Why Chapek is to blame? (Why not D’Amaro or others?)

[PBB]

Iger, Chapek and Damaro are all to blame……..In 2 years, Chapek has destroyed the two biggest assets of The Walt Disney Company “Branding and Goodwill”. We are leaving Friday for a WDW vacation and this is the first time since April, 1972 I am not looking forward to it. We have owned DVC at OKW since 1998. I have gone 75-80 times in my lifetime. We are not renewing our AP and more thank likely will use our DVC points elsewhere or we will rent them and then sell.

Chapek has destroyed the parks. They are trashed, the rides are breaking down because they lack maintenance. The CM’s are not being trained. The CP program is a joke. College students can learn to flip burgers or make beds at home.

Going to WDW is not about what new ride or experience have they created? Now, it is what else have they stopped doing ? Remember how many corporate sponsors there were in Epcot? Do you notice how they don’t renew their sponsorship?

The Goodwill and the Brand Walt and Roy Disney laid the foundations and Eisner, Wells and Katzenburg built upon have been destroyed my Iger and Chapek are now sinking fast in the Florida mud. I believe the worse acquisition Eisner and Iger did was ABC. ABC is nothing but their political mouthpiece. What have they done in 20 years? Nothing…….Now, Disney has pissed off 85% off their customer. When Disney loses their customers they lose generations of customers. All because Chapek played in the middle of the political road and got run over! We invested 2 years in Dis 2 years ago at $123 a share. In 2 years our stock has not made a dime on paper. i can’t imagine all the institutional investors who have put Millions into DIS and has to explain to their Board and their clients why they put Millions in a company who has failed to make them a dime. I hope Disney enjoys kissing the rears of all the local politicians they have ignored and treated with disdain. Disney will now have to ask permission to build a hotel or ride because Chapek couldn’t shut his mouth. He should be fired this week!

 

[rpfennig]

I'm curious if it would make things better or worse for Chapek's reputation if he looked at the current situation and said "Oh, you want to do this? We're doing this."

1) We're shutting down the parks for the day on November 8th, 2022 so all our employees have the opportunity to vote
2) on November 9th we'll be offering a steep discount on Florida Resident Annual Passes to celebrate "the guy who is giving us grief got voted out"*
3) we're going to throw the party we should have thrown for the 50th anniversary and it is going to be Epic, like nothing you've seen in this Universe for Florida residents*

*provided "the guy who is giving us grief" gets voted out on November 8th

Don't mess with the mouse, you'll get the horns... okay, that doesn't quite work... but something like that...

 

[dreamer17555]

I’m going to adjust my answer- right now with what is happening with Reedy Creek and not a word from leadership? Not any movement or strong stance? That’s all on Bob.

 

[dreamer17555]

I'm curious if it would make things better or worse for Chapek's reputation if he looked at the current situation and said "Oh, you want to do this? We're doing this."

1) We're shutting down the parks for the day on November 8th, 2022 so all our employees have the opportunity to vote
2) on November 9th we'll be offering a steep discount on Florida Resident Annual Passes to celebrate "the guy who is giving us grief got voted out"*
3) we're going to throw the party we should have thrown for the 50th anniversary and it is going to be Epic, like nothing you've seen in this Universe for Florida residents*

*provided "the guy who is giving us grief" gets voted out on November 8th

Don't mess with the mouse, you'll get the horns... okay, that doesn't quite work... but something like that...

I would personally respect him more for it. Right now it’s crickets.

 

[jerry557]

I would personally respect him more for it. Right now it’s crickets.

Someone probably told him to shut up. Especially with a few news articles out there with suggestions that Iger should come back.

 

[dreamer17555]

Someone probably told him to shut up. Especially with a few news articles out there with suggestions that Iger should come back.

Those articles have been out since he first started; he’s been wildly unpopular for a while. And I totally understand someone telling him to shut up. But right now the company isn’t looking like It is coming from a place of strength at all. It is really bad optics.

I’m sure there’s more going on behind the scenes but publicly it seems like a leadership vacuum.

 

[jade1]

Someone probably told him to shut up. Especially with a few news articles out there with suggestions that Iger should come back.

 

[eleven24]

Iger, Chapek and Damaro are all to blame……..In 2 years, Chapek has destroyed the two biggest assets of The Walt Disney Company “Branding and Goodwill”. We are leaving Friday for a WDW vacation and this is the first time since April, 1972 I am not looking forward to it. We have owned DVC at OKW since 1998. I have gone 75-80 times in my lifetime. We are not renewing our AP and more thank likely will use our DVC points elsewhere or we will rent them and then sell.

Chapek has destroyed the parks. They are trashed, the rides are breaking down because they lack maintenance. The CM’s are not being trained. The CP program is a joke. College students can learn to flip burgers or make beds at home.

Going to WDW is not about what new ride or experience have they created? Now, it is what else have they stopped doing ? Remember how many corporate sponsors there were in Epcot? Do you notice how they don’t renew their sponsorship?

The Goodwill and the Brand Walt and Roy Disney laid the foundations and Eisner, Wells and Katzenburg built upon have been destroyed my Iger and Chapek are now sinking fast in the Florida mud. I believe the worse acquisition Eisner and Iger did was ABC. ABC is nothing but their political mouthpiece. What have they done in 20 years? Nothing…….Now, Disney has pissed off 85% off their customer. When Disney loses their customers they lose generations of customers. All because Chapek played in the middle of the political road and got run over! We invested 2 years in Dis 2 years ago at $123 a share. In 2 years our stock has not made a dime on paper. i can’t imagine all the institutional investors who have put Millions into DIS and has to explain to their Board and their clients why they put Millions in a company who has failed to make them a dime. I hope Disney enjoys kissing the rears of all the local politicians they have ignored and treated with disdain. Disney will now have to ask permission to build a hotel or ride because Chapek couldn’t shut his mouth. He should be fired this week!

Right, because a political party punishing a company for taking an opposite stance on a controversial social issue and labeling that company as pedophiles is all completely normal. Sometimes it's best to just remain quiet instead of getting into a war of words with a lunatic and the lunatics that follow him.

 

[Jrb1979]

Right, because a political party punishing a company for taking an opposite stance on a controversial social issue and labeling that company as pedophiles is all completely normal. Sometimes it's best to just remain quiet instead of getting into a war of words with a lunatic and the lunatics that follow him.

All I know is it looks good on them for everything that's happening. As some one who doesn't share the love of Disney like most here do I look at it from a different perspective and compare to other parks. Other parks treat their guests much better and go out of their way for pass holders. You add in all the up charges thats going on and I am amazed people continue to go.

I have 1 question and it is why don't you like places like Cedar Point, Dollywood or Silver Dollar City?

 

[B1GxFOOT]

I'm curious if it would make things better or worse for Chapek's reputation if he looked at the current situation and said "Oh, you want to do this? We're doing this."

1) We're shutting down the parks for the day on November 8th, 2022 so all our employees have the opportunity to vote
2) on November 9th we'll be offering a steep discount on Florida Resident Annual Passes to celebrate "the guy who is giving us grief got voted out"*
3) we're going to throw the party we should have thrown for the 50th anniversary and it is going to be Epic, like nothing you've seen in this Universe for Florida residents*

*provided "the guy who is giving us grief" gets voted out on November 8th

Don't mess with the mouse, you'll get the horns... okay, that doesn't quite work... but something like that...

The problem with this approach is that it continues the same fallacy that got him into trouble in the first place. It assumes that all its employees feel the same way about whatever press release corporate management chooses to release. They don't. It assumes everyone in FL will want to celebrate a particular outcome. They won't. At best, 50% will agree and likely, once you factor in the number of people who don't give a crap and just want to be left alone, the number will be much, much smaller.

This is why they should have just stayed out of the discussion in the first place. You risk pissing off 1/2 of your customers and possibly 1/2 of your employees. And what did you get for that trouble? Disney is organized to produce services and products that the greatest number of people will want to buy. You don't ask your church to build a car or the girl scouts to draft legislation. That's not what they were organized to do.

I feel a bit sorry for Chapek as he didn't ask for this controversy, it was thrust upon him by a Twitter mob. However, he's paid to understand how to deal with these issues when they come up, and he clearly was out of his depth. The best thing he could do now, is nothing. Stop trying to show everyone how big your **lls are and leave it to others to act like children. This Reedy thing ultimately won't go anywhere. It's just a publicity stunt. Focus on your job and what your company is designed to create. This can only distract you and cost your company money and you your job. Which some may want anyway.

 

[DeeBee3]

Large corporations have long-term goals and short-term goals. Some of this is Chapek's doing and some of it is the general direction and view of the company prior to him taking the helm. It takes time for changes to go into effect. Not everything is done instantly when Chapek makes a decision, or Iger or whomever.

My trip in 2019 was amazing, but honestly, so was my trip in August 2021. They were amazing for different reasons. In 2019 both my kids got to enjoy "the world" - my youngest for the 1st time. It was "magical." In 2021, we were just so down from being home and out of school for a full year that it was just awesome to be in another place, especially one we have an attachment to. There were also lesser crowds as compared to my most recent April trip. The covid shutdown really affected us because we live in NY, and my kids lost a lot of social time and school time. Traveling anywhere would have been great.

 

[jerry557]

Right, because a political party punishing a company for taking an opposite stance on a controversial social issue and labeling that company as pedophiles is all completely normal. Sometimes it's best to just remain quiet instead of getting into a war of words with a lunatic and the lunatics that follow him.

There is always going to be consequences when a company takes a strong and loud political position on such a controversial issue. You may anger half your customers, the politicians get angry, the employees get angry, the shareholders get angry, or you may even provoke some rich guy like Elon Musk try to buy the company in a hostile takeover. Regardless what you think a corporation should have free speech, it can be very dangerous and the repercussions are not easy to predict, especially these days with fast-moving social media. It’s why many companies try to stay as apolitical and neutral as they can be….at least publicly. Otherwise they become a target.

 

[ThornXBL]

There is always going to be consequences when a company takes a strong and loud political position on such a controversial issue. You may anger half your customers, the politicians get angry, the employees get angry, the shareholders get angry, or you may even provoke some rich guy like Elon Musk try to buy the company in a hostile takeover. Regardless what you think a corporation should have free speech, it can be very dangerous and the repercussions are not easy to predict, especially these days with fast-moving social media. It’s why many companies try to stay as apolitical and neutral as they can be….at least publicly. Otherwise they become a target.

I don't disagree with your conclusion at the end there. But I think Disney's issue is that being silent on a controversial issue like this is itself a political position (I'd say the same thing about companies silent on oppression/labor camps while pushing into China). And even silent positions can ring "loud" to the LGBT+ employees of his company + community at large. Which is what led to Chapek's course-correction attempt.

I feel a bit sorry for Chapek as he didn't ask for this controversy, it was thrust upon him by a Twitter mob.

In this case I'd say it was more of his own employees that pushed him to do anything. Does Chapek even have a twitter account?

 

[Letsoflyakite]

Chapek needs to shut up, let his public relations people handle...public relations, and create/innovate and give the consumers a high quality product that they want to spend their money on over and over again.

 

[eleven24]

All I know is it looks good on them for everything that's happening. As some one who doesn't share the love of Disney like most here do I look at it from a different perspective and compare to other parks. Other parks treat their guests much better and go out of their way for pass holders. You add in all the up charges thats going on and I am amazed people continue to go.

I have 1 question and it is why don't you like places like Cedar Point, Dollywood or Silver Dollar City?

Disney is about their attention to detail. Every aspect of the park, especially Magic Kingdom, has some story behind it. Many may not see or care about things like the lamp posts on Main Street starting as oil burning and ending as electric to represent progress. We do. It's that attention to detail that carries over to the experience, which is something we don't find elsewhere. We could go 100x to Disney and still come home having learned something new... and that's why we continue to go. It's always different. It's always new.

As far as parks treating their guests better, I can only compare to Universal and Six Flags parks and I have found the exact opposite to be true. Doesn't make it fact, just makes it our experience.

 

[eleven24]

There is always going to be consequences when a company takes a strong and loud political position on such a controversial issue. You may anger half your customers, the politicians get angry, the employees get angry, the shareholders get angry, or you may even provoke some rich guy like Elon Musk try to buy the company in a hostile takeover. Regardless what you think a corporation should have free speech, it can be very dangerous and the repercussions are not easy to predict, especially these days with fast-moving social media. It’s why many companies try to stay as apolitical and neutral as they can be….at least publicly. Otherwise they become a target.

Let's be honest here. The repercussions didn't come because Disney took a public stand against Desantis. They came because Disney threatened to withhold campaign donations based on taking a side on a social issue. Politically, it's also a shrewd move to create a fire with Disney to distract from other legislation being pushed through as well.

 

[IanDLBZF from MCMagic]

Iger, Chapek and Damaro are all to blame…

I can partially blame Megan Crofton and Tom Staggs as well.

 

[wannabef]

I have 1 question and it is why don't you like places like Cedar Point, Dollywood or Silver Dollar City?

I love Dollywood. I think Herschend is now the industry leader in guest relations, friendliness, and cleanliness. However, their parks don't have the one thing that sets Disney apart: copious numbers of dark rides and attractions for people who can't do coasters. Even with the parks dirtier than I've ever seen them, crowds larger than expected, some dubious crowd management, and the expense of Genie+, our recent trip to WDW was fantastic. But I really do want all those little things to come back. Those little things are where the "magic" is.

 

[krsb09]

Because D'Amaro is "hot", and Chapek isn't. I wish I was joking.

 

[jerry557]

Here’s the lesson to be learned… CEOs and executives run their companies. But they do not run the government.

Disney had enough issues on their plate as it is. There is a lot of debt to pay back. Projects started before the pandemic are struggling to get done. Investors are worried about Disney+ subscription numbers. Universal is moving forward building a new park. The stock keeps dropping and now the worst stock on the Dow. Many customers are not happy with price hikes and Genie+, etc, etc. But now a much bigger problem has landed in the company’s lap. And some suggest the company could lose tens of millions of dollars a year because of it.

Maybe the board should solve some of these bigger problems that they have the ability to control before jumping into political culture wars they have no control over. Disney can’t change that law. And they can’t change the political environment in Florida. I understand some cast members were angry. But the people you need to talk to are voters and lawmakers, not Bob Chapek.