Bob Chapek Was Right About This One Thing

For my money, it's Michael Eisner over Robert Iger, and it's Josh D'Amaro over Bob Iger, and D'Amaro definitely over Bob Chapek- with Walt Disney above all of them. But that doesn't mean that the short lived former Disney CEO everyone loves to hate got everything wrong. He didn't In fact, I'd venture to say he got one thing very, very right.

When the mandate came down that Marvel absolutely had to go into Disney California Adventure, Chapek put the screws on. It had to go in fast, under budget, and still be excellent. He had determined that the artists inside theme park attraction development took way too long to get it together and were next to reckless when it came to budget restraints. 

Imagineering's Joe Rohde was tasked with pulling off the transition of Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Fans groused about the change, but it was coming like it or not. The result: Fans loved it! And to make things even better for the sharp pencil boys, the revised ride came in on time and under budget.

So here is where Chapek was right- Imagineering can in fact pull it off when it must. Perhaps, just perhaps, theme park fans won't see attractions based on beloved films come decades after their release. Maybe Imagineering can play the fast, under budget and high quality game when they must. Maybe. I mean, a decade later, Guardians of the Galaxy remains the second most popular attraction in that park, right next to Radiator Springs Racers. Was Chapek right? In this case, yes, yes he was.