Josh Damaro: Last News

If the feud between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was going to be escalated yet again, parks chief Josh D’Amaro didn’t seem like he would be the one to do it.

In the same week that Disney Parks & Resorts boss Josh D’Amaro announced the company was abandoning a new $1 billion employee campus in Orlando, the president of Disneyland Resort Ken Potrock hosted an OCForum meeting with local business and political leaders in Anaheim to discuss DisneylandForward, the company’s 30-year plan for expansion and innovation in the area.

A spokesman for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis downplayed the company’s announcement that it was canceling a planned project that would have moved thousands of employees from California to the Sunshine State.

Just over a week ago, Bob Iger rhetorically asked the adversarial  Gov. Ron DeSantis if Florida really wanted Disney’s considerable business and tax revenue, or not. Now, without mentioning the would-be presidential contender nor his attacks on the company, the Mouse House has pulled some of that business and taxes revenues from the Sunshine State.

About four years after it was announced by then chairman of Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Bob Chapek and about a year after it officially opened, Disney revealed today that it would be closing the pricey (for guests, anyway) Star Wars themed Galactic Starcruiser experience in September. The news came on the same morning that Parks and Resorts boss Josh D’Amaro sent a note to Disney Parks, Experiences & Products employees confirming that Disney is abandoning its plan to move around 2,000 staffers and their families to central Florida from California.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Walt Disney Co. has scrapped plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Orlando, as the company continues to wage a political and legal battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. In an email to employees on Thursday, Disney executive Josh D’Amaro said that “considerable changes,” including “new leadership” and “changing business conditions,” had led to the decision to cancel the project. Disney had planned to move 2,000 employees to the Lake Nona complex once it was complete, mostly from the Imagineering division. The company announced the project in 2021, and reports indicated it could have benefited from as much as $500 million in state tax incentives.

Disney Parks and Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro gave a presentation at SXSW this weekend that promised a focus on “The Art & Science of Disney Parks Storytelling,” and boy did he deliver.

Bruce Vaughn is returning as chief creative officer to co-lead Walt Disney Imagineering with Barbara Bouza, president of the storied division.  

Disney, newly under Bob Iger’s wing, is taking steps to mollify theme park-goers, some of whom have been at a low boil.

Wilson Chapman editor Starting soon, Marvel fans will be able to take a ride through the Multiverse. A new Avengers Campus attraction is heading to Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., allowing parkgoers to journey through the MCU’s many, many universes. The news was announced on Sunday at the D23 Expo’s Parks panel, which featured parks chairman Josh D’Amaro and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. According to D’Amaro, the ride — which does not have an official opening date — will see parkgoers team up with the Avengers from multiple universes to defeat “King Thanos,” a version of the character that won at the end of the 2019 film “Avengers: Endgame.” D’Amaro also unveiled new concept art of the ride showcasing the King Thanos design and several of the heroes that will be featured in the ride, which can be viewed below.

Mark Bozon, who spent 12 years at Apple in creative and gaming executive roles, has been hired by Disney in a senior post to help oversee the company’s push into the metaverse.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney hired Mark Bozon, a top gaming executive from Apple, as a senior creative leader for its cross-divisional Next Generation Storytelling initiative — which encompasses Disney’s “metaverse” ambitions.In a May 20 tweet, Bozon announced he was leaving Apple after 12 years, saying “I’m headed to an absolute dream job” (without revealing he was heading to Disney). Most recently, he served as games creative director for Apple Arcade, the tech giant’s game-subscription service.Bozon was hired by Mike White, Disney’s SVP of Next Generation Storytelling & Consumer Experiences, a 10-year company veteran who earlier this year was appointed to lead development and coordination of Disney’s metaverse strategy.

Disney will be building new master-planned communities called ‘Storyliving’ with the first to be developed in Rancho Mirage in California’s Coachella Valley. Other sites are under exploration “as more and more fans look for new ways to make Disney a bigger part of their lives,” the company said.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney CEO Bob Chapek installed veteran exec Mike White into a new role coordinating the Mouse House’s “metaverse” efforts going forward.White, who has worked at Disney for a decade, is assuming the new role of senior VP of next generation storytelling and consumer experiences at the Walt Disney Co., responsible for connecting the dots among the company’s initiatives that blend “physical and digital worlds,” Chapek wrote in a memo to staff, obtained by Variety. White adds the metaverse role that to his existing duties leading consumer experiences and platforms in the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution (DMED) division, overseeing the technology strategy, engineering and product teams charged developing digital experiences across brands including ABC, ABC News, Disney, ESPN, FX, Marvel, National Geographic and Star Wars.

Tom Tapp Deputy Managing Editor“We don’t anticipate in the immediate term any of these larger parks opening until we see more stability in terms of the data.” Those were the long-awaited words of California Governor Gavin Newsom on the fate of the state’s still-closed amusement parks.“We feel there’s no hurry to put out guidelines and we continue to work with the industry,” he continued. Those words will not land softy on the ears of those who run local theme parks.

The Walt Disney Co.'s parks chief on Tuesday made it clear to Gov. Gavin Newsom that the company wants clearance to reopen the Disneyland Resort.