Disney Apologizes to Disney Fans with New Policy Changes
After a monthlong listening tour, Bob Iger has finally chosen his first actions as the returning CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
As expected, Iger has tacitly apologized to Disney theme park fans by announcing some new incentives.
So, for the first time in ages, Disney park pricing will go down a bit in 2023.
Let’s talk about Iger’s recent actions and their deeper meaning.
The Disney Dining Promotion
I’ll start by reminding everyone of one of Bob Iger’s greatest skills: messaging.
Iger understands the value of controlling the company narrative, which was the greatest weakness of his temporary successor, Bob Chapek.
So, Iger liaised with Disney Parks guru, Josh D’Amaro, and the two Disney leaders came up with a list of what MickeyBlog had predicted: easy wins.
These are modest, minimal changes at the parks that won’t impact the bottom line much. Meanwhile, Disney can sell them as showing that it’s listening to fans.
Not coincidentally, here’s an interview D’Amaro held with The New York Times wherein he stated what Disney was doing:
His actual quote is, “We’re listening to (the fans), and we’re trying to adjust.”
The article notes that Disney hasn’t lowered ticket prices but has instead reduced ancillary expenses that occur during a theme park visit.
For example, Disney hasn’t brought back the Disney Dining Plan per se. Instead, the company has substituted a Disney Dining Promo Card.
This deal is solid and shows that Disney wants to reward loyal customers. However, the specifics aren’t quite on a par with the old dining plans.
Disney has offered something as a tacit admission of guilt, and something is better than nothing, right?
The Disney Genie+ Improvements
Similarly, Disney hasn’t said that it will lower the pricing structure on Disney Genie+. The company really doesn’t want to do that.
After all, Disney Genie+ has turned into a sizable breadwinner for the company. More than half of guests purchase the product.
We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that Disney has generated from its paid FastPass program.
Rather than cut into this newly discovered revenue stream, Disney will enhance the utility of the product.
Future Disney Genie+ purchases will include a free amenity: on-ride videos.
Remember that Disney already captures this digital imagery for all users anyway.
The company won’t spend much to provide the service for free to guests at attractions like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Slinky Dog Dash.
Don’t overlook the timing of this maneuver, either. If Disney had announced it a few months ago, people would have made Flash Mountain jokes.
With Splash Mountain closer forever in two weeks, that’s no longer a concern.
Finally, Disneyland Resort will offer something similar as of February 4th. As part of the Disney100 event, Disney Genie+ purchases include on-ride videos, too.
The wording suggests that this move only applies during Disney100. So, don’t count on it being available until 2024 unless MickeyBlog says otherwise.
The Free Parking Move
Here’s a tangible way that Disney will lower the price of your upcoming vacations.
If you drive to Disney or rent a car at the airport, you know that Disney added resort parking fees in 2018. This move was…unpopular.
Frankly, enforcement of this policy has proven nightmarish for Disney. Clever guests deduced that they could skip front desk check-in.
Instead, they used My Disney Experience to book their trips. Since they never told anybody they were driving a car, they could skip the fees.
This design flaw in the system caused Disney to ask all hotel guests for parking information. It created an immediate antagonistic scenario as people arrived at the hotel.
That’s not very Disney.
So, as of this week, Iger and D’Amaro have ended paid self-parking at resorts.
Disney has chosen to cede the money in exchange for creating a more magical experience for guests.
The biggest beneficiaries of this change are vacationers who had already booked for this week.
Disney self-parking at resorts had cost as much $140 per week, as MickeyBlog’s Tori Carle has pointed out.
Between this incentive and the promotional dining card, that’s $890 in newfound savings for park guests. It all adds up.
The Passholder Incentive
Disney hasn’t treated annual passholders well during the pandemic. I try not to sound bitter when I talk about Disney, but I took some of this stuff personally.
I’ve previously mentioned that I had Platinum annual passes in my shopping cart awaiting my wife’s approval the night before Walt Disney World shut down all sales.
We’d had annual passes for like six straight years before the pandemic. Mine ran out while Disney had closed, and then I missed the window to reopen.
So, we’ve been stuck since then as the company has refused to restore annual pass sales for the most part.
This week, Disney has updated an infuriating rule. Annual passholders may now Park Hop at 2 p.m. whether they have a Park Pass or not.
That’s terrific news for passholders in that it ensures they can visit all four Disney theme parks again on a daily basis.
For the rest of us, the announcement comes with a growing sense of alarm. Many had hoped that the Park Pass system would die in 2023.
Based on this policy change, Park Pass may survive 2023. Still, annual passholders once again can do the thing they always should have been able to do.
Also, Disneyland updated its Park Hop policy. Guests can switch parks starting at 11 a.m. as long as they have a Park Hop ticket or Magic Key.
Speaking of which, Disneyland also snuck in the confirmation that Magic Key sales will return intermittently in 2023.
Friends, I must emphasize this point. PLEASE read MickeyBlog every day so that you’ll know when this happens.
The last round of Magic Key sales didn’t even last a full day. You need to know early and act quickly!
The Tron Reveal and The Fifth Gate Hint
Disney amused me with one of its actions this week. The company started one of those I Love Bees campaigns for the opening date of a new roller coaster.
The advertising suggested that Disney planned to build a mystery before revealing the grand opening.
>◎//: Need a Clu? pic.twitter.com/fRflNcphH7
— Disney Parks (@DisneyParks) January 9, 2023
Instead, Disney declared April 4th, 2023, as the opening date. As far as mysteries go, it was no Glass Onion.
Still, Disney deserves credit for providing a specific timeline. We were only 10 days into the new year when Magic Kingdom revealed its mega-opening.
That information provides guests with plenty of time to plan their next Disney vacation.
Meanwhile, Disney has cleverly prepared for the impending chaos with the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Florida appears likely to move forward with its ill-considered plan to eliminate this district.
Without a note of irony, they’ll likely approve something similar from their friends at Comcast.
Disney understands the political theater at play and has plotted its next move.
During a public planning meeting on Monday, January 9th, Disney provided details on upcoming projects.
Specifically, the company has plotted some upcoming resorts, and the right to build two “minor parks.” What are those?
Disney indicated water parks and the like, but it’ll use legalese to provide leeway there.
More importantly, Disney set the table for a fifth Disney theme park. Yes, you read that correctly.
We won’t know the details on this until the board meets next month and probably not even then.
However, Disney is securing its own paperwork before Florida’s government starts meddling.
Reedy Creek is giving Disney expansion rights before it dissolves, forcing Disney to negotiate with greedier parties.
What Does It Mean? WHAT DOES IT MEAN???
D’Amaro also confirmed an upcoming appearance at SXSW in March. He’ll host a panel called Creating Happiness: The Art & Science of Disney Parks Storytelling.
Between this and the New York Times article, we can infer that Iger recognizes his best asset right now. It’s D’Amaro’s widespread popularity.
So, you can safely expect him to act as the face of Disney parks indefinitely. For him personally, that’s a decent sign that he’s a candidate to succeed Iger.
More importantly, Iger’s recent moves demonstrate that he knows the parks have grown too expensive. He’s listened to fans and heard their frustrations.
For this reason, Iger has adopted a conciliatory approach to 2023 at the parks. He hasn’t cut costs a lot, but he does enough to show he’s apologetic.
These actions, in combination with the removal of the wildly unpopular Chapek, should work as a salve for most fans.
In short, Disney has said it’s sorry. Is this enough for you to accept the corporate apology?