Josh D’Amaro’s Impact Is Already Being Felt

Josh D’Amaro won’t officially succeed Bob Iger for another three weeks.

For the time being, D’Amaro is not technically the CEO of The Walt Disney Company.

However, everyone knows it’s coming, and Iger appears to be giving his counterpart the appropriate deference.

While machinations are occurring behind the scenes, many changes are more overt.

Recently, a Disney veteran revealed something that should put a song in your heart.

Josh D’Amaro’s impact is already being felt at the parks. Let’s discuss some really good news.

What’s Happening at Disney

I’ll begin with a confession. There are several articles I’ve thought about writing recently.

However, I don’t want to turn MickeyBlog into the Josh D’Amaro Network, as tempting as that sounds.

Disney fans are giddy at the thought of D’Amaro running the entire company.

We’ve all witnessed the Josh D’Amaro Effect at the parks, and it’s been glorious to behold.

The current Chairman of Disney Experiences is one of us, a true fan of all things Disney.

He cares about the parks just as you and I do, which makes him a dream executive.

We went from penny-pincher Bob Chapek to D’Amaro, someone with whom we’d all love to spend a day at the park.

The change could have given us all whiplash, and that same statement applies to the CEO race.

Many moving pieces would have been compiled in a different order had D’Amaro lost.

Dana Walden, while incredibly competent, possesses a unique leadership style.

Also, she’s not someone who came up through Disney, having joined the company in 2019.

All of this leads to an inevitable outcome. Battle lines were drawn during the CEO battle.

Many in the Entertainment division favored Walden, while the Experiences team was all-in on D’Amaro.

While the whole thing wasn’t a popularity vote, Disney’s Board of Directors have admitted the obvious.

D’Amaro’s cult-like personality also played a role in his upcoming ascension to CEO.

As we speak, executives are jockeying for roles in Josh D’Amaro’s Disney, which will differ from Iger’s.

People like Alannah Hall-Smith and Paul Roeder are trying to become the new Zenia Mucha.

Meanwhile, Kristina Schake may be on her way out despite a recent contract extension. Nobody knows for sure, but these are the current whispers behind the scenes.

Long story short, Disney will look much different soon.

The New Rumor

Jim Hill and Len Testa have run a Disney podcast for many years.

They’re both respected insiders with connections inside the company’s theme park division.

Testa recently announced something that has everyone stressed, but I swear to you it’s great news.

Josh D’Amaro is already making an impact at Disney theme parks even before his promotion.

You can read Len Testa’s post here, but I’ll add the applicable quotes below:

“I’m hearing the initial plans for Villains Land have been scrapped. Imagineers have been told to think of bigger, bolder ideas. Budget secondary.”

Testa later elaborates: “The gist of it, as I understand it, was that WDI’s pitch was not big or bold enough.”

Before you ask, yes. That is definitely Len Testa posting on the site’s message board forum. To a larger point, several other established Disney insiders are saying the same thing.

Disney has gone back to the drawing board on Villains Land, which may freak you out.

It shouldn’t, though. This is VERY good news for fans, as it signifies a philosophical change.

Bob Iger had pitched Walt Disney Imagineering on his version of Villains Land.

What I mean is that Iger wanted the kind of themed land Disney has repeatedly built under his regime.

Historically, we’d expect Villains Land to consist of two rides, a restaurant, and a bunch of stores.

Look at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora – The World of Avatar as textbook examples.

Iger’s style isn’t overly complex, yet it has proven effective. His theme park expansions have worked.

What Testa and others are reporting reinforces the title of this article.

Josh D’Amaro’s impact is already being felt at Disney theme parks. He doesn’t settle.

The New Disney

What’s happening here is quite simple. Josh D’Amaro’s desires are already coming into focus.

He’s the Theme Parks Executive, and he doesn’t want to lose sight of that fact as CEO.

So, D’Amaro is already telling Imagineers that they’re working in a new era now.

Good enough is no longer good enough, a thought that likely makes Bob Chapek bristle.

From now on, D’Amaro wants his team of Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) experts to aim higher.

Disney’s next CEO is also smart enough to realize that his early achievements will matter more.

Wall Street and Hollywood alike will scrutinize his every move to determine his viability.

D’Amaro could easily make splashy headlines in other ways, and he probably will do that.

However, the one thing he can control immediately is his theme park expansion.

As the one who championed the idea, D’Amaro is also now the one writing the checks.

He can use that $60 billion in whatever way makes the most sense, and this is his first signal.

D’Amaro wants to bring ambition back to Disney theme park design.

A Better Brand of Villains

This request for new Villains Land proposals represents something vastly more important.

He’s telling WDI that nothing will change now that he’s CEO rather than Chairman of Experiences.

The new title in no way alters his devout belief that every theme park visit should be magical.

Now, he’s asking WDI to aspire to the kind of creations that punctuated their childhoods.

Josh D’Amaro wants to bring a sense of wonder back to a Disney vacation.

His first major projects won’t be Monstropolis or the Cars area. Those projects are well underway.

Disney still hasn’t started building at Villains Land, which has confused many of us.

I’ve said as much in Disney Rumors articles and when discussing last year’s disappointing Destination D23.

The lack of communication and a theme parks panel makes more sense now.

D’Amaro had deduced that he was the favorite to succeed Iger as CEO. So, he didn’t want to commit to a Villains Land reveal that wasn’t as spectacular as he desired.

Now, he’s requesting his Imagineers to add more daring to their proposals.

Throwing Caution to the Wind

What does this mean to you and me? It’s impossible to say right now, at least with Villains Land.

We could still wind up with two rides, a restaurant, and a bunch of gift shops.

However, the two attractions will be E-ticket rides, ones that justify generations of anticipation for Villains Land.

Josh D’Amaro isn’t going to settle for the bare minimum, the kind of thing we as Disney fans are used to seeing.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney California Adventure all initially underachieved.

Budget shortfalls and CEO mistakes negatively impacted the early years of these parks.

D’Amaro’s not going to let that happen with a project as important as Villains Land.

So, even though he’s not Disney’s CEO yet, he’s already throwing his weight around on the project.

The next head of Disney is throwing caution to the wind to guarantee one simple truth.

No matter how well D’Amaro performs as CEO, he’ll always have Villains Land as proof that he tried his best.

Frankly, this one news item alone gives me exponentially more confidence in Disney’s future.

I’m acutely aware that nothing ever goes as planned, but D’Amaro’s going to try.

You’d be shocked how new CEOs fold immediately as soon as they get the job.

D’Amaro has already shown more spine than most of his peers, and he technically isn’t even CEO yet.

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Feature Photo: Disney