What a wild week for Disney news! Sunday evening Disney employees and fans alike were shocked to see news headlines that former CEO Bob Iger had dethroned Bob Chapek as head of the company! After Iger retired as CEO in 2020, Disney weathered numerous storms under the leadership his successor, Bob Chapek. While Chapek managed to steer Disney through the tumult of the closure of parks and theaters in 2020, he couldn’t survive the latest storm: a five-year low in stock prices. Even as Sunday’s news shook the entertainment world, the Disney community was already reeling from the rest of the week’s news: a botched one-day return of Magic Key sales, Mickey and Minnie’s birthdays, and the arrival of Grogu in Galaxy’s Edge.
We’ve got a lot of BIG news for you this week, so let’s get started!
The Return of the King: Bob Iger is back as CEO!
News broke just before 7 PM PST Sunday night that former Disney CEO Bob Iger would return as CEO effective immediately. The news that sitting CEO Bob Chapek was out sent shockwaves through the entertainment world. Less than five months ago, Disney’s board unanimously voted to extend Chapek’s contract by three years, running through July 2025. At the time, Susan Arnold, chairman of Disney’s board of directors, said the following regarding Chapek:
“In this important time of growth and transformation, the Board is committed to keeping Disney on the successful path it is on today, and Bob’s leadership is key to achieving that goal. Bob is the right leader at the right time for The Walt Disney Company, and the Board has full confidence in him and his leadership team.”
In March, Chapek got the company tangled in a Florida LGBTQ+ legislation debacle. His early inaction was met with intense pressure both internally and publicly, and his eventual action on the issue felt forced rather than genuine. That delayed action resulted in a public feud with Florida governor Ron DeSantis, threatening notable aspects of Disney’s own Walt Disney World operations.
In June, Disney delayed the opening of its Lake Nona business campus in Florida until mid-2026. The new business campus was originally expected to open in 2023 and would be the new home for the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products (DPEP) division of the company. Among operations being forced to relocate were Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), which has historically operated in Glendale, California. This controversial forced re-location of thousands of employees resulted in countless WDI and creative employees permanently leaving the company. Chapek’s decision to move DPEP to Florida was primarily motivated by tax incentives and overall lower operating costs. Disney’s delay on opening the Lake Nona campus resulted in numerous Disney employees backing out of home purchases in the area. Disney has reportedly still not begun vertical construction on the Lake Nona campus.
Meanwhile, while Disney’s theme parks have been packed with guests, the businesses have struggled with multiple issues. Employee turnover rates are high, Cast are overworked, morale is low, and customers are being squeezed at every opportunity for a lower-quality experience. At Disneyland, major attractions such as Indiana Jones Adventure and Radiator Springs Racers have operated for months with major effects and animatronics simply not operating. Park entertainment, food quality, and hotel amenities have all been slow to return in both California and Florida.
As Cast Members and maintenance workers struggle to keep up, Disney has continued to raise admission prices and implement new up-charges such as Genie+ and Lightning Lane. In short, these new services are effectively charging guests extra for access to attractions that aren’t being properly maintained. And to add insult to injury, the Genie+ and Lightning Lane systems are complicated to use and often result in massive standby queues due to shortcomings in how the systems were designed to operate. The experience costs guests more and is a far worse product than the free Fastpass system it replaced. Below, Genie+ and multiple attraction breakdowns led to huge attraction wait times on Sunday:
All the while, new reservation systems create additional hurdles guests must jump through in order to simply visit the theme parks. The reservation system has been promoted by Disney as a service to improve the customer experience by keeping crowds at the parks manageable. The reality, however, is the parks are as wildly busy as ever. While initially being about controlling crowd size when the theme parks were required to have guests keep 6′ distance, the reservation system has morphed into something else entirely. At its core, the park reservation system is now an internal tool for Disney to spread out attendance, manipulate guest spending, and manage operating costs. Meaning, more days feel very busy and the parks don’t have to pay for as much staff.
By this fall, any remaining confidence in Chapek seemed to have evaporated. On November 11, Chapek issued an internal memo to announce a company-wide hiring freeze and other austerity measures to reduce spending and shore up stock prices. Excerpts from Chapek’s memo are below:
First, we have undertaken a rigorous review of the company’s content and marketing spending working with our content leaders and their teams. While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine, we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company.
Second, we are limiting headcount additions through a targeted hiring freeze. Hiring for the small subset of the most critical, business-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams.
Third, we are reviewing our SG&A costs and have determined that there is room for improved efficiency—as well as an opportunity to transform the organization to be more nimble. The taskforce will drive this work in partnership with segment teams to achieve both savings and organizational enhancements. As we work through this evaluation process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labor to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review. In the immediate term, business travel should now be limited to essential trips only.
At the time of Chapek’s memo, Disney’s stock price had plummeted over 40% in 2022. In fact, the hiring freeze announcement came just two days after Disney’s quarterly earnings call, in which Chapek delivered some disappointing results. Perhaps the most notable figure Chapek reported was $1.47 billion in losses for Disney’s streaming businesses. The earnings report sent Disney stock prices free-falling, hitting a 52-week low. Investors were angry and influencers in the financial world began calling for Chapek’s resignation. CNBC’s “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer said Chapek was “delusional” and “no doubt” had to leave.
Ultimately, the disappointing quarterly earnings call, a stunning multi-year low in stock prices, and the subsequent loss of both consumer and shareholder confidence was just too much for Chapek to withstand. Still, even with growing expectations that Chapek would be eventually be removed, Sunday night’s news sent shockwaves through the industry. Disney employees company-wide were notified first, via an email sent out just before 7pm PST from Bob Iger himself. Once employees were notified, the news quickly spread. No transition period, no farewell tour: Chapek was out, effective immediately. Iger was back as CEO. Below is Iger’s statement in full:
Dear Fellow Employees and Cast Members,
It is with an incredible sense of gratitude and humility—and, I must admit, a bit of amazement—that I write to you this evening with the news that I am returning to The Walt Disney Company as Chief Executive Officer.
When I look at the creative success of our teams across our Studios, Disney General Entertainment, ESPN and International, the rapid growth of our streaming services, the phenomenal reimagining and rebound of our Parks, the continued great work of ABC News, and so many other achievements across our businesses, I am in awe of your accomplishments and I am excited to embark with you on many new endeavors.
I know this company has asked so much of you during the past three years, and these times certainly remain quite challenging, but as you have heard me say before, I am an optimist, and if I learned one thing from my years at Disney, it is that even in the face of uncertainty—perhaps especially in the face of uncertainty—our employees and Cast Members achieve the impossible.
You will be hearing more from me and your leaders tomorrow and in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, allow me to express my deep gratitude for all that you do. Disney holds a special place in the hearts of people around the globe thanks to you, and your dedication to this company and its mission to bring joy to people through great storytelling is an inspiration to me every single day.
Bob Iger
While Iger handed over the CEO reigns to Chapek in 2020, Iger had stayed on as Executive Chairman until December 2021. Iger now returns to Disney only 11 months after formally leaving the company. Disney’s corporate website issued a public statement Sunday night, following Iger’s internal letter:
The Walt Disney Company announced today that Robert A. Iger is returning to lead Disney as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Iger, who spent more than four decades at the Company, including 15 years as its CEO, has agreed to serve as Disney’s CEO for two years, with a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the Company at the completion of his term. Iger succeeds Bob Chapek, who has stepped down from his position.
“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” said Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board. “The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period.”
“Iger has the deep respect of Disney’s senior leadership team, most of whom he worked closely with until his departure as executive chairman 11 months ago, and he is greatly admired by Disney employees worldwide—all of which will allow for a seamless transition of leadership,” Arnold said.
The position of Chairman of the Board remains unchanged, with Arnold serving in that capacity.
“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO,” Iger said. “Disney and its incomparable brands and franchises hold a special place in the hearts of so many people around the globe—most especially in the hearts of our employees, whose dedication to this company and its mission is an inspiration. I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling.”
During his 15 years as CEO, from 2005 to 2020, Iger helped build Disney into one of the world’s most successful and admired media and entertainment companies with a strategic vision focused on creative excellence, technological innovation, and international growth. He expanded on Disney’s legacy of unparalleled storytelling with the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox and increased the Company’s market capitalization fivefold during his time as CEO. Iger continued to direct Disney’s creative endeavors until his departure as Executive Chairman last December, and the Company’s robust pipeline of content is a testament to his leadership and vision.
For all intents and purposes, Iger’s return is a very public re-do of his original departure from Disney. Make no mistake: Chapek is Iger’s failure and the board has reinstated Iger to right that wrong. Iger cycled through several notable candidates to take over as CEO over his last few years at Disney. He hastily landed on Chapek just as the world began to shut down in 2020. And over the last two years, Chapek took Disney down a path that the board, employees, and fans alike agreed wasn’t right for the company. So now Disney will enter its 100th year, once again under the leadership of Bob Iger. We hope that Iger, over the next few years, will be able to find a more suitable successor — one that can properly lead the Walt Disney Company into the next 100 years. Good luck, Bob!
Disneyland’s Magic Key Meltdown
On Wednesday, November 16, after weeks of rumors, Disney resumed sales of new Magic Key annual passes. Sales of the highly sought-after passes, which first debuted in August 2021, were suspended across the board in May 2022 and only available for renewal until last week. Fans waited for hours on end in digital queues to purchase passes, with others waiting in physical queues at the theme park ticket booths. While the program was expanded slightly, demand was still too high. Just one day after going on sale, Disney suspended sales of all new Magic Keys by 4:30 PM the following day.
The single day of new sales was riddled with problems. An online system that would glitch and kick guests out of the queue, and a pass program in such high demand some diehard fans reportedly waiting over 20 hours in the online queue before their turn to purchase a pass came up.
It’s been almost 14 hours let me in pls #MagicKey
— Meddy ⁷⟭⟬ (@MissRightBTS) November 17, 2022
after 17 hours, i’m officially a magic key holder !!! pic.twitter.com/Gtz1gj1wnN
— chris . (@c_alessandroo) November 17, 2022
MY EMOTIONS HAVE NEVER BEEN PLAYED SO MUCH RIGHT NOW @Disneyland .20 HOURS!! I have waited in the queue to finally get my magic key pass 😭😭😭😭😭. 20!!! HOURS😅.. yeah it was more than an hour wait ..
— Cynthia (@Xynn201) November 17, 2022
With passes unavailable for nearly six months, it’s no surprise demand was pent-up and the system was overloaded. Lower-tier passes were bought up and sold out quickly — and by 4:30 PM the next day, all pass levels had sold out. Disney closed up shop on Magic Key sales with no warning at all to guests who had been waiting for hours in the queue. Suddenly guests were kicked out of line and a notification that Magic Key sales were closed appeared — and that was that. The countless numbers of Disneyland fans waiting to buy their pass were unceremoniously dumped out of the system.
Now, with more Magic Keys in the mix, will Disneyland’s reservation system be pushed to its limits like it was in the early days of the program? Early criticism of the Magic Key program hinged primarily on limited reservation availability, making it difficult for Magic Key holders to actually use their passes. Will this become a problem once again or will Disney adjust reservation availability to accommodate its newly-expanded Magic Key program?
We are already seeing days book up for Magic Keys… Of course, this is also a Thanksgiving holiday week, so we’ll have to keep an eye on how reservations stack up with all these new keyholders. Below you can see that most of this week is already booked up:
Celebrating Mickey and Minnie’s 94th Birthday
On Friday, Disneyland celebrated Mickey and Minnie’s 94th birthday. Guests received special birthday buttons at the main entrances of both parks, and Disneyland hosted a special cavalcade down Main Street, U.S.A.
The mini parade featured the Disneyland Band, the Dapper Dans, and a bunch of characters singing “Happy Birthday” to the dynamic duo at various points along the parade route. It was a charming little offering to mark the special day.
Mickey and Minnie rode in the fire engine as the guests of honor, of course. 
The Disneyland Band provided a musical backdrop to “Happy Birthday” singalongs.
The Dapper Dans offered vocals for the singalongs from the Omnibus, along with additional characters. 
A fun and charming affair! 
The cavalcade ended with a giant birthday cake for Mickey and Minnie. Happy birthday to the two that started it all! 
As part of Mickey and Minnie’s birthday festivities, Disneyland announced that Mickey’s Toontown will officially reopen March 8, 2023.
Mickey’s ToonTown Opening Info
While Disney had previously announced the new Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction would open January 27, it had yet to announce when the rest of the land would open. Now we know that March 8th is the date.
Below, progress on the spire for the El CapiTOON Theater, home of the new Runaway Railway attraction, can be seen above the treetops.
Below, a new birds-eye rendering of the reimagined Goofy’s House and Donald’s boat area of Toontown:
The March 8 opening of the reimagined Mickey’s Toontown will feature the following attractions, dining, and experiences:
- Goofy’s House and Goofy’s How-To-Play Yard: Incorporating a whimsical sound garden where kids will discover new ways to make wacky noises, as well as enjoy an all-new, elevated clubhouse. Inside Goofy’s House, guests will find an interactive candy-making contraption that only Goofy could imagine. The confectionery contraption begins high outside of Goofy’s home, as drips of honey fall from a beehive onto a chute that slides the colorful drops around and down into the home. Junior candymakers will help Goofy make the candy, and the silly sounds of household appliances will combine to make a truly Goofy symphony.
- Donald’s Duck Pond: Donald’s Boat is now perched in the duck pond of the Goof homestead. The Duck Pond will feature larger-than-life spinning water lilies, balance beams and rocking toys. Guests will be able to look into the boat through the portholes to witness bubbles of fun inside the flooded vessel and interact with some familiar ducklings including Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby.
- Chip ‘n’ Dale’s GADGETcoaster: The former Gadget’s Go Coaster has been renamed to “Chip ‘n’ Dale’s GADGETcoaster.” Here, Gadget Hackwrench has created a one-of-a-kind, fun-sized coaster for the town’s tiniest citizens. We expect a bit more Chip ‘n’ Dale presence here than before, now that their treehouse has been removed. Below, the attraction’s new logo:
- Mickey’s House and Minnie’s House: Guests will still be able to visit Mickey and Minnie’s homes and enjoy a self-guided tour as they discover special surprises in every room. Mickey and Minnie will continue to meet guests at their homes.
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin: The classic Toontown attraction will also return, where guests board Lenny the Cab and spin through the streets and alleys of Toontown as they follow the adventures of Roger Rabbit.
- Café Daisy: Daisy Duck will serve up diner classics at her sidewalk table eatery.
- Good Boy! Grocers: A friendly roadside stand, offering grab-and-go drinks and treats.
For more coverage of the re-imagining of Mickey’s Toontown:
UPDATED! Disneyland’s Reimagined ToonTown Opening Date Announced!
Grogu lands in Galaxy’s Edge
On Friday, just a day short of Star Wars Life Day, Grogu finally landed on Batuu. The new addition to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was met with pandemonium, with guests crowding walkways and following The Mandalorian around for a glimpse at his little green companion.
Below, video of Mando and Grogu in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
Catching a glimpse of the child was tough over the first weekend: crowds waited for the duo to appear. The character appearance isn’t a traditional meet-and-greet — there is no queue to meet the duo. Mando and Grogu walk around freely, stopping to greet guests as they see fit. Because of this, hoards of adoring fans would follow Mando and Grogu, clogging walkways.
While we appreciate the approach of making this an organic character experience, characters of this level of demand are simply not suitable to be free-roaming. Mando and Grogu would be much better suited for a dedicated, queued meet-and-greet experience — at least while demand is high.
In addition to causing major traffic issues in walkways due to popularity, I spotted several guests, notably children, attempting to touch Grogu. In his pouch, Grogu is eye-level for many children, and is very lifelike and adorable — just calling to be touched. A more controlled, dedicated meet-and-greet experience could help keep Grogu (likely a very costly bit of machinery) a bit safer.
Still, it is very cool to see these two out on the paths of Galaxy’s Edge and they are a much-welcomed addition to the land.
Mando and Grogu have a variety of programmed phrases and sounds that work together and when interacting with guests. The effect works and got a lot of great responses from guests, especially children.
If you’d like to catch a glimpse of The Child, the duo emerges from a backstage gate across from Ronto Roasters and travels west along the major walkway that runs parallel to the marketplace. The duo stop at an area at the other end of the marketplace, at the edge of the Resistance Forest, before walking back to the backstage gate they emerged from. If that’s confusing, don’t worry — you’ll spot the crowds waiting for them.
Speaking of Life Day, while Galaxy’s Edge hasn’t leaned all the way into celebrating the canonical holiday yet (hopefully next year!), a selection of merchandise celebrating the Wookiee holiday is available now.
Construction Kingdom & Refurbishment Roundup
Let’s take a look at some construction projects and refurbishments across the Resort.
Adventureland Treehouse Unwrapped
Due to high winds, tarps came off of the Adventureland Treehouse over the weekend, as construction on the upcoming walkthrough attraction continues. The removal of the tarps gave some small glimpses of construction progress but nothing too revealing.
We’re excited to explore this re-imagined attraction in 2023.
Indiana Jones Adventure reopens
On Friday, Indiana Jones Adventure reopened after a short three-day refurbishment.
Unfortunately, the popular E-Ticket ride reopened with many major effects not operating. Disney is rumored to have a major overhaul of this ride in the works but that’s no excuse for having a major attraction like this operating in such a poor state (and for so long). Hopefully that major refurbishment gets underway soon — it is desperately needed. Below, Dusty Sage has POV video of the ride, he’s noted some of the major non-functional effects with text overlays.
Monsters Inc. returns with enhancements
In Disney California Adventure, Monsters Inc.: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue! reopened on Saturday. The attraction returns with refreshed black light effects, fixed projection effects, and the installation of a new pressure pad safety system for scenarios where guests leave their ride vehicles. Outside, the facade has been entirely repainted with added dimensionality to the characters.
In some cases, the new character style doesn’t look quite right. Below, Sulley almost looks like he’s from an unlicensed knockoff park. 
Roz just doesn’t look quite right, either. 
Inside, the ride looks great. New high-powered black lights do a better job of reflecting the colors of the scenes. The ride looks crisp and fresh. Now, if only Genie+ didn’t absolutely destroy the standby wait times for this little C-Ticket ride.
Below, Dusty Sage has great POV video of the full attraction:
“It picked me up with its mind-power and shook me like a dog.”
Jazz Kitchen remodel
In Downtown Disney, Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen’s unfortunate, drab remodel is underway. The restaurant remains open during the project.
Below, a look at the concept art for the previously-themed dining location. As you can see, the new style is a soul-sucking strip mall look and not up to Disney design standards (unless they’ve given up on standards completely):
Disney Vacation Club construction at Disneyland Hotel
Construction continues on the Disney Vacation Club Tower at the Disneyland Hotel. Looks like a majority of the glass on the exterior is now in place.
Below a video look at construction:
Paradise Pier Hotel’s transformation into Pixar Place Hotel
Over the last week, stripes in primary colors were painted up the side of Paradise Pier Hotel as it continues its transformation into the upcoming Pixar Place Hotel. The hotel was initially shown in concept art to feature a rather drab black-and-white color scheme. It looks like perhaps Disney is reworking the color scheme on the fly, and while the primary color stripes leave much to be desired — they are an improvement over the very plain black and white.
Below, a video look at the exterior remodel progress so far:
Inside, a poorly-lit construction wall blocking guest access to the under-construction lobby area now features some concept art:
This and That
A look at a few miscellaneous items from the last week.
Disneyland Merchant’s Guild
The new Disneyland merchandise pickup service is now operating out of the former Guided Tour building, next to Disneyland’s City Hall. The new Disneyland Merchant’s Guild will hold your merchandise and packages until the end of the day, where you can pick them up on the way out of the park.
Disney Parks Holiday Parade Taping
Disney filmed segments of its annual holiday specials after-hours in the parks over the last week. 
While the Castle stage was set up during the day, guests couldn’t participate in filming as they have been able to in the past. We imagine this move was to avoid impacting the guest experience and crowd flow during an already-busy time of year.
In Disney California Adventure, after-hours filming took place in Cars Land as well.
By Saturday, the stage in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle was gone and the area was back to normal. 
Segments were filmed for two holiday specials, which will air on ABC on the following dates and times:
- The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration: Sunday, Nov. 27 (8-10 p.m. EST
- Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade: Sunday, Dec. 25 (10 a.m.-12 p.m. EST/7-9 a.m. PST
Both specials will steam starting the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
Holidays arrive in Downtown Disney and Disney Hotels
A week late, but Downtown Disney and the Disneyland Resort Hotels are now properly decorated for the holiday season.
At the Grand Californian Hotel, the hotel’s gorgeous Christmas tree and huge gingerbread house are now in place in the lobby:
At the Disneyland Hotel, the mid-century modern Christmas decorations are now up and as delightful as ever. We heard rumors that the mid-century flare of the holiday decorations here may be going away next year but we hope that’s not true — these decorations are just so perfect for this hotel.
The metallic trees with color-changing lights in the main lobby are delightful.
The great blue metallic Christmas trees flanking the entrance to the Fantasia Shop
Nearby, a mid-century Santa Claus meet-and-greet area hasn’t been set up yet but should be in place by Thanksgiving
The Adventure Tower and Frontier Towers get trees themed to the lands. The Adventure Tower trees are particularly fantastic.
Below, a Frontier Tower tree:
Decorations at Tangaroa Terrace and the fireplace across from Trader Sam’s.
Over at the Paradise Pier Hotel, some decorations have been added to give that hotel some holiday cheer as it continues its transformation into the new Pixar Place Hotel.
Around the Parks
We’ll wrap up this huge news update with some photos and videos from around the parks.
Don’t miss the new Black Panther in Avengers Campus!
The fun holiday show with Hawkeye is back in Avengers Campus this year as well
…and the new show with M’Baku is pretty fun, too!
Catch the full show below:
For some more classic holiday fun in DCA, be sure to catch the frequent Mickey’s Happy Holidays cavalcade along the parade route:
Enjoy the full Mickey’s Happy Holidays show stop below:
Below, enjoy some holiday classics from the Dickens Yuletide Band
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Let’s Discuss!
Alright, that wraps up this week’s update. It was a wild news week, wasn’t it? Are you excited to see Bob Iger return as Disney CEO? What are the top 3 things you like to see him focus on that would help restore the Disney luster? Were you lucky enough to get a Magic Key, or did you perhaps get dumped out of the system after hours of waiting? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
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