What Disney Got Right and Wrong in 2023
Every year, The Walt Disney Company generates thousands of headlines based on what happens at the theme parks and inside the boardrooms.
Today, let’s look back at the year and evaluate the company’s best and worst moves.
Here’s what Disney got right and wrong in 2023.
Right: Theme Park Improvements
I went into detail here, but the TL:DR is that Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro practiced what they preached.
(Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Disney)
Both executives felt strongly that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek went too far with his theme park directives.
Chapek raised prices so often that you couldn’t help but wonder whether he had a button that did it, and he kept accidentally sitting on it.
In 2023, Disney systematically addressed many of the complaints. Some fixes occurred during the calendar year, while others will start in early 2024.
Still, the happy byproduct of each move is that the parks feel more magical because we aren’t stewing about the high prices all the time.
Wrong: No Roadmap for Disney Parks
Photo: Disney
At the 2023 Destination D23 event, Disney fans excitedly awaited jaw-dropping announcements about the future of the parks. Historically, fans could rely on this event as the signature moment when Disney turns wishes into reality.
People held high expectations for this event despite the fact that the previous one had kinda been a bust, at least with theme park reveals.
Photo: Disney parks Blog
Many fans have looked at Disney’s upcoming lineup and deduced that the new stuff will run out once Tiana’s Bayou Journey opens.
Alas, Disney leaned into its recent, rather infuriating trend of saying, “Maybe we’ll do this…” instead of confirming anything.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
These tactics are bush league, and Disney fans deserve better. It’s time for Disney to say, “We are definitely building these things…” Period.
Right: The Disney100 Super Bowl Ad
Here’s a mention you weren’t expecting, but it’s totally justified. Here’s a reminder of the commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg69VWvHGOA
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mention a commercial as one of Disney’s highlights, but I think we all fell in love with that one after about two seconds.
This loving tribute encapsulates everything that’s wonderful about Disney storytelling and why we love it so.
Not coincidentally, Disney won the Super Bowl commercial battle with the most effective commercial of the year, according to voters.
Wrong: Disney’s 2023 Movies
Oh, this one hurts me to type, but it’s not the first time I’ve done it.
While you may not remember John Carter (of Mars), Mars Needs Moms, or Treasure Planet, I had to cover those stories, which remain three of Disney’s biggest bombs.
The message here is clear. Disney needs to stay away from Mars.
Image: Disney
Seriously, though, 2023 included an absolutely brutal stretch of cinematic misfires for Disney. We’re talking about the studio’s largest list of busts ever.
Haunted Mansion, Wish, The Marvels, The Creator, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny all lost tons of money for the studio.
Image: Disney
But we don’t care about Disney’s financials. That’s an internal company issue.
What matters to fans is that Disney’s overall 2023 release slate mostly lacked the magic we’ve come to expect from the studio.
Right: The Cast Member Union Deals
Photo: Disney
One of the recurring topics for Disney analysts involves worker salaries.
About three times a decade, Disney must collectively bargain with cast member unions to ensure everyone gets paid fairly.
Photo: Disney
I hate everything about these topics, as I’ve heard far too many horror stories about cast members struggling to pay their bills.
Generally, these negotiations inevitably turn acrimonious, as often happens in labor disputes.
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
In 2023, I’m pleased to state that Walt Disney World’s primary cast member unions earned hefty pay raises, ensuring labor peace through at least 2026.
Wrong: Bob Iger’s Strike Comments
In politics, I sometimes cover so-called “hot mic” moments, times when politicians get caught on tape doing and saying stuff they shouldn’t.
Photo: Deadline.com (Getty)
Historically, I’ve never had to worry about that with Disney, as Bob Iger is one of the most polished CEOs of all-time.
That’s what made his CNBC comments one morning so memorable and indefensible.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Iger attended the so-called billionaires summer camp and performed a live interview there.
Only about five hours before then, a Hollywood union had voted to strike, thereby wreaking havoc with film and television productions.
Photo: Variety
A clearly frustrated Iger suffered his hot mic moment when he vented about how unreasonable the working class was being. As many, many, MANY critics stated in the aftermath of Iger’s comments, this was his “Let them eat cake” moment. He blew this one.
Right: Filing the Paperwork to Spend $60 Billion at the Parks
While Disney didn’t reveal a specific roadmap for park expansion, we DO know it’s coming.
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
I say this with confidence because they performed an 8-k filing, which is its way of telling potential investors this is happening.
If Disney did NOT expand the parks now, it’d be a big problem on Wall Street.
So, your favorite theme park will get better over the next few years, although the timeline suggests more of a 2030 thing than, say, 2026.
Ah, well. At least we finally know for sure that it’s happening!
Wrong: Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
Photo: Disney
“It’s the economy, stupid.”
That famous quote from James Carville exemplifies what went wrong here.
Credit: Kent Phillips, photographer/Disney
Disney missed the obvious with its pricing structure, presuming that guests would pay whatever was asked of them for this unprecedented experience.
While some did, the well ran dry within a year, leaving Disney facing the unimaginable proposition that the Star Wars Hotel has failed.
Right: Once Upon a Studio
Photo: D23
Despite all its criticisms, Disney got more right than wrong this year.
So, I’ve listed one more right here because it, too, exemplifies the best of Disney.
Here’s a clip about the animated short, Once Upon a Studio:
Friends, those are some of the most famous people on the planet, yet they’re humbled and awed that Disney chose them to participate.
This is the kind of event that stands the test of time, and I’ve had friends share with me that they used it as a kind of Easter egg hunt.
Photo: Disney
You’ll find 543 different Disney characters in this short film. How many can you list?
Don’t worry. You’ve probably got another 50 years until Disney releases the next one of these.
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Feature Photo: Disney
