The Disney board named the next CEO of The Walt Disney Company earlier this month. In our coverage, we started to break down what Josh D’Amaro’s appointment to the role could mean for theme park fans. Now, I wanted to go deeper into a couple of specific changes that the new CEO could make.
Changes included in this article are based on the movements from other media companies, analyst recommendations, fan discussion, and some of our own predictions. We will be watching and reporting closely on all of the changes that will impact Disney fans. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including details on changes hitting Disneyland and when new rides will open at Disney World.
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New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro Could Make These Changes
Disney has announced that Josh D’Amaro, the current Chairman of Disney Experiences, has been selected as the next CEO of The Walt Disney Company effective at the upcoming Annual Meeting on March 18, 2026, when he will succeed current Disney CEO Robert Iger.
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D’Amaro is the head of the entire parks and resorts business currently. Disney described the unit as the company’s largest business segment with $36 billion in annual revenue in FY2025 and 185,000 Cast Members and employees worldwide. When announcing this promotion, they also called him the “architect of the largest global expansion in Disney Experiences history“. Previously, I wrote about the likely case for his selection.
Concurrent with D’Amaro’s appointment, Dana Walden, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, has been named President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company.
Three days after that big announcement, I met with Josh D’Amaro in a group with six of my other Disney fan media peers. He shared a little bit about his focus as he moves into the new role.
During that call, Josh spoke about his plan to stay connected to theme park guests and frontline cast members. He said that when leaders disconnect from the guests and frontline cast members they lose touch with what reality is. Josh has always been someone to be talking to everyone involved with the theme parks to make sure he has his finger on the pulse.
I wrote about this as one of his strengths previously and shared an example: “In 2022, D’Amaro knew that they didn’t have enough to wow fans at the D23 Expo and took a risk with a Blue Sky presentation that teased the projects that would turn out to now be the addition of villains, Cars, Encanto, and Indiana Jones to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Though the presentation initially invited speculation about what had been actually announced that day, D’Amaro’s instinct to push to reveal more to fans successfully demonstrated a long-term vision. Through his insistence on remaining close to guests, he has kept his finger on the pulse of the fandom and understands where he and the company need to be.”
On the call, Josh joked that he knows his preference to stroll the parks unannounced may make some inside Disney nervous. He literally said, “I am not going to disappear from the parks”.
Josh also talked about the creative review process at Imagineering and that he still plans to remain intimately involved with details of the Disney experiences. He mentioned he was directly involved in the details of the newly reopened Napa Rose restaurant all the way down to giving notes on the table settings.
One of my peers asked if he had any thoughts about any planned defining move for his tenure at CEO. When Bob Iger became CEO, he quickly moved to connect with Steve Jobs which led to the acquisition of Pixar. That kicked off a tenure focused on expansion through acquisition of studios with powerful creatives and valuable intellectual property, including Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and 20th Century Fox.
Josh joked that he had just gotten the job and didn’t have anything to share at this time, but it got me thinking about what some of those first changes and defining moves could be.
Here are some thoughts on the key moves that we could see Josh D’Amaro consider as he comes into the new role starting next month.
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Theme Park Policy Changes and Improvements
Josh D’Amaro comes from the theme parks. As I mentioned above, he has an attuned sense for what current guests are interested in and what changes could please guests.
There are so many little changes and improvements across all of the theme parks that Josh and his site leaders could be considering. From things as big as removing park reservations or return to Disney’s Magical Express at Walt Disney World to smaller things like improvements to the security entrance process at Disneyland or an expanded baggage room delivery at Walt Disney World.
While we don’t know for sure that we’ll get announcements, the last time that there was a CEO switch, from Bob Chapek back to Bob Iger, a sweeping slate of policy announcements for the theme parks were made a couple of months later. These included an increase in the lowest priced ticket days at Disneyland, return of free resort parking at Disney World, the addition of complimentary on-ride photos, and more. These were small changes but signaled that Iger was listening to guest feedback. Josh D’Amaro led the charge on these changes.
We’ve already seen Josh help with this play once. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it done again to signal his connection to the park guests and continued interest in the guest experience.
Changes to Television and ESPN Holdings
When I write about Disney earnings calls, I typically frame my coverage around what matters to theme park fans. Even in that coverage, I include the key information around the ESPN, TV, and streaming businesses.
Previously, there was a widely held understanding that ESPN was the driver of the company. During the boom times of cable and linear TV, Disney was paid something close to $9 per household for every household with a cable TV subscription. Now, the cable TV business is shrinking and the theme parks are the key growth engine for Disney.
This decline in cable TV and rise in streaming has caused some analysts to suggest that Disney should spin off or sell their traditional TV assets, including ESPN, to become a company fully focused on the integrated businesses built around Disney intellectual property including the movies, branded TV, theme parks, and gaming. Comcast recently completed a spin off of their cable TV assets and some digital assets into a separate company called Versant.
Outspoken analyst Richard Greenfield has suggested that Josh could look to spin off ESPN and ABC to unlock meaningful value. Previously, Iger already talked about the idea of spinning off the cable assets in 2023 after he most recently returned as CEO. That deal never materialized and he has since emphasized the importance of integrating the assets into Disney.
There are two key reasons that Disney may not make this widely discussed change. One – the Disney bundle of streaming, which includes Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN is just about to be fully integrated into a one app experience. The bundle has a far lower cancel rate from subscribers than the rate of cancellation from subscribers who only subscribe to one of the three services. By having all three services as part of one subscription, there is less pressure to constantly add new content.
Two – By spinning out the linear TV assets and ESPN, Disney as a company would be worth less, making the company an easier target for an aggressive takeover attempt. ESPN was recently valued at $30 billion as part of the NFL deal. Disney as a whole has about a $190 billion market cap today. Look at the messiness of the fight between Paramount and Netflix for Warner Brothers Discovery right now. A smaller company that is in play to be acquired brings uncertainty and distractions that no incoming CEO, who has worked for years to hold that job, is looking to create.
Greenfield also suggested that Disney could make a transformative acquisition in 2027. That brings us to our next possible change that could prevent the reduction in size we would be worried about with the loss of the TV and linear assets.
Acquire or Expand Partnership With EPIC Games
Disney already has an ongoing partnership and investment in EPIC Games. Disney made a $1.5 billion strategic investment which also includes a multi-year project to create a new Disney games and entertainment universe that lives alongside Fortnite and a deeper integration of the Epic Unreal Engine into Disney’s own storytelling. The company previously participated in a Disney accelerator program in 2017.
Here’s what Bob Iger said about the deal when it was announced.
“Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe. This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”
Now, we are wondering whether Epic Games is a bigger part of Disney’s future. Josh D’Amaro reportedly pitched video games as a key part of Disney’s future to Disney’s board. His vision includes giving them “a bigger role at the company and integrating gaming technology throughout its creative processes”.
Josh has been leading the relationship with Epic Games and has already received public compliment from the CEO of Epic Games after the CEO announcement. Tim Sweeney said, “Josh and Disney really get it and have a crisp understanding of how the future of their film and TV IP, Disney+, and games fit together into a digital ecosystem.”
Disney will have to move cautiously here as they have had misadventures in video game investments in the past. The space has grown to be too big to be ignored by digital media companies though and a successful move to lead in this space could be the right bet to push Disney into the next decade as an independent, differentiated, media company.
Disney Theme Park Expansion Increased Budgets
Rumors swirled recently from a semi-reliable source, Len Testa, the author of Unofficial Guide and Touring Plans, that Disney was reconsidering their plans for villains land at Walt Disney World.
He posted on a forum that “I’m hearing the initial plans for Villains Land have been scrapped. Imagineers have been told to think of bigger, bolder ideas. Budget secondary. Not sure if this is “new players, new game” re: Josh as CEO.”
Take this as positive news that Disney is focused on delivering something truly impressive with the addition.
We already know that villains land is set to be an ambitious expansion of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Previously, we heard that the expansion adding villains and Cars was set to be the biggest expansion to the park ever, topping even new Fantasyland. Very little has been announced about the themed land besides that there will be two attractions, dining, and shopping and a little bit about the specific style of architecture that will be used here.
We also can visually see that work has moved forward to clear the area for the addition of this new land. During my phone call with Josh, he specifically mentioned his excitement for villains land. I believe the comments Testa shared reflect that sentiment. There is clearly a big push to get the new addition right and to wow guests. Combine the fact that this is a huge change to Disney’s flagship theme park with the fact that it is a project that Josh will have owned from start to finish, and it is clear why there is pressure to deliver.
Based on the excitement and pressure, we expect villains land to truly deliver.
Disney has recognized that making substantial investment in the theme parks leads to a direct return in increased demand for the theme parks. Over the next decade, they are investing $60 billion dollars in the Experiences division. We expect that investment to continue to increase. The recent villains land rumor of increased ambitions captures this broader sentiment that Disney is going all in on theme park investment. Expect to see them continue to budget for these big projects and to invest even more to wow guests and drive demand.
New Disney Theme Park Chairman
Finally, we’ll end with a change at Disney Experiences that we know is coming. With his promotion to CEO, the role of Disney Experiences Chairman will be left open. Josh’s successor will have to manage the ambitious slate of additions and growing portfolio around the world.
There are Disney leaders across the Experiences division who are well suited to take on the role. Each have their own strengths. The reality of the theme parks around the world each serving as their own distinct businesses means that there are many talented leaders who have experience owning the entirety of an operation. Disney has a deep bench of these leaders who have served in the “general manager”-type role of the different businesses from theme parks to cruises to guided tours.
There are a couple of names that could be considered for the position. We expect that Natacha Rafalski, the President of Disneyland Paris, Joe Schott, the President of Disney Signature Experiences which includes Disney Cruise Line, Michael Moriarity, the recently promoted CFO of Disney Experiences, and Thomas Mazloum, the President of Disneyland, are the finalists for the role.
My view into these candidates is largely from how they interact with fans, but is colored by visible business decisions and some input from those who work in the division.
Please read more of my commentary on the importance of the decision and thoughts on the finalist here. We will be watching closely for this decision, which may be one of Josh’s first as CEO.
I am optimistic about the future of Disney after hearing directly from Josh D’Amaro that he wants to remain connected to the people and open to feedback.
The changes captured here represent just a few of the major moves that Josh D’Amaro could make in his first months as CEO and the direction that he wants to take Disney.
What do you think of the changes we shared? Are there any that excite you or that you think Disney should avoid? Please comment below or on social media.
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