February.
Disney was once hesitant about adding more cruise ships
Disney Cruise Line is a huge moneymaker for the company today and the fleet is rapidly growing to 13 ships by 2031.
But Disney was not always aggressively adding new ships. In fact, Chapek wrote that the company was actually hesitant to expand.
At one point, the President of Disney Cruise Line begged Chapek to “get us more ships,” Chapek wrote.
“Your predecessors have previously tried but the board always turned them down,” the President told Chapek, according to the book.
Studying the finances and the customer feedback, Chapek realized how lucrative the cruises were for Disney. He successfully pitched to the board to invest in more cruise ships, which were announced publicly in 2017.
Chapek’s impact was quietly acknowledged when the company put up a sign that read “Bob Chapek, Master Ship Builder” on a building at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas.
The sign was taken down after Chapek was fired in 2022 and Iger returned to lead the company.
It wasn’t the only part of Chapek’s legacy that Iger wanted to wipe away, Chapek wrote.
“He didn’t just have my name removed from a sign. He also would go on to erase an entire universe I had helped build,” Chapek wrote.
Iger shut down the Star Wars hotel because it was tied to Chapek
In 2023, Disney also closed down the Star Wars hotel at Orlando’s Hollywood Studios in Disney World.
Chapek wrote he believed that Iger shut down the hotel because the venture was tied to Chapek’s legacy.
Chapek acknowledged that the hotel was losing money because of its “extraordinary” labor costs, but he argued “no hotel is ever profitable in the first year.”
“It was an outrageously bold idea that I absolutely loved,” Chapek wrote about the immersive Star Wars hotel concept.
The post Bob Chapek says he discovered Josh D’Amaro, who also supported controversial theme park reservation system appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..