Commentary Archive
Disney has pulled off a classic Bob Swap, replacing Bob Chapek with once former and now current CEO Bob Iger. Yes, you read that correctly. No, this is not an early April Fool’s Day joke—but perhaps it is an early Christmas present! This post offers our commentary about what this does and does not mean
Less than one day into his second tenure as CEO, and already Bob Iger has personally and single-handedly raised the price of Genie+ at Walt Disney World. Anyone else already missing the glory days of Bob Chapek?!?! Bad dad joke aside, it is true that the price of the Genie+ line-skipping service has reached a new
After Disney stock plummeted over 13% to close under $87 following the company’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings call, Wall Street analysts and investors had criticism for CEO Bob Chapek and his stewardship of the company, with CNBC television personality Jim Cramer calling for Chapek to be fired. This recaps what happened and discusses the reasons
Don’t believe everything Disney tells you. If the company never misled, every menu item everywhere would actually be “yummy” or “tasty.” Each new attraction would be the first-of-its-kind somehow. All upcharge experiences would be “magical” and “enchanting.” We’d still have Maelstrom, Universe of Energy, and other attractions they indicated were not slated for reimagining “at
Earlier this week, Walt Disney World rolled out new date-based pricing for the Genie+ service. That’s code for a price increase, which has already happened with the cost of paid FastPass jumping from $15 to $20 plus tax overnight. This post takes an early look at whether demand has been damped and if there’s better
Walt Disney World resort availability is extremely limited for this Christmas season through early January 2023, prompting reader questions and concerns. This post addresses what’s going on with the sold out hotels, lack of discounts, and commentary about what you can expect later next year. (Updated October 10, 2022.) A couple of months ago, we
“When will Fantasmic return?” is a question Walt Disney World vacation planners and fans have been asking for nearly two years. There’s been a ton of speculation and rumors about the nighttime spectacular coming back to Hollywood Studios to help with crowds. (Updated September 25, 2022.) In fact, there was a point early last year
Oriental Land Company (OLC) announced that Tokyo Disneyland’s 40th Anniversary will be the “Dream-Go-Round” celebration, and will start on April 15, 2023 and continue through March 31, 2024. This post shares details about the new parade, concept art for the event theme, plus the latest on Japan’s reopening, when you should plan a visit in
Judging by reader reactions, I was the only person here who was not totally disappointed by what was announced for Walt Disney World during the parks panel at the D23 Expo. In fairness, my expectations were super low. My pre-Expo predictions for Walt Disney World consisted of entertainment that we already know is returning, new
MagicBand+ is Walt Disney World’s new interactive wearable device with a variety of enhancements, plus two games. This ‘real world’ review covers our firsthand experiences using it for multiple full days in the parks to determine the good, bad, and ugly of the device, to help you decide whether to “plus” your WDW vacation. For
There’s a new Wall Street Journal article, Disney’s New Pricing Magic: More Profit From Fewer Park Visitors, that has garnered a lot of buzz and backlash from Walt Disney World and Disneyland fans. I’m not entirely sure why, as there’s been approximately one of these per quarter for the last year, and it can best
