Bob Iger Might Agree That Disney Has Become Too Expensive, But Will He Make It More Affordable?

The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors recently reinstated Bob Iger as CEO, ousting former-CEO Bob Chapek.

Iger’s contract for his second run as Disney CEO is only set for two years, during which time he has already confirmed that restructuring will take place (with no further details on that so far) along with finding a more suitable successor for when he does return to retirement at the end of his contract.

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In a report by the Wall Street Journal, several of Bob Iger’s opinions of Chapek’s management of the company have been revealed, including Iger allegedly sharing that he was alarmed by the prices at Disney theme parks.

Price increases at Disney Parks & Resorts are not surprising in themselves, but some of the latest changes had fans concerned that the middle class would be totally priced out of Walt Disney World and Disneyland vacations, and planning around continuing price increases had become a logistical nightmare depending on when Guests travel and which add-ons they hoped to use.

For instance, the new dynamic pricing for Genie+ means that the cost of the service (effectively a paid replacement or FastPass+) could vary between $15-29 per person per day, and Guests will not know the cost until the day of their visit (meaning they are unable to factor this into the budget, and depending on the size of their party the difference here could be significant.)

At Disneyland, Park ticket prices have increased by up to 11% depending on the date, and around Walt Disney World Guests have spotted increases in everything from snacks and beverages around the Parks to Annual Passes (which have increased in price despite still not being available to purchase.)

Could Bob Iger lower prices, though? It’s certainly a question on the minds of Disney fans given all of the news regarding his return to the company last week.

We can’t know for sure until Disney makes an official announcement, but if we had to guess, based on the company’s history and what we know of its future direction so far, we don’t think so. If anything, it is possible that we will see changes that lend Disney Parks to being a greater value without lowering prices.

For instance, having FastPass+ included in the price of a theme park ticket stretched the value of that ticket, or Extra Magic Hours in their previous form which offered more time in the theme parks than a half hour for all Resort Guests, felt like an added value. We cannot predict if these areas will be changed, but we are also considering amenities that have not yet returned since the pandemic began that could help the value issue (such as package pickup and Resort airline check-in.)

As always, we will continue to monitor updates to Walt Disney World, and will be back with more information as we have it here on Disney Tips.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect Disney Tips as a whole.