A last minute round of canvassing of Disney's major shareholders finished last night before an annual meeting widely seen as a referendum on chief executive and chairman Mr Michael Eisner.
As the showdown at today's shareholder meeting drew near, Disney's chief operating officer and president Mr Bob Iger accused the company's critics of conducting a "campaign of misinformation."
Two former directors of Disney, Mr Roy Disney and Mr Stanley Gold have been waging a campaign to oust Me Eisner after years of sluggish financial performance.
Analysts have speculated on who might replace Mr Eisner if he were to leave the company, although many also said it was more likely he would give up only his position as chairman - or fight on by keeping both posts.
"My gut feeling is that if the 'vote no' block is 30 to 35 percent, that could be impetus for the board to suggest that Mr Eisner step down as chairman and remain as CEO," said Mr David Miller, a financial analyst for investment bank Sanders Morris Harris.
Many state pension funds have said they will oppose Eisner, and the dissident team said they had called on all 50 top institutional shareholders, including visits early on Tuesday.