Letter To Shareholders

While every movie, show, experience, product and project we undertake is backed by a team dedicated to doing its part to further the Disney legacy, on a personal note, I would like to recognize a great leader in this endeavor.

Senator George J. Mitchell has been a member of our Board of Directors for 12 years, most recently serving as chairman. George embodies the word “statesman,” and we were extremely fortunate to have been the beneficiaries of his counsel and leadership. He has been a tremendous source of advice and wisdom to me personally, and to the Company. As he leaves the Disney family, all of us thank him for his service and are deeply grateful to him for his many contributions.

I’d also like you to join me in welcoming our new non-executive chairman, John E. Pepper, Jr., the former chairman and chief executive of Procter & Gamble. John is an incredibly gifted and experienced executive with a strong background in corporate management, global brand building and leadership development. The strength of his character and his professional acumen will serve the shareholders and employees of our Company well.

It seems impossible to believe that it’s been a year since I wrote my first letter to you as CEO of Disney. At that time, we pledged to advance several goals: that we would be admired for our performance, for the quality and integrity of our people and products, and for being contemporary, innovative and willing to take the intelligent risks necessary to carry us into the future. While we still have a long path to the pinnacle – wherever that may be – I do believe we have begun to make progress toward those goals.

In this role, I have a unique and special responsibility to our audiences and Guests everywhere: they expect us to do our best every day. They want to be amazed, delighted and entertained. They are looking for the kind of magic that will transport them from their everyday lives and into worlds that can only be created by Disney. They expect quality.

That provides us with a unique challenge that, even after more than 80 years, we know we must continually reinvent ourselves and reimagine our future in order to meet their high expectations.

I think I speak for everyone at Disney when I say, that’s the fun part! I know that’s true for one group in particular, our Imagineers. These men and women are the true magicians of our day. For more than 50 years, they have conceived, designed, developed and built our Disney theme parks and attractions around the world, and to show you how they are imagining the future of Disney for our Guests, we have decided to dedicate the following pages to the thing they do best – dream.

What you are about to see is conceptual artwork of projects we are building, developing or still just dreaming about. Some will be open soon, some may never be built, but all of them will give you a unique window into what’s on the horizon at Disney, and what our Imagineers have on their drawing boards.

Before you turn the page, on behalf of the men and women of The Walt Disney Company who work hard every day to create the special memories and experiences that our consumers worldwide enjoy around the clock, I’d like to thank you personally for your continued support. We are in the midst of an exciting and dynamic time in the history of Disney, and we’re honored that you’ve chosen to join us.

Robert A. Iger
President and Chief Executive Officer,
The Walt Disney Company
December 12, 2006