Is Disney Ruining Its Reputation?
It’s been a rough few years for the Walt Disney Company and fans. It’s pretty wild to now think of 2019 as the halcyon days of Walt Disney World and Disneyland, but with the benefit of hindsight, they were. This post takes a look at what’s happened since, negative views of the brand as captured by surveys, and how returning CEO Bob Iger feels about all of that. Plus, our commentary about causes and solutions, and how dire the brand damage actually is for Disney.
It probably goes without saying, but the most controversial issue this year has been the company’s public standoff with Walt Disney World’s home state, resulting in a “battle” between former CEO Bob Chapek and Governor DeSantis. That made headlines for months, and culminated in Florida passing bills to dissolve Walt Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District. Books (plural) will someday be written about this saga.
On the media side, Disney has had plenty of problems in the last few years. The biggest of those revolved around the live-action Mulan, which was mired in multiple issues. That resulted in Disney becoming a symbol of Hollywood hypocrisy and willingness to sacrifice values to do business in China. Subsequently, there have been lower profile content-controversies of varying degrees, at least some of which have been driven by a Disney being under the microscope.
All of that is before we even get to changes at the parks. Go ahead and watch this great ad from 2015, which underscores just how much has changed about the guest experience. Disney’s Magical Express, free FastPass, reservation-free visits, unlimited Park Hopping, Annual Pass sales, and the Disney Dining Plan are all things of the past.
And that’s just a partial list! Health safety protocol was contentious in 2020 and 2021, but those issues have largely faded away. There have also been the countless price increases, resulting in an over 40% increase in guest spending. If you want a rundown or refresher, see this list of the biggest Walt Disney World fan complaints and that post’s most recent comments for insight into why so many fans are disgruntled.
While things have started to ‘settle down,’ there was a stretch during which it seemed like a week didn’t go by without Disney embroiling itself in embarrassment. To be sure, several of these so-called scandals were no-win situations, where Disney was backed into a corner with no good way out. Plenty of others were unforced errors that could’ve been avoided had the company been more deliberate and careful with its decisions and PR.
None of this is any big secret to those who follow the Walt Disney Company. Regardless of where you fall on the ideological or political spectrum, you no doubt are cognizant of the controversies swirling around the company.
Reflecting all of this is the Axios Harris Poll 100 and 2022 Corporate Reputation Rankings. Reputation rankings in Forbes, Financial Times, Fortune, US News & World Report, and other business publications have proliferated in recent years–likely because these lists are an easy way to grab headlines on social media and generate ‘news’ about companies that rise and fall in the rankings.
Quite often, there’s considerable inconsistency among the lists. Rankings vary depending on the criteria and methodology used, as well as the sources of information and the sample size. As such, I was skeptical when the Axois Harris Poll 100 first came out, and contained what could be described as disturbing results for Disney.
My skepticism changed when reading the recent Wall Street Journal article that summarized the saga (thus far) of Disney’s Bob Swap/Battle of the Bobs. We’ve already covered some of that here, but another interesting tidbit was Bob Iger’s views on external and internal sentiment towards the company. According to WSJ, Iger believed that Chapek was a failure in the most important measures of success for a CEO: internal satisfaction, investor relations and consumer support.
An internal survey of Disney found low morale among Cast Members, which should hardly be a surprise given that they were on the frontline enforcing rules, explaining unpopular policies, and more. Wall Street Journal also pointed specifically to the Harris Poll, which Bob Iger follows closely, showing that fans were “falling out of love” with the Disney brand.
Knowing the Axios Harris Poll is important to the company and its CEO (Disney touted being one of the highest-ranking companies on the poll as recently as 2019) prompted me to take a fresh look at the results. There’s no way to spin this or paint it in a positive light: the results are bad for Disney.
Below is a look at the 2022 Corporate Reputation Rankings from the Axios Harris Poll 100. This is based on a survey of 33,096 Americans in a nationally representative sample, and uses a two-step process to determine the rankings:
The Walt Disney Company had a score of 73.4 and ranked 65th on the list, which was a drop of 28 spots as compared to last year. This puts Disney into the “Good” tier of the list, which is the worst it has ever done in the history of the Harris Poll.
For the duration of Bob Iger’s first tenure as CEO, Disney had scored above 80, falling near the top of the list in the “Excellent” tier.
Above is Disney’s breakdown in the individual category scores of Trust, Ethics, Growth, Products/services, Citizenship, Vision, and Culture. On the plus side, at least the core products and services are still performing well.
To put this into perspective, Disney scored almost 10 points behind the #1 ranking Trader Joe’s, and had falls on par with Chick-fil-A, PepsiCo and Pfizer. The only company that performed significantly worse year-to-year was Spectrum, which dropped 71 slots. Conversely, Home Depot, Stellantis, Sony, IBM, Google, and Samsung all shot up the rankings.
I was dismissive of this list when it was first released because of the inconsistency in the rankings. In isolation, it makes sense that Disney would’ve dropped. However, the wild swings for Home Depot, Sony, IBM, Google, Samsung, etc. are all less obvious.
Even Chick-fil-A’s drop is difficult to reconcile; while it’s a polarizing company, its scandals and boycotts occurred a few years ago. That 24 spot fall would’ve made sense in 2019 or 2020, but not so much this year. Same goes for PepsiCo; it faced some major issues back around 2017, but not much since. (A bit off topic, but PepsiCo actually has great corporate culture. There’s no good explanation for its decline.)
Moreover, of the top 4, only Patagonia even made the list in 2021. In reviewing the rankings for the past several years (see 2019, 2020, and 2021), these inconsistencies become even more evident. In-N-Out Burger dropped out of the rankings entirely after ranking #17 last year (another company with great culture) and the beloved Buc-ee’s, another regional institution, was also shut out of the list.
With that said, I’m willing to allow for the possibility that the Harris Poll is a flawed way to rank certain high profile companies and a good way to rank other ones. I would hazard a guess that most Americans are both aware of and like their local grocery store chains, automobiles, and consumer electronics. I would also guess the average American doesn’t know much about those corporations; they’re aware of the brand, but clueless about its business machinations. Those companies likely benefit favorably from that dynamic on rankings like this.
For example, we got a new Samsung television this year, and I’m very pleased with it. If I had to list 100 visible companies, Samsung would make my list as a result. I know literally nothing about the Samsung corporation, and would thus make wild guesses if I had to score it on those 7 key reputation factors. (Some of which are very similar to one another and almost impossible to assess from the outside.)
By contrast, there are companies like Disney where the reputation is part and parcel of the brand itself. There are several lifestyle brands like this, that have actual enthusiasts and a wider degree of awareness among the general public. Aside from Disney, companies that come to mind here include Apple, Starbucks, Nike, Tesla, Patagonia, and Trader Joe’s. There are undoubtedly others, as well.
For these companies, movement in the rankings might be much more meaningful. It’s less likely at random, and more likely reflective of how the core audience views the company’s recent actions. (Even then, some of those brands have enjoyed teflon-like reputations in spite of scandals one might think their demos would dislike.)
For its part, Axios attributes Disney’s drop to its political (mis)calculations and controversy in Florida and being “caught between their employees, consumers and politics.” (This poll was conducted right after the Reedy Creek fallout, when it would’ve been freshest in minds. That was a major story beyond the Disney sphere, making national headlines for a while.)
“Disney’s about face shows the reputational hit that comes when the public perceives you as being calculating rather than clear in what you believe in and stand for,” said John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll. Axios’ color commentary suggests Disney’s fall was less about taking a position, and more about the approach that alienated just about everyone in the process.
Given the current politicization of everything and hyper partisanship, some people will no doubt use these survey results to vindicate their preexisting beliefs about Disney’s forays into social issues. That is undermined at least to some extent by the rankings of countless companies that have likewise taken stances on social and political issues.
Patagonia, which ranks #4 on the list, is among America’s most activist corporations, loudly proclaiming its political labels (literally). On the other end of the spectrum is the #28 ranking Chick-fil-A. As noted above, it fell considerably, but not for any recent issues–it still scores incredibly highly for trust and ethics. Other high ranking companies have been embroiled in social and political problems, including Amazon, Kroger, Publix, Netflix, Nike, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Hobby Lobby all rank highly.
With that said, what is possible is that Disney going back and forth on saying/not saying something, and then publicly injecting itself into Florida politics, and then Chapek getting into a high-profile fight with Governor DeSantis, and then the squabble over Reedy Creek took a toll and tarnished Disney’s reputation. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that it did.
That whole saga started in mid-February and dragged on until late April, with major headlines on a weekly basis. It was a major news story for two-plus months, and one that definitely refuted the notion that any publicity is good publicity. Disney’s hamfisted approach managed to alienate and aggravate virtually everyone regardless of their allegiances in the culture war. Perhaps Chapek should be praised for managing the rare feat of bringing unity…in disliking him!
Jokes about Chapek aside, other companies are better at playing one side. Consequently, their losses with one group are offset by gains with the other. Disney seems to have found the rare “sweet spot” of pissing off both. Nike, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Hobby Lobby, Patagonia, and others have not done this. In fact, I cannot think of any major company that has–especially not one as universally beloved as Disney.
Critically, these brands run the political gamut. It’s not as if one viewpoint is doing poorly while the other is excelling. There are popular catchphrases suggesting companies fail as a result of their political or social stances, there is zero data to support that. Only a handful of outliers when brands have become proxies for political identities, and none of the aforementioned companies qualify as having done that.
To that point, it seems like every time a new movie is released, one end of the spectrum calls for its boycott. This has even happened with two of this year’s billion-dollar box office darlings, Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water. Despite hundreds of thousands of “likes” on social media expressing solidarity with these boycotts, there was a negligible (at best) impact on their success. When movies actually do bomb–like Lightyear or Strange World–it’s viewed as vindication. The boycott worked! (Nevermind decades of experience demonstrating that boycotts are seldom successful at impacting revenue.)
The same thing happens when certain stocks drop on days when the broader market or that segment is also down. Rather than looking at the bigger picture, many people view that as evidence to support their preconceptions. There couldn’t possibly be any other explanation aside from the boycott bearing fruit and investors jumping ship. (Institutional investors do not care; they are not influenced by emotion.)
The reality is that most Americans are not hyper partisans and will not give up something they’d otherwise enjoy for the sake of political sport. That might work with the terminally online or those who watch cable “news” for 8 hours per day, but not with ordinary Americans.
The number of people who wanted to see Tom Cruise do cool jet stuff but refrained because it supports the military industrial complex (lol) or because the Na’vi are culturally appropriating (from the historically oppressed…blue alien cats?) numbers in the dozens, not hundreds of thousands. Most of the outraged were upset about something they never had any intention of seeing.
Suffice to say, boycotts from those at both extremes of the political spectrum are nothing new, and have yet to be any major corporation’s undoing. That’s because they occur at the fringes, among a vocal minority–much louder in voice than they are large in numbers. The overwhelming majority of Americans simply do not care, and instead consume products they enjoy and value, without regard for their purported positions. The bottom line is that if a movie or television show is fun and good, that’s all that matters for most people.
When it comes to Disney’s box office bombs, the real issue could be that one of those movies looked like a Toy Story knock-off, replaced the beloved Tim Allen-voiced version of an iconic character, and couldn’t even justify its own existence. No one was begging for a contrived ‘real life’ origin story about a toy.
The other follows in a long-line of science fiction flops for Disney, and received lower-than-normal audience scores even from those who chose to see it. (With Strange World, the ‘other side’ will argue that it flopped because Disney failed to market it–but is it instead possible that Disney made the business decision not to market it because audience tracking was anemic, and they knew the movie was destined to flop regardless? Throwing good money after bad and all that?)
This is not to say people don’t boycott things. It’s also not to say boycotts are pointless. As a consumer, there is no more powerful voice you have than your dollars; “voting with your wallet” sends a more powerful message than simply shouting about boycotts. There’s also something to be said for supporting businesses that align with your own values, and not doing business with those that do not.
This is simply to say that boycotts typically do not happen in sufficiently significant numbers to impact financials in a material way. Movies with messages succeeding is proof positive of this, as is the failure of movies without messages. When in doubt, employ Occam’s razor. Morbius didn’t flop because it offended the highly-influential vampire lobby. It flopped because it sucked (figuratively). Or so I’ve heard. As with Lightyear and Strange World, I haven’t seen it due to a lack of interest. (Apologies for the rant, but this has been coming up way too often on social media and it’s utterly exhausting.)
The data backs this up. Even as Disney has sustained undeniable reputational and brand damage, the company continues to outperform in consumer-facing ways. Disney+ has beat subscriber growth expectations each of the last several quarters, including the one encompassing the Reedy Creek controversy. This has happened even as its competitors, like Netflix, have stumbled at maintaining growth and avoiding churn.
The real issue for Disney+ has been how much money the nascent streaming service has burned through to achieve that growth, resulting in losses of roughly $1.5 billion in the most recent quarter and around $1 billion in the quarters prior to that. But that has absolutely nothing to do with boycotts–it’s largely due to out of control spending on content. (The company knew from the outset that Disney+ wouldn’t be profitable until 2024, but the staggering expenses and shifting Wall Street expectations have shifted the dynamic.)
Then there are the theme parks. I don’t think anyone who has spent any amount of time in the parks the last couple of years would say there are any signs of a fruitful boycott. Prices are up (considerably), but the parks are still packed. For all of the changes that have negatively impacted the guest experience, people are still visiting in droves.
This is not intended as “proof” that Disney is on the right track or doesn’t have underlying issues–just that the assorted real-world controversies have not meaningfully impacted the parks’ financials in the last few years. With that said, we’ve repeatedly harped on the company prioritizing short-term success over cultivating an audience of loyal, long-term fans. From our perspective, this is the crux of the actual issue for the Walt Disney Company.
Back in 2018 we published Is Walt Disney World Eroding Fan Goodwill? That four year old assessment could’ve been written yesterday–but would be twice as long if it were! The nickel and diming has become more egregious, fans are increasingly disillusioned, and guest satisfaction has decreased significantly as a result.
In fact, we’ve written about the long-term reputational damage on several occasions resulting from these practices. Variations of the following are from posts in 2019, 2020, and 2022: At this point, it would seem that price increases will continue unabated until the next economic downturn. Given the staggering number of “Most Expensive Day Ever” and “#BROKE” shirts (among hundreds of other similar Etsy designs) visible in the parks right now, we think Walt Disney World has a serious pricing reputation and perception problem.
However, as long as consumer confidence remains high, people will pay the prices…and then spend even more to wear shirts complaining about said prices. The serious issue will come down the road when people are not feeling so hot about their economic circumstances and future.
At that point, it’s a question of whether discounting will be enough to incentivize guests to return, or if irreparable brand damage will have been done during the last decade or so of increases. We don’t have an answer to that–no one does–but it’s definitely something about which we’re curious.
Those are the things that really have me worried when it comes to Disney’s reputation. If I were an executive walking around the parks seeing all of those Etsy shirts, I would be very concerned about public perception–and would want to make efforts to undo that. That’s not to say prices should be lowered or Disney should cease to be a profit-minded business. But some of the cash grabs are so blatant, unnecessary, and–ultimately–counterproductive.
As much as I like the concept of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, I think it has done more harm than good. So many headlines (rightfully) focus on its cost, with the “hotel” receiving outsized attention for what’s ultimately a niche offering that won’t do much for Disney’s bottom line. Same goes for the $100,000 private jet Disney Parks worldwide “adventure” that garnered a ton of attention despite having only 75 slots. Ditto the new subdivision Disney is attaching its brand to on the outskirts of Palm Springs.
All of this will make money, to be sure, but even the upside is incredibly limited due to the limited market or capacity for all of these things. More importantly, there’s a non-monetary cost to all of this in terms of brand damage. It reinforces the erroneous-but-widespread belief among many fans that Disney now only caters to the wealthy.
I’m not alone in being more concerned about all of this. There have been recent reports that Bob Iger was “alarmed” by Walt Disney World and Disneyland price increases. “He’s killing the soul of the company,” said Iger about Chapek on more than one occasion. This refrain might as well have come from Walt Disney World and Disneyland fans, as it echoes so much sentiment shared here over the last couple of years.
This is not to absolve Iger from blame. Again, our article questioning whether Walt Disney World was eroding fan goodwill was written in 2018, during the first Iger regime. Unpopular decisions were made under Iger then, more likely would’ve continued in the last few years, and more are probably on the horizon. The key distinction is that Chapek did an unprecedented amount of damage in a short span, and did so without much regard for the guest experience or perception of fans.
This much should be fairly self-evident when comparing consumer sentiment polls and the past Harris surveys from the Iger days to the Chapek era. For all of our collective complaints during those years, the Walt Disney Company enjoyed a sterling reputation–ranking near the top of every reputational list–before Iger stepped down as CEO.
There’s a reason so many fans are happy to have Bob Iger back, and it’s not because we have the memories of gnats. It’s because he was generally a good leader–warts and all–who cared about the company, its history, future, and fans. Not all of his decisions were beloved, but he also seemed to be building up the company, rather than burning a 100-year old empire to the ground as expeditiously as possible. But I digress–we’ve discussed this to death in countless other posts.
The good news is that, as intimated above, Chapek is gone and Iger is back. Already, there are signs that Disney and Florida are going to reconcile, and Reedy Creek will not be dissolved. The lawmaker who drafted the law to dissolve RCID said that “Chapek screwed up, but Bob Iger doesn’t have to own that screw-up.”
His personal politics aside, Iger has a defter touch and is more diplomatic than Chapek. As a whole, the company likely learned the limits of its influence, and what to avoid. To whatever extent that controversy hurt the Disney brand this year, the worst is almost certainly in the rearview mirror.
On top of that, the general public does have short memories when it comes to brand controversies. In spending way too much time studying the Harris 100 lists between 2019 and 2022, one thing that became clear to me was that most damage is not fatal. Negative headlines are most impactful the closer they coincide with the survey window, and become increasingly irrelevant as time passes.
Multiple companies have bounced back the year after big scandals, forgotten from memories as the outrage du jour long since moved on to something else. Unless a company is out there regularly spilling oil on baby seals, reputational recovery typically occurs. Long-standing image and general business practices matter a lot more than temporary mistakes. As should be the case–ethics and missteps are not the same.
However, this also means that ongoing issues that have soured consumers on Walt Disney World and Disneyland will continue to take a reputational toll. Given that Iger is aware of this–and extended an olive branch of sorts with his letter to fans and the Cast Member Town Hall–it’s likely he will make efforts to undo some of Chapek’s damage. As we’ve written before, Bob Iger believes in the ‘magic’ of Disney and understands what fans and employees need and crave from the company’s leader.
What Iger will do to repair tensions between the company and consumers is unclear. As covered in this List of Positive Changes CEO Bob Iger Could Make to “Fix” Walt Disney World, there’s some low-hanging fruit. However, there are also changes that Iger will be hard-pressed to make given how the company’s streaming services are hemorrhaging money.
What Iger could do is work to improve the guest experience, so we’re not hit with price increases and corner-cutting simultaneously. People can generally handle one or the other, but not both. At least, not without feeling ripped off. If the company wants to actually “exceed the highest expectations” of fans (in Iger’s words) and maintain its status as a premium brand and industry leader in theme parks, hopefully it will improve the experience and offer an unparalleled experience commensurate with the high price points. Avoiding unnecessary controversies, alienating everyone, and being openly antagonistic to consumers seem like other obvious and good ways to start raising Disney’s brand ranking. Here’s hoping for more of that, and a less outrage-inducing 2023 for Disney!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your take on Disney’s declining reputation? Think the company can bounce back with a less controversial leader? Will the price increases, nickel & diming, and other unpopular decisions result in continued decline? Think Iger’s superior diplomacy with Cast Members, fans, politicians, etc. will yield better results?
Regardless of your perspective on the reasons for Disney’s brand damage, please keep the comments civil. This is not the place for politically-charged arguing, antagonism, personal attacks, or perpetuating pointless culture wars. There’s a way to tactfully convey points touching on politics and social issues without being disrespectful or disparaging. We will be heavy-handed in deleting comments that cross the line or are lacking in decorum, without regard for their viewpoint. If you wish to rudely shout your anger into the internet abyss, that’s why Facebook was invented.
I agree that organized boycotts seldom, if ever, work, but I am a big fan of individuals voting with their dollars to support or personally boycott companies that they either like or dislike.
I personally boycott a bunch of companies that I don’t like. I know it won’t change anything in the greater scheme of things, but at least I’m making my views known through my patronage or lack thereof.
I don’t like the current iteration of Disney at all.
The theme parks are too expensive, nickel and dime everything, charge for Genie Plus and Lightning Lanes which are complicated and stressful, require too much planning and rigidity, ridiculously require park reservations, make park hopping difficult with park reservations, have too many arcane rules, make spontaneity difficult if not impossible, are too crowded, have bad service, have less services such as the Magical Express, have fewer dark rides than in earlier decades, have reduced hours, have less entertainment such as parades and small impromptu shows, have more maintenance and cleanliness issues, are stressful, and are not fun.
Disney built Disneyland in one year, but they now take many years just to build one new attraction or renovate an existing one.
In short, the magic of visiting the parks is now gone. Disney parks, like Disney as a whole, is a shadow of its former self.
Comparing the current state of Disney parks to how they were when I visited them in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s would be like comparing the Dark Ages to the height of the Roman Empire. The previous greatness tragically devolved into the current malaise.
At this point, I much prefer to vacation in state and national parks, small towns, mid-sized cities, or lower tier big cities. These locations offer a lot of affordable, low stress fun that doesn’t require rigid planning.
Disney has become way too militant and activist about its cultural and political views and has developed a strong fixation on immutable identity characteristics that are best not harped on by any company.
I realize that Disney has been a politically engaged company since its founding in 1923, but historically they were wise enough to practice political restraint, be publicly neutral in politics, and to not alienate segments of the population that disagreed with their political viewpoints. Now, Disney gladly flaunts its politics.
Disney’s current movie, TV, and music offerings are all mediocre or low quality with a healthy heaping of Disney’s political worldview mixed in. Disney needs high quality, politically neutral media offerings.
Zombies 3, which I watched with my nieces, is without a doubt the most dumbed down, obnoxious excuse of a movie that I have ever been subjected to. It’s downright terrible and is a good symbol of the company as a whole right now.
Disney needs to return to having at least some animated movies with hand drawn animation instead of all of them being computer animation.
Disney should strive to return to the quality of animated movies and shorts of the Disney Golden Age, Silver Age, and Disney Renaissance.
I agree with everything that you say.
The cheapening down of everything has added to the bad feeling you get with disney.
I used to love to walk through the animation department and watch the imagineers working on the next new movie. They hand drew and created the content.
Now it seems like it is all about the money, money, money. ROI has gone down considerably for our family.
It used to be our favorite vacation where you could forget the real world and be entertained by beloved characters. That’s what has changed the most for me.
Sadly, we have stopped going to WDW. It was our yearly vacation destination since the l970’s. I hope that one day, they will get back to family values and stay out of trying to force their views on their audience. If I had wanted that,, I could watch TV news. They have forgotten that disney is primarily a vacation from the world destination. I would love to go back to disney one day and I miss it (the old disney that cared about people and children). I feel that the brand name has already been ruined for many and I hope they can bring it back. However, once a brand is ruined, it is difficult to bring it back.IMO
I agree with *almost* everything you said. However… Disney isn’t putting anything political in their movies. And they certainly aren’t ‘militant’ in their cultural/political views. Sorry, this is simply incorrect. Representing people of different races, religion, and/or sexual orientation in movies or on TV isn’t political. It’s just life. If that keeps you from watching or enjoying those shows, it may be time for some self-reflection. The only way Disney is going to thrive as a company is to be more inclusive. They’ve proven themselves to have a laser focus on the bottom-line, and the cynic in me says their focus on inclusion comes from that place. Regardless, the much maligned Chapek was far more politically neutral than the much loved Democrat-turned-Independent Iger. You see where that got him.
Oh my gosh you’re so right. There was a a cereal commercial a few years back (Cheerios I think) featuring a mixed race couple. The comments on YouTube were sickening and racist. Undaunted, they then followed up with an ad with a same sex couple. That of course angered even more people. But there is no indication that it hurt sales at all. Far more people want inclusiveness (or simply don’t care about things that are none of their business) than people who will boycott for this kind of thing. It’s unfortunate that some people can’t accept or fear people who are different than them, but it’s not going to effect Disney’s bottom line.
re: Loyal Reader
That’s exactly right. These movies have been about environmentalism, standing up to bullies, how it’s okay to be different, how we should lead with love instead of hate, to not judge by appearances, that mob mentality is wrong, the dictators are bad, that diversity is good, that women deserve equality — for decades. At least as long as I’ve been alive so for at least 32 years.
Now the characters look more like the rest of us, so we get to see ourselves in these movies too. It’s interesting, the issue is portrayed as minorities being so insistent on being represented in media, but actually when we are, people are doxxed, get death threats, there’s review bombing, misinformation and troll campaigns — because a few movies have gay characters, or aren’t only centred on men, or have visible minorities in them.
I would say the ones who seem so insistent that everything must focus on them and that art shouldn’t focus on anyone BUT them and when it does people should pay, are members of the majority.
Since 1995 we have gone to Walt Disney World at least once per year and needless to say we have spent a lot of money there. We are DVC members, and it is sad to see Disney going in the direction they are going. I think we all need to take a step back and remember that Disney is not in the business of making memories or magic or providing happiness for your vacation. Those things might happen, but that it not their primary business. Their primary goal is to make money and the more they can make, the better for them and their stockholders. But in doing that I believe they are losing focus on the customer, at least the long-term ones who keep coming back year after year. I will not go into all the changes they have made in recent years as many have in this discussion, but I think Disney is going to have to clean up their act or things are going to go downhill quickly, and people will choose other alternatives for their vacations.
We used to go every other year but had to skip one with covid so October / November was our first trip since October 2019. We lucked out with dvc reservations and had an amazing time with numerous examples of fantastic interactions with cast members. Yes it was different and we were prepared for that, we’re also lucky that with travelling across the pond we wake up early and can therefore maximise early entry without any difficulty but we also viewed the trip through the eyes of our young children who loved it all and ask when it might be possible to go back. I’m lucky enough to have visited wdw all my life and am naturally more sceptical of the world now I’m older but Disney still has that nostalgic pull for us and we can’t wait to return.
Agreed. The Disney magic has faded, hopefully Iger can help w/that. We’re looking at Universal also for the next visit.
I was stuck in Disney for hurricane Irma and felt more sense of “Disney magic” then (while the parks were closed and we were under a curfew) than i felt this last Nov when i went…. they seemed more concerned with getting me to open my wallet than they were with getting me to be wide-eyed and welcomed
Sooo I do think Disneyland is feeling some effects of their choices, either social pressure is working, the price is too high or the annual passes being less to not attainable is effecting visitor volume. Not nearly as busy this past summer, cast members were sooo grumpy and bad mannered, men were wearing skirts, makeup and nail polish (so far off from Disney’s vision), the food wasn’t good, about the same as right after Covid. I know so many people who won’t go back until issues are fixed and I am one of them. It’s WAY overpriced for the experience. If I am paying a huge premium it used to be the cast members made me feel like a VIP…now they treat customers like they are doing us a huge favor just with their presence. I saw a lady getting kicked out with a crying kid with Mickey ears on…saw three separate instances of cast members being astonishingly rude to guests, it was just horrible. Never seen Disney like this but it’s really not good and I think the wheels are coming off the Disney super car. You pay extra for a bad experience! Bad food, mean treatment…FAIL! Plus sorry but the content of the movies just isn’t good when they are injecting adult (gay versus straight) content into children’s films. It’s a family company and you can’t deny that there is an obvious correlation between gay content and lack of ticket sales. Brokeback mountain did great it was a film for adults. Sales results show a lack of interest and appetite for this type of content for this segment of entertainment market. It’s not about the cast members and creators it’s about the customers and this is a family/child based company that has clearly lost its way. If I know multiple Disney diehards that are not partaking, and it’s across the board different types of people and families, they will see the fallout, I am just one person. Anecdotal evidence but it’s across the board. The new black panther isn’t even performing as well as the first one…brand identity is lost right now. Or Disney can go a diff direction and see if that works.. it’s not required to stay true to the family and innocent child theme forever but I think that was what made Disney a powerhouse so it’s a risky move. Opens the field for other players so maybe it’s time! They have hit their corporate life expectancy.
I am a pretty big fan and I’m unaware of where Disney’s vision became denying that gay people exist. In fact, Disney was the first major employer in the Southeast to offer partner benefits, back in the 90s. CMs were and are disproportionately LGBT because of this.
Yeah… no. Sorry, that’s your bias showing and not reality. Tom even took the time to explain the lack of correlation in his article. Btw – rewatch the animated Mulan. It had a budget of $90m and grossed over $300. That’s pretty good, right? The major plot points all involve cross dressing , and two of the main characters were played by openly gay men. It’s a very queer positive movie. If this hurts your enjoyment, that’s a you problem and not a Disney problem.
Interesting article, Tom! Love your blog and read it often! I tend to agree with you that boycotts are generally not effective in the long run and are typically pushed by a small group of people. However, in your commentary since the Florida legislation debacle, I think you have underestimated the significance of that situation. I would argue that most parents are not on board with the gender identity conversations going on in schools without their knowledge and that is what that bill was designed to eliminate. The fact that Disney commented at all is disrespectful to Florida voters and what they said positioned them as an adversary to parents. We may never know or be able to measure to what degree this actually hurt them, but it hurt. No doubt. Concern over this issue is not limited to the fringe. Teachers and administrators encouraging children to change their gender is a huge leap from the tolerance and respect of yesterday and most of America isn’t having it. Bob Iger knows this even though his personal views are more progressive.
We’re huge Disney fans and shareholders and have visited Disney World seven times in eight years. Our most recent trip was in September of this year. It was a great trip, but definitely had a different feel than previous trips. They really need to make changes quickly and make it their goal to be able to use that commercial again! Steering clear of politics and allowing me to book my lightning lanes 60 days out would be a great place to start!
Well said and our thoughts exactly!
I am a Florida parent of a school aged child, as are many CMs. Disney has a perfect right to speak out on issues they believe may impact CMs and their families negatively, especially if they want to entice California animator CMs to move to Lake Nona.
I agree! They absolutely have the right! It didn’t honor the will of the voters though and it hurt business. All of those things can be true at the same time.
No one voted for the Don’t Say Gay law. It was not on the ballot.
Also, I’m a voter.
Of course it wasn’t on the ballot! It was written by people who were on the ballot and were voted into office!
I really think it’s going to take a few years to recover. For now, I think the BEST thing the company can do is roll up their sleeves and do the work to just make sure everybody who visits the parks has a good experience. Bring back Magical Express, make Genie+ easier, lose the reservation system, and invest more in guest services, cleaning, maintenance, etc. A lot of the other problems are outside their control now. People may not boycott Disney because of the culture war, but I think this year showed that picking fights with Disney is an easy way to score political points, so that’s going to continue. And a lot of the movies are going to continue to struggle at the box office, since everybody knows they’ll be on Disney+ after a few weeks.
Completely agree!
The nickel-and-dimeing is out of hand. I am currently in actual argument with Disney billing for the parking fee they added to a recent resort stay. I did not have a car. It’s my understanding they are consistently adding this to everyone who has a cash stay, and then it’s the customer’s responsibility to pursue a remedy. Rather than correct this. They are asking me to prove how I got to the resort, and state they will then “investigate”. This sort of treatment is highly offensive and demeaning, and too often is the disregard guests feel from Disney.
Yes! They are treating customers like crap!
I grew up in central Florida during the 90s and was a prime example of a Disney kid. When I moved to metro Atlanta, I made sure to bring my kids back to WDW every year, sometimes multiple times a year. I would tear up every time we left the last park on the last day it was so nostalgic for me. Our last trip in February of this year will be our last for the foreseeable future. The lack of onsite perks, nickel and dimeing and the amount of time I had to spend looking down at my phone navigating Genie + made me grumpy and agitated the entire trip. Magic felt ruined. Our next Florida trip was to Universal and we felt like we got a lot more bang for our buck staying on site there. We also got Dollywood season passes after a great first time visit there. WDW always seemed to me like they had no comparison in the past but that’s simply not true anymore. We’ll be taking our theme park loving selves elsewhere til they figure this mess out.
Same! Universal is actually better now. The island of adventure is super fun! And they treat customers better.
I totally agree about the Genie plus system. It’s so stressful and distracting to have to keep looking at that thing trying to maximize to make sure you get on the good rides. It was always the first thing I looked at when exiting a ride, while tripping around people trying to hurry to the next thing. It really changed the experience for the worst. I certainly didn’t want to wait in line two hours + for each big ride, so this was the only choice. Fast pass was so much better because you could set those up before you hit the parks & just grab another from a kiosk once you used them up. This way you could relax and look around and enjoy between destinations!
My family and I have only been visiting since 2017. Our 2017 trip was kind of a learning experience – but we still enjoyed- the AK lodge was particularly awesome . 2018 we stayed at wilderness lodge snd had a great time. 2019 we did grand floridian and a lot of extras such as desert parties and my kids fighting vader snd kylo ren alongside the jedi. 2018 and 19 were particularly magical for us- the hotel staff at the resorts really stood out- and pretty much all Disney cast members made you feel taken care of. We just missed our 2020 trip because of covid- we returned in December of 2021 and honestly had a decent trip considering everything but you could tell the difference from years prior. We went again in april of 2022 and somehow it seemed worse though we were hopeful that things would progressively improve- generally things felt less magical- I hate that term but its hard to describe in other words. We went again this December and are starting to get the feeling ripped off vibe- I try to be positive and honestly don’t mind genie or reasonable price increases. My most hated thing was probably the crowds though
Yes magic was gone for us too. They charge more for a worse experience. No longer worth it.
This really hit a lot of what I’ve been feeling for a while. We’re locals who spent a lot of money over the last decade, at least 25 nights a year at property hotels, annual pass holders, and it was an an important part of how we spent time with our kids. We felt that magic people referred to.
It seems like Disney is actively stomping people like us out on any number of fronts. The passes, the parking, the lack of the four day flex tickets, and so on. Then you have the stuff everyone else has mentioned, the nickel and dime-ing, bad attitude from cast members, the lack of room service and cleaning.
A perfect example occurred this summer at the Swan, our first time there. First we tried to take our nephew, a huge Mickey fan, to Magic Kingdom. No reservations, ok, annoying but fair enough. We go to Hollywood, we’re there for the early hours and told Swan doesn’t qualify after the front desk told us it did. An hour at the rope waiting with a 3 year old and our kids. We’re ready to buy the Mickey ride the second it turns available. $75 on top of the day and we end up with an 8pm time. It’s like, I guess that’s just Disney now but what an awful experience all around.
Then we go to the Swan pool the next day, and I order a burger, nothing else. App says 15 minutes. Over an hour later I ask what’s going on. The guy says, “200 tables bro” and walks away. Then he filled in his own tip on the check. I lost it and went straight to the manager, who comped the burger. I don’t know what else they should have done but, it’s just a 36 hour encapsulation of the last couple years of probably 50 nights and 30 park days of what’s happened over and over.
We’ll keep going but a lot lot less. It’s local and there is a lot of nostalgia. We had a great time at Very Merry in December but it shouldn’t need to be a special event to have a magical experience.
I hope Iger understands this thing. Disney is built on nostalgia. They have created an experience that has maximized revenue post Covid when everyone had pent up demand. But so many of the people who are not local won’t be back and they are pushing away the rest of us. If you don’t build a love in these kids today, they won’t care as they get older because there is no nostalgia for any of it. Then you are just selling a mediocre set of rides, or at least an indistinguishable set of them vs others.
Anyway, I got Igers autobiography for Christmas from my life. I look forward to reading it. Hopefully he can fix some of this stuff but he is walking a very very tight rope here, even with reasonably big fans like my family. I know many real fans have spent more, but I’ve spent nearly 200k at Disney in the past decade. We went to the parks 4 days in 2022 and maybe 10 nights at hotels on property because of these experiences, and will need to have a different experience to even come close to where we were in 2021. It’s a big world of non-Disney things to spend money and time on.
The Swan is not a Disney hotel. It is not run by a Disney nor staffed by Disney.
Yes. I think this is what concerned Iger. Short term all these things will pay off for Disney but it will eventually result in having no loyal customers.
Despite all of Disneys issues, my family’s best vacations have been at a Disney theme park or on Disney Cruise Line.
Great article.
I’m a little confused…while reading a post, there’s a pop-up at the top of the screen, showing a 2 or 3 minute video of the parks/resorts, with 30 second ads imbedded in them. Is this supposed to be added entertainment (with ads to pay for it)? if so, what’s the point? Fortunately, you can delete them, but still there pop-ups coming from the bottom and top of the screen – not much space for real content.
I’ve had the same issue for a few months. Only the middle 1/3 of my screen shows the blog unless I continually try to close out ads. i put up with it because I like he blog but it has been a challenge.
We went to Disneyworld in May 2022, after a gap of nearly 10 years between visits. We spent a shocking amount of money, and had to have a Disney planner to help us negotiate our 3 days. The systems for reservations, park visits, and rides now are so incredibly complex we were thankful for our planner. Even with benefit of her services, the first hour of each day had to be spent reserving rides. Then we needed to be glued to our phones the rest of the day to facilitate more rides. This is unacceptable and unecessary. There are better ways.
Also, I do not see the necessity for Disney to take political stances. We can all decide for ourselves where we fall along political lines and do not need corporate America pushing one agenda or another.
Disney—get back to basics! Bring back the lost magic by simplifying the guest experience, think about how to delight your guests again! Stay out of politics!! You can do it!!
Ok that old ad video pointing out all the perks just depressed the hell out of me 😉 That’s why we used to pay higher prices though. It felt like Disney was taking care of everything for you (even though we were paying for those perks by staying onsite but still) I miss that feeling…
We were just in the parks this last week… we are/were strong disney fans however it’s evident that the parks are falling apart. Rude CM, talking about breakdowns of rides in front of guests and making fun of guests, filthy bathrooms without tp or paper towels. I saw more garbage then ever before, rides were dirty and several ride closures or delays. I had the foresight to buy Genie plus before they jacked up the price to $29 per person, and even with that HS ran out of “LL” for rides at noon! Imagine spending that money for the program and you don’t even get to use it!!! The magic is gone for us. If you know you know… and we know it’s not magical for us anymore. He we come Universal!
the last time I was at Disney World was 2017. We decided to go for the 50th in mid September. It was just my wife and myself this time and I couldn’t believe how much it cost just for the two of us. I spent more on this vacation than when I went to Hawaii 4 years ago. It’s like Disney is inventing ways to suck every last penny out of you. We were at the Disneyland 50th and the Disney World 25th. I couldn’t believe how underwhelming the Disney World 50th was.
Disney has missed the mark on many of their last movies. I also thought the new Avitar movie stunk because it was the same plot as the first one. Jake had to learn the ways of the Na’vi and fight the humans. This is the same thing. Jake and his family had to learn the ways of the sea board clan. The movie spent an exorbitant amount of time showing how his family learn to adapt. In the end he has to fight the colonel again.
As far as I’m concerned the magic is gone and it will be a long time, if ever, before I go back.
The problem with movies is one thing. But things like park cleanliness are totally within their control. That’s the bothersome thing.
In June 2021, United had an absurdly cheap offer to fly to Rome from Orlando using miles. Everything worked out, a nice lodging near Piazza Navona was about $55, and Rome was coming back to life. That was an extraordinary opportunity, but good opportunities keep showing up. Last summer’s was Colonial Williamsburg. Living reasonably near the nation’s 10th busiest airport, with plenty of nonstop flights to places like Costa Rica, San Diego, Dublin and London mean that Disney World, even for local residents, can be as big an undertaking as flying somewhere.
If Costco started cutting corners on its $1.25 hotdogs most of us would accept it. It’s still $1.25. If Costco charged $2 and kept it the same we’d accept it. Still great value and inflation. If Costco raised its prices to $15 and cut the hot dog in half, people would feel taken advantage of. That’s us. And eventually as the nostalgia isn’t going to cut the mustard.
As for the movies, they’re just not good and most haven’t been. But people saw them because Disney. That’s not happening anymore. And Disney+ is going to be like all the others once the others are cheaper and offer more content.
Counterpoint: https://www.today.com/food/costco-co-founder-reportedly-told-ceo-he-d-kill-him-t192310 😉
I haven’t watched all of them since, but the last truly great one (IMO) was Coco or (maybe) Frozen 2. I also really liked Turning Red, but realize I’m in the minority on that one. I also can recognize that Encanto was a huge hit–and probably could’ve been bigger with a proper theatrical release. Fortunately, Pixar and Disney had a string of successes in the last decade, so I think they’re still doing pretty well as a whole. (Nothing like the early aughts.)
While they’re still commercially successful, I’ve grown tired of Marvel. Too much multiverse, CGI worlds, and ‘homework’ to enjoy/understand it all. Also zero stakes. I am aware that this is largely a “me problem” at this point, but I’ve heard similar sentiment from others. Hopefully the next phase is better.
Add me to the group that really enjoyed Seeing Red! I think it’s an underrated Pixar film, and love what it has to say.
I am a major Marvel fan and will back you up with your assessment of the last several films and series. Quality control has taken a big hit, but I guess the flip side is with so many of them feeling inconsequential to whatever the larger narrative ends up being skipping the ones that don’t look interesting is possible.
16 years in a row we took our daughter to DW. Had to skip for Covid then went last year for her 21st birthday… won’t be back. Still carrying the welts on my back from how bad they beat me up on prices of everything and what little magic I felt. The worst was taking away the magical express. We always felt special and our vacation started when we stepped on the bus. Charging for fast passes was flat out price gouging and the free system worked better. I could go on fro an hour but I’ll let my wallet speak for me. Good knowing you Mickey maybe we’ll see you in the future but not if you keep this up