Josh D'Amaro Unveils New Leadership Roles for Disney Parks and Cruise Line

21 days ago in "The Walt Disney Company"

Posted: Thursday January 23, 2025 5:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro has announced key leadership changes across his executive team, including the creation of a new role to oversee major events integration and new appointments for Disneyland Resort, Disney Signature Experiences, and Shanghai Disney Resort. Disney says that the changes align with the company's global growth plans for its cruise line business and theme parks.

"We have a deep bench of globally minded business leaders who bring the versatility needed to step into key roles across our diverse portfolio," D'Amaro said. "These tenured leaders have extensive technical and operational expertise with strong insight and understanding of the guest experience, and possess qualities that promote innovation, creativity, and results."

Leadership Announcements

Ken Potrock assumes the newly created role of President, The Walt Disney Company Major Events Integration. Potrock will oversee large-scale events like the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the U.S. 250th Anniversary celebration. Potrock's tenure at Disneyland Resort included the post-pandemic reopening, Avengers Campus launch, Downtown Disney District expansion, and securing the DisneylandForward plan, which paves the way for 40 years of potential growth in Anaheim. Potrock will report to D'Amaro with additional accountability to Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman of ESPN.

Thomas Mazloum is now President of Disneyland Resort. Mazloum will manage the resort's 36,000 Cast Members, two theme parks, three hotels, and Downtown Disney District. He will also lead the implementation of DisneylandForward's vision. Previously, Mazloum led Disney Signature Experiences, where he spearheaded plans to double Disney Cruise Line's fleet size by 2031. He has also held leadership roles at Walt Disney World, overseeing key operations like transportation and Disney Springs. Mazloum will report to D’Amaro.

Joe Schott becomes President of Disney Signature Experiences (DSE), overseeing Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, Aulani, Adventures by Disney, and more. Schott, a 40-year Disney veteran, led Shanghai Disney Resort's expansion, including the new Zootopia-themed land and a Spider-Man attraction under development. Schott's experience in international markets is expected to support Disney Cruise Line's global fleet expansion. Schott will report directly to D'Amaro.

Andrew Bolstein is promoted to President & General Manager of Shanghai Disney Resort. Bolstein was part of the resort's opening leadership team and has worked in leadership roles in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai for nearly 13 years. His focus will include operational excellence and building partnerships with the local community and government. Bolstein will report to Jill Estorino, President and Managing Director of Disney Parks International.

The transitions into the new roles are effective immediately.

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brb10068 days ago

Man, Disney+ would had been the perfect opportunity for a House of Mouse revival as a Disney+ Original Animated Series. I'm surprised nobody at Disney seriously considered on fully revisiting that show.

Agent H9 days ago

I wish house of mouse still ran at least put it on Disney +

Disney Irish9 days ago

I don't disagree, but Disney does things for a reason is my point. Basically follow the dollar, if it doesn't make them any they aren't going to invest in it.

brb10069 days ago

Doesn't matter if certain Disney characters aren't in high demand in a certain region. The Disney Parks deserves more variety of characters over anything from the Disney Renaissance, post-Frozen Disney, Pixar, and The Sensational Six for the millionth time.

brb10069 days ago

The sad thing is that there was a time when Disneyland and Walt Disney World used to give a healthy balance to representing Disney Characters from both past and present (including characters from Disney's obscure and lesser-known projects). I believe that mindset quickly changed during the Renaissance Era and the rise of Pixar where they started focusing more on their recent IPs. I'm convinced the Iger Disney is allergic to fully acknowledging Disney Characters from "The Walt Era" and pre-Renissance Era. Even the Eisner Era of Disney managed to do a better job at caring for everything Disney. For crying out loud, the Eisner era gave us "House of Mouse" (2001-2002) which featured almost everything single Disney Character up to that period!

Agent H9 days ago

I feel both of you have a point Tokyo is a paradise for diehard Disney fans looking for more niche stuff and that includes me! but there’s a reason the Walt Disney Company does what it does and it’s not because there being cheap or hate Walt or whatever

Disney Irish13 days ago

Could it be due to differences in the consumer demographics of the region? I mean if Danny was in such high demand for example here domestically you'd think Disney would scramble to stock the domestic Parks with merch for the same. As we know Disney is not one to willingly give up on money just because, so there must be reasons. So I have to assume they have some numbers that show which of their backlog of characters sell best in which regions. And its the Post-Renissance characters that sell best here domestically.

brb100613 days ago

You're not joking, OLC's love for Disney's Films past and present even goes to deep cut Disney Characters. They actually have walkaround versions of The Flying Gauchito Burrito, and Yaya from The Three Caballeros. They also have a statue of Danny the Lamb from the 1948 live-action film "So Dear To My Heart" at Westernland which also sells merchandise of Danny. Danny was added in 2015 for Year of The Sheep. OLC knows how to properly give love to Disney's Characters of old and new. Meanwhile, Disney Parks that are run by Disney themselves focuses more on Disney works Post-Renissance (and Disney Characters made between 1937-1966) instead of their older works with a dash of Pixar. At least Disneyland Paris is starting to take some notes with Tokyo's treatment of Disney Characters beginning in the 2010s.

Cliff13 days ago

OK, smarty pants....if you know of a better and more effective way for Burbank to erase legacy, problematic, historical thinking and force positive, virtuous, modern social change,...I'm SURE Burbank would LOVE to hear it. They would be all ears! Until then, Burbank will need to stay on it's current course of action. ;)

HauntedPirate13 days ago

Chasing the new hot thing tends to lead to ... needing to chase the next new hot thing, in a much shorter time frame than what it took to react to the last new hot thing. ;)

HauntedPirate13 days ago

I've read things from people I trust over the past few years. Where, I couldn't tell you, because I don't keep track of every single thing I read. And when you read the same general thing a few times, from a few different sources... 🤷‍♂️

Cliff13 days ago

That's an interesting comment. It "could" be argued that "Figment" is seen as a Disney "legacy-fan" holdover from a dying era. I don't think that Burbank today has any love for "legacy fans" of the past. Burbank now has pushed out many of it's legacy creatives and is now stacked with "modern-thinking" employees today. "Modern" creatives are EXTREMELY interested in today's "modern audience" and are very eager to make content that appeals to this new hot demographic. There are ways that "Figment" as we know him today, could be "re-imagined" into a new character to appeal to this new customer demographic. Figment could be given new "identity" traits and features that represent what "modern audiences" are HIGHLY attracted to. These new Figment identity traits can also be a representation of the personal lives of Burbank's creative folks. In other words, personal issues that creators and executives are concerned with can be added as new features to Figment's personality and identity. There is nothing more satisfying for a creative to see "them" inside a character on display. If people love that character, it feels like "you" are being accepted, affirmed, validated and loved too. Doing this to Figment could make him more socially valuable and help to ensure Figment's longevity in the parks for decades to come. Figment would certainly be a more useful tool for social messaging, which could be argued as a very good and virtuous thing for the capture of the coveted "modern audience" demographic. I dunno....I believe in: "Make Disney "Walt" Again". But hey,...I'm just a dying "legacy fan" who doesn't understand the power of the "modern audience",...I guess.

Agent H13 days ago

Look I don’t like vahle either but what evidence do you have that he has an “intense dislike” of figment ?

HauntedPirate13 days ago

(If you're doubting that, Mr. Vahle has apparently "an intense dislike", shall we say, of the pavilion)