Paranoid or Chapek just being "Lex"?

[BrianL]

I don't really think they are distancing from Walt at all. The Disney name and brand is so strong, it doesn't need to always have the first name appended to it to be recognized. I think they are very protective or Walt, even reverent. Remember, it is still called "The Walt Disney Company" and the first W in WDW still stands for Walt.

 

[SaintsManiac]

How many people complaining about Chapek have trips booked? Just curious.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Chapek was elevated to CEO because the moment called for a more ruthless, for lack of a better word, leader for Disney. Between streaming taking off, aggressive changes to staffing, and the looming pandemic, it was necessary for Disney.

Say what you will but he’s making all the right moves for stakeholders who don’t care about wait times or ride openings or spring roll cart availability. He’s extremely cocky with the parks product they have and he’s willing to gamble that people will still come for a slightly less than version.

 

[AvidDisReader]

I'm guessing you don't buy it when many have said that a lot of the cuts were planned before Covid. Covid gave them a reason to do it quicker

Now that is a good question. Yes, I think there was some discussion on what WDW needed to change (prefer that word to cut). I believe these kind of discussions go on all the time. The Parks should never be static. Here is the Key to me, when something goes what do you replace it with. So there is the rub, would Chapek REPLACE attractions with new attractions-that is what I need to know before I go full bore against him.

 

[RamblingMad]

How many people complaining about Chapek have trips booked? Just curious.

No trips booked. Going to NPs this year.

 

[Jrb1979]

How many people complaining about Chapek have trips booked? Just curious.

No trips planned for awhile. Part of that is due to the border being closed. The other is I just did Disney a couple of years ago. There is many other parks I want to visit before going back again.

 

[OSUZorba]

As CEO, it's Chapek's job to fall on the sword and keep the shareholders and board members happy. Imagine you owned a large stake in Disney during the pandemic and he announced "we're going to keep sinking money into the parks" during a pandemic when the parks are known to not be doing well.

I don't think this means we're going to visit and there's gonna be trash all over the place or that entertainment will never return. I think Disney will seriously contemplate changes at the parks before updating or adding anything. Don't count on many or any new resorts or attraction announcements in the next few years. But the existing projects should be completed (even if the deadline is pushed)

Really holding back the new attractions is a very smart move. Allows you to open something new when things return to "normal" without expending more capex.

I was there last week, and it was obvious they spent a lot of money making the parks feel safe and making the social distancing work as well as possible. At this point in time, that is much more important than announcing a new ride for 2024. There were also a few places you could notice less employees, like few stroller handlers. But the rides themselves seemed more staffed than normal, definitely not less staffed.

I'm nervous about Chapek, but at the moment I think he is making the right calls for the company.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Really holding back the new attractions is a very smart move. Allows you to open something new when things return to "normal" without expending more capex.

I was there last week, and it was obvious they spent a lot of money making the parks feel safe and making the social distancing work as well as possible. At this point in time, that is much more important than announcing a new ride for 2024. There were also a few places you could notice less employees, like few stroller handlers. But the rides themselves seemed more staffed than normal, definitely not less staffed.

I'm nervous about Chapek, but at the moment I think he is making the right calls for the company.

I agree wholeheartedly. I'm a bit nervous about what Chapek means for the parks and attractions, but also think he's perfect for this stage of Disney. Believe it or not, I think Disney was in the growth stage during Iger's run. They needed a CEO to guide them through the Theme Park wars as Universal continued to bolster their parks - and that's exactly what the team did.

Now I believe they're in the sustain stage, as far as parks go. They have moved their attention to Netflix and streaming, as literally every other entertainment holding company has done. Their focus will very much be DTC for the next few years—and I think any updates in the parks will IP-driven. You'll see more of their IP and Disney+ content infused into the parks: something as little as WandaVision cakes in Amorette's to existing attraction layovers.

You're also gonna see a lot more merch. I think this is already happening, we're just not hearing about it as much because there's not as many people in the parks, but some vloggers have called out the new ears in the parks.

 

[Eric Smith]

I agree wholeheartedly. I'm a bit nervous about what Chapek means for the parks and attractions, but also think he's perfect for this stage of Disney. Believe it or not, I think Disney was in the growth stage during Iger's run. They needed a CEO to guide them through the Theme Park wars as Universal continued to bolster their parks - and that's exactly what the team did.

Now I believe they're in the sustain stage, as far as parks go. They have moved their attention to Netflix and streaming, as literally every other entertainment holding company has done. Their focus will very much be DTC for the next few years—and I think any updates in the parks will IP-driven. You'll see more of their IP and Disney+ content infused into the parks: something as little as WandaVision cakes in Amorette's to existing attraction layovers.

You're also gonna see a lot more merch. I think this is already happening, we're just not hearing about it as much because there's not as many people in the parks, but some vloggers have called out the new ears in the parks.

I'm all for more merch. I like what Disney has done in that department over the past few years.

 

[RamblingMad]

I'm all for more merch. I like what Disney has done in that department over the past few years.

I don’t. The quality of their merch has dropped considerably.

 

[Missingmypooh]

I don’t. The quality of their merch has dropped considerably.

seriously! I have plushes and a few Disney World toys from when I was a kid... but everything I’ve gotten my kids has fallen apart, broken, or come apart at the seams. Even the 50 dollar dresses barely hold up and I baby them.

so the kids get Disney crocs now or balloons, and I ain’t even complaining

 

[Moliphino]

I mostly buy mugs and Christmas ornaments, but I've been really happy with them over the past few years. I also just got the most wonderfully soft and warm sleep shirt from ShopDisney, I actually went back and got a second when they had a free shipping day.

 

[RamblingMad]

seriously! I have plushes and a few Disney World toys from when I was a kid... but everything I’ve gotten my kids has fallen apart, broken, or come apart at the seams. Even the 50 dollar dresses barely hold up and I baby them.

so the kids get Disney crocs now or balloons, and I ain’t even complaining

What has held up for us is the Disney blankets we always end up buying for fireworks. And that’s setting the bar really low.

 

[BrianL]

With merch it depends what it is. Some stuff is great, though it tends to be the higher-end stuff. Anyway, people get all bent out of shape over too much merch but, I mean, you don't have to buy it! I know, sometimes it's hard - I can go into MEmento Mori or Wondergorund Gallery and I can feel my wallet hurting, but you can pick and choose. Merch is just part of the whole operation.

 

[AngieInOH]

I don’t. The quality of their merch has dropped considerably.

Completely agree. We purchased a $45 pair of sweatpants and after one wear they're full of ratty looking balls. I expect to pay the exorbitant prices, but at least give me a decent quality item.

 

[Missingmypooh]

With merch it depends what it is. Some stuff is great, though it tends to be the higher-end stuff. Anyway, people get all bent out of shape over too much merch but, I mean, you don't have to buy it! I know, sometimes it's hard - I can go into MEmento Mori or Wondergorund Gallery and I can feel my wallet hurting, but you can pick and choose. Merch is just part of the whole operation.

For those locals or people with a car/ride share, there is the character warehouse in Orlando (well there’s two) where all the higher end (and lower end) items end up at 40-80% off the price (usually)

it’s always busy, and yes, people rope drop the stores, but some of the deals are really nice considering the quality is lower.

We also really like the Disney store inside target. I normally grab a few shirts and kids hats/ears there, so when they start unraveling at the seams I’m not mad about it. I think the kids ears were 12 dollars? And shirts were around 15. It’s been a few months since I’ve headed over there, but they had some nicer leggings that really held up well.

 

[Heather07438]

We've been disappointed more times than not with Disney product purchases the past 2 or 3 years. 60% disappointing; 25% extremely disappointing. I will no longer buy anything sight unseen. No more shopDisney for us, no more subscriptions either.

 

[ford91exploder]

Let me say when it was first announced Chapek was taking over, I was disappointed as he was known as a bean counter. That being said, to keep everything afloat I understand the need to cut back significantly, after all even with the cutback the Theme Parks Lost money in the last quarter. That being said it just is not fair to judge Chapek at this time (like trying to criticize a new coach taking over mid year on a last place team and getting angry because your team is still losing). He is trying to manage with 2 of his biggest business segments (movies and theme parks) handicapped by the Pandemic. Now once things open up and there are still ongoing cutbacks or low re investment in the parks, I will be the first to offer criticism.

No reasonable person would expect that during the covid pandemic that Disney would make significant investments in the parks.

Now you could also respond because construction is cheap now it would be an ideal time to complete construction projects so when demand returns as it will the parks will be ready.

the problem here is that once demand returns Disney plans to have much leaner staffing levels in the parks, Most of those 28000 people laid off are not coming back, You will see more automation (those awful photopass boxes anyone, or the ‘rapid fill mug system’) just think of all the worst bits of machines replacing people and you will find em at Disney going forward and all because the bobs want Disney to be a growth stock which means ever increasing prices and ever decreasing products and services to the paying customer. The key here is Disney has decided that its ‘real’ customer is wall st, not the people who pay thousands for vacations. And every time we collectively buy a Disney product we reward this wall street over guest mentality.

 

[ford91exploder]

How many people complaining about Chapek have trips booked? Just curious.

I’ve been complaining about Chapek since day 1 and have not had a Disney trip since 2016, so ya im serious about putting my money where my mouth is.

 

[ford91exploder]

Completely agree. We purchased a $45 pair of sweatpants and after one wear they're full of ratty looking balls. I expect to pay the exorbitant prices, but at least give me a decent quality item.

Quality items and decently paid workers are not the Wall Street way, If public companies actually sold quality items and paid workers decently. Why the people working on wall st would not be able to afford that new Yacht and the Ferrari California every year...