Disney CEO Bob Iger tells Cast Members that theme parks 'is a business where you spend to succeed'

Nov 28, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

Forum Forums Tweet Share Tweet Share

Gallery / 2 Photos
Bob Iger

Posted: Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney CEO Bob Iger hosted a Town Hall session with Cast Members today, discussing the company's recent achievements and future building opportunities.

Bob Iger

Despite not taking questions or making any new announcements, Iger continued reiterating recent messaging that Disney plans to invest heavily in the company's theme park segment.

Referring to the recently announced $60 billion investment in parks and resorts across the next ten years, Iger told Cast Members watching the virtual event that "this is a business where you spend to succeed." Iger has previously said that the investment would allow for expanding and enhancing domestic and international parks and cruise line capacity.

Speaking in April 2023 at the Walt Disney Company Annual shareholder meeting, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Disney plans to spend $17 billion over the next ten years, specifically at Walt Disney World, bringing 13,000 new jobs to the area.

Interim CFO Kevin Lansberry told investors earlier this month to "expect those investments to ramp up towards the back half of that 10-year period with more gradual increases in the first few years."

Iger was joined at today's Town Hall by the four Disney segment Chairmen - Alan Bergman, Josh D'Amaro, Jimmy Pitaro, and Dana Walden.

Today's Town Hall session comes almost a year after Iger returned to the top job at Disney. When asked about the challenges facing him on his return, Iger said, "I knew that there were a myriad of challenges that I would face coming back. I won't say that it was easy, but I've never second-guessed the decision to come back, and being back still feels great."

In a previous memo to employees inviting them to the session, Iger said, "As I reflect on the immense progress we've made this year and look ahead to the many opportunities before us, I'm grateful to all of you - the people of this great company - for the tremendous work you do each and every day to ensure we continue delivering incredible entertainment for our audiences, guests, and fans all over the world."

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

DisDude332 days ago

I fully expect for Pixar to be absorbed into WDAS within the next decade and it will probably be the best thing that can happen to ether studio at this point.

Disney Analyst4 days ago

BrianLo12 days ago

I do get what you are saying, but I just don’t feel like you can adequately make that forward looking conclusion about Pixar’s slate. Pixar had 7 sequels last decade and 4 originals. It’s had 5 originals, + 2 ‘sequels’ this one. With 2 forthcoming originals (Elio and Hoppers) and 2 sequels. I don’t feel like Elio or Hoppers meet your criteria either. While WDAS looks far from stellar, we’ve seen Pixar actually being allowed to pull back. I’m just not willing to write the obituary yet.

Animaniac93-9812 days ago

Whatever cynicism I express on this forum doesn't change or eliminate all the achievements the company made in the past No amount of dumb decisions they make today can take away the stunning artwork of Pinocchio, the inventiveness of Fantasia, the monumental engineering that built WDW and EPCOT Center, the charm and wit of Mary Poppins, and all the other delights and diversions found in the past 100+ years of Disney home grown entertainments. That's why I'm a Disney fan.

Animaniac93-9812 days ago

I was just comparing Disney of the early 2010s to the Disney of 2024. I didn't mean to start a debate about why that's the case, or talk about Dreamworks, or something else, I just wanted to point out what I feel is the company now is at an even lower point creatively, despite the same CEO being in charge. It's my opinion this comes from a laser focus on output that has stifled creative thinking and led to the inverse of what @britain was saying about being great stewards of the IP they own. Both when it comes to running properties into the ground through unwarranted and uneven repetition across divisions, and leaving their media library to sit idle and largely go to waste, despite what some within the company hoped Disney+ would help. Animated films take many years to develop. Movies like Encanto and Elemental were likely in pre-production long before the decade started. I believe now that such movies would be less likely to be given the green light because they don't offer obvious franchise potential, either to start one anew or tie into something like the Disney Princess brand. I hope the company changes course in the future and proves me wrong, regardless of who is CEO.

TrainsOfDisney12 days ago

I definitely agree that Encanto and the carousel are pretty close to 100% - I’m not sure if Indy is as solid but it could be if it’s all 1 “project.” Rivers of America is a major project that honestly doesn’t seem like it has been totally thought through - but it also seems likely to proceed to the point they fill in the River unless things get delayed with permits. The worst case scenario is we lose the River and get virtually nothing. Monsters is such a wild card…. I could definitely see it getting cancelled. Actually, from a purely financial point of view I’d cancel monsters at DHS, and cancel ROA and build Villians at DHS where animation courtyard is taking over rock n coaster as well. DHS needs more stuff the most and it would certainly be cheaper to build it there vs. MK.

Moth12 days ago

Since they're starting to prep close stuff for Tropical Americas- I wanna say that at least the Encanto portion of it is set in stone by this rule. The other three... that'll be a fun race to see who can get to that point first, especially when it comes to Villains....

denyuntilcaught12 days ago

Something I feel like would never happen again today given how competitive the studios are.

UNCgolf12 days ago

I didn't say they shouldn't use IP; just that it shouldn't be forced. Many (not all) of Disney's best attractions didn't use any specific existing media property. There's a lot more freedom in designing the best possible attraction that way, because when using an existing property you're already starting off in a box (some larger than others). There's certainly a business benefit in relying on IP, both from a marketing standpoint and from an ROI standpoint. IP can prop up a mediocre or poor attraction (see Frozen Ever After) that wouldn't succeed without the IP. Note that I'm not saying IP automatically makes an attraction bad or worse than a non-IP attraction, because that's not true -- just that designers are limited when they're only allowed to use existing IP. They're also not really allowed to use the full Disney catalogue; it needs to be something that's still at least relatively popular (and probably expected to move merchandise). Disney likely wouldn't sign off on building, e.g., a Sword in the Stone attraction. They'd ask for a more recent IP instead. Also, Alien Encounter as built wasn't an IP attraction even if the original idea was based around the movie version.

Stripes12 days ago

I’ve watched several interviews of her and she strikes me as a great candidate. Intelligent, well-spoken, comes off as a great leader. Pretty much the opposite vibe I got from Chapek.

Stripes12 days ago

Alien Encounter was inspired by Alien. Rock n’ Roller Coaster relied on the intellectual property rights of Aerosmith and The Great Movie Ride relied on MGM’s IP. (Including Captain EO was a mistake.)

HauntedPirate12 days ago

I've not said it, but my money's been on Dana Walden for a while.

Notes from Neverland12 days ago

The Wrap reporting that Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer are not seen as succession candidates for the CEO job. Dana Walden and Alan Bergman "have the early lead."

TrainsOfDisney12 days ago

IP by itself isn’t the problem - Disney has always used IP in the parks. Captain EO and Alien Encounter were not IP. Rock n roller coaster is a different category in my book as well as Great Movie Ride.