New rumor from Jim Hill: Matt Ouimet to become WDW president

I don't know how legit this is (and knowing Hill's past articles, not very likely) but this would be totally awesome if it happened:

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/article.php?id=1771

I know it's not exactly kosher - but alteast post a snippet of his banter for us to look at so we can decide if we want to give him website hits or not - i typically try to avoid doing so as much as possible.

EDIT
Summary for everyone else who doesn't like giving Jim Hill website hits:

Matt Ouimet wants to go back to Orlando. His family likes it better than LA and such. He jumped to apply for the job of WDW President and might be replaced by Greg Emmer if he does get the job.

All of this has the standard credibility of all Jim Hill poo-flings.

The only thing that gives this a shred more credibilty is today's Mouseplanet update said that they've been hearing similar things in California. But it's still very much a rumor of course.

I know a lot of Disneyland fans would be upset, but I for one would be extactic. I think he's just the kind of shake-up WDW management really needs right now.

We'll see. I agree entirely rumor at this point, but it is at least a rumor that might make sense. Could certainly do worse, IMHO. I just wonder if Matt's skills would transfer well to WDW since you really couldn't do the same thing per se. I would be very itnerested to see his ideas, though.

You guys can't have Matt Ouimet! Us SoCal'ers simply won't let him go! We'll stop him at the border and make him go right back to Anaheim!

But seriously, Matt has done SO MUCH for Disneyland in the past 24 months. He came in, fired all of Cynthia's executives from the mall, and cleaned up Disneyland in 18 months. Disneyland hasn't looked better in decades, since Walt was walking the place daily and picking up scraps of paper on Main Street. There are new rides, wonderful new parades and shows, and more new rides being built and getting set to open next year and in '07. The place sparkles and beams with pride unlike I've ever seen it during my lifetime. And Matt Ouimet is directly responsible for it.

I can understand the thing about wanting to move his family back to central Florida though. Orange County, California is a very different type of place than the East Coast, and the ritzy community Ouimet lives in about 30 minutes south of Disneyland is just about as snobby and warped and superficial as Orange County, California gets. Think about TV shows like "The OC" on Fox and "Laguna Beach - The Real OC" on MTV, and try to picture raising your children in an environment like that. I don't blame a parent for trying to shield their child from that type of setting and get them back to something more normal. And Orange County can be very difficult if your an outsider and you don't have fake , fake abs, perfect teeth, a Botox smile, can surf like a pro, shop like a maniac, and drive a Bentley to Disneyland for Date Nite on weekends.

But even though Ouimet's family should come first, we simply won't let him go! Never! He's ours, and WDW can't have him.

Jh

The key to a great bullsh*ter: QUANTITY NOT QUALITY

With the amount of "information" Jim Hill puts out, the odds are with him that something will happen like he said. Then he can say "you read it here first."

He's like Sam Malone with his envelope. He kept asking one of the bar maids (I can't remember which one) to sleep with him and when she finally agreed, he gave her an envelope. Inside was a note that read "I will sleep with (bar maid) on (that date). The bar maid was shocked until he revealed that he re-wrote the note everyday.

Pigs will fly.
The sky will fall.
Jim Hill will get one right.

One of those will have to happen someday. And when it does, you read it here first!

-Billy

TP2000 said:

You guys can't have Matt Ouimet! Us SoCal'ers simply won't let him go! We'll stop him at the border and make him go right back to Anaheim!


But even though Ouimet's family should come first, we simply won't let him go! Never! He's ours, and WDW can't have him.

Click to expand...

We'll steal him from you.:lookaroun :zipit: :lookaroun

I'm sorry DL, but we need him. Things are looking Bad down here in terms of upkeep. As for Jim hill, I think he runs a great site, and has some good stories to tell.

EpcotServo said:

I'm sorry DL, but we need him. Things are looking Bad down here in terms of upkeep. As for Jim hill, I think he runs a great site, and has some good stories to tell.

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But how many of his stories are accurate. The fact is it doens't take a rocket scientist, or even a used car sales man to see that Matt Ouimet is a likely candidate to replace Weiss.

I am curious though, what do you think is looking so Bad here as far as upkeep. Sure there are a few things that aren't perfect but for the most part everything is pretty good around here.

Granted you didnt ask me...but on my most recent visit to Disney in November, I noticed a LOT of bad show in the Magic Kingdom. In most cases things just looked a bit rundown, and in the case of Space Mountain I was SHOCKED at the condition of the preshow area (the area with all the pictures of the star systems). They were scratched, marred, graffiti'd and looked like someone had put contact paper on them to hide information or something. However, people had started peeling the contact paper to see what was underneath...which was NOTHING.

An interesting rumor, but one I won't give much thought to until I hear about it from other sources. I know there's some cleanup/maintenance that could be done around the parks, but I don't think it's anything like what needed to be done at DL.

Hmmm... maybe he'd get something built in the 20K lagoon in MK, too.

Although interesting and intriguing, it seems too much of a rumor right now.

Why can't he help both parks? Why does it have to be one or the other? I mean it should be old hat for executives to travel by jet, coast to coast frequently, right??

Honestly I thought they planned on Matt from the very fist announcement. They said it would take 12-15 months to fill the position which is a very long time. They found a new CEO in less time. There was obviously a reason for the long period of time. My guess would be they wanted to wait for the the 50th to be over and then bring Matt back to Florida. However, if Jim is correct maybe Matt's pushing for this much sooner now.

TP2000 said:

You guys can't have Matt Ouimet! Us SoCal'ers simply won't let him go! We'll stop him at the border and make him go right back to Anaheim!

Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about it if he does leave. He'll leave his right hand man Greg Emmer ( who is just as fantastic as Matt is ) in charge, and the magic that Ouimet started will continue. I would absolutly LOVE it if WDW gets Matt Ouimet. The quality and upkeep would sky rocket.

And if WDW did get Ouimet, things may actually look good for a Dreamfinder return in my eyes...

I'm not really sure about having Matt Ouimet as WDW president. He must be one of the most impatient people I have ever met. He was at WDW last week, staying at the Yacht Club. I don't know. Maybe it's just me.

Having had the chance to speak with Matt, I would love to see him come to WDW. He did start here in Orlando with DCL. I say bring him back. Us WDW CMs would love to work with him.

ok whos Greg Emmer?-after hearing all the wonderful things he has done a DL im sure he take care of biz at WDW and even fix the Space Mountain issues too and fix any bad show problems in a rather quick time frame

By the way have they since fix the bad preshow area in Space Mountain???

I applied too... But they obviously rejected me... :lookaroun :lol: