In case you missed it, Disney recently announced who would become the next CEO of the company! Chairman of Disney Experiences, Josh D’Amaro, is taking over the big job, and he isn’t holding back ahead of his takeover.
Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Rumors have been swirling that he’s already pushing Walt Disney Imagineering to go above and beyond expectations. Now, he’s getting real about things fans like…but they don’t really love. Let’s see if your opinions line up with the new CEO’s right here!
Josh D’Amaro is the talk of the town these days. D’Amaro was long rumored to take over the CEO position, but Disney has finally confirmed it. He starts the big job on March 18th, 2026, alongside Dana Walden, who will become Disney’s Chief Creative Officer.
©Disney
In a recent interview with Harvard Business Review, D’Amaro got real about guest experience and the “rise of experience intelligence.” Throughout the article, the interviewer breaks down the term experience intelligence, which refers to ” the ability to read and shape the human experience.”
Josh D’Amaro in Disneyland
D’Amaro’s appointment as CEO signals Disney’s focus on experience intelligence and guest satisfaction in the coming years. For leaders to demonstrate experience intelligence, there are two key factors involved. The first is the type of tools they demonstrate when working with employees. They focus on extreme positive experiences by recognizing that a person’s experiences create lasting feelings that then drive their work and outcomes.
Josh D’Amaro in Magic Kingdom
The second factor is to get people to say they love something. Not just “like,” not just “enjoy,” but love. Focusing on creating an experience that people “love” can drive up positive feelings and experiences. The feeling of love from an experience “accelerates learning, strengthens loyalty, improves recovery from stress, and drives advocacy.” Josh D’Amaro is seemingly one of these leaders.
Josh D’Amaro in Magic Kingdom
One specific example is Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. This attraction is located in both Disneyland and Disney World, which tend to see higher wait times. Josh is aware, though, that a fix is needed. In regard to the ride, D’Amaro said, “Guests like it, but they don’t love it.”
Millennium Falcon wait time
During his time with the interviewer, he shared that he believed the main issue was that it was really a 6-person ride, but only the two pilots in the front controlled the experience. The gunner and the engineer positions are less active, leading those guests to have a lesser experience than those in the front. This is one problem D’Amaro and the rest of the Disney team are facing head-on to correct.
New missions will be added to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, featuring the Mandalorian and Grogu.
In April 2025, Disney announced that major changes would be coming to the attraction, like new Star Wars destinations and increased roles for the engineer role specifically. The changes are debuting on May 22nd, 2026, and the guests will now be able to select their destination. The engineer will also get to communicate with Grogu through the new mission, which we think is a huge improvement on this otherwise limited ride seat.
Inside Smuggler’s Run
While there’s no guarantee these changes will impact guests the way that Disney wants them to, it’s clear that D’Amaro and his team are focused on taking experiences from “liked” to “loved!” There are several new projects in the works, like Villains Land, Piston Peak, Pueblo Esperanza, and more. We can also appreciate that the team is focused on improving current attractions and not just creating new ones, like in the Smugglers Run situation.
©Disney
D’Amaro shared, “Disney is a delicate brand. Anything I can do to help more guests say they love Disney is a valuable use of my time.” Leadership changes are always an interesting time in any company. We’re eager to see how the rise of experience intelligence will impact the theme parks during this time of change and development. Be sure to keep following DFB for more Disney news, updates, and more!
I Hate to Break It to You, but the New Disney CEO Can’t (and Won’t) Bring Back These Perks
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The biggest improvement that could be made would be to scrap the lightning lane system. I know it’s very lucrative for Disney but I do wonder the impact it would have if they scrapped it and added the money they make on a daily basis to the ticket price. If a third of all guests buy the lightning pass it would add a few dollars to the price of everyone’s daily ticket instead and there would be a great benefit to everyone. At the moment you stand in a queue for an hour or so watching lightning lane holders going through and the standby queue just gets longer and longer. Scrap the lightning lane and the queue for everyone would continually move at a fast pace cos the rides are designed to do that. It’s a self fulfilling system at the moment that a lightning lane system makes the queue far worse than it would be therefore encouraging more people to buy the pass therefore making queuing worse. If you wanted to do one thing to improve the Disney experience for everyone that would be it.
I can appreciate what Josh is saying (great name by the way) but the last three Bobs did a number on consumer trust with the monetization of previous perks. Josh has an uphill battle, hopefully he is able to maximize the ‘honeymoon period’.
I hope he can help return the magic and wonder and fun to the imagination pavilion. The original ride was a masterpiece. Now every visit to the pavilion just leaves me feeling sad. It used to be such a vibrant place, and now it’s just desolate. It’s in desperate need of a return to its magical roots.