In a new email to Disney Cast Members, Iger is continuing the company’s reorganization.
The Walt Disney Company CEO, Robert Iger arrives for the World premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 22, 2019 in Los Angeles. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
The recently returned Disney CEO Bob Iger took the helm a couple of months ago, with quick shakeups in the company, particularly in the Media & Entertainment Distribution division, which is responsible for Disney+. Disney Executives, including Chapek’s right-hand man, Kareem Daniel, and Arthur Bochner, Chapek’s Chief of Staff and Speech Writer, have left the company.
Bob Iger has diagnosed The Walt Disney Company’s downfall as it was “losing its soul.” Iger himself has said the Disney Parks are too expensive and knows that change needs to be made.
Now, Iger continues on his journey to bring back the magic for the stock dipping company. According to a report, Bob Iger shared the importance of in-person collaboration in an email sent to hybrid Cast Members on Monday, January 9, 2023. The email states:
“As I’ve been meeting with teams throughout the company over the past few months, I’ve been reminded of the tremendous value in being together with the people you work with,” Iger wrote. “As you’ve heard me say many times, creativity is the heart and soul of who we are and what we do at Disney. And in a creative business like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors.”
The report goes on to note that starting the week of March 1, 2023, hybrid employees must return to corporate offices four days a week.
Hybrid employees, or work-from-home staff, increased among companies around the globe in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Now, years later, Iger is bringing Disney employees back to the office with this new policy.
While this decision will likely have mixed emotions from Disney’s current hybrid Cast Members, Disney isn’t the only one making this shift in policy. We’ve seen other large companies, such as Twitter and Apple, mandate their employees to return to in-house office time.
Universal Parks & Resorts has just announced plans for a brand-new location in the Lone Star State.
On Wednesday morning, Universal Parks & Resorts made a huge announcement–one big enough for Texas.
Universal shared plans for a brand-new family resort location that will be located in the North Texas city of Frisco. According to the announcement, the new resort location will serve as a destination for “families with young children” and will be a location that guests typically visit as a one- or two-day destination.
Scott Gustin with NexStar Media tweeted about the new destination, saying “Universal Parks & Resorts is planning to build a 100-acre concept for families with young children in Frisco, Texas. Universal described the project as a 1-2 day destination.”
NEW: Universal Parks & Resorts is planning to build a 100-acre "concept for families with young children" in Frisco, Texas.
Per Universal, the new Texas resort will include a park and a 300-room resort hotel. The new destination in the Lone Star State “is intended to have a completely different look, feel, and scale than Universal’s existing parks and will appeal to a new audience for the brand.” The announcement also says the park will include “family-friendly attractions, interactive shows, [and] character meet and greets.”
Universal did not announce an opening date for the new Texas resort, but according to The Dallas Morning News, property records indicate that Universal Parks & Resorts has four years to build the new destination.
Though details on the new Universal Resort destination are few and far between at this time, the projected size of the resort aligns more closely with the size of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, rather than the size of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The new Universal project will encompass some 100 acres. (Disneyland Resort takes up 500 acres when both theme parks at the Resort are considered, while the Walt Disney World Resort spans approximately 43 square miles or about 27,500 acres!)
Disneyland Park itself is closer to the size of the newest Universal Resort destination, to be located in North Texas.
News of Universal’s Texas destination comes as Universal Studios Orlando’s third theme park, Epic Universe, is under construction in Florida. Universal Parks & Resorts also announced on Wednesday that plans are underway for a new Universal Parks location in Las Vegas as well.
Adventures by Disney is pleased to announce its return to three of Europe’s most iconic rivers for the 2024 travel season. With 22 river cruise departures planned, Adventures by Disney guests will once again experience the unparalleled beauty of European landscapes and vibrant culture with sailings on the Rhine River, the Danube River and the Seine River. Each itinerary will offer Disney’s signature storytelling with the convenience of hassle-free travel and attention to detail provided by a team of Disney-trained Adventure Guides.
Headlining the 2024 lineup is the new “Danube River Cruise: Magical Holidays,” departure which marks the first time the guided group travel company will offer a themed river cruise voyage during the New Year’s holiday. Guests will sail on the Danube River in a beautifully designed river cruise ship, ring in the new year with a celebration and champagne toast and explore famous and picturesque sites and landmarks across Germany, Austria and Hungary.
Bookings for 2024 River Cruises open to the public on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, with early booking available for the following travelers:
Jan. 17, 2023 – Adventure Insiders with 3+ previous Adventures
Jan. 18, 2023 – All Adventure Insiders
Jan. 19, 2023 – Disney Vacation Club Members, Disney Cruise Line Gold & Platinum Castaway Members, Golden Oak Residents
Jan. 20, 2023 – Bookings open for general public
Travelers interested in booking a 2024 River Cruise can take advantage of Adventure by Disney’s early booking offer when they book before April 18, 2023, with savings up to $750 per person on select departures. Click here for more details on the early booking offer.
Additionally, travelers on all 2024 River Cruise departures can also save 50% per person on the nonrefundable deposit required at booking when they book before April 18, 2023. Click here for more detail on the reduced deposit offer.
New in 2024: New Magical Holidays-Themed Departure, Plus Favorite Seasonal Sailings Return
In late December 2024, Adventures by Disney will invite guests to ring in the new year with an adventure like none other as they set sail on the “Danube River Cruise: Magical Holidays” departure. Guests will board the ship in Munich and be greeted with an authentic German welcome, including oompah music. The ship will transport guests to Austria where they will enjoy privately guided tours in Mondsee with views of the Austrian Alps, a visit to the Benedictine Abbey in Melk, and more. Following the Christmas holiday, the city of Schonbrunn will transform its traditional Christmas market into a special New Year’s market where guests will experience the beauty and splendor of a European winter. The voyage continues with onboard and in-town activities, plus ice skating in Vienna before sailing to Hungary for enriching tours, carriage rides and making and eating goulash. Throughout the trip, special Disney magical moments are enjoyed along the way.
Returning favorites join the 2024 lineup, including the seasonal Oktoberfest and Christmas Markets river cruises — and the popular Food and Wine sailings feature delectable meals, desserts and beverages local to the region.
River Cruising with Disney: Sight-Seeing from the River and Up-Close on Land
Guests become part of the story on an Adventures by Disney river cruise, and itineraries are designed for everyone in the family. The masterful narratives, knowledge of the places visited and the culture and history are brought to life by the Adventure Guides. Through these experiences, families discover real world magic in a way only Disney can do. They include:
Dashing through the Black Forest on an Alpine toboggan ride (Rhine River Cruise).
Admiring the Notre-Dame Cathedral and imagining life nearly 900 years ago when its construction first began (Seine River Cruise).
Exploring the historic Schonbrunn Palace and its immaculate terrace garden named The Orangery (Danube River Cruise).
Dreaming of ballrooms and glass slippers while marveling at picturesque castles along the Rhine Gorge (Rhine River Cruise).
Gazing at the nighttime skyline view of the Eiffel Tower in the City of Light (Seine River Cruise).
Twirling on a hilltop and visiting the beautiful Mirabell Gardens (Danube River Cruise).
Honoring history by visiting the Normandy beaches, including Omaha Beach, the American cemetery and Les Braves Memorial (Seine River Cruise).
Not only will the sights from aboard the ship or walks through towns and villages take center stage, scenery is also explored up-close through optional bicycle excursions. Pedaling through the provincial towns in France, touring the quaint town of Rudesheim, Germany and surrounding wine country, or biking to the Klosterneuburg Abbey or along the Danube River in Vienna further enhances the travel experience.
River Cruising with Disney: A Taste of the Destination
On every adventure, guests are invited to tap into all the senses, including taking part in hands-on culinary activities for a true flavor of the destination. In Vienna, Austria, a traditional apple strudel tasting transforms into a cooking demonstration and baking lesson. At the Chocolate Museum in Cologne, Germany, chocolate sampling becomes a create-your-own chocolate bar activity. In Strasbourg, France, macaron cookie ingredients magically transform into fine delicacies as guests become baking experts.
River Cruising with Disney: Unpack Once and Explore Europe in Style
With Adventures by Disney, guests sail on elegant ships offering stunning views and world-class service, all in collaboration with AmaWaterways. With the added convenience of knowing their “hotel” travels with them, guests unpack only once. Staterooms are artfully designed with luxury and comfort in mind, the expansive windows provide optimal viewing and internet access and in-room entertainment are available for families to enjoy. Most meals are provided, as locally sourced cuisine and wine are served onboard. Itineraries are planned to balance adventures and excursions with wellness activities and relaxation, and special activities are planned just for kids, aka “Junior Adventurers.”
Jade Rodriguez and her family were all packed to go on their ultimate Japanese vacation. Her son had asked for the trip for his 21st birthday, and it included time at one of Disney’s top Resorts, Tokyo Disneyland. The family planned out their “surreal” vacation, ready to take Japan by storm and have the best time. Unfortunately, when it came to booking their dream trip, they decided to fly with Southwest Airlines.
Now, they are out more than $7,000 and looking for some answers.
Rodriguez spoke to Business Insider and said that when they arrived at the airport in Tuscon, Arizona, their flight didn’t have a crew, but they were still told that they should check their luggage.
“It was just a lot of miscommunication. One attendant was saying, ‘We’re not getting to LAX,’ another was saying to check in our bags,” Rodriguez said. “It was utter confusion.”
After all the conflicting information, Southwest finally canceled the flight altogether about seven hours before their American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo was scheduled to take off.
The drive from Tuscon to Los Angeles is about seven and a half hours, so if the family had been informed of the cancellation earlier, they would have made the long drive in order to make their connecting flight. They tried to book another flight that would get them to Tokyo from Tuscon, but Rodriguez said that the family was unable to make it work.
The big problem was that Southwest could not get them on another flight for nearly a week. And even then, they would be traveling for more than 20 hours and most of their trip would be nearly half over by the time they finally made it to Japan and the Disney Park.
Now, the family is struggling with more conflicting information as they try to get as much of their money refunded as possible. Sadly, it is unlikely they will get much from Tokyo Disney, as they don’t typically issue refunds for their theme parks. Per Business Insider:
Now they are trying to get as much of the trip refunded as they can, including from Southwest, American Airlines, the hotel in Japan, and Tokyo Disney — where they had already purchased tickets — among other expenses.
Rodriguez said they have received conflicting information from Southwest, with one email saying they would be getting a full refund, and another saying they’d only be getting flight credits to be used in the future.
They are still hoping to reschedule a trip for next year, depending on how much they can get refunded or rescheduled, but are unsure when they will be able to make a trip work for the whole family.
Sadly, the Rodriguez family was not the only one affected by Southwest’s massive failure. Many airlines experienced cancellations over the holidays because of storm systems throughout the country, but none of them were as big of a mess as Southwest. Southwest canceled more than 60% of its flights and, of the flights that weren’t canceled, more than 80% of those were delayed.
Southwest is currently working with thousands of travelers to refund the money they had to spend to get where Southwest could not take them.
Director James Cameron recently opened up.candidly about what he calls an “arranged marriage” with Disney. The ‘Avatar’ Director has been daunted in the past, no one expected ‘Titanic, to be a success and it ended up becoming the highest grossing ever, (you’re welcome, Mr. Cameron. As a 7th grade girl full of …whatever 7th grade girls are full of…I saw it in theaters 8 times). The film held that title for over a decade. Then along came Avatar and smashed ‘Titanic’s’ record in 2009. ‘Avatar’, of course, is another James Cameron masterpiece. It holds that title to this day, but he’s hoping (with Disney’s help) to unseat that achievement and blow past it with ‘Avatar: The Way of Water‘.
Cameron made ‘Avatar’ for Fox in 2009. Before the sequel was filmed, Disney had bought Fox which put the director directly in the hands of the Mouse. How did he feel about that? Positive…for the most part.
“We sort of were led to believe that the ‘Avatar’ overall was one of the jewels in the crown of what Disney was acquiring, so we expected them to be leaning forward and wanting to see what we were all about,” says Cameron. “They were excited by the potential of the new films, especially as it was planned out to be a series of films, a saga over time played out in four movies.”
Cameron excitedly went to work with Disney. In a recent interview he said, “They knew exactly what they were buying on paper, but they didn’t really know us as a production company, and they didn’t really have the really granular ins and outs of how an ‘Avatar’ movie gets made.” So he invited Disney executives on set and was transparent with them about everything that was happening. They developed a good working relationship.
Then Bob Iger left the company and the director was subject to the creative direction (or lack thereof) of Bob Chapek. “Of course, we were always curious about what the new emphasis would be, and whether we’d get caught in the vortex of Disney+ and talking about shortening windows and all that sort of thing,” he said referring to the extremely short length of time Disney has allowed movies to run exclusively in theaters before sending them to Disney+. This, in Cameron’s eyes, would’ve been disastrous for the film because due to budget overruns, the film needs repeat theatrical views to be a success.
Luckily, by the time ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ debuted, Iger was back on top. “I don’t want to overplay it, but [Iger and I] always sort of saw eye to eye, so we’re definitely pretty happy with the way things are working out right now,” he states. “For an arranged marriage, I would say it has gone about as well as you could conceivably ask for.”
The film is currently smashing records but not yet where it needs to be. The film currently has grossed $1.5 billion worldwide, which is no small chunk of change but considering the fact that it had a $2 billion budget, it’s still got a long way to go. You can see ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ in theaters now.
