Josh D'Amaro

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Josh D'Amaro is an American businessman who has served as Chairman of Disney Experiences since 2022.^[1] Prior, D'Amaro was employed with The Walt Disney Company for 22 years in roles specialized in the company's resorts sector.

Education and early career

In 1993, D'Amaro graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.^[2][3] He began his career in the finance department of The Gillette Company based in Boston before joining The Walt Disney Company in 1998.^[3][4]

Career in The Walt Disney Company

For the first 10 years of his career at Disney, D'Amaro held various leadership positions. From 1998 to 2008 he was vice president of sales and travel trade marketing.^[5] During that time he was also director of business planning and strategy development from 2005 to 2006. In 2008, he became chief financial officer of Disney Consumer Products Licensing business and held the position for two years.

Positions within Disney Parks, Experiences and Products

In 2010, he was promoted to vice president of Adventures by Disney based in Celebration, Florida. This position meant he oversaw all group guided tour operations to various U.S. and international destinations.

From 2013 to 2014, D'Amaro served as vice president of

From 2017 to 2020, D'Amaro's positions within Parks, Experiences and Products changed quickly. In 2017, he was promoted to CCO of the Walt Disney World Resort, a higher position that he held for a year before taking on the role of president of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California another role he held for a year and a half, before returning to Florida to become president of Walt Disney World Resort.^[7]

In 2020,

On September 29, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney was forced to cut 28,000 employees from its theme parks.[9] Despite the phased reopening of many Disney resorts around the world during the summer of 2020, Disneyland Resort in California was unable to reopen its theme parks and furloughed cast members and staff.^[10]

In the beginning of April 2021, as Covid restrictions were being lifted, D'Amaro had set about reopening certain Disney parks and services to the public. On April 30, 2021, Disney reopened Disneyland Park in Anaheim,^[11] which was the final Disney resort to reopen after the initial closure. Disneyland Paris reopened on June 17 after the second closure on October 30, 2020, making it the final Disney parks and resorts to be reopened overall and one of three Disney resorts to close, reopen, and close again due to local government restrictions, the others being Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.^[12]

References