Is Chapek on the verge of being fired?

[CBMom01]

There is no way Disney is going to fire the CEO when the stock is still a buy for most analysts

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

https://www.reuters.com/business/me...oard-member-susan-arnold-chairman-2021-12-01/
Looks like rumors are true!

Chairman of the board is completely different than CEO, bob Iger most recently had that role, and already said a while back that he would be scaling back his role in the company even more. This has nothing to do with Chapek. The board would be the body that removes Chapek, and then hires a successor, it doesn’t assume his role

 

[VFL]

If you read the article it says large corporations are moving away from the same person being CEO and Chairman of the board. I think this is more keeping in line with industry standards than a statement on Chapek.

 

[Kbrb]

Lets face it bob has probably got atleast another year.

Stock and disney plus he can explain away as for the parks"you wont see real growth in the parks until all my plans are in place" Meanwhile the experience we all fell in love with will continue to suffer. His mandate to increase park income is now clear.

1. Cut
2. cut some more
3. Increase prices.
4. cut some of the cut things a bit more.

His legacy will be the epcot overhaul. The art work that promised so much is more or less in the bin. At this rate they may as well stick monana stickers on the jumping water fountains paint them blue and call it Journey of Water, Inspired by “Moana.”

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Lets face it bob has probably got atleast another year.

Stock and disney plus he can explain away as for the parks"you wont see real growth in the parks until all my plans are in place" Meanwhile the experience we all fell in love with will continue to suffer. His mandate to increase park income is now clear.

1. Cut
2. cut some more
3. Increase prices.
4. cut some of the cut things a bit more.

His legacy will be the epcot overhaul. The art work that promised so much is more or less in the bin. At this rate they may as well stick monana stickers on the jumping water fountains paint them blue and call it Journey of Water, Inspired by “Moana.”

And charge an additional $15 to look at it.

 

[Kbrb]

And charge an additional $15 to look at it.

$15 only allows you to look at in once, at a set time, ILL can be made to look at it starting at $10 per person, scaling up to $40 on busy days. Standby lines are still in use but are for poor people and subject to no shade what so ever. Something *flexablity, something guests wanted it something your all fat so we are cutting food*

 

[CBMom01]

Wall Street is not betting on the parks at all. This is 100% about Disney+ and ESPN.

Then you look at movies: China is 35% of the global box office. The US is less than 25% and shrinking.

Parks & Consumer may be , 30-40 percent of the business but the consumer products make a lot more money than the parks. Heck, even anecdotal stories about the WDW experience make it seem like merch is one of the big reasons people even go to the parks.
Chapek is a consumer products guy, and a numbers guy. He’s who Wall St wants and frankly who Disney probably needs if he had even a little personality.

I’ve come round on this point, kind of because the unhinged hatred I see for Chapek online usually includes some analysis that Disney will crumble without die hard AP holder park fans. Made me give a second look.

 

[Disney_lost_it]

I know a lot of Disney guests and Stockholders are not pleased with the products/experiences at the parks, the movies are struggling, the stock has dropped 13% in 2 weeks after announcing “the most disappointing earnings statement in 10 years” per Market Watch, Taking the 1.8billion shares of DIS stock dropping $24 per share the value of the company has dropped +/- 43 Billion dollars in 2 weeks. Now, Chapek cancelled his scheduled appearance at D23 this weekend. Some have speculated he didn’t show due to fear of being booed on stage.

In fairness, many of the challenges that Disney has faced has been Covid related. That being said, many of the challenges have self inflected by Chapek. Is he on the verge of being fired?

Your thoughts?

There's the "will" vs "should he be". At this point the market and most guests would say yes, he should be. The changes he has ushered in offer nothing what so ever. Pre-covid we bought season tickets given the ease of a 2 hr direct fright and Magic bus to the park. Looking back we spent >$30k at the Grand Floridian + season tickets + meal plans + after hours tickets+++++. Without the Magical express there is no easy way to get to the park. We will never get into an uber. At this point, no visits even under consideration. But he keeps talking about the growth of the $6 monthly Disney + while ignoring the thousands now avoiding the park due to MB and lack of FP. Bob, "cheap man pays twice"

 

[OKW Lover]

There's the "will" vs "should he be". At this point the market and most guests would say yes, he should be. The changes he has ushered in offer nothing what so ever. Pre-covid we bought season tickets given the ease of a 2 hr direct fright and Magic bus to the park. Looking back we spent >$30k at the Grand Floridian + season tickets + meal plans + after hours tickets+++++. Without the Magical express there is no easy way to get to the park. We will never get into an uber. At this point, no visits even under consideration. But he keeps talking about the growth of the $6 monthly Disney + while ignoring the thousands now avoiding the park due to MB and lack of FP. Bob, "cheap man pays twice"

Interesting first post.

At this point the market isn't really concerned. The drop happened recently and is likely a short term thing. If the stock price doesn't recover over the course of a year, then the market will be pushing for his replacement.

 

[CBMom01]

Destabilizing a massive company is never a “should.” I think the resorts community of fans are doing themselves a disservice with this stuff

 

[Disney_lost_it]

Destabilizing a massive company is never a “should.” I think the resorts community of fans are doing themselves a disservice with this stuff

One could make the argument that Bob's actions are "destabilizing" the company. For the first time ever my family is heading to Universal. Always been a consideration but we always felt that doing so would take away a trip to Disney. Given the "deaths by a thousand cuts" approach employed by Bob we may find that Universal is the new go to park.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

There's the "will" vs "should he be". At this point the market and most guests would say yes, he should be. The changes he has ushered in offer nothing what so ever. Pre-covid we bought season tickets given the ease of a 2 hr direct fright and Magic bus to the park. Looking back we spent >$30k at the Grand Floridian + season tickets + meal plans + after hours tickets+++++. Without the Magical express there is no easy way to get to the park. We will never get into an uber. At this point, no visits even under consideration. But he keeps talking about the growth of the $6 monthly Disney + while ignoring the thousands now avoiding the park due to MB and lack of FP. Bob, "cheap man pays twice"

Disney’s stock price hasn’t dropped far enough for long enough for any clamoring of him needing replacement (just a few months ago they were at record highs, and it wasn’t close). I think if you look at the company as a whole, (not just the parks) he’s doing fine, nothing over the top crazy. When you factor in the last year and all the hurdles that he has faced, (a glaring one being a once in a lifetime pandemic) I would say he’s been pretty close to outstanding, especially being a rookie CEO, and navigating that size company through it all. That being said, do I love some of the changes at the parks, nope, but that isn’t close to enough to sway my opinion of his overall performance

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

One could make the argument that Bob's actions are "destabilizing" the company. For the first time ever my family is heading to Universal. Always been a consideration but we always felt that doing so would take away a trip to Disney. Given the "deaths by a thousand cuts" approach employed by Bob we may find that Universal is the new go to park.

Destabilizing, or refocusing on different demographics?

 

[Disney_lost_it]

Destabilizing, or refocusing on different demographics?

Destabilizing.. By refocusing do you mean Disney +, how many $80 yearly subscriptions do you need to offset each 1 day visit to the park by 1 person. 2? 3? 4? years of Disney+ for each days total spend in the park. Now, as a family of 4, a decade or more of Disney+ to match a long weekend in the park. And with his cheapness in Disney World, many of us are simply saying it's not worth it. Very disappointed knowing it'll be a couple of years before Disney sees and reacts to what is a pretty clear message and negative feedback concerning the recent cuts in value and increased cost. I get it, acknowledging their mistake is acknowledging failure, which often results in management changes. No one is going to take that risk until they have to.

 

[middlechild]

Chapek will last for a long time, years even. He has any number of VPs and Directors, etc, to throw under the bus first to preserve his job. Has Josh D'amaro been given the heave-ho? Not yet? Head of films, or head of ESPN (TV), head of [Disney division here]? Chapek has not yet begun to persevere to keep his job. When a team performs poorly, they don't fire the coach first.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I can only talk about my experience. Our love of Disney started in 2008 when my wife and i went on our honeymoon to WDW. We looked at all sorts of places and thought it would be fun to give Disney a try. I didnt give two flying flips about disney stuff before we went. After that trip, we were all in. Many trips over the past 13 years, before streaming, we purchased tons of DVDs just because they were disney, our kids probably have 100 disney stuffed animals, we have disney art work all over our walls in our house, our kitchen has disney pot holders and other things, we have pins, tshirts, hats..you name it.

All because of that one trip to WDW that lead us to love the company.

I'm so pissed at the direction the company is going now, that i've lost the love for a lot of that stuff and honestly would remove a lot of it from the house, but wife and kids wont let me. It's all because of Chapek.

So while the parks may not be the only part of the business, for my family, its what lead us to spending money on non park related disney things.

 

[TummyGirl]

Just listened to the "The Business with Kim Masters" podcast-little mention of Disney and the lack of creative backgrounds on the parts of Susan Arnold and Bob Chapek- brief mention but they were a bit critical but cautious in the mention.

 

[Disney_lost_it]

I can only talk about my experience. Our love of Disney started in 2008 when my wife went on our honeymoon to WDW. We looked at all sorts of places and thought it would be fun to give Disney a try. I didnt give two flying flips about disney stuff before we went. After that trip, we were all in. Many trips over the past 13 years, before streaming, we purchased tons of DVDs just because they were disney, our kids probably have 100 disney stuffed animals, we have disney art work all over our walls in our house, our kitchen has disney pot holders and other things, we have pins, tshirts, hats..you name it.

All because of that one trip to WDW that lead us to love the company.

I'm so pissed at the direction the company is going now, that i've lost the love for a lot of that stuff and honestly would remove a lot of it from the house, but wife and kids wont let me. It's all because of Chapek.

So while the parks may not be the only part of the business, for my family, its what lead us to spending money on non park related disney things.

you nailed it. Same here. My first trip was as a child in ~1972 - 1973. Few memories. I have recently converted some the old 8mm film to a DVD and actually found some of that Disney trip. Pooh Bear was a mess. Too funny. Next trip to Disney was summer 2003, Euro Disney as part of a graduate school class that covered 2 weeks in France and Germany. Again, not much to it. It wasn't until 2017 before the real trips started, all because of twin girls. It took the one trip to convince us to buy season tickets, and we live in VA. A 2 hr direct flight + Magic Bus made it a simple decision. Actually on a smooth trip we could start that vacation quicker than a local beach trip. In the park by noon, plus time in the part on the departure day. Grand Floridian, meal plans, T-shirts, stuffed animals, you name it. Scary amounts of spending, at the parks. As a season pass holder we got a great long-term deal on Disney+. 2 years in and hardly anyone watches it. As covid "fades" (maybe) we started looking into the season passes again. We choked on the price increase (~40%), and closed the discussion after reading about the MB and the elimination of fast pass. Without the MB it'll be near to impossible to get from the airport to the park. Like you, as I watch our pictures flip through the screen saver it's just a reminder of what Disney has taken away.

 

[BrianL]

Just listened to the "The Business with Kim Masters" podcast-little mention of Disney and the lack of creative backgrounds on the parts of Susan Arnold and Bob Chapek- brief mention but they were a bit critical but cautious in the mention.

I do think that's an issue. Iger kind of straddled the line between creative and business, and that was definitely a good thing. He may have had his flaws, but he did generally let his creators create. It can be seen in the "second renaissance" of Disney Animation for sure. As much as I miss Iger at this point, I think Alan Horn's departure will be deeply felt soon too.

 

[ChipnDale79]

you nailed it. Same here. My first trip was as a child in ~1972 - 1973. Few memories. I have recently converted some the old 8mm film to a DVD and actually found some of that Disney trip. Pooh Bear was a mess. Too funny. Next trip to Disney was summer 2003, Euro Disney as part of a graduate school class that covered 2 weeks in France and Germany. Again, not much to it. It wasn't until 2017 before the real trips started, all because of twin girls. It took the one trip to convince us to buy season tickets, and we live in VA. A 2 hr direct flight + Magic Bus made it a simple decision. Actually on a smooth trip we could start that vacation quicker than a local beach trip. In the park by noon, plus time in the part on the departure day. Grand Floridian, meal plans, T-shirts, stuffed animals, you name it. Scary amounts of spending, at the parks. As a season pass holder we got a great long-term deal on Disney+. 2 years in and hardly anyone watches it. As covid "fades" (maybe) we started looking into the season passes again. We choked on the price increase (~40%), and closed the discussion after reading about the MB and the elimination of fast pass. Without the MB it'll be near to impossible to get from the airport to the park. Like you, as I watch our pictures flip through the screen saver it's just a reminder of what Disney has taken away.

NC here, 2 years of that 13 years we had APs..the last time was august 2018-2019. We calculated up the amount of time we were at disney during that time frame, im embarrassed to say that it was 28 nights in a disney hotel, and 2 in an offsite hotel. We took trips a week long each year, and a few mini trips. We loved it. Then the severe hike in AP prices were announced, we did not renew and decided to skip 2020 to go on a cruise in stead (of course that didnt happen.
We were annoyed by some things, but not so annoyed that i wanted to break free from disney all together.
But did go back in 2021.

After the week at Disney in June, we had some good experiences and bad, but the week we came home was when it was announced that only Deluxe resorts guests would get the magic hours. It made us feel like after all the money we've spent over the years, that our money wasnt good enough for them anymore.

There is not one disney related item that my kids are getting for christmas this year for the first time ever.

We're stuck with Chapek for awhile I believe, but i do believe there is a complete disconnect with some of their consumers, now is that disconnect enough to make a difference. I dont know.

We wont be going to WDW next year either.