The Disneyland leadership team is making active choices to improve the guest experience by listening to their most passionate fans. We can trace recent rule changes, master planning for future expansions, and cast member news back to guest feedback. The most recent news shows they are are doubling down on putting the guest at the center of all decisions after a recent set of announcements that directly responded to fan complaints.
Each of these recent changes are a positive impact on the fan experience. We dive into the recently announced changes and share some news about decisions meant to improve the overall guest experience based on the fan feedback. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including the closure end date for a popular ride and new Disney gift card deal.
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Disneyland Listening to Complaints From Most Passionate Fans
The recent actions of the Disneyland leadership are a big improvement from the cold, business-driven, approach to the fans that former Disney CEO and Parks Chairman Bob Chapek took credit for in his book. Where he pushed away fans and publicly complained about pass holders, the current regime is holding up fans as central the company and making decisions to make their experience better. We have heard executives say that they are centering the Disney fan in every decision that they make.
We heard from new chairman of Disney Experiences, Thomas Mazloum, at D23 where he emphasized the importance of listening to guests. He expressed this in a quote shared by Disney in a blog post at the time of D23: “I think what you’re going to see, and what I hope you will see, is how much we’ve really made sure that we always put our fans and our customers and our guests in the center of our decision-making, and I mean all of them. We truly, truly believe in Disney Experiences. If we do it right, if we have a great experience, if we listen to them, genuinely listen to them, not only will they come back, but they will bring the next generation with them.”
This comes after recent comments from new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro who has actively talked about the value of the Disney fan and placing fans at the center of everything that the company does. We are now seeing it in action in announcements and rules changes at the parks that are having a positive impact now.
New Disneyland President, Jill Estorino echoed similar sentiments in our recent exclusive Mickey Visit interview. She lived at the Disneyland Resort Hotels for five weeks when she first became president. “I wanted to be a guest before I was the president”, she shared with us. “I wanted to get on the other side of the front desk and really walk in the shoes of the guest. I’m a marketer by trade. And so I have an orientation and centricity around consumers and guests, and what their behaviors, attitudes, and motivations are about a brand and a business and a product.”
At the end of our interview with Estorino she talked about the value of Disneyland fans and specifically emphasized that Josh D’Amaro has always been fan-centric, but now he is leading the entire company. “You can hear it in any speech or any article he’s quoted in. So, it’s the fans and the respect and the importance of the fans.”
Each one of these leaders has made it clear that is important to hear guests and act on complaints to make the parks experience better. Below are the recent changes we’ve witnessed as leadership listens to guest feedback.
Change to Magic Key Annual Pass Rule
Last week Disneyland made news with a lower set of price increases than in recent years that didn’t even touch Magic Key Annual Passes and a substantial change to the Disneyland theme park reservations rules.
Since the Disneyland Magic Key system was first rolled out with park reservations, the system has penalized pass holders for not showing up on dates that they have reservations. Pass holders were locked out of making reservations if they had too may penalties.
The previous rule was that pass holders had to cancel by midnight the night before. The common complaint from our readers was that if they woke up with a sick kid they would get penalized if they didn’t make it to the park. Now, the rule has been changed to allow pass holders to cancel throughout the day they have a reservation for AND to remove the penalties.
Previously, when he was still president of Disneyland earlier this year, we asked Thomas Mazloum if this specific change were possible. He emphasized the value of the reservation system and that he didn’t think they would be able to change any part of the process. Now, eight months later Mazloum has empowered a new president at the resort to listen to fans and make this decision. I am impressed both that Estorino made the change and that the team was willing to come back to this issue when they saw the passion around the topic.
Estorino wrote in an email to pass holders, “I want you to know that we’re listening — your insights, ideas and experiences matter. You help us improve the experience for our Guests as we imagine our future while honoring our past.”
To me, it is notable to hear her acknowledge that they can do better and to make a direct change to the area that she heard feedback about.
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Bringing Hospitality Deeper into Training For Cast Members
Earlier this year we heard from Disneyland that they feel it is important to lean more heavily into hospitality training for cast members. This is again in response guest feedback and the importance of hospitality. For the cast members who were hired during the reopening period in 2021, the primary focus of onboarding coming out of the pandemic was health and safety rather than guest hospitality. 60% of cast members were hired after the 2021 reopening.
Disney is actively going back to retrain specific cohorts that will benefit most from the training. Earlier this year, Mazloum shared with us that key changes being made with an eye toward improved hospitality for guests. He has a deep hospitality training background from his roles both inside Disney and outside.
Now, a Disneyland leader revealed a look at the new cast member hospitality training center that replaced a permanently closed restaurant. We have all the details from this reveal this week.
On the article about the new hospitality center, we received multiple comments including one from reader Patricia Heath. She commented, “Thank goodness Disneyland is focusing on hospitality again. We were there in 2024, in the era were most of the cast members were hired post COVID. Being a long time, regular visitor we noticed the difference in service and interactions with newer cast members. Suffice to say, it was sub par. It really bothered me that Disneyland seemed to no longer be the happiest place on earth. So to read that management is aware of, and addressing this issue, is good news.” Cleary, Disney is hearing this feedback and taking action.
This comes after a different recent example of Disneyland listening to guest feedback.
Disneyland Focusing on Tomorrowland and Pushing Back Avatar
Ever since the Avatar project was first announced for Disneyland, fan comments have been overwhelmingly negative. I always found this confusing because of how impressive the land at Walt Disney World even for those with no connection to the movie. Despite that, fans have made comments for the past few years asking for something more Disney instead. “Rumors” that seem to have just been spun up off of fan hopes even theorized that Disney may replace the space with a Zootopia themed area.
At the same time that these comments about Avatar were bubbling, the chorus asking for a better Tomorrowland in Disneyland Park was getting louder. At a media event, Estorino acknowledged the comments.
The Disneyland President commented that she had read online about Tomorrowland being “tired” and having “very little tomorrow” in it. She acknowledged the comments saying, “You’re right.” She described the new version of the land in the works as leaning into respecting Walt Disney’s original vision for Tomorrowland. It is notable to see Disney executives and Imagineers acknowledge negative comments and clearly take action to correct them.
This is a double whammy. Disneyland is both returning to Walt’s original vision for Tomorrowland and bringing new attractions and additions to the theme park and at the same time delaying Avatar to focus on Tomorrowland.
Every year that Disneyland pushes Avatar further off, there is more of a chance that the project does not move forward in the currently designed plans or at all. We are watching closely. Again, I think that the land would be amazing to see come to life based on the incredible land at Disney’s Animal Kingom. With the current shift in focus to Tomorrowland, fans are getting what they want twice over.
No Duplicate Rides Between Coasts Planned
Turning to a more personal complaint that I think makes the parks better for all; I am thrilled that Disney has shifted to build unique rides at Walt Disney World and Disneyland instead of copying between the two. While Magic Kingdom is getting a Cars expansion, it is completely different than the Radiator Springs area in Disney California Adventure. The same is true for the new Indiana Jones ride coming to Animal Kingdom. Every other new ride at Walt Disney World is completely unique and all three new rides announced so far for Disneyland Resort are unique.
This is a huge improvement over the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands which are carbon copies. That sameness makes traveling to both domestic destinations less critical for fans and reduces Disneyland’s ability to find a national audience. Disney is still finding cost savings in other creative ways like using the same ride system to power new rides, but are making the important investment to offer distinct creative experiences.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, some are suggesting that the ride system for the new Avengers Campus E-Ticket ride and Villains Land castle ride are going to be the same system that is already developed for the Peter Pan ride in Tokyo. This standardization is ok so long as we have unique stories. This is the same way that Disney leaned heavily into the trackless ride system technology used across Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and at the Zootopia: Hot Pursuit attraction in Shanghai Disney.
More Announcements For Disney Fans Just Released
Disney is also making bigger specific investments at Walt Disney World based specifically on fulfilling fan dreams. They have announced two theme park projects that are directly serving the biggest fans. These announcements came at D23 in a room over nearly 14,000 Disney fans in Anaheim, California.
Disney has announced that they are going to fix the Expedition Everest Yeti which has been broken for almost the entire time that the ride has been open. The massive Audio-Animatronics figure has been broken for so long that it developed a nickname of “Disco Yeti” after the B-Mode version that has a strobe light on the frozen figure. Note that we just got an update on the progress here from Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde who led creative for Animal Kingdom.
They have also announced that they are bringing back Dreamfinder to the Imagination Pavilion Figment ride. The original version of this attraction has a cult following that has been pushing for improvements and the return of the original heartfelt tone for years.
Across the board, Disney is listening and acting on guest feedback. I was motivated to write this recap today because I see it not just in far off development in new rides, but also in decisions about rules that are immediately going into place and active focuses on retraining cast members. Guests will see the benefit of this focus immediately.
Looking ahead there are still plenty of complaints and pieces of guest feedback that can be implemented to improve the parks. The first step though is creating a culture of listening to your audience. These moves demonstrate that Disney is listening and willing to make changes that will positive impact guests. We know that they have to run a business that is profitable and growing, but it is exciting to see that they are more actively listening to fans and considering their most loyal guests in the decisions that they make.
Before I go from here, two quick feedback points for Disney. Check out my recent commentary on Disney’s needing to fix their loyalty problem for most valued guests and join me in asking Disneyland to please bring the Magic Mobile option where guests can tap their Apple iPhone wallet to enter the parks that is so successful at Walt Disney World.
What do you think of the recent changes? Do you have any additional feedback that the company needs to hear about their experiences?
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