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Credit: DisneyIn the 100 years since Walt Disney and his brother Roy created The Walt Disney Company — originally called Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio — it has become one of the most successful and admired companies in the world.
It has created some of the most successful and iconic movies, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Frozen (2013), and Encanto (2021).
Related: Disney Legend Seeks to Redefine Disney Animation in New Film
In 1955, Walt and Roy also changed the theme park industry by bringing Walt’s dream to life with the opening of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. Since then, Disneyland Resort has expanded and now includes Disney California Adventure Park and the Downtown Disney Resort.
There are also five other theme parks around the world. Guests can visit Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, as well as Tokyo Disneyland, Shanghai Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland.
The Early Iger Years
In 1995, The Walt Disney Company purchased ABC, where Bob Iger was serving as President and Chief Operating Officer. During his time at the top of ABC, he greenlit some of the network’s most iconic shows, including Twin Peaks and America’s Funniest Home Videos, which is still on the air today.
Disney was happy with Mr. Iger’s performance and decided to keep him on as ABC’s chairman until 2000. At that point, the Mouse House decided that he could be even more valuable to them and named him the President of Walt Disney International. Five years later, he would be named the CEO of Disney, after the tumultuous departure of Michael Eisner.
Related: How Michael Eisner Improved The Walt Disney Company
Bob Iger served as CEO of The Walt Disney Company for 15 years. During that time, he was responsible for some of the company’s largest acquisitions, including Pixar Animation Studios, LucasFilm, and Marvel Studios. He was also the force behind the creation of the Shanghai Disney Resort, which opened in 2016.
The Tumultuous Chapek Years
In February 2020, Bob Iger stepped down as CEO and took on the role of Executive Chairman. Bob Iger then stepped into the CEO role, having moved up from the head of Disney’s Parks, Experiences, and Products. Sadly, Chapek’s time at Disney would never be considered successful, and he was incredibly unpopular with both guests and Disney cast members.
Related: Fans Reaffirm That Bob Chapek Knew Nothing About Disney
Of course, it wasn’t all completely on Chapek. Just one month after he became CEO, he was forced to close down all Disney theme parks and stop all film and television productions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also forced to furlough tens of thousands of employees and lay off thousands more.
However, even after the parks were reopened and people had their jobs back, he continued to do a poor job, alienating those who had supported and loved Disney for years.
Chapek’s time as CEO might best be considered the “Pay more, give less” era, and he was even nicknamed Bob “Cheapek.” Chapek eliminated popular complimentary services like the Magical Express, the FastPass program, and even free MagicBands for those staying on property.
Related: Disney Removed a Ton of Free Services, Leaving Guests Feeling Nickel and Dimed
Theme park guests also noticed a sharp decline in quality products and felt that the parks weren’t being maintained properly. The age-old adage says that you get what you pay for, but in Chapek’s case, you didn’t get anything close to what you paid for.
Perhaps one of the biggest marks against Chapek was how he handled the company’s fight against controversial Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
In March 2022, the Governor and the conservative-led state legislature announced the Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill was quickly attacked and labeled the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.” The bill did not allow educators to speak about things like sexual orientation or gender identity for grades K through 5. It has since expanded to cover all grades.
Related: Frustrated Disney Guests Hilariously Troll Bob Chapek
When the bill was first announced, it was reported that Chapek had told people that it was “irrelevant” to Disney and its business. This led to massive backlash and several major walkouts. Chapek ended up reversing course and talking strongly against the bill. Those statements launched an all-out war between Disney and DeSantis.
The war finally ended after more than two years, but during that time, DeSantis destroyed his own Presidential campaign, and Chapek lost Disney World’s right to self-governance.
Chapek’s sole focus appeared to be on one thing — how much money the shareholders were making. He didn’t appear to care about the guest experience, fans, quality, or even the people who made Disney millions.
In 2o21, Black Widow (2021) star Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for breach of contract after her new Marvel film was released in theaters and on Disney+ on the same day. In a stunning move, Chapek allowed Johansson’s earnings to be made public in an attempt to bring the public onto his side. The two sides ended up settling, but it was still not a good look for the company.
Bob Iger Not Doing Much Better
Since his return in November 2022, Mr. Iger’s time as Disney CEO has been nothing like it was the first time around. While he is definitely more personable and approachable than Bob Chapek, fans are certainly disappointed that he has seemingly not done much to reverse the damage caused by Chapek.
In 2021, Disney officials announced that the incredibly popular — and free — FastPass system would be discontinued. In its place was Disney Genie+, whose price varied daily. Right off the bat, fans hated having to pay for something that was once free. Since Iger has been back, he has not reinstated FastPass.
However, Disney Genie+ is no longer available, and the system is now called Lightning Lane MultiPass. It allows guests to book their ride reservations in advance of their Walt Disney World Resort vacation. However, one big drawback is that, currently, those traveling from outside the US cannot book in advance.
Lightning Lane MultiPass is going over about as well as Disney Genie+. Guests find themselves paying hundreds of dollars more for the service and then unable to book some of their favorite rides because all the good reservations are gone.
With regard to the Magical Express, fans have been begging for the complimentary bus service to return. It made getting to and from Orlando International Airport so much easier. Unfortunately, Iger has ignored those pleas, and guests have to figure out how to get themselves and their luggage to Disney World on their own. Yet again, spending more money on an already expensive vacation.
To give Iger some piece of credit, he did get rid of the parking fee that had been instituted at all Walt Disney World Resort hotels. However, it is important to note that Iger was the one who was in charge when the parking fee was instituted in the first place.
And we absolutely can’t forget the mess that is Disney’s Disability Access Service. For years, Disney’s DAS program was incredibly inclusive and made the vacations of thousands of people more manageable and safer. Sadly, earlier this year, Disney said that it was revamping its DAS program due to a large uptick in abuse.
Disney’s old system allowed most people with any kind of disability to use it. The new DAS system only allows for those with cognitive disabilities like autism to use it. However, there have been guests reporting getting turned down because they had high-functioning autism.
There was even one guest who went viral for her DAS denial. She was in a wheelchair and had to use a tracheotomy tube to help her breathe, but she was not disabled enough for Disney.
Disney’s new system has left thousands of guests angry and disenfranchised. Many have said that they will not go back to Disney because of the changes. Others have said that they are talking to lawyers and plan on suing the Mouse House for discrimination.
Guests have been begging Disney to use the same system as its competitor, Universal Studios. Universal works with a third-party company to handle guests with disabilities. Guests must submit a note from a doctor and fill out a form, and then they will be contacted by a Universal team member. This seems like the best way to avoid the fraud that Disney is trying to reduce.
Disney has not indicated that it plans to stray from the new DAS system. However, it might be forced to if it faces discrimination lawsuits from guests who need the Disability service but can no longer access it.
Much like Chapek, Iger is incredibly focused on making money for Disney’s shareholders. But one thing Mr. Chapek and Mr. Iger tend to forget is that happy customers make a business thrive. If the business thrives, the stock tends to do better. Disney was wildly successful for years with the free FastPass and the free Magical Express and the complimentary MagicBands.
When Iger returned to the CEO role, there were multiple reports that Disney was in much worse shape than he thought it was. He was also reportedly stressed over turning the company around. Now, he has managed to REALLY turn Disney+ around, even managing to make it profitable. And there don’t seem to be too many complaints in that department.
But if Bob Iger really wants to turn Disney around, he will listen to what the guests have to say. They are the reason Disney has been so successful for decades. Disney is struggling, and if Iger doesn’t start to make some drastic changes to improve the guest experience, there is a chance the company won’t make the comeback it needs.
Do you think Bob Iger is too much like Bob Chapek? What do you think he needs to change? Let us know in the comments!