Today is a major day for Disney. It marks the overall transition of the leadership of The Walt Disney Company. The longtime CEO has now left Disney and we have a new CEO and leadership team. Today we got updates on all aspects of the company, including a couple of exciting announcements and comments about the future of the company.
The new CEO outlined his vision and key tenets for the future of Disney and shared specific details about upcoming projects including updates on popular new movies, franchises, and initiatives. Plus, the big reveal of a new Disney Parks and Resort project. There was also an update on ongoing work. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including resort closure updates and restaurant changes.
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Josh D’Amaro is Now Disney CEO
Today, Josh D’Amaro became the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, replacing Bob Iger, who had been CEO since 2005 with a short gap while Bob Chapek was CEO.
The announcements today come from The Walt Disney Company Annual Shareholder Meeting. A large chunk of the beginning of the meeting was spent honoring and thanking Bob Iger. He appeared on the call to give his perspective on the future of the company and then they played a sizzle reel that started off with footage of Iger as a weatherman and then hit all his highlights in the role, which include the acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars and the massive expansion of the Disney theme parks with the relaunch of Disney California Adventure, opening of Shanghai Disneyland, and new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
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We have already covered Josh D’Amaro in-depth. You can read all about why he was most likely to become CEO in my feature here.
Josh D’Amaro spoke about the power of Disney and his deep appreciation for the company’s history. He talked about his upbringing and connection to Disney. “We watched The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. I was 10 years old when my family visited Disneyland for the first time.”
He spoke about the state of the entertainment industry today. In what was likely a reference to the recent Warner Brothers Discovery acquisition by Paramount, he shared the following. “While others in our industry are consolidating just to compete, are struggling to be relevant in a fragmented and disrupted world, Disney’s in a category of one.”
Generally, he shared his outlook on how he aims to lead Disney. This is an extended quote from the introduction that I think is important for readers to understand how he is approaching Disney.
Disney has always been a place of imagination, innovation, and infinite potential, bringing human creativity together with cutting edge technology to create unforgettable storytelling experiences. Very early on, Walt was thinking beyond the screen from movies, music, and television to merchandise, publishing, and theme parks.
That vision has grown to encompass sports, news, games, streaming, cruise ships, hotels, and so much more. All of our businesses reinforce and amplify one another.
At the center of the Walt Disney Company is an extraordinary connection we have with our fans, a relationship built over generations through the stories and characters that people carry with them throughout their lives. There’s nothing quite like it, and all these years later, that connection has never been more relevant or more powerful than it is today. It remains our greatest competitive advantage.
No one else has the ability to do this at the scale, quality, and global reach that Disney can.
This leads nicely into his stated three goals for the future of Disney.
Josh D’Amaro Priorities Outlined in Letter
Josh D’Amaro shared a letter with employees this morning before becoming CEO. Those priorities are keeping great storytelling focused as their north star, embracing new technologies, and operating as one Disney.
These are the direct explanations from Josh in his letter to employees and cast members.
First, great storytelling and creative excellence will remain our North Star. They underpin every decision we make. We will continue to raise the bar, take smart risks, learn quickly, and deliver work that exceeds our audiences’ expectations and our own.
Second, we will embrace technology to unlock new possibilities. Innovation has always been part of Disney’s DNA. Used thoughtfully, it can empower our storytellers, strengthen our capabilities, and help us create more immersive, interactive, and personal ways for people to experience Disney.
Third, we will operate as One Disney. Our greatest advantage is not any one business, but how our global businesses come together. When our teams are aligned and working in a connected way, we can build on our strengths, reach people wherever they are, and deepen their relationship with Disney.
New Disney Movies Coming
Looking ahead to the film slate, Josh gave an update on the movies coming this year and shared release dates for two more movies that had been previously announced.
He specifically listed Toy Story 5, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Mandalorian and Grogu, live-action Moana, and Avengers: Doomsday for 2026. He then called out Star Wars Starfighter, Frozen 3, a Bluey movie, and a new Ice Age film for 2027.
He then announced opening dates for two upcoming movies.
Live-action Lilo and Stitch 2 – May 26, 2028
Incredibles 3 – June 16, 2028
He also mentioned a new Simpsons film coming next year when talking about the success of that show on streaming.
Major Plans for Disney Parks Growth
Josh D’Amaro spoke about major plans for growth at the theme parks. Here’s what he shared on those plans.
Disney has continually raised the bar for what experiences can be, and it’s always evolving. All around the world we’re building new adventures and expanding capacity to welcome more families into our uniquely Disney experiences driven by the largest capital investment plan in Disney experiences history.
It’s already bringing new lands to our parks and new parks to our world. Later this month we’ll unveil a new frozen land in Paris.
We’re doubling the size of Avengers campus at Disney California Adventure, building a villain’s land at Magic Kingdom, planning our first new park in a decade in a brand new corner of the world, and we continue to expand our award-winning Disney cruise line fleet.
New Disney Cruise Ship Name and Details
While talking about the expansive success of Disney Experiences (the theme parks division), he shared details on the newest Disney cruise ship that is coming to the fleet. The ship comes after the new Disney Destiny ship launched in November and the Disney Adventure launched just this month, the first ship homeported in Asia.
He shared that the name of the 9th Disney Cruise ship will be the Disney Believe. Disney then shared the below about the new ship, including a description of the focused stories for the new ship.
Filled with powerful stories of Disney characters who believe in themselves, in their dreams, and in the promise and possibility of a better tomorrow, the Disney Believe will bring to life the magical worlds of “Encanto” and “Frozen,” the wishing wells of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and the depths of the sea with “Moana” and “The Little Mermaid” like never before.
There is more growth happening across Disney Experiences now than ever before in the company’s history. Joining the fleet during this unprecedented expansion, the Disney Believe builds on the Disney Cruise Line legacy of blending immersive storytelling with cutting-edge technology to create one-of-a-kind vacation experiences like only Disney can do.
The ongoing expansion will grow the fleet to 13 ships by 2031, including the Disney Adventure, which sailed its maiden voyage from Singapore on March 10; the Disney Believe, expected in late 2027; the introduction of a brand-new class of ships in 2029; and an agreement with Disney and Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (OLC) to introduce Disney cruise vacations to Japan in 2029.
Expanding Disney Plus to Be Home for Disney
Disney will continue to focus heavily on the growth of the Disney Plus streaming service. Josh spoke about wanting to have the service be even more than just streaming. This is something that we have heard in the past. In fact, it was a rallying cry from the short-term CEO Bob Chapek during his tenure. The thought is that the service can be the all-in-one hub for Disney in someone’s life. It should have all the content, but also access to games, physical experiences, and “more” in entirely new ways.
This announcement comes after Adam Smith, Disney’s Chief Technology Officer, was elevated to also be Co-President of Direct to Consumer. Smith came from 20 years at YouTube and Google.
Here’s what Josh D’Amaro said about the plans for Disney Plus.
Disney Plus will continue to evolve beyond a traditional streaming service to become the digital centerpiece of our company, a portal that connects our stories, experiences, games, films, and more in entirely new ways.
And we’re working to quickly bring Disney Plus and Hulu into a unified experience later this year that will drive even more value for subscribers and for our business.
ESPN Continues to Grow at Disney
Josh also emphasized a plan to continue focus on growing ESPN and that arm of the company. He spoke about how ESPN will broadcast the Super Bowl for the first time in 2027 and plans for all of Disney to be part of the broadcast.
We previously covered Disney’s ESPN efforts for the Super Bowl during their handoff event.
On average each month, ESPN reaches around 80% of adults in the US. Earlier this year ESPN delivered their #1 and #8 most watched events ever on consecutive days.
Disney’s Use of New Technologies Around Fortnite and AI
During his prepared remarks in the meeting, Josh never spoke directly about using AI in their work. It is a hot button issue in Hollywood right now. Instead, he referenced new technology as a way to better tell their stories. During the Q&A, he was asked about it directly and addressed it there. Here are the transcripts for both sections. He also discussed their new plans with Fortnite.
We’ve never shied away from the latest innovations and in many cases we’re the ones pushing the envelope because we know technology acts as an amplifier for our stories, our experiences, and the emotional connection audiences have with our brand. That’s why we’ve partnered with Epic Games to bring a transformative new entertainment experience to Fortnite and connect it to our broader ecosystem. I just reviewed some of the progress on the worlds that we’re building, and I was blown away by the possibilities.
We’ll continue to develop and embrace new technologies to empower our storytellers, but never at the expense of our characters and worlds, our creative partners, or the trust people place in us, because Disney at its core is a company that celebrates human creativity.
During the Q&A, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro said the following about AI at Disney:
It’s probably not a complete discussion these days if we don’t talk about AI at least a little bit. So technology, it’s always played an important role in Disney’s history. We’ve been at the forefront of innovation for more than 100 years now, and this is a company of creators, of innovators, and of course we understand that our willingness and passion in terms of embracing new technologies, it’s, it’s been completely key to our success, and when you look across our company today, we’re using AI and machine learning.
In a variety of ways across the company and we’re doing this to enable creators and creativity to develop and improve products and experiences and to drive business productivity and and efficiency in everything that we do and we’ve been doing this for some time.
But of course, you know, not surprisingly, we’re approaching this very thoughtfully. At Disney, creativity is always led by people, that will always be the case. Our goal with AI is to empower human creativity and not replace it. We want to give artists and filmmakers and designers better tools so that they can focus on what they do best.
He also then spoke about the importance of cast members and Disney employees to everything that Disney does. He mentioned the door on Main Street with a Walt Disney quote on it that honors the contributions of cast members. The quote says “It takes people to make the dream a reality”. He recognized the passionate and dedicated people who work for Disney and then went on to talk about their impact around the world in volunteering.
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Disney DAS Disability Pass Update
Disney DAS disability pass was significantly restructured in 2024 in an effort to curb overuse, misuse, and other issues that were beginning to weaken the program’s effectiveness. As a result, many guests who were previously eligible for these accommodations became ineligible after the changes. One of the most recent responses to this overhaul was a shareholder proposal supported by disability advocates.
Now, we have an update on the proposal from the meeting today. We also heard from a disability advocate who spoke on behalf of the proposal.
You can see all the details on the proposal and the results of the DAS proposal vote here. Josh D’Amaro also spoke about the disability pass offering at the theme parks when asked by a shareholder.
EPCOT Pixar Shorts
Finishing out the meeting, Josh took shareholder questions. These last three points are updates that come from that section of the meeting.
First, a shareholder asked about if the EPCOT Pixar Shorts in the Imagination Pavilion were going to be updated any time soon.
Josh said that he loves the Pixar shorts and that there are no plans to update the shorts playing in that theater. He also said that Pixar’s Bao is one of his favorite shorts.
Affordability of Disney Theme Park Visits
When asked about affordability of theme park days at a Disney Park, Josh spoke about how they track the current guest experience and what they are doing to make the experience affordable and attainable to more guests.
He said that “we want this experience to be the best day of a guest’s life” and that they track how satisfied guests are and their intent to return. He then spoke about the aims for dynamic pricing to give guests options to visit on less in-demand dates and pay less. You can see in the graph above that while the top tier price of ticket has gone up dramatically over the past decade, the lowest tier ticket date for Disneyland is still only $104. He also pointed to the discounts on Disneyland multi-day tickets.
Disney is actually running even more aggressive savings than this right now with the ongoing Disneyland California Resident ticket offer, the Summer Kids Ticket offer at Disneyland, and the Free Dining offers at Walt Disney World.
He finished by saying, they try to provide a “fair amount of choice and flexibility for our guests, while at the same time managing daily attendance and overall experience.”
Figment Disney Parks Update
The meeting’s final question came just after I was wondering if we would get anything asked about Figment. The last question was about Figment and Josh reacted saying “there it is” in reference to the constant outspoken group of fans who keep Figment in discussions with executives. Figment is a character that debuted at EPCOT in the Journey into Imagination ride. There was then, according to the fans of the original, a subpar version of the ride that was created that lacked the same charm from the character and removed Dreamfinder.
This group wants to see the Imagination Pavilion updated with the Figment character that was present in the original. This announcement has not come, but it continues to be raised.
Here’s the full answer from Josh after the shareholder asked about a great presence of Figment in the parks.
Well, well, there it is. I’ve obviously listened to these shareholder meetings for a long time and I know that there’s always a figment question that comes up and you know, I gotta say that I love that and I love the fact that there is so much adoration for Figment.
He’s stood the test of time as a fan favorite and He clearly continues to to spark creativity and imagination across generations, and I think that’s, I think that’s really cool. Well, given that this question is coming up, I am sure that some of our fans may have seen that Figment recently made a special appearance in the How Not to Draw Short. Neil Patrick Harris narrates this. It’s really fun and, and it celebrates Figment and his connection to imagination.
Now, I don’t have anything new to announce at this time, but I can assure you that we’re always exploring new ways for guests to engage with Figment and our other characters that fans love so much. That’s a really great way to end the questions today.
Did any of the announcements today stick out to you? Is there anything else that you would like to see from Disney? Please comment below or on social media.
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