Disneyland Almost Axed Annual Pass Program, Former CEO Says: Report

ANAHEIM, CA — A Disneyland staple might have ceased to exist, when theme park officials considered eliminating the park's annual pass program, The Orange County Register reported.

The controversial move was detailed in former Disney CEO Bob Chapek's new book, "Behind the Castle Walls," the report said.

"The passholder experience was a fantastic deal for the passholder, but a terrible one for Disney and its more vacation-oriented guests," Chapek wrote.

According to the report, Chapek said that while the theme park ultimately did not move forward with eliminating annual passes, Chapek moved to "shift the math."

This involved focusing more on free-spending vacation travelers who stayed on Disneyland property and less on budget-conscious annual passholders, the report said.

"The fact remains that some customers generated more revenue than others," he wrote. "Not that I didn't appreciate the passion and enthusiasm the passholders had for Disney.

Chapek was fired in Nov. 2022 and replaced by former Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Iger — who had stepped down as CEO and chairman in 2020 — was brought back on last November after Disney ousted Iger's replacement, Bob Chapek. At the time, Iger was set to return to the company he previously led for 15 years for just 24 months.

“Since my return to Disney just seven months ago, I’ve examined virtually every facet of our businesses to fully understand the tremendous opportunities before us, as well as the challenges we’ve been facing from the broader economic environment and the tectonic shifts in our industry."

Chapek was initially lauded for carrying Disney thorough the tough years of the pandemic, delivering streaming subscribers that helped make Disney a formidable Netflix competitor.

But after continued streaming losses, stock price-drops and layoffs last year, Chapek exited the company to make way for the man whom he had replaced just two years earlier.

Iger oversaw Disney during a massive period of growth, when it became the entertainment juggernaut it is today. He oversaw Disney's acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox and launched Disney+ in 2020.