In the fourth quarter of 2019, Josh D’Amaro quit Disneyland Resort as its president. He headed back to Disney World in Florida after serving as the President of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim for a little under two years. The departure of D’Amaro came amid a shuffle of Disney’s executives in a manner that raised a few eyebrows.
In an Instagram post, D’Amaro stated that he would leave Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort to join and serve as Disney World President in Orland. D’Amaro announced the move through Instagram with mixed feelings. He stated that he would miss the Disney cast members, guests and Disneyland Resort passholders the most.
The farewell suited the likable reputation that D’Amaro earned in his almost two-year-long tenure, which ended in November 2019.
D’Amaro’s only served as the President of Disneyland Resort for a brief period, but it turned out to be pivotal for the location. Of course, D’Amaro oversaw the largest-ever expansion in the history of Disneyland for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Outside of that, however, Disneyland in Anaheim faced the biggest political challenges from its own workforce.
In 2018, Disney opposed the living wage legislation in the resort area but went to negotiations with a willingness to increase wages for almost all of its employees to $15 an hour. D’Amaro touted the Disney Aspire program, which covered college-tuition expenses for Disney employees.
Then, in an election period, D’Amaro demanded that the Anaheim City Council cut two subsidy deals, much to the shock of political observers.
Disney distractors on the city council expected the moment to be a case of reset that ushered in a fresh era of détente or peace. However, Disney flushed the district election system of Anaheim through campaign finance that aided in making a friendly US majority occupy the dais. Further, canceling subsidies offered Disney a way of avoiding the triggers in the aforementioned legislation.
The tenure of D’Amaro’s gave a lot to think about, but he rejected pitches for an OC Weekly profile.
The person who replaced DÁmaro was Rebecca Campbell, one of the two women who held the presidential position in the history of Disneyland Resort.