In Defense of Bob Chapek

[Jonfw2]

Let's say you were handpicked by Bob Iger to choose his successor. Would you have picked the head of finance? Or the President of ESPN? Maybe someone from outside the company?

Or would you have chosen the head of Disney theme parks? Because that's who we have. Bob Chapek not only came to the CEO role from parks, he came into it with the arguably the best resume of anyone who ever held that position- he built Shanghai Disney. He oversaw both Galaxy Edges and Pandora. In fact, during his tenure, Disney spent more money on its parks than it did on Marvel, Pixar, and LucasFilms COMBINED. The NY Times even ran a piece specifically about how much influence Chapek had in getting Disney to allot its cash to his division. Was this all because Chapek is anti-park???

So why do we all hate him so much? One simple word: Covid. At almost the exact same time that Chapek took the reigns, the parks system was hit with its biggest crisis in history. Think about it- Disney World had never in its history been closed for more than a day at a time and right when Chapek took over, every park on earth was closed for months. No cruises. No movies. No television or sports. Every division of his new company was shuttered. What exactly did we expect at this point, folks? Then Iger came riding in on a white horse offering to help. But ask yourself honestly: what good did that do, exactly? Nothing changed. Neither Chapek nor Iger had a magic wand (or pixie dust) that would make all the Covid issues go away faster. They just had to be muddled through.

So in closing (because I'm suddenly on chapter 8 of a novel), let me address the two biggest specific complaints: cancelled projects and cost increases. Both of these issues come down to the same thing: supply and demand. For the same reasons your home project during covid took three times as long and cost four times as much so did Disney's. There simply wasn't- and still isn't- enough labor and supplies out there for Disney to do everything it's promised at this point. And yes- everything costs more now. And there are less benefits for what you pay. I don't like it either. But again- it's not because Chapek is a bad guy. EVERYTHING costs more now. Disney isn't making a terribly larger profit margin than they were previously. They're just passing on their cost increases to their customers exactly like grocery stores and every other industry is.

So there you have it. Chapek is in my opinion doing a perfectly acceptable job under the circumstances he (and we all) have to live under right now. It would be no different under Bob Iger or Walt himself.

 

[Suger Mag]

Let's say you were handpicked by Bob Iger to choose his successor. Would you have picked the head of finance? Or the President of ESPN? Maybe someone from outside the company?

Or would you have chosen the head of Disney theme parks? Because that's who we have. Bob Chapek not only came to the CEO role from parks, he came into it with the arguably the best resume of anyone who ever held that position- he built Shanghai Disney. He oversaw both Galaxy Edges and Pandora. In fact, during his tenure, Disney spent more money on its parks than it did on Marvel, Pixar, and LucasFilms COMBINED. The NY Times even ran a piece specifically about how much influence Chapek had in getting Disney to allot its cash to his division. Was this all because Chapek is anti-park???

So why do we all hate him so much? One simple word: Covid. At almost the exact same time that Chapek took the reigns, the parks system was hit with its biggest crisis in history. Think about it- Disney World had never in its history been closed for more than a day at a time and right when Chapek took over, every park on earth was closed for months. No cruises. No movies. No television or sports. Every division of his new company was shuttered. What exactly did we expect at this point, folks? Then Iger came riding in on a white horse offering to help. But ask yourself honestly: what good did that do, exactly? Nothing changed. Neither Chapek nor Iger had a magic wand (or pixie dust) that would make all the Covid issues go away faster. They just had to be muddled through.

So in closing (because I'm suddenly on chapter 8 of a novel), let me address the two biggest specific complaints: cancelled projects and cost increases. Both of these issues come down to the same thing: supply and demand. For the same reasons your home project during covid took three times as long and cost four times as much so did Disney's. There simply wasn't- and still isn't- enough labor and supplies out there for Disney to do everything it's promised at this point. And yes- everything costs more now. And there are less benefits for what you pay. I don't like it either. But again- it's not because Chapek is a bad guy. EVERYTHING costs more now. Disney isn't making a terribly larger profit margin than they were previously. They're just passing on their cost increases to their customers exactly like grocery stores and every other industry is.

So there you have it. Chapek is in my opinion doing a perfectly acceptable job under the circumstances he (and we all) have to live under right now. It would be no different under Bob Iger or Walt himself.

I agree. Putting the blame for the 'Covid effect' on Chapek is not fair. It is/was unrealistic to expect nothing to change at WDW, DCL, or WDL,... or for there to be no repercussions to how the pandemic has affected the world since. From closures, Union issues over health concerns and mandates, staffing changes, supply chain issues, and now cost issues from the recession/inflation and fuel rising.... there was and is so many outside influences of course it is going to have a negative effect. I enjoyed my trips to 'Pandemic Disney" because I looked at it as a temporary phase, something to experience for what it was.... and to just be happy to be alive with my loved ones at WDW, yes I missed hugging Chewbacca, but I understood.
It is going to take time for things to smooth out. New tech rollouts like Genie and Lightning Lane will also take time to smooth out and undergo tweaks I think things will be in flux for awhile, and we will see changes to how it is run, used offered etc. There is a learning curve that goes both ways. And there is always a strong part of the WDW fanbase on these boards that resists any change, seems to automatically reject it.

 

[Jonfw2]

I agree. Putting the blame for the 'Covid effect' on Chapek is not fair. It is/was unrealistic to expect nothing to change at WDW, DCL, or WDL,... or for there to be no repercussions to how the pandemic has affected the world since. From closures, Union issues over health concerns and mandates, staffing changes, supply chain issues, and now cost issues from the recession/inflation and fuel rising.... there was and is so many outside influences of course it is going to have a negative effect. I enjoyed my trips to 'Pandemic Disney" because I looked at it as a temporary phase, something to experience for what it was.... and to just be happy to be alive with my loved ones at WDW, yes I missed hugging Chewbacca, but I understood.
It is going to take time for things to smooth out. New tech rollouts like Genie and Lightning Lane will also take time to smooth out and undergo tweaks I think things will be in flux for awhile, and we will see changes to how it is run, used offered etc. There is a learning curve that goes both ways. And there is always a strong part of the WDW fanbase on these boards that resists any change, seems to automatically reject it.

Perfectly said! If I REALLY wanted to write more this is exactly what I would have said next.

 

[Disneylover99]

There’s so much I hate right now…..Genie, park reservations, no annual passes, hopping restrictions, prices, crowds, etc…..

But I don’t blame anyone at the top. It’s just business. If it wasn’t Chapek, it would be someone else, doing something similar.

 

[legler2250]

I appreciate you taking the time framing that perspective in a way that allows more critical thinking rather than emotionally negative responses directed at Chapek. It's a good reminder to evaluate things from as many different points of view.

 

[Jonfw2]

I appreciate you taking the time framing that perspective in a way that allows more critical thinking rather than emotionally negative responses directed at Chapek. It's a good reminder to evaluate things from as many different points of view.

Thank you! As a financial advisor I have many clients who understand the markets drop sometimes and we just have to get through it. But I have a few who straight up blame me. I get the temptation. But it’s just not too accurate.

 

[AmishGuy91]

Covid isnt the only reason people hate Chapek. A big part of it is his personality. He’s not personable, likable, and he’s not polished like CEOs generally are. If DAmaro had become CEO instead, he would be well more liked than Chapek is now

 

[john7994]

Personally, I think the topic has been exhausted on the Disboards , but I am sure it will attract the usual suspects and opinions - so no worries there! I am more likely aligned with @Suger Mag and their more robust assessment. CEOing is hard, and while it is easy to sit back and critique every little decision on an open forum, I actually tend to ignore most of what is said anyway because largely people don't have the facts, personal experiences or even first-hand knowledge of the principal players involved.

As to skills of critical thinking and speaking from actual "facts" - I think that has "gone out the window" a long time ago. Obviously, people can espouse their opinions - certainly no shortage of those around these days. But, it does reinforce to me why its necessary to "have the adults somewhere in the room" making the tough decisions. Invariably in the moment, those decisions may seem unpopular, but when playing in real life choices - there are no oops or reset buttons.

 

[Morieris]

Covid isnt the only reason people hate Chapek. A big part of it is his personality. He’s not personable, likable, and he’s not polished like CEOs generally are. If DAmaro had become CEO instead, he would be well more liked than Chapek is now

There are some things he definitely could have done better, but I don't think people should have to be PR machines to have a high-profile job. "They don't make me feel good" shouldn't be a disqualifier.

 

[Sweettears]

Let's say you were handpicked by Bob Iger to choose his successor. Would you have picked the head of finance? Or the President of ESPN? Maybe someone from outside the company?

Or would you have chosen the head of Disney theme parks? Because that's who we have. Bob Chapek not only came to the CEO role from parks, he came into it with the arguably the best resume of anyone who ever held that position- he built Shanghai Disney. He oversaw both Galaxy Edges and Pandora. In fact, during his tenure, Disney spent more money on its parks than it did on Marvel, Pixar, and LucasFilms COMBINED. The NY Times even ran a piece specifically about how much influence Chapek had in getting Disney to allot its cash to his division. Was this all because Chapek is anti-park???

So why do we all hate him so much? One simple word: Covid. At almost the exact same time that Chapek took the reigns, the parks system was hit with its biggest crisis in history. Think about it- Disney World had never in its history been closed for more than a day at a time and right when Chapek took over, every park on earth was closed for months. No cruises. No movies. No television or sports. Every division of his new company was shuttered. What exactly did we expect at this point, folks? Then Iger came riding in on a white horse offering to help. But ask yourself honestly: what good did that do, exactly? Nothing changed. Neither Chapek nor Iger had a magic wand (or pixie dust) that would make all the Covid issues go away faster. They just had to be muddled through.

So in closing (because I'm suddenly on chapter 8 of a novel), let me address the two biggest specific complaints: cancelled projects and cost increases. Both of these issues come down to the same thing: supply and demand. For the same reasons your home project during covid took three times as long and cost four times as much so did Disney's. There simply wasn't- and still isn't- enough labor and supplies out there for Disney to do everything it's promised at this point. And yes- everything costs more now. And there are less benefits for what you pay. I don't like it either. But again- it's not because Chapek is a bad guy. EVERYTHING costs more now. Disney isn't making a terribly larger profit margin than they were previously. They're just passing on their cost increases to their customers exactly like grocery stores and every other industry is.

So there you have it. Chapek is in my opinion doing a perfectly acceptable job under the circumstances he (and we all) have to live under right now. It would be no different under Bob Iger or Walt himself.

I totally agree. Now that we are getting closer to normal we shall see. I believe that his performance should majorly be based on what happens from here forward.

One bone that I have to pick though is that under his leadership he did not take advantage of the closures and lower attendance by accelerating projects such as new rides and refurbs while he could. The entire Epcot project could have been completed and we would be riding the train right now. Was there unknowns because of Covid? Yes but did anyone ever think that at some point things would get back to normal. Missed opportunity that is impacting all visitors as we speak

 

[dieumeye]

Let's say you were handpicked by Bob Iger to choose his successor. Would you have picked the head of finance? Or the President of ESPN? Maybe someone from outside the company?

Or would you have chosen the head of Disney theme parks? Because that's who we have. Bob Chapek not only came to the CEO role from parks, he came into it with the arguably the best resume of anyone who ever held that position- he built Shanghai Disney. He oversaw both Galaxy Edges and Pandora. In fact, during his tenure, Disney spent more money on its parks than it did on Marvel, Pixar, and LucasFilms COMBINED. The NY Times even ran a piece specifically about how much influence Chapek had in getting Disney to allot its cash to his division. Was this all because Chapek is anti-park???

So why do we all hate him so much? One simple word: Covid. At almost the exact same time that Chapek took the reigns, the parks system was hit with its biggest crisis in history. Think about it- Disney World had never in its history been closed for more than a day at a time and right when Chapek took over, every park on earth was closed for months. No cruises. No movies. No television or sports. Every division of his new company was shuttered. What exactly did we expect at this point, folks? Then Iger came riding in on a white horse offering to help. But ask yourself honestly: what good did that do, exactly? Nothing changed. Neither Chapek nor Iger had a magic wand (or pixie dust) that would make all the Covid issues go away faster. They just had to be muddled through.

So in closing (because I'm suddenly on chapter 8 of a novel), let me address the two biggest specific complaints: cancelled projects and cost increases. Both of these issues come down to the same thing: supply and demand. For the same reasons your home project during covid took three times as long and cost four times as much so did Disney's. There simply wasn't- and still isn't- enough labor and supplies out there for Disney to do everything it's promised at this point. And yes- everything costs more now. And there are less benefits for what you pay. I don't like it either. But again- it's not because Chapek is a bad guy. EVERYTHING costs more now. Disney isn't making a terribly larger profit margin than they were previously. They're just passing on their cost increases to their customers exactly like grocery stores and every other industry is.

So there you have it. Chapek is in my opinion doing a perfectly acceptable job under the circumstances he (and we all) have to live under right now. It would be no different under Bob Iger or Walt himself.

None of us knows what goes on behind the scenes, so it’s all speculation on our parts. Really, time is the only thing that will reveal, in hindsight, how things went.

With covid, somebody had to make the “hard choices” to recover and keep things going. And there are always going to be some realities that are not well received.

Of course, perception is all part of the job. How people feel about a product - especially an entertainment product - is arguably the most important thing. And they know it too since many Disney surveys I receive have questions about how I feel: do I feel that I’m treated specialty at the park, do I feel like Disney is the best, do I feel like I get a good value, etc.

They can raise prices and cut services all they want (and they do) but they also need to make sure guests feel that they are still getting good value for what they are paying - and that’s the area that perhaps they should’ve put a little more effort into, especially knowing that they were going to be making some of these potentially unpopular choices due to the economic realities of covid or whatever else.

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, you know.

I certainly understand that hard choices were going to be made by whoever was in charge, I just wish they put a little more effort into that spoonful of sugar to let everybody know that they still held the guest experience in high regard.

I think that’s where they’ve dropped the ball a bit and that’s why so many people are upset, and that anger gets directed at Chapek.

 

[Jonfw2]

I totally agree. Now that we are getting closer to normal we shall see. I believe that his performance should majorly be based on what happens from here forward.

One bone that I have to pick though is that under his leadership he did not take advantage of the closures and lower attendance by accelerating projects such as new rides and refurbs while he could. The entire Epcot project could have been completed and we would be riding the train right now. Was there unknowns because of Covid? Yes but did anyone ever think that at some point things would get back to normal. Missed opportunity that is impacting all visitors as we speak

Labor and supplies simply weren’t available.

 

[Sweettears]

Labor and supplies simply weren’t available.

I’m not sure that I agree. The labor shortage and the supply issues came long after the work stopages

 

[Jonfw2]

I’m not sure that I agree. The labor shortage and the supply issues came long after the work stopages

That’s simply untrue. The supply issues were immediate due to manufacturing capacity being caught off guard by the spike in demand and also their own Covid shutdowns. If you’re closed for six weeks, you aren’t producing anything.

And the labor shortage was only a couple of months behind.

 

[Sweettears]

That’s simply untrue. The supply issues were immediate due to manufacturing capacity being caught off guard by the spike in demand and also their own Covid shutdowns. If you’re closed for six weeks, you aren’t producing anything.

And the labor shortage was only a couple of months behind.

We’ll have to agree to disagree. No one saw what was coming at the beginning of the pandemic. Economic impacts take time to have an impact on the economy. It’s not an instant response. Decisions were made based on the information that they had. They are
the ones that halted projects and laid off staff. It wasn’t something that was forced upon them from outside.

 

[Jonfw2]

We’ll have to agree to disagree. No one saw what was coming at the beginning of the pandemic. Economic impacts take time to have an impact on the economy. It’s not an instant response. Decisions were made based on the information that they had. They are
the ones that halted projects and laid off staff. It wasn’t something that was forced upon them from outside.

Well then they made the right choice. Maybe they were psychic but they nailed it. Because within a very short time, there was both a supply and a labor shortage.

My point stands- this is why they slowed up projects.

 

[Sweettears]

Well then they made the right choice. Maybe they were psychic but they nailed it. Because within a very short time, there was both a supply and a labor shortage.

My point stands- this is why they slowed up projects.

I basically am in agreement with you and agree that he was a good choice. Just saying that there were missed opportunities. I truly believe that the Covid situation looming was the reason that Iger bailed.

I give Chapek a ton of credit for navigating through that and getting back to close to normal operations in a pretty quick time frame. Especially considering the enormity of the task

 

[Jonfw2]

I basically am in agreement with you and agree that he was a good choice. Just saying that there were missed opportunities. I truly believe that the Covid situation looming was the reason that Iger bailed.

I give Chapek a ton of credit for navigating through that and getting back to close to normal operations in a pretty quick time frame. Especially considering the enormity of the task

Well said!

 

[DL1WDW2]

Why does it seem that only Disney slowed up projects in response to Covid ?
Construction on many projects in the Orlando area did not come to an automatic halt … Swan Reserve for one example and Disney continued to build the hill that was needed to hide the new Star Wars Hotel construction.
Some of the reactions to Covid were a convenient excuse .
And the focus on tech solutions to aggravate Disney Visits …Is that a good thing ? It just feels Mean and Disney is being mean in a very mean way.

 

[john7994]

Why does it seem that only Disney slowed up projects in response to Covid ?
Construction on many projects in the Orlando area did not come to an automatic halt … Swan Reserve for one example and Disney continued to build the hill that was needed to hide the new Star Wars Hotel construction.
Some of the reactions to Covid were a convenient excuse .
And the focus on tech solutions to aggravate Disney Visits …Is that a good thing ? It just feels Mean and Disney is being mean in a very mean way.

Yup, only Disney did and they did it to be mean - only possible and logical conclusion.