Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle Calls Josh D'Amaro 'The Real Deal'

2 days ago in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle and New Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro

Posted: Wednesday February 4, 2026 5:41pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney World Resort President Jeff Vahle shared his first public comments on Josh D'Amaro's appointment as Disney's next CEO.

Vahle posted a message on LinkedIn congratulating D'Amaro, who will replace Bob Iger as CEO on March 18, 2026.

"Josh D'Amaro is the real deal - someone who genuinely connects with people, with strong leadership and a passion to carry Disney into the future," Vahle wrote. "And as you can see from this photo, he is not afraid to have a little fun at work."

Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle and New Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro

Vahle concluded his post by extending congratulations from the entire Walt Disney World team.

"All of us at Walt Disney World congratulate Josh and send our best wishes as he begins his journey as CEO of The Walt Disney Company," he wrote.

Vahle's Relationship With D'Amaro

Vahle has worked under D'Amaro since D'Amaro became Chairman of Disney Experiences in 2020. Vahle became President of Walt Disney World Resort in 2019.

Both executives have decades of experience with Disney. Vahle is now in his 36th year with the company, while D'Amaro has spent 28 years at Disney.

D'Amaro previously served as President of Walt Disney World Resort before Vahle took the position. D'Amaro held that role from 2019 to 2020 before being promoted to Chairman of Disney Experiences.

Vahle as Potential Successor

Vahle is one of three executives positioned as potential candidates to replace D'Amaro as Chairman of Disney Experiences.

As President of Walt Disney World Resort, Vahle oversees approximately 80,000 cast members at four theme parks, more than 25 resort hotels, two water parks, a sports complex, and Disney Springs.

Since taking the role five years ago, Vahle has opened major attractions including Tiana's Bayou Adventure, TRON Lightcycle / Run, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and the reimagined Test Track. He is currently managing billions of dollars in investments for new lands and attractions at Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

In addition to Walt Disney World, Vahle oversees Worldwide Safety, Health, Engineering and Sourcing for Disney Experiences.

He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Auburn University and a master's degree in business administration from Rollins College.

Other Potential Candidates

Thomas Mazloum, President of Disneyland Resort, and Ken Potrock, President of Major Events Integration, are also positioned as potential successors to D'Amaro.

Mazloum previously served as President of Disney Signature Experiences, where he led Disney Cruise Line during expansion that will double the fleet size by 2031. Before leading Disneyland Resort, he was Senior Vice President of Operations at Walt Disney World Resort.

Potrock previously served as President of Disneyland Resort and has 30 years of Disney experience. He currently leads Disney's engagement across major sports, entertainment, and tourism events including the 2028 LA Summer Olympics.

Disney Has Not Announced Successor

Disney has not announced who will replace D'Amaro as Chairman of Disney Experiences or provided a timeline for the decision.

D'Amaro's promotion to CEO creates a vacancy at the top of Disney's largest business segment, which generated $36 billion in annual revenue in FY2025 and employs 185,000 Cast Members worldwide.

The Chairman of Disney Experiences oversees 12 theme parks, 57 resort hotels, Disney Cruise Line, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Disney Consumer Products.

D'Amaro's Background

D'Amaro, 54, joined Disney in 1998 at Disneyland Resort. He became President of Disneyland Resort before moving to Walt Disney World Resort as president in 2019. He was promoted to Chairman of Disney Experiences in 2020.

As Chairman, D'Amaro led development of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Avengers Campus, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and World of Frozen. He is overseeing expansion projects including a Monsters, Inc.-themed land at Disney Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom's largest-ever expansion.

The Disney Board of Directors unanimously elected D'Amaro as CEO yesterday. He will succeed Bob Iger at the company's Annual Meeting on March 18, 2026.

Iger will continue as Senior Advisor and Board member until his retirement on December 31, 2026.

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MrPromey1 hour ago

That's the problem, for the audience they are more and more chasing, it is NOT a premiere vacation destination. Why would it be? All those people you see standing sweaty in lines at the parks 10 months out of the year? That's the "riffraff" you speak of.

MrPromey1 hour ago

Oh really? So Telsa ran those power lines down tens of thousands of miles of highways and established the system of conventional gas stations for traditional fossil fuel vehicles that they contracted to be the location of many of their charging stations? Please tell me more.

Chi842 hours ago

They’ve stopped aspiring to create the same product. That doesn’t mean they don’t still provide a premium experience.

UNCgolf2 hours ago

Tesla is an interesting mention because they're moving away from building cars now. Not that they're stopping entirely, but they're cutting back and focusing on other things.

Disney Irish2 hours ago

Guess it depends on who you ask, $10B in revenue seems to indicate that many still thinks the Disney experience is a premiere product.

Sirwalterraleigh2 hours ago

New fastpass scanners and touchpoint POS terminals to buy horse jockeys at pest relations? 🤷🏻‍♂️

HMF2 hours ago

Especially when they have stopped aspiring to create a premiere product.

Disney Irish2 hours ago

The first to the market is always the toughest. However its not as tough as you make it seem. Netflix didn't get into the content creation business originally, that came later. Their original strategy was to license content from others, same as Hulu. I don't think its unfair to look at the peers for historical reference. Tesla for example didn't have the infrastructure beyond roads for their model, they had to setup all the charging stations, so they build all that from the ground up, ie it cost major money which is why margins were low (even negative for a lot of it) for its first 10-15 years. Funny how that works, they road on the backs of others that came before it but still had to build up to become where they are now, just like Disney.

MisterPenguin2 hours ago

Well, I subscribe to Netflix's YouTube channel and there is a constant barrage for trailers for new shows. The vast majority look awful (to me, IMHO). And that vast majority rarely breaks through to popular media. They go through lots and lots of forgettable content until another Stranger Things comes along. The other thing to remember that at starting, at least 3 years ago, the plan was to merge D+ with Hulu (already happening internationally with "Star" being the international version of Hulu). So, any of the more general audience content (Hollywood-speak for 'adult' -- for 'children' they use 'Family') it got shunted to Hulu rather than the more adult area of D+. So, a lot of the break-out content of Disney streaming (e.g., Only Murders in the Building) went to Hulu rather than D+, making D+ a wasteland of adult content (with a few exceptions). Blessed be Bluey.

Disney Irish2 hours ago

Except if the middle class is shrinking (which was the conversation you came into) that group is getting smaller and smaller, so even if they still exist its not a good business strategy long term to keep prices lower just so an ever shrinking consumer base can afford to go. It'll cause the reverse perception problem that you all complain is happening now, ie if its seen as too cheap for the upper middle and upper class, they won't go at all because they don't want to be seen with the "riffraff". Its why you don't see many of those same folks going to Dollar Tree or other discount venues. Its a tough call for a company trying to maintain its status as a premiere vacation destination.

SamusAranX3 hours ago

They no doubt were throwing spaghetti in some ways, but my point was D+ will need to create incentive in terms of a lot more original content that’s popular if they want to avoid a plateau.

HauntedPirate3 hours ago

Shanghai - $5.5B DCA re-do 2x Galaxy’s Edge ($1 billion each) Pandora New Fantasyland Dream/Fantasy ($1.5 billion combined) HKDL - $1.4B Aulani - $800M That is roughly $12 billion. I’m sure there are other things that add up to $30 billion… right? NextGen? DVC resorts? Do we know how much was spent on WDI research trips to Louisiana?