Bob is Dead. Long Live Bob

In one of the most public about-faces in recent history, Disney is admitting they've screwed up. Late on Sunday night, they announced CEO Bob Chapek was out as head of the company to be replaced by Bob Iger. There wouldn't even be a transition. Iger is back in control immediately. More from Mike Calia and Alex Sherman at CNBC.

The dramatic upheaval comes 11 months after Iger left Disney, and days after Chapek said he planned to cut costs at the company, which had been burdened by swelling costs at its streaming service, Disney+. Earlier this month, the company’s earnings vastly underperformed Wall Street’s expectations. Even its theme park business, which reported a surge in revenue, delivered less than what analysts had projected.

CNBC

Bob Iger is credited with Disney's spectacular success over his 15 years running the company. In that time they purchased Marvel and Lucasfilm. They've improved and expanded so many parts of their theme parks. Movies and shows and Disney+ and all the media that feeds the Disney machine have been on overdrive. In short: it's been a lot.

From what I've read in the news and from people I follow who visit Disney parks, there has been an excessive nickel and diming in the past few years. From FastPass being replaced with paid-for the Genie service to briefly removing Resident Discounts for Florida residents, the overall theme has been to squeeze every cent out of guests.

When you're planning a trip that can run in excess of $5,000 for less than a week at Disney, that magic better be there. It seems obvious that Chapek was letting that fade. Now it's up to Iger to not only clean up the mess but to get the House of Mouse back on track.

Now, let's hope they reduce the absurd Millenium Starcruiser pricing.