Josh D’Amaro is now the Disney CEO. After being chairman of Disney Parks & Experiences since 2020, D’Amaro takes over as the head of the company following Bog Iger’s retirement. While D’Amaro is an Iger disciple, there will likely be some changes under new leadership. In this post, we’ll share four things that we’ll be watching closely under new leadership.

Before we get into specifics, we are just generally excited about D’Amaro taking over. Outside of the Chapek blip, Iger had been at the helm of Disney for about 20 years. That’s a very long time and something that I don’t think we’ll ever see again. I look at his long tenure favorably overall but there were certain things that frustrated me, specifically on the parks side.

Iger believed in an acquisition led business that focused on synergy throughout the different branches of the company. He was good at that! The Marvel purchase alone shows how successful the strategy was. But over 20 years, the warts become more apparent. Having new leadership is exciting because it’s unfamiliar. We don’t know for sure what D’Amaro’s strengths and weaknesses as a CEO will be. There aren’t any annoyances from a 20 year relationship yet and the glowing personal reports from Cast Members leave us with hearts in our eyes.

I’m not saying that D’Amaro will be drastically different from Iger. In fact, they probably share more similarities in how they run things than they do differences. They’ve been attached at the hip for the better part of a year and D’Amaro will work hard to do something that Iger was pretty good at – impress the shareholders. There will be some changes along the way and that’s where this post comes in.

The four things we list below are largely built around theme parks since this is a theme parks blog. I am interested in the movie side of things too but that’s a different post that probably belongs on a different site. I’m also interested in the Muppets. Josh, if you’re reading this (he’s not), bring back Muppet Vision and greenlight more episodes of The Muppet Show. Thanks!

The four things I’ve listed below are generally optimistic. I’ve included a worry or two but there will be time to nitpick later. For now, we’re excited to see what comes next. Let’s get to it!

The New CEO Honeymoon

With nearly every leadership change comes a few fan-friendly announcements. This isn’t a perfect comparison, but think of it as a president stepping into office the first day and signing a bunch of executive orders that please their voting base. D’Amaro can’t run that wild but I’m sure there are a few warm, fuzzy announcements in Disney’s back pocket that they will release over the coming months.

We’ve already seen some of that. D’Amaro officially announced the Disney Believe ship will be coming in 2027, joining the rest of the fleet. Disneyland Resort has already announced relaxed park hopping times will be implemented this year. I think there’s more announcements to come, some more obvious than others.

The change in CEO also coincides with a D23 Expo year. After a bevy of announcements in 2024, 2026 would typically be heavy on updates. That will still be the case but I think D’Amaro will push for a few new and large announcements for the theme parks at that time too.

All of this should make for a very fun first year for theme park fans with the company under new leadership. There are many moves that could win over people and the honeymoon period should be rich with announcements.

An Understanding of Imagineers

Everyone who works with D’Amaro raves about him and that includes Imagineers. After being Chairman of Disney Experiences for 5+ years, the new CEO spent plenty of time in Glendale working alongside the park creatives. We have seen an emphasis put on the evolution of animatronics and groundbreaking ride systems. D’Amaro has experienced that firsthand and has let Imagineering go to work.

A new CEO knowing all of the good work they do and already being familiar with that side of the company should be good news for Imagineering down the road. In other words, D’Amaro probably knows how to encourage and not hamstring the department. I don’t think this will be a Chapek situation, where a new CEO comes in and cuts some legendary employees from creating in the parks. If anything, I think it will be the opposite as this change could spur even greater creativity.

Will Stage Shows Ever Come Back?

My biggest worry comes from something we’ve seen in the domestic Disney Parks over the last few years. Stage shows have been cut way back and have changed into more of an interactive experience. D’Amaro has spoken on this, and believes that the interactivity with characters is more of what fans want. He’s right, at least to some degree.

I believe there’s room for both though. If there’s a big, well done, Broadway style show at the parks then people will still go see it. Frankly, I think that’s more of an integral part of theme parks than the company is currently giving it credit for. The cuts made to that style of show has been frustrating over the last few years. California Adventure’s Hyperion has sat empty for a long time. There’s no stage show in Magic Kingdom or Disneyland. I’d love to see a return to daytime storytelling entertainment in the parks but am not as optimistic about that turning around with D’Amaro in charge.

Less Reliance on Acquisitions

I mentioned in the intro that Iger leaned into acquisitions. By and large, those deals turned out to be very savvy. Disney and Marvel are synonymous now. The company also reaps the benefits of Avatar, Star Wars and more! I’m very curious if D’Amaro will follow in these steps.

Personally, I hope that there’s a renewed interest in creativity and storytelling. The box office will dictate that on the movie side of things, which makes the success of Hoppers so good to see. Creativity on the parks side could lead to more attractions that aren’t centered around an existing IP. We’ve been wanting that to happen for some time but this is the biggest question mark for me as D’Amaro takes over. Iger was so focused on the synergy to the point where non-IP attractions or shows didn’t get off the ground. Will the new leadership share those same principles?

Overall, we’re excited about the future of the Disney Parks. With so many projects already under construction and a CEO that understands the inner workings of Disney’s most profitable branch, the switch in leadership should only ‘turbocharge’ the future.

What are you excited to see as Josh D’Amaro takes over as CEO? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Planning a Disney trip? Check out our Travel Guides to help get you there! Here’s a link to discount tickets at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. If you enjoy what you’re reading here on Wandering in Disney please subscribe to the blog via email or WordPress and like our social media pages. You can find all of those things on the right side of this page. Thank you very much for reading, we appreciate it!