Petition For Disney To Fire Bob Iger As CEO Re-Emerges

In November 2022, The Walt Disney Company announced that Disney Chief Executive Officer, Bob Chapek, 62, would be stepping down from his position, and Robert A. Iger, 71, would return to run the company -- effective immediately.

While CEO, Bob Chapek received backlash from the Disney community regarding some of his decisions, which included budget cuts and layoffs of thousands of Cast Members after the Parks shut down due to the ongoing pandemic as well as price increases in the theme parks. He also was part of the launch of Disney Genie, including the new paid FastPass system, Lightning Lane, which had fans angry.

Once Bob Iger returned as CEO, he began making changes, including bringing back free parking at Walt Disney World Resort hotels for Guests.

Although a majority of the world is thrilled with Iger's return, there are a handful of people who want to see him be fired from The Walt Disney Company as a petition, which was originally created in 2017, is now re-emerging. 

In 2017, while Bob Iger was still CEO of The Walt Disney Company before Bob Chapek took over, many fans were not happy with the way he ran the company. In fact, one fan even started a petition.

"Bob Iger must be gone," the petition reads. "Ever since Iger took over, he has been destroying the magic of Disney. All he cares about is money and it really shows. We won't allow that. Not only that Disney Is also doing very poorly under Iger’s leadership. He has overstayed his welcome."

Nearly 700 people have signed the petition thus far, but the petition is beginning to emerge again as it is on the front page of Disney World's change.org category and has been reshared to social media a handful of times.

The petition also states that Bob Iger "took away special assistance pass for kids with disabilities," which is not entirely true. Although the Disney Parks no longer hand out special assistance passes for those with disabilities, they do have a disability program called the Disability Access Service (DAS).

Per the Walt Disney World website, "Disney Parks have an unwavering commitment to providing a welcoming, inclusive environment and accessible experiences for our Guests. As part of this commitment, Disability Access Service (DAS) is a program offered at Walt Disney World theme parks to assist Guests who have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability."

Disney also implemented a new pre-registration system, allowing eligible Guests to pre-register for DAS Advance virtually with a Cast Member, using live video chat, where they will answer a series of questions, and if eligible, they can then work with a Cast Member to book up to 2 one-hour return windows for select rides and experiences using the new DAS Advance planning option.

The DAS is intended for Guests who have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability and doesn’t provide immediate access to experiences, but rather allows Guests to request a return time for a specific experience that is comparable to the current standby wait.