In an interview with the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions for their publication “Funworld,” Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro discussed the struggles of the last year and the innovations for the future.
D’Amaro, who stepped into the role at the start of the pandemic in 2020, was in a unique position of navigating an unprecedented situation. “You get that little bit of a pit in your stomach,” D’Amaro told Funworld, referring to the feeling after he accepted the promotion amid the chaos. “I was humbled by the situation I found myself in. Given where we were, I felt an immediate and massive sense of responsibility to be sitting in this role, for a place that I cared so much about, with so many cast members who were looking for guidance.”
He cites the Cast Members of Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland for the successful reopenings of Disney Parks worldwide. “In Asia, the team across the board just did an amazing job creating a blueprint. We then had a template that we could then take, adapt, and apply.”
D’Amaro also discussed leading the charge on the various inclusivity changes around the parks. “I will pay tribute to our founder, to our legacy, but I will also at the same time push us to be relevant today,” he said. “To add an inclusion key is so powerful.” He refers to the addition of a Fifth Key (Inclusion) to the infamous “Four Keys” of service that Cast Members strive to represent.
The addition of Inclusion to the tenets of the Disney Parks lead to a series of changes that are still ongoing, including an updated Disney Look for Cast Members and alterations to attractions and shows.
“We will continue to not only look at the experiences that we have today, update them, and make them relevant and appropriate, but as we build, we will also start to think about all the great stories that we have to tell around the world and bring them to life in a way that everybody again can see themselves,” said D’Amaro.
Funworld and Josh D’Amaro also discussed the future of Disney Parks. D’Amaro reiterated that some of the changes born from the pandemic are here to stay. He also took credit for the dissolution of the Disneyland Annual Passholder program, citing the same opportunity to “offer more choice, greater flexibility, and drive value for the resort’s fanbase” that we’ve heard before.
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Disney was never meant to reflect the world, but be an escape. Inclusivity shouldn’t have to be something you “add” as a company but something you ALWAYS practice. Which I find very distasteful considering how they treat their cast members. Seems they’ve become pretty arrogant about Walt and his legacy while benefiting from it. Yikes.
I’m an ex cast member. Never held a job where I was tested better than at Disney. You either aren’t accepting of all persons or you just hold hate in your heart. Inclusion should be a part of every company in the USA.
Well said!! You hit it on the head. They are an entertainment company, so their job is to simply entertain us, not educate us on diversity and inclusion.
As for being an Employer, “inclusivity” should have been there from the start. If you are a good Employer, this should be standard business practice.
take away. i, josh, could care less about what walt would do. today, it is all about pandering to fringe groups in the name of being “woke”. i hope this moron is gone from disney very soon! i wonder if he is a card carrying memeber of the lbgtquxyz confused about the laws of nature clan?
You do know over 1k species in nature partake in sane sec relations right? The ONLY species that has an issue with it is humans. Maybe you should grow up and learn to accept people for who they are. If you have a spouse and demand they change the problem is YOU.
Josh D’Amaro is just wrong for this position, between Josh and Bob Chapek, the Disney company is going to decline. They have already started with doing away with annual passes at Disneyland, probally coming to Disneywrold, now starting with extra hours only for deluxe resort guests, a steep increase in pricing, the park reservation system, the much more generic theming of the stores and resorts, they are slowly killing the magic.
New passes are being introduced. Calm down. Reservations allow Disney to track the number of guests in each park. I’m shocked they didn’t do it when I worked there 03-10. The magic is everywhere. Yet you complain about the newly themed contemporary rooms and such I’m sure.
Look at that, a one star rating. Talk about virtue signaling to all your flag waving friends, whoever you are, bozo.
I agree inclusion should have ALWAYS been a key, but regardless they still have some work to do. As someone who has a disabled father, who for the last 5 trips to WDW has had at least one cast member be outrageously rude to him is unacceptable. He doesn’t look like he needs a wheelchair or ECV, but he does. First it was to manage pain from standing in line due to his multiple back surgeries, now it because he has a very rare form of dementia and the multiple back surgeries. On our last trip in December 2020, when we were going to ride on Rise of the Resistance and we were this in one room, a cast member was asking him to do something, they had separated him from the group, so I couldn’t hear what they said and be able to tell him in a different way that he would understand. I could tell he was confused by the look on his face and so when I came over and politely asked what she needed him to do, she threw he hands up in the air and yelled, that’s right yelled, “THAT’S IT, I’M DONE!” and literally stormed off. To the confusion of even the other cast members. You could definitely tell I was livid because you could see my Dad’s embarrassment and I went to say something, to which my mom warned me off because it would only embarrass my dad further. I agree on being inclusive for all shapes, sizes, colors and sexual orientation, but we need to also include disabled. Just because it isn’t visible to you why a person is in a wheelchair/ECV or why they are looking at you confused, don’t assume they don’t need a wheelchair/ ECV or that they are dumb.
That’s funny considering the new announcement that only the supreme rich get extra evening hours. Inclusivity should mean treating every guest staying at your resorts the same. Used to be that way with extra magic hours…
inclusivity old definition. all are welcome to enjoy the same place. todays definition? we must pander to certain groups so we can be inclusive. which of course excludes other groups. i think they do not know what that word means.
All good things must come to and end