Bob Iger Answers Questions About Park Reservation System, Hiring Freeze, Politics, & More
News - WDC 29-Nov-2022
Yesterday, Bob Iger attended a town hall meeting with cast members to give some insight on some of his plans as he returns to the CEO role. Here are some tidbits from the town hall meeting:
Ex-CEO Bob Chapek was criticised with how he handed local politics in the state of Florida, but when Bob Iger was asked about the same subjects he said "This company has been telling stories for 100 years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world. And one of the reasons that they’ve had a meaningful, positive impact is because one of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion and acceptance and tolerance. And we can’t lose that. We just can’t lose that".
Responding to ex-CEO Bob Chapek's politically stances, you might remember that Florida governor Ron DeSantis set out legislation to dismantle the Reedy Creek Improvement District, to which Bob Iger said: "I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle, and I have no idea what its ramifications are in terms of the business itself. What I can say is that the state of Florida has been very important to us for a long time and that we have been very important to the state of Florida. That is something that I’m extremely mindful of and will articulate if I have the chance, but I don’t have the details at all yet about what the ramifications are of the decision that was made by the state of Florida and whether we intend to do anything about it"
On trying to please everyone, Bob Iger said "We're not going to make everybody happy all the time, and we're not going to try to. We're certainly not going to lessen our core values in order to make everybody happy all the time. So it's complicated and there’s a balance."
Bob Iger said that the hiring freeze plans announced by Bob Chapek will move forward. Bob Iger said that he’s still looking into the specifics of the plan, but it's a necessary step due to the challenges facing the company.
Finally, Bob Iger was asked about the Disney Park Reservation system. He said he hadn't used this system himself, but has read some good and bad things about it. He said he will be talking to Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro about it, although Josh has previously said it's here to stay.
On the rumours of Iger wanting to sell Disney to Apple, he said "that's pure speculation".
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