Bob Iger Returns/Disney CEO Thread (2022)

[Mad Dog]

Lots of pretty heavy price increases at Disneyland and fairly large AP increases at WDW today. Disney just doesn't 'get it' anymore. They 'take it' instead.

 

[Grabnar]

Lots of pretty heavy price increases at Disneyland and fairly large AP increases at WDW today. Disney just doesn't 'get it' anymore. They 'take it' instead.

I’m glad I got my tickets for the run weekends ahead of time, pretty substantial increase!

 

[Mad Dog]

I’m glad I got my tickets for the run weekends ahead of time, pretty substantial increase!

I just purchased 4 nine day tickets for the June vacation with the grandkids. Even though they didn't increase WDW theme park tickets, besides the water park increase, I'm not taking a chance that they won't sneak in another increase between now and then. Crazy. Demand is down for them, they're running deals to try to fill empty hotel rooms and under attendance projections, yet they increase prices way above the present national 3.7 % inflation rate.

 

[Grabnar]

I just purchased 4 nine day tickets for the June vacation with the grandkids. Even though they didn't increase WDW theme park tickets, besides the water park increase, I'm not taking a chance that they won't sneak in another increase between now and then. Crazy. Demand is down for them, they're running deals to try to fill empty hotel rooms and under attendance projections, yet they increase prices way above the present national 3.4 % inflation rate.

I think they're trying to rely on whales to make up some of that margin, tbh. They know that a certain number of people are going to come regardless of price, you might as well gouge them for all its worth to make up for everything else going to hell.

 

[JungleSkip]

I just purchased 4 nine day tickets for the June vacation with the grandkids. Even though they didn't increase WDW theme park tickets, besides the water park increase, I'm not taking a chance that they won't sneak in another increase between now and then. Crazy. Demand is down for them, they're running deals to try to fill empty hotel rooms and under attendance projections, yet they increase prices way above the present national 3.7 % inflation rate.

Attendance is down and they might drive more people away with raising prices?

Sounds like the ideal time to go back to WDW to me!

 

[Mad Dog]

Attendance is down and they might drive more people away with raising prices?

Sounds like the ideal time to go back to WDW to me!

I completely agree. Probably the main reason they offered so many WDW discounts the past few weeks, many extending into summer of 2024, is that their projections are not looking good. Generally, their discounts don't go that far in advance. Plus Universal isn't particularly attractive until the second half of 2024 when they start bringing back all the stuff they closed down. So, I'm booked for Disney in June, and like it was during my trip in late April 2023, lines should be comfortable. I'd go to Disney in late April or May, but we're taking two of the young grandkids, so we can't go until school is over.....

 

[Nico]

 

[Jerroddragon]

lol

The fact that Iger gets paid millions stil....is insane. I have no idea what value he is bringing to the company

Remember most if not all films coming out now were "made" under him, Disney Plus was his baby and so on. I wish I could lose my company that much money and just get paid millions

Edit: took out green lite and changed it to made

 

[Nick]

lol

The fact that Iger gets paid millions stil....is insane. I have no idea what value he is bringing to the company

Remember most if not all films coming out now were greenlight under him, Disney Plus was his baby and so on. I wish I could lose my company that much money and just get paid millions

That’s actually false. If you comb through it, almost all films were green lit under Chapek, but whether they were Greenlit under Iger is irrelevant bc they were *developed* under Chapek meaning had he actually paid attention to the products being made, they could’ve been scrapped before or reworked in preproduction before things got so bad.

 

[Jerroddragon]

That’s actually false. If you comb through it, almost all films were green lit under Chapek, but whether they were Greenlit under Iger is irrelevant bc they were *developed* under Chapek meaning had he actually paid attention to the products being made, they could’ve been scrapped before or reworked in preproduction before things got so bad.

So they lied about wish being 50 years in the making? lol

I changed my statement but as you said Iger could have still done something after, also I guess I'm surprised to see Iger didn't green lite these films.....2020 was the pandemic so.....most of the films coming out now I thought would have been in the Oven before then.

 

[quinnmac000]

That’s actually false. If you comb through it, almost all films were green lit under Chapek, but whether they were Greenlit under Iger is irrelevant bc they were *developed* under Chapek meaning had he actually paid attention to the products being made, they could’ve been scrapped before or reworked in preproduction before things got so bad.

Bob Iger stepped down in Febraury 2020. So projects in production/post-production I would say don't fall under Chapek's fault unless you want a WB level issues where they were pretty much scrapping finished films/ or risk pulling a Solo where they have to refilm everything. Looking at the record if you look at films that came out over the past two years; majority were in production/post when Iger was president. The main thing I don't blame Iger/Chapek either on is Marvel; Marvel got treated by both as a somewhat independent entity so i'm not gonna put blame on either CEO for Kevin Feige issues.

For looking at the past year:
TLM was casted and started filming back in 2019....Can't blame that on Chapek as Iger was still CEO
You can't blame Indy on Chapek because that was supposed to come out back in 2020.
Strange World can't blame on Chapek because it was greenlight and already having development/productions issues back in 2019 when who was still CEO...oh yeah Iger
Haunted Mansion; 100% under Chapek
Pinocchio was script and concept. 100% under Chapek
Elemental production was done under Chapek so the highest grossing Disney movie this year is because of Chapek
Wish was announced under Chapek.

Looking at the score card: 3 Flops were due to Chapek; 3 Flops were due to Iger; and 1 moderate success was due to Chapek.

Chapek and Iger are essentially the same person; just Iger had a better PR team.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Bob Iger stepped down in Febraury 2020. So projects in production/post-production I would say don't fall under Chapek's fault unless you want a WB level issues where they were pretty much scrapping finished films/ or risk pulling a Solo where they have to refilm everything. Looking at the record if you look at films that came out over the past two years; majority were in production/post when Iger was president. The main thing I don't blame Iger/Chapek either on is Marvel; Marvel got treated by both as a somewhat independent entity so i'm not gonna put blame on either CEO for Kevin Feige issues.

For looking at the past year:
TLM was casted and started filming back in 2019....Can't blame that on Chapek as Iger was still CEO
You can't blame Indy on Chapek because that was supposed to come out back in 2020.
Strange World can't blame on Chapek because it was greenlight and already having development/productions issues back in 2019 when who was still CEO...oh yeah Iger
Haunted Mansion; 100% under Chapek
Pinocchio was script and concept. 100% under Chapek
Elemental production was done under Chapek so the highest grossing Disney movie this year is because of Chapek
Wish was announced under Chapek.

Looking at the score card: 3 Flops were due to Chapek; 3 Flops were due to Iger; and 1 moderate success was due to Chapek.

Chapek and Iger are essentially the same person; just Iger had a better PR team.

Plus Iger over paid for Fox, now has to buy out Hulu and wanted Disney Plus....and that just eats money.

I'd love to hear the last good thing Iger really did

 

[Nick]

Bob Iger stepped down in Febraury 2020. So projects in production/post-production I would say don't fall under Chapek's fault unless you want a WB level issues where they were pretty much scrapping finished films/ or risk pulling a Solo where they have to refilm everything. Looking at the record if you look at films that came out over the past two years; majority were in production/post when Iger was president. The main thing I don't blame Iger/Chapek either on is Marvel; Marvel got treated by both as a somewhat independent entity so i'm not gonna put blame on either CEO for Kevin Feige issues.

For looking at the past year:
TLM was casted and started filming back in 2019....Can't blame that on Chapek as Iger was still CEO
You can't blame Indy on Chapek because that was supposed to come out back in 2020.
Strange World can't blame on Chapek because it was greenlight and already having development/productions issues back in 2019 when who was still CEO...oh yeah Iger
Haunted Mansion; 100% under Chapek
Pinocchio was script and concept. 100% under Chapek
Elemental production was done under Chapek so the highest grossing Disney movie this year is because of Chapek
Wish was announced under Chapek.

Looking at the score card: 3 Flops were due to Chapek; 3 Flops were due to Iger; and 1 moderate success was due to Chapek.

Chapek and Iger are essentially the same person; just Iger had a better PR team.

I’m not talking about everything under Chapek. I was talking about this year. This year’s slate was almost wholly Chapek approved/developed. I’m not saying anything should’ve been scrapped after being finished. I’m saying this stuff should’ve been sniffed out earlier on.

 

[Grabnar]

I mean quibbling about who greenlit what project is reductive, the issue is the company culture is monolithic, out of touch, and unable to pivot to match current trends in any meaningful way. They got lucky buying companies that were doing well before they started giving more input and putting Iger/Chapek associated execs in place.

This is very much an Iger problem, he is responsible for the culture that they’re in now.

 

[queenmetroid]

Even if you put aside the movie slate for a moment, there's also the way Iger approached the writer's strike; word is he threw tantrums and was basically a massive jerk. Even if you liked him before, that's not going to win you any popularity contests. Disney can spin the movie slate as not Iger's fault, but you're really not on top if people start mentioning you in the same breath as Zaslav. On top of that, it's going to be very difficult to blame the park performance on Chapek as well; Galaxy's Edge was an Iger baby, and the lack of underinvestment in 2020 - 2022 is going to hit Iger hard in a two to three years. Disney is Disney and they will endure regardless, but there's no question that they ignored Epic Universe for far too long, and Peltz will make life difficult if Disney cedes ground to Universal. The recent park investment announcement is not a coincidence.

I'd love to hear the last good thing Iger really did

He gave us delicious A1 could-be-aired-on-HBO drama.

 

[Nick]

I mean quibbling about who greenlit what project is reductive, the issue is the company culture is monolithic, out of touch, and unable to pivot to match current trends in any meaningful way. They got lucky buying companies that were doing well before they started giving more input and putting Iger/Chapek associated execs in place.

This is very much an Iger problem, he is responsible for the culture that they’re in now.

Oh I agree. I don’t care who’s fault any of this mess is, but they need to clean house to figure out where the problems actually are and look inward at what they are and aren’t doing that is and isn’t resonating with moviegoers.

Yes, theatrical moviegoing is down and some blame goes to Chapek’s D+ strategy… but Iger hasn’t tried to publicly change that Chapek era perception of “I’ll just wait for the film to come to Disney+ in a few months”. Hell, people don’t even seem to care that some of these movies exist let alone wait for Disney+.

D+ is not the only issue, marketing has gone downhill, overall quality, etc. Also, stop being archaic as hell.

 

[tielo]

Don't forget Iger choose Chapek as a successor so everything (kind off) is his doing.
Worst thing is Disney doesn't have a replacement for Iger. There is no Michael Eisner like person in the company, if there was Iger would have kicked him out long ago.

 

[Nick]

The squabbling over whose fault it is is pointless. Chapek was a dumpster fire and Iger also helped the company get to this position.

It’s about how they right the ship, not who is to blame.

 

[tielo]

The squabbling over whose fault it is is pointless. Chapek was a dumpster fire and Iger also helped the company get to this position.

It’s about how they right the ship, not who is to blame.

When there is an incident one should find the underlying problem to make a change.

 

[Nick]

When there is an incident one should find the underlying problem to make a change.

I have said this in quite a few posts now and feel like I’m losing my mind at this pointless conversation we’ve veered into.

Ultimately, we’re splitting hairs for the sake of argument. At the end of the day, both Chapek AND Iger are to blame for how we got here and it’s up to Iger to figure this all out now.