Josh D’Amaro Dares Disney to Move Forward

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“I’m confident that brighter days are ahead of us,” wrote Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro on Monday.

The Disney Parks Chairman gave a keynote speech during the IAAPA virtual expo this morning. Now, he’s taken to his personal social media to share his hopes for the future of The Walt Disney Company — and to challenge the theme park industry to dream big and move forward.

“This has been a year of unprecedented moments, disruptive forces, and new challenges,” D’Amaro wrote in a post published to his LinkedIn. “At the start of 2020, I could never have imagined something as devastating as COVID-19. I have never witnessed anything that has impacted our business, affected so many lives, and brought so many changes to our industry.”

The bright beginnings of 2020 were quickly overshadowed by the effects of COVID-19, the pandemic that spread throughout the globe and shuttered all six Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide. By mid-March of this year, Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disney Resort had closed their gates.

The Walt Disney Company also recently disclosed that it lost billions of dollars as a result of the pandemic. 

But companies like Disney persevered and moved forward, finding ways to make magic for Guests who were stuck at home and unable to visit the Happiest Place on Earth. D’Amaro reflected on this in his presentation today, and he shared more of his perspective in his LinkedIn post.

D’Amaro wrote, “This year, even as our gates were closed, we saw our guests demonstrate their passion and yearning for our experiences through social media. We watched as our teams accomplished things in a few weeks that might normally take a year. We took what we once thought was unthinkable or impossible…and made it possible.”

The Disney Parks Chairman even went into a bit more detail about how Disney Parks have adapted their practices to fit the health and safety protocol that needs to be in place amid this ongoing pandemic.

 

“From the adoption of new technology that allows guests to check in to their rooms, order food and enter a queue from their mobile phones … to the introduction of selfie spots and character cavalcades so our guests can interact with their favorite Disney friends, we’re finding new ways to deliver magical experiences as we reopen our parks in the age of social distancing,” D’Amaro shared. “The pandemic has changed us and forced us to focus on the most fundamental elements of who we are, what we do, and what we care about. It reminded us of what is most important – while compelling us to adjust and innovate.”

Above all, it seems as though the Disney executive is challenging not only the Disney Parks team and The Walt Disney Company at large, but also the theme park industry as a whole — and even the general public — to dream bigger. The effects of COVID-19 are long-term, and this pandemic is still raging on. But Josh D’Amaro is sending out a message of hope during these tumultuous times.

“I dare you to ask: if we can navigate the challenges of this crisis – perhaps a little battered, but never beaten – what else can we do? Can we take what makes us special, reinvent it, and make something entirely new?” he wrote. “Here at Disney, that’s our opportunity. We can bring our world-class service, our ability to kindle connection and childlike wonder, and our experience immersing guests in meaningful stories and powerful franchises…anywhere.”

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Disney Parks Chief Shows First Looks Inside New Attractions

Disney Parks, Experience and Products Chairman Josh D'Amaro kicked off the IAAPA Expo Virtual Education Conference with a keynote address that was both optimistic and defiant, while also providing an update on new Disney attractions around the world.

D'Amaro spoke from the Disneyland Resort in his pre-recorded presentation, giving fans a look at the upcoming Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure, among other sites

 

 

You can see the recently installed Quinjet over D'Amaro's shoulder in the screen capture above. That was just one of several upcoming projects that D'Amaro previewed during his talk. He also provided fresh looks at the Worldwide Engineering Brigade headquarters that will be the home to the new interactive Spider-Man ride at DCA.

Yet D'Amaro's presentation included no visual or verbal references to the TRON coaster at the Magic Kingdom, which should fuel rumors that the project is being mothballed and will not open for the resort's 50th anniversary next October 1, as had been expected. The projects that D'Amaro confirmed as going forward in his presentation were the Avengers Campuses at Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Paris, the Cars Route 66 makeover of the Studio Tour at WDSP, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway and the Disneyland Hotel DVC tower at Disneyland, Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland, Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea, The Art of Marvel Hotel at Disneyland Paris, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Harmonius, the Space 220 restaurant and the new entrance at Epcot, and the Star Wars hotel. And the "Princess and the Frog" makeover of Splash Mountain is still on, too.

D'Amaro only provided an opening date estimate for the Ratatouille attraction, which he said remained on schedule for a 2021 debut.

"Our properties have been likened into small cities," D'Amaro said, quoting California Governor Gavin Newsom's frequent explanation for why theme parks present a complex challenge for reopening during the pandemic.

"Walt Disney World property is nearly twice the size of Manhattan. We have a bus fleet the size of Atlanta. And if we counted all the boats at Walt Disney World, we'd have the seventh largest naval fleet in the world," D'Amaro said. "But unlike a real city, we can choreograph the procedures under which we actually operate. We can manage and control attendance, enforce protocols and adjust operations specifically to our business and our experience, and attractions can be modified to comply with safety recommendations."

D'Amaro again expressed the company's disappointment that it has not been able to reopen its California parks and that it has been forced to close its parks in France once again. But D'Amaro closed his presentation with a note of optimism and a challenge to the industry.

"When your foundation is rocked, but that foundation shows that it can withstand constant tremors, when your guests show their passion and yearning for your experiences, even when the gates are closed, when your cast members accomplish things in one week that would normally take a year, when you realize that the unthinkable or the impossible, or very much possible, then you have to ask yourself — what's next?," he said.

"Where can we go from here in the world that we find ourselves in today? Optimism, innovation, and courage — they will ultimately win the day. And at Disney, we aim high. At a recent town hall meeting, I had some Imagineers that I was speaking to, and I included my presentation with a simple call to action — I dare you. I dare you to dream bigger and differently. I dare you to say what you've always wanted to say. I dare you to throw out that dogma that has sometimes acting increments, rather than exponentially. I dare you to make yourself weak in the knees. I dare you to dare yourself.

"It's easy to get protective and defensive during a crisis. And while it's necessary to some extent. I believe that a crisis also creates opportunities for us to reinvent ourselves to think of our business and our industry in brand new ways. I dare us. I dare this industry — stand proudly on the foundation that we've built. Climb up on the shoulders of our legends. And then fly."

The IAAPA Virtual Education Conference this week replaces the annual IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando, which was canceled due to the ongoing pandemic.