Josh D'Amaro claims recent positive changes not due to "leadership change"

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Starting to wonder if Josh may be more of a Chapek guy than an Iger guy.

I think people are really enamored of Josh but forget he's still basically a business/corporate person. I do think he may have been stifled in some ways or had some ideas shot down due to Chapek's oversight but that doesn't mean he was the people's champion either.

 

[OKW Lover]

Starting to wonder if Josh may be more of a Chapek guy than an Iger guy.

Why do you think (wonder) that?

Josh has always been a hands-on manager who is very familiar with the product and the people who bring it to the customers.

 

[Captain UP]

Why do you think (wonder) that?

Josh has always been a hands-on manager who is very familiar with the product and the people who bring it to the customers.

It just appears there may be a disconnect between Josh’s recent statements and what’s actually happening.

 

[Liquidice]

Comments from Josh D'Amaro on the reservations system from an interview with Robert Niles -

"Robert: But you also have to push for capacity, because you just talked about the the reservation issue. I feel, from observing this, that when people talk about or push back against the reservation issue, it's not necessarily [just about] getting the reservation. It's that the [parks'] capacity is not big enough to accommodate all the people who want reservations.

Josh: It's a guest experience issue. This all starts with guest experience, and having been in this business for as long as we have been, we know what constitutes a great guest experience. We know that there are certain attendance thresholds that can potentially deteriorate the experience. So the reservation system change that we've made is completely premised on wanting to deliver [you] the best experience I possibly can. And to do that, I'm asking my guests to make reservations, which is change. Change isn't easy, particularly for Disney, where everybody watches every single move that we make, and if you change something that's tradition, or the way that it's always been, it's hard.

Judging by those comments reservations aren't going away anytime soon.

Never say never though, 3 months ago you probably would have said the same thing about Chapek though...

Others have said it earlier though, 95% of the time park reservations aren't even needed because the park is not at full capacity. It only really is needed on holidays where it gets really crowded. Pre-pandemic they dealt with this same issue. It comes down to trying to minimize the amount of staff working, so they can save money. Park reservations are not needed and its a farce to say that it benefits the guest experience.

 

[Jrb1979]

Never say never though, 3 months ago you probably would have said the same thing about Chapek though...

Others have said it earlier though, 95% of the time park reservations aren't even needed because the park is not at full capacity. It only really is needed on holidays where it gets really crowded. Pre-pandemic they dealt with this same issue. It comes down to trying to minimize the amount of staff working, so they can save money. Park reservations are not needed and its a farce to say that it benefits the guest experience.

It's not about the guest experience, they just say that. It's mostly used to push people to all parks equally. If they find AK or Epcot doesn't have a lot of reservations certain days they will close off other parks to push guests to those 2 parks.

 

[Liquidice]

The not charging for parking thing honestly makes me roll my eyes.

Disney straight up was not checking who was parking in their lots the last time we visited.

We're DVC and brought a rental car during our last visit (Dec 2021). We asked the front desk if we needed to provide them with the car info so we wouldn't get charged or towed from the lot. The CM said they didn't need that info. So I mean, unless Disney has an EZ-pass level system of cameras monitoring their resort lots, the only way they'd know to charge you for parking would be if you voluntarily offered that information at check in.

The way they enforced it usually was when you came in - you had to have your room number and when security enters your room number to get into the parking lot they assume you are parking and charge you for parking each night.

I mean I guess its feasible you could convince security to let you in and say you're just being dropped off and then park your car, or make a dining reservation there and park and don't move your car. You might run the risk of them towing your car though. At some resorts like Contemporary, I know they have towed cars in the past for parking for the day there when they only had a dining reservation.

 

[Narcoossee11]

I predict that 2 of the new annual passes Will be :
A pass that you can't use till 2:00or later at the price the 'full' ticket is now
A 'full' ticket will maybe double the cost now.


something like this will sort of give public a choice in ticket but at a more profitable price for the company

 

[Liquidice]

I predict that 2 of the new annual passes Will be :
A pass that you can't use till 2:00or later at the price the 'full' ticket is now
A 'full' ticket will maybe double the cost now.


something like this will sort of give public a choice in ticket but at a more profitable price for the company

They actually already offer something like this to guests who host a business event at Disney World. It doesn't follow your pricing model though - and I doubt a sudden doubling of park ticket prices would be sustainable right now. It also isn't an annual pass.

But a "Twilight Park Ticket" is available for entrance after 5pm and costs $78.87 (no park hopper) and an After 1pm ticket costs $102.35 (no park hopper).

Those prices are for an event in January 2023, so pricing could change throughout the year.

These tickets can only be purchased as 1-day tickets though, you cannot buy a 2-day or 3-day ticket with entrance after 1pm or 5pm.

 

[Jen81NYC]

I think the “not necessarily” part of “these changes are not necessarily due to leadership change” is doing a lot of work here—to me it suggests diplomatically that the changes *are* due to the leadership change. Otherwise there’d be a clear “these changes were in the works for months and are unrelated to change in leadership.”

Essentially Disney financials weren’t great, they changed leaders as a result and these are some of the changes they took place after that new leadership took over. They can’t say with 100% certainty that Chapek wouldn’t have made similar changes in response to the last financials but considering how rosy Chapek tried to spin the numbers and his overall approach to parks pricing, it’s pretty clear these changes wouldn’t have happened without the shake up.

 

[DisneyMama811]

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/business/media/disney-parks-prices.html

I thought it was interesting that Josh D'Amaro claims all of the positive changes Disney Parks announced yesterday were not due to a "change in leadership".

From the article...


Yet, most of the changes are not effective immediately. Actually for WDW, the changes (other than free parking at resorts) will be "beginning in the next few months". This says to me that these changes were not really planned and just decided recently - otherwise why wouldn't the changes be effective immediately or within the next few weeks? I know Disney IT stinks, but these changes sound like they were pre-announced to give Disney fans something to cheer about. The Disneyland changes are effective Feb 4th, so maybe they are prioritizing / easier to make those changes for Disney 100 or they were planned as part of the Disney 100 celebration?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad there are finally some positive changes being made. I do wonder if this is just the tip of the iceberg or are we seeing Disney throw us a bone and there won't be any additional positive changes?

The changes being made months from now says to me that they weren't planned in advance - and Iger coming back is a result of these positive changes. It might be that Iger's return empowered Josh to make these changes - or it might be that Iger asked Josh to look at ways to make some customer friendly changes. But this doesn't scream to me like something thats always been planned - at least not in the way it was announced.

I agree with you 100% who are they trying to kid?

 

[Cfabar1]

The big things have yet to be done, but these are welcome changes. Biggest thing is to fully staff, help the rides run better, and resume AP sales for DVC clients at least. Ending resale restrictions would be nice, but a pipe dream. I don’t think Magical Express is coming back. Allowing those staying at resorts to have Genie+ for purchase at time of purchase, or some other kind of preferential treatment would be nice. I doubt they would let it be complimentary.

 

[bsmcneil]

I gotcha. My point was mostly, it was something that I'm sure plenty of guests avoided paying anyway, it likely cost more money to enforce than it was making, etc. So removing the parking fees gives them good press, while potentially having little impact on their dollar bottom line.

Sadly, there are plenty of stories of people being charged who didn't arrive via (or have) a car at all.

 

[Jrb1979]

The big things have yet to be done, but these are welcome changes. Biggest thing is to fully staff, help the rides run better, and resume AP sales for DVC clients at least. Ending resale restrictions would be nice, but a pipe dream. I don’t think Magical Express is coming back. Allowing those staying at resorts to have Genie+ for purchase at time of purchase, or some other kind of preferential treatment would be nice. I doubt they would let it be complimentary.

Biggest thing is to add more attractions to the parks.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Has anyone mentioned the reason they are delaying the G+ change is to probably increase the cost again, b/c now they'll offer you free pics for the day on the band? So, it's delayed til they can figure out how much more they can squeeze out of one day guests...

 

[raidermatt]

I went to DW a couple of times in the 90s and then not again until the pandemic. So this question is pure ignorance on my part. How did they manage before park reservations? Were the parks so completely full that it was unbearable to manage every day? I've seen the wait times over the past couple of years and I don't see that the reservations have made lines shorter.

Parks are more crowded now than prior. Despite the lip service, Disney is not concerned with people complaining about large crowds. At least not as long as the people keep coming. The reservation system is about Disney knowing with near 100% certainty how many people will be in each park, and also being able to force people into the less popular parks. All of this is so they can more easily manage their staffing levels.

How did they do this before park reservations? By forecasting based on pre-sold tickets, room reservations, and their significant past experience. They did a very good job of anticipating guest demand and adapting to it. But now they are using reservations to artificially limit supply as they see fit. This allows them to ignore where guests WANT to go and instead force some to go where Disney wants them to go.

 

[Mousemom234]

I think the reason many other hotels do it more efficiently is that any hotel I have been to that has paid parking asks for your tag number at check in, gives you a parking permit to display in the car <snip>

Back in the "Dark Ages" this IS how WDW did it. And that was free resort parking. Your resort parking permit doubled as your free Park parking. If you didn't have a car, obviously you wouldn't have a permit - but just as obviously, you weren't going to be needing a space in the Park lots.

 

[Bovril82]

"Josh: It's a big part of it. So anytime we step into one of these areas, we know that there's going to be input, and we're going to take that input and listen, and we're going to react and adjust. But we will never sacrifice guest experience. I have these conversations with guests all the time in the theme parks - "Why do I have to make a reservation?" And the moment I sit down and talk to them about guest experience, and how we're continually trying to make that easier and more flexible, they completely get it and understand it."



This is the bit that got me.

I'm more than willing to give Josh the benefit of the doubt for at least the next few months. But, come on.

Using one example, FOP had a 4 hour queue for most of the holiday week (and some).

You are telling me he genuinely believes that if he pulled someone out that queue and said 'hey, sit down with me a minute, and I'll explain to you why your park pass reservation was necessary to give you this amazing customer experience today'. That they would get back in their 4 hour queue with a spring in their step, completely understanding that their day was more magical for making that reservation.

You aren't selling it. Sorry. And this is coming from someone that isn't hugely anti the parks reservation system.

 

[Jrb1979]

"Josh: It's a big part of it. So anytime we step into one of these areas, we know that there's going to be input, and we're going to take that input and listen, and we're going to react and adjust. But we will never sacrifice guest experience. I have these conversations with guests all the time in the theme parks - "Why do I have to make a reservation?" And the moment I sit down and talk to them about guest experience, and how we're continually trying to make that easier and more flexible, they completely get it and understand it."



This is the bit that got me.

I'm more than willing to give Josh the benefit of the doubt for at least the next few months. But, come on.

Using one example, FOP had a 4 hour queue for most of the holiday week (and some).

You are telling me he genuinely believes that if he pulled someone out that queue and said 'hey, sit down with me a minute, and I'll explain to you why your park pass reservation was necessary to give you this amazing customer experience today'. That they would get back in their 4 hour queue with a spring in their step, completely understanding that their day was more magical for making that reservation.

You aren't selling it. Sorry. And this is coming from someone that isn't hugely anti the parks reservation system.

Josh is a good politician and their version of the reservation system they are selling is BS. What the reservations are for is to push guests to each park to make sure you have 4 hr waits

 

[ChipnDale79]

"Josh: It's a big part of it. So anytime we step into one of these areas, we know that there's going to be input, and we're going to take that input and listen, and we're going to react and adjust. But we will never sacrifice guest experience. I have these conversations with guests all the time in the theme parks - "Why do I have to make a reservation?" And the moment I sit down and talk to them about guest experience, and how we're continually trying to make that easier and more flexible, they completely get it and understand it."



This is the bit that got me.

I'm more than willing to give Josh the benefit of the doubt for at least the next few months. But, come on.

Using one example, FOP had a 4 hour queue for most of the holiday week (and some).

You are telling me he genuinely believes that if he pulled someone out that queue and said 'hey, sit down with me a minute, and I'll explain to you why your park pass reservation was necessary to give you this amazing customer experience today'. That they would get back in their 4 hour queue with a spring in their step, completely understanding that their day was more magical for making that reservation.

You aren't selling it. Sorry. And this is coming from someone that isn't hugely anti the parks reservation system.

agreed. Disney trips are not cheap at all, and any time you put a restriction on a guest, especially one that they didnt have for the 49 years prior, they arent going to be happy.

Plans change, i want flexibity in my vacation. Nothing like being at DHS when MF, Slinkey Dog, and ROR all go down at the same time early in the morning, it pushes wait times out all day long. Been there, done that, and wanted to hop (i paid for park hoping) to another park, but couldnt do it until the afternoon.

Give me flexibility, that increases my guests experience.

 

[Moliphino]

The way they enforced it usually was when you came in - you had to have your room number and when security enters your room number to get into the parking lot they assume you are parking and charge you for parking each night.

I mean I guess its feasible you could convince security to let you in and say you're just being dropped off and then park your car, or make a dining reservation there and park and don't move your car. You might run the risk of them towing your car though. At some resorts like Contemporary, I know they have towed cars in the past for parking for the day there when they only had a dining reservation.

I got charged for parking when I never entered the resort in a car or went to the guard shack.