“Guests Like It, But They Don’t Love It.” — Future CEO Josh D’Amaro Comments on Upcoming Disney Ride Change

Josh D’Amaro becoming Disney’s new CEO in just a few weeks is still a big topic of conversation, especially seeing how D’Amaro has heavily influenced many of the Disney Parks’ changes, due to his current position as Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products.

One of those changes coming up is the redesign of Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, one of the most popular rides in Disney’s Hollywood Studios (also located in Disneyland). As it turns out, a journalist was in on one of the meetings with D’Amaro and Disney Imagineers and operators when discussing the current version of the ride, and noted something very interesting about how D’Amaro approached an issue that most guests, and some leaders, wouldn’t even think of.

When you ask many guests what they think of the attraction, Josh D’Amaro noted that the issue was the fact that, despite having long wait times often (sometimes the longest in Hollywood Studios as a whole), in D’Amaro’s words, “Guests like it, but they don’t love it,” according to reporter Marcus Buckingham of the Harvard Business Review who was in the room.

D’Amaro went on to diagnose the issue he was seeing, and it’s something that we ourselves have said about the ride when giving you tips and tricks on how to plan your vacation around a ride that’s interactive, but really only for the pilots. It’s hard to tell members of your group that not everyone can be put as a pilot, and that they have to listen to what Cast Members tell them to do — that can cause some friction quickly, and many guests (especially younger ones) may feel bummed they didn’t get the chance to be as involved. 

This, precisely, was what D’Amaro pointed out the issue to be. He mentioned that it’s a three-person ride, but only one person (the pilot) really controlled the adventure. Sure, the gunner and engineer still have an effect on the story, but not in the same way. With the new design that was discussed in that room, and then shared with the world, now every person in the ride vehicle will have agency in the story. D’Amaro specifically mentioned that he wants people to walk out of the ride saying, “I loved it!” instead of just, “I liked it.”

D’Amaro went on to say that, “Disney is a delicate brand,” and that, “Anything I can do to help more guests say they love Disney is a valuable use of my time.” If this will also be his mentality going into being CEO of the company, we’re cautiously optimistic about some potential changes we could see. Many Disney guests have long said that their big frustration with the company is they feel like they’re not listening to what guests are saying, whether it’s a complaint or a praise. With D’Amaro’s focus being so heavily on guests LOVING the Disney experience, not just liking it or being happy with it, it’s possible we could be seeing more changes in the near future.

However, we’ll have to wait until May to see if D’Amaro was correct about guests enjoying Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run more after this change, and have to wait until after he officially becomes CEO on March 18th to see what else may shift (if we’re being honest though, it may take a few months for any changes to really begin to be made, if they’re going to happen at all, so we’ll be patient!).

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest Disney news, so stay tuned to AllEars!

We Need 3-5 Business Days to Process These New Disney World Demolition Photos

Are you looking forward to this change coming to Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run? Tell us in the comments!