On May 18, 2026, Disneyland Paris announced Christophe Murphy as the new president. After Natacha Rafalski, he will now lead the resort in the years to come. Along with this appointment, the company had also made some other key leadership changes in its parks business.
This decision came at the point when Disneyland Paris had plans to expand the Disney resorts in other nations. Disneyland Paris was launched on April 12, 1992. As of today, 7 presidents have been replaced. Christophe Murphy is the 8th. This news was first shared by The Walt Disney Company and said that all of the leadership changes will officially happen by the end of July 2026.
Christophe Murphy Becomes New Disneyland Paris President
Christophe Murphy has a long history with Disneyland Paris. He has spent over 35 years with this company as a Disney executive. He first joined the resort in 1991 during its pre-opening days. Since then, he has worked in different departments of this company, such as hotels, theme parks, entertainment, merchandise, Disney Village, food and beverage, and franchise operations.
Before becoming president, he served as the senior vice president of operations. In that post, he has to help in the operations of the resort’s latest expansion projects, like Disney Adventure World and World of Frozen. Also, he was the vice president of operations for Walt Disney Attractions Japan in 2023. There, he worked with Oriental Land Company at Tokyo Disney Resort. His work was to improve guest experience, maintain quality standards, and create growth plans.
Soon, he will be president of Disneyland Paris and the responsibilities are going to double for him. Because Disneyland’s big project, the new Lion King-themed land, is on the horizon. According to Air Magique, Murphy will manage over 20,000 Cast Members across two Disney parks, seven themed hotels, and Disney Village.
Natacha Rafalski Takes New Global Disney Role
Natacha Rafalski, who was the 7th president of Disneyland Paris from 2018 to 2026, has been given a new role. She is now the president of Disney Signature Experiences. This division has Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures by Disney, Aulani, National Geographic Expeditions, Storyliving by Disney, and Golden Oak. During her term as president at Disneyland Paris, she supervised one of the biggest transformation projects at the resort.
According to Yahoo Finance, she led the €2 billion expansion of Walt Disney Studios Park, today known as Disney Adventure World. This development added new areas to the resort, such as the Marvel Avengers Campus and the World of Frozen. Disney also said that this project almost doubled the size of the park. Rafalski has worked with Disney for 30 years.
Earlier in her career, she helped with the launch of Shanghai Disney Resort and later worked as chief financial officer for Disney Greater China from 2013 to 2017. In her new position, Rafalski will be the decision-maker in the next stage of Disney Cruise Line’s expansion project. Disney currently has eight cruise ships and their target is to take this number to 13 ships by 2031.
Joe Schott Named New Walt Disney World President
Last but not least, Disney also announced Joe Schott as the new president of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. He will replace Jeff Vahle, who served 42 years in total for Disney. According to Mickey Visit, Schott is one of Disney’s most experienced international leaders. He has worked at different corners of the world where Disney is present. Before this promotion, he was the president at Disney Signature Experiences.
In that role, he used to manage projects related to Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, and Adventures by Disney. He also helped lead the launch of two new cruise ships, the Disney Destiny and Disney Adventure. Moreover, at the start of his career, Schott was a general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort. During his tenure, the resort opened the Zootopia-themed land and passed 100 million guests in less than 10 years.
The Shanghai Disney Resort is still growing, as the team has added a new Spider-Man attraction and two new hotels. Schott also has close ties with Disneyland Paris. Earlier in his career, he worked there as chief operating officer for five years. Disney said he originally started his professional journey as a Jungle Cruise skipper.
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Disney Hints That It is Just a Beginning
The leadership changes come only months after Thomas Mazloum became chairman of Disney Experiences in March 2026. Mazloum replaced Josh D’Amaro after D’Amaro became CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Jill Estorino later replaced Mazloum as president of Disneyland Resort.
In Disney’s official statement, Mazloum said the company is currently going through an “unprecedented expansion” period across its global parks and experiences business. “Disney Experiences is in the midst of unprecedented expansion with more new projects underway across our global portfolio than at any other moment in our history,” Mazloum said.
He also praised Joe Schott, Natacha Rafalski, and Christophe Murphy for their experience in operations, leadership, finance, and guest experience.
Sources and References:
- The Walt Disney Company –
- Mickey Visit
- Yahoo Finance
- Air Magique
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