Who is in charge of a company? The answer might seem like a no-brainer: the CEO has to be the person in charge — that’s their job, after all. But Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek seems to disagree.
Disney has seen a lot of changes recently in several different parts of the company. New ride openings, price increases, and restaurant reopenings have taken place in the theme parks; Disney+ is continuing to add new content and will soon have an ad-supported tier as well; and the company as a whole is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a BIG celebration that will kick off next year in Disneyland. Is Bob Chapek the one behind all of these changes? Or is someone else actually calling the shots?
In a recent interview with Variety, CEO Bob Chapek was asked what he thought about “strategic suggestions” being given to The Walt Disney Company concerning their future plans. The context of the question had to do with one investor who was calling for Disney to sell ESPN and invest more in Disney+ content.
In response, Chapek said that Disney’s elasticity as a brand is “amazing.” He noted that each aspect of the company had its own identity, but “they all play into a much more expansive view of what Disney is.” He went on to say, “The ultimate arbiter of what Disney can and can’t be is the fan, the viewer, the guest.”
An arbiter is “a person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter” (Oxford languages). So, what Chapek is essentially saying is that Disney fans are the final authority when it comes to changes, decisions, and the direction that the Disney company follows.
How Are Guests the Ultimate Arbiters?
So if fans are the ones who are really in charge, does that mean you can call up Mr. Chapek and let him know what you thought about your recent experience in Disney World or the last show you watched on Disney+? It’s not quite as simple as that. As consumers, we vote not with our voices but with our wallets.
Chapek made this point in another interview when he was asked about recent price increases in the parks. He said, “Well, it’s all up to the consumer. If consumer demand keeps up, then we act accordingly.” He also noted that demand was high and looked to be stable: “We have enough data and research to suggest that this is going to be a resilient trend that we’re seeing right now; it’s not going to be something that’s a function of short-term demand because of pent-up travel demand.”
As a company, one of Disney’s main goals is to make a profit. That profit comes from guests in the theme parks and viewers of Disney+, so (in a way) those people are the real “bosses” of The Walt Disney Company. Any executive can claim that a certain change will be successful, but the only thing that can actually make that change successful is if the consumers support that change by buying into it.
For example, one Disney executive might suggest a new menu item at a restaurant in Disney World (this is a hypothetical situation, although there are certainly plenty of new menu items to try in the parks right now). The proposed addition might have lots of support from other Disney employees, and it might sound like an incredible idea, but the people who get to decide if it’s actually successful are the guests inside the park. They can choose to buy it or to ignore it, and their decision is the final say as to whether the new item was a success or failure.
The same is true for Disney+. Is it the content that makes Disney+ successful? The number of TV shows on the platform? The quality of the filmmaking? None of those define the success of Disney+ — the actual indicator of success is how many subscribers and viewers the platform has. Now, all of those other things (the content, quality, and number of shows) can entice more people to purchase a subscription, so they definitely play into the success. But they’re not the deciding factor.
The ultimate arbiter of Disney is not the executives or the shareholders but the fans. But Disney fans don’t cast their vote with their voices — it doesn’t matter so much what they say or post online. What matters is how they choose to spend their money.
Who Else Decides What Disney Is and Isn’t?
Disney fans might be the ULTIMATE arbiters, but they’re not the only ones with a say in how Disney is run. So who else is contributing to that conversation? Chapek commented on this as well.
In the same interview with Variety, Chapek said that there are 2 different perspectives that Disney needs to consider when making changes: “the guest standpoint” and “a commercial standpoint or a shareholder standpoint.” The latter option, according to Chapek, answers the question “Does [the change] actually make sense?”
Disney fans are generally looking for both more “magic” (more rides, restaurants, and things to do) and lower prices in the theme parks. At the same time, they’re hoping that fewer people will go to the parks so that they’re not so crowded. But do all of those requests “actually make sense”? The answer, unfortunately, is no. For Disney to create new attractions, they need to invest in new technology and art. That may require a price increase for tickets, as they are both putting more money into the project and adding value to the product (the theme park).
The more new experiences that are added into the park, the more people will want to go to experience the additions. So adding more magic will inevitably drive up prices and crowds, which only achieves 1 of the 3 requests.
Lowering prices may be great for your vacation budget, but it might also mean that Disney has a smaller budget for new attractions, and that change will also attract a lot of guests as more people are able to afford to visit Disney more frequently. Again, only 1 of the 3 requests is met.
So although Disney fans are the ultimate arbiters, they can’t be the only ones with a say. The other decision makers are the shareholders, who are generally focused on Disney making more profits. Disney is, after all, a company, and (putting it in the simplest terms) companies need to make money.
This group can look at what changes make sense for Disney in order to make it both appealing to guests and profitable as a competitive business.
If you’ve invested in Disney stocks, then you might be a shareholder. You might benefit from some of Disney’s recent price increases as they could make the company more money and thus make it more valuable than it was before those changes were made.
Just because fans are the ULTIMATE ones in charge doesn’t mean they’re the only ones with something to say about the company.
What Does Disney’s Future Look Like?
Now that we know who is in charge at Disney, we can speculate on what the future of the company will look like. Chapek has said that “the Disney of the next 100 years will be more expansive than the Disney of the first 100 years.” The company (which Chapek referred to as “capital D Disney”) includes several huge brands like Marvel, ESPN, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and more. It will likely continue to grow if fans continue to support the theme parks and media content in the same way that they have in the past.
As demand for the Disney theme parks has remained fairly strong (Disney reported an increase in guest spending and attendance during the last earnings call this year), we can expect some similar changes in the future to what we’ve seen in the past. That could mean more menu changes, new rides, and — yes — price increases.
We’ll have to wait and see how fans react to the new ad-supported tier on Disney+. How many people choose to pay the increased price for the ad-free option instead of opting for the cheaper ad-supported option could determine future decisions when it comes to this streaming platform.
Some changes that we know are coming soon include new rides and attractions in Disney World, a big 100th anniversary celebration, more restaurant reopenings (with some new dining locations on the way), and more. Of course, we’ll be watching for new announcements as well!
Want to know more about what Disney CEO Bob Chapek has said recently? Check out the posts below for more information:
- CEO Bob Chapek Says “No Other Entertainment Company Can Touch” Disney’s Content
- How Bob Chapek Wants to Bring Disney World to Everyone
- Why Bob Chapek Wants Disney to Avoid “the M-Word”
- How CEO Bob Chapek Plans to Turn Disney Into the Ultimate Experiential Lifestyle Brand
- Disney CEO Bob Chapek Will “Start Balancing” Who Is Let Into the Theme Parks
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How do you view the Disney brand, and what would you change about how the company runs? Let us know in the comments!
Bob & company are continuing to sacrifice long term gains for short term profits, and it is going to bite them in the future. We are heading toward a recession which will cut down on travel (once the pent-up travel demand ends). Meanwhile, just down the road from Disney World, Universal is building a whole new park that will make Universal a true week-long destination and not a day or two excursion that a family might take on a main trip to WDW.
Bob and company need to fear for their jobs once his two year extension expires. Tick-tock, Bob…your time is running out!
I don’t recall asking for higher admission prices, higher prices on everything, asking for Genie or Genie+, decreased portions, park reservations, parking fees at the hotels, cutbacks on the “magic” touches etc., etc., etc.
I have been to Disney World twenty nine times and my wife thirty nine but we won’t be back until some sanity is restored. We can afford a Disney World vacation but it just isn’t worth it anymore.
Whole-heartedly agree!
And the back sliding begins. Finger pointing will be next as the financial gambles fail to produce. Chapek obviously has “heard” the complaints but fails to “listen”. It is true that business 101 dictates that you charge as much as the consumer will bear. Of late, there appears to be a lot of customers willing to pay high prices for the Disney product, so Chapek is somewhat correct in his increases. What he fails to see is that these same customers are changing the original product that Disney offered. Chapek’s gamble is are the “new wealthy customers” here to stay and worthy of turning away from the traditional Disney values or will these customers quickly grow tired of the product and move on to the next adventure. Walt obviously built Disneyland with a family vision in mind. Family is here to stay, a park without a family vision, not so sure. Finally, DisneyWorld needs to stand on it’s own 2- feet and quit supporting $8 Billion dollar investments in Disney+ content. Disney+ has yet to show a profit, but continues to demand huge investments to keep it’s customer’s hunger for new content fed.
Okay,so if it is interpreted that it is the guests in charge, “Bob, you are fired,effective immediately, no “goodbye compensation”.someone takes over that has Disney as a last name. Disney evaluates how Disney was about 20 years ago and earlier and start from there, to get the magic back. Immediately implement paper fastpass again, with surprise fastpass, stay out of politics, immediately suspend Stupid fees for parking at your resorts, etc..Basically get back on track.
Yes! All this!
BOB I was born at night but it wasn’t last night. Cut the BS. We all work hard to save for a Disney trip and you keep on raising prices on everything. I don’t recall asking you to do that.That’s just straight politician talk. You should be ashamed of yourself thinking we would believe this. Cut the crap and start bringing back the many things we enjoyed.
lol that was funny. good one bobo!
So, the bottom line from the CEO is “It’s not my fault if guests are unhappy, it’s the guests fault!”
What a line of BS. He’s blaming Disney fans for the price increases. Just that simple. He makes tens of millions and we pay for it. He takes no responsibility for anything.
Well if that is true that the Guests have a say here is what they want. (1) All the top leadership quit and take with them all the Woke people. (2) Put in the place of the top Leadership qualified people who Walt & Roy would approved of a get Disney back on track where Walt & Roy set. (3) Put pricing where it is reasonable for the guest, put things that guests were used to & give Castmembers a livable wage. (4) Stay out of politics period & whoever is the new CEO will have the backbone to say NO if it is not something Walt would like. (5) Disney is a place for families and single people. Watch the faces of little ones when excited and you will know what I mean!!
complete hog wash! ‘paycheck’ saying the decisions are driven by the customers!! rubbish. no one wants the park pass system. The quality of the Disney experience has gone way down under his leadership, corporate greed has taken over,
Agree!