How Josh D’Amaro Became Disney CEO Part I
In May of 2020, Josh D’Amaro earned what many would describe as their dream job.
The executive gained a promotion to Chairman of Disney Experiences.
With the stroke of a pen, he claimed the honor of running all Disney theme parks.
That’s the fantasy every child has as we think about The Happiest Place on Earth.
Photo:visitorlando.com
At the time, the job was better described as a waking nightmare for D’Amaro, though.
Today, we’ll discuss how Josh D’Amaro became CEO of The Walt Disney Company.
Photo: Disney
Let’s just say that the start doesn’t start the way you’d expect.
Gee, Thanks, But…
(Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Why wouldn’t Josh D’Amaro have wanted that promotion in May 2020?
After all, the executive had previously worked as the President of Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World.
Photo: Disneyplanning.com
Running all Disney theme park operations seemed like a small jump from there.
Well, it’s the date that’s the key. D’Amaro became Chairman of Disney Experiences at the worst possible time.
(Photo by Ricardo Moreira/Getty Images for Disney)
When D’Amaro ascended to the title of Chairman, he faced an unprecedented situation.
Historically, various Disney theme parks had closed for a single day for various unique circumstances.
Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios)
Typically, hurricanes forced closures, sometimes even for multiple days.
Everything else was usually a one-off…until March 2020. And we all remember the drama.
Photo: WHO
Virtually overnight, the entirety of society shut down to the viral threat of COVID-19.
For the safety of humanity, public health officials requested that people shelter at home.
Credit: atlantaurgentcare.com
Suddenly, society lost its social element when interactions with others posed a physical threat.
We all remember who that pandemic hurt the most. It seemingly targeted all of Disney’s businesses.
Hong Kong Disneyland closed
The movie industry watched helplessly as movie theaters closed, and sports stadiums emptied, too.
People could no longer congregate as the disease spread rapidly across the globe.
Disney World during COVID
A viral moment occurred as fans gathered at Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom.
As the park approached its closing on March 15th, people swarmed this area of the park.
Photo: Orlandomagazine.com
They didn’t know what else to do, not realizing the innate danger of their behavior.
These tourists simply wanted to say goodbye to Walt Disney World for a while.
At the time, nobody knew when the parks would reopen.
Josh D’Amaro would become Chairman of Disney Experiences almost exactly two months later.
Where Is Everybody?
Shanghai Disney
On May 11th, 2020, Shanghai Disneyland provided a glimmer of hope to Disney fans.
The park reopened on that date after a nearly four-month closure.
Photo: Disney
On January 25th and 26th, the park and its sibling, Hong Kong Disneyland, had shut down due to COVID.
Tokyo Disneyland followed a month later, and then Disneyland Paris joined its American parks in March.
Disneyland Paris Holidays 2025
For the body of March and April and the first ten days of May, all Disney parks were closed.
So, a celebration occurred worldwide when Shanghai Disneyland reopened, even if it had some issues.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company-
On Josh D’Amaro’s first day as the head of all Disney theme parks, exactly one of them was open.
Disney owns six different theme parks, so that’s a terrible batting average.
Photo: Disney
Making things worse, D’Amaro’s new boss, CEO Bob Chapek, wasn’t well-suited for the job.
In this regard, D’Amaro faced another obstacle as he tried to salvage an impossible situation. With five parks closed and a paranoid boss closing ranks, the Chairman pulled up his sleeves and went to work.
D’Amaro liaised with his former cohorts, the others in charge of Disney theme parks.
Photo: Disney
As Disney learned more about the safe management of COVID, it reopened its parks.
Under D’Amaro’s watch, Magic Kingdom would reopen two months to the day after Shanghai Disneyland.
Disneyland Paris
The executive helmed Disney theme parks for almost exactly two months before Disney World reopened.
To his credit, epidemiologists never tracked a viral outbreak to Disney parks under his watch.
Photo: Josh D’Amaro on Instagram
You will never understand what an accomplishment that was.
Every day of 2020, news reports led with news of the latest contagious locations. For Disney to escape that list was nothing short of miraculous.
Getting the Hang of It
Photo: @joshdamaro
D’Amaro started his job in the ultimate pressure cooker situation, yet he somehow thrived.
Somehow, the Chairman even planned a huge birthday party at Disney World.
Image: Disney
Magic Kingdom had opened on October 1st, 1971, and Disney wasn’t about to miss the 50th anniversary.
Once again, D’Amaro played on a higher difficulty setting in getting the party started.
People were still masking then and would remain that way throughout the duration of the event.
Somehow, the Chairman found a way to make the event significant enough that attendance surged.
Then, in 2022, the so-called Revenge Travel era began, giving him an even bigger boost.
While the timing is a factor here, when D’Amaro arrived, Disney reported its worst quarterly earnings in decades.
The Walt Disney Company
Disney Experiences, his division, reported revenue of $983 million. That’s not a typo.
Companies struggle to make money when their core businesses are closed.
So, let’s circle back to the end of 2019 for the best comparison of Disney Experiences.
At the time, the division earned $7.396 billion in revenue that quarter with a profit of $2.338 billion.
Photo: Getty
During Iger’s first year as the Chairman, the parks earned $16.502 billion, with a loss of nearly $81 million.
We gloss over this era now because no one wants to think about those times.
Photo: Wikimedia
However, the data exemplifies how Josh D’Amaro became Chairman of Disney Experiences at the worst possible time.
Doing the Impossible
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
In a way, D’Amaro had nowhere to go but up. Even so, his decision-making impressed everyone.
Given that he’s held this job for more than five years, you’d think D’Amaro faced extensive criticism.
That largely hasn’t happened, even as fans grumbled about annual price increases and new paid features.
Disney introduced Lightning Lane, the paid FastPass system, under D’Amaro’s watch.
Photo: Disney
What happened? Everyone blamed Chapek instead. Meanwhile, D’Amaro gained all the credit.
At the end of fiscal 2022, Experiences grossed $36.156 billion and reported a profit of $2.882 billion.
The Walt Disney Company
The numbers weren’t quite as good as in 2019, but let’s be real. They shouldn’t have been.
Repeated COVID outbreaks kept the pandemic alive for most of the year.
Despite this fact, D’Amaro had already restored the Experiences division to its former status.
At this time, Disney’s other cores were struggling mightily under Chapek’s leadership.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
In fact, the fiscal report I’m referencing directly led to Chapek’s termination at Disney.
The sole highlight was D’Amaro’s work, a trend that would repeat itself the next few years.
Photo: Disney
In part two of How Josh D’Amaro became CEO, I’ll explore his recent successes.
Let’s just say that an annual profit of less than $3 billion looks like chump change now!
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