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Park Pass, Disney+ with Ads – What Chapek Didn’t Talk About at Shareholders Meeting

Bob Chapek
Credit: Disney

On March 9, The Walt Disney Company held their Annual Meeting of the Shareholders, during which time CEO Bob Chapek spoke on the current state of the business, giving a few updates on current projects. There was a lot of new information–like the release of the Obi-Wan KenobiĀ Trailer–, but there were some points that were passed over.

The Disney Theme Park Reservation System

Disney park Pass

Credit: Disney

Initiated almost two years ago, Disney Park Pass Reservations have slowly become ingrained as an everyday part of Guests’ Disney Vacation experience. But when they were introduced along with the reopening of Walt Disney World’s Theme Parks in 2020, there was an impression that they were a temporary thing to maintain limited capacity.

As Chapek addressed Shareholders on Disney Parks, one could expect him to provide some context to the Park Pass System still in place at Disney World Theme Parks Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as well as Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. But he did not.

He mentioned the changes made to the Parks during the pandemic and the praise the company is getting for offering more personalized experiences.

“We’re confident that the transformative changes that we made in our Parks during the pandemic will continue to propel the business forward. In the years ahead,” he said. Could but could this also include the Park Pass System? Only time will tell at this point. But an end date already appears possible.

Read More: Has Disney World Finally Picked an End Date for its Park Pass System?

Ad-Supported Disney+

Disney Plus Ads

Since its initial announcement, there has been very little follow-up information on when Disney’s domestic market will have access to a less-expensive, ad-supported tier of Disney+.

During his address at the shareholder meeting, Chapek discussed how Disney+ had 196 million subscribers worldwide and the continued expansion of Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar into over 60 countries. The CEO mentioned the already-anticipated content lineup for Disney+ like Marvel shows Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk, as well as Star Wars shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi. Disney’s push to produce more local and regional content for more of its foreign markets was also mentioned.

However, the ad-supported tier was left out. Disney Fanatic will continue to update our readers on this story as more information comes to light.

Update on Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland

Credit: Disney

Among its worldwide collection, one of Disney’s Resorts remains shuttered due to COVID-inspired restrictions.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort closed once again in January 2022 and will remain closed for more than a month after this article’s publication.

According to its website:

“As required by the government, Hong Kong Disneyland Park is temporarily closed until Apr 20, 2022.”

Chapek briefly mentioned that the construction of Hong Kong’s highly-anticipated Frozen-themed land is still underway. However, he did not address the current closure or provide any update on the Resort’s situation.

There were more topics that we personally thought would be covered during the meeting, but these three stand out to us. Disney Fanatic will keep our eyes on these stories, and more as more information comes to light! Like us on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on our latest Disney news and top stories!

About T.K. Bosacki

Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, TK Bosacki is a professional writer, amateur adventurer, and lifelong Disney Fanatic. His Disney Park days include Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Nomad Lounge. He believes in starting at the Canada pavilion (IYKYK), and the Monorail is superior to all Ferry Boats.

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