Iger out in 2018

[Progress.City]

We all must try and remember that there is so much more to TWDC then theme parks. Eisner had just scratched the surface of the expansion, he perhaps had more time to wonder around the parks with his ideas, which I doubt were ever actually acted upon directly.

Many of his ideas were implemented. I don't have a list or anything. Some of them were mentioned in the book Keys to the Magic Kingdom, which was written in the mid-90's.

 

[Siren]

In terms of "fandom" (i.e., sites like these), Eisner was just as, if not more, hated than Iger. Heck, Eisner was so bad by the end that Walt Disney's family have to intervene.

This is *so* true. Eisner is the reason why Disney's price is so high. Technically, we should all be paying like $45 for a full day at MK -- this is in line with other amusement parks.

Eisner totally eradicated Disney's affordable prices by adopting Broadway's flamboyant pricing model. Look at the basic prices for Broadway tickets -- Disney monitors them closely to determine park entry fees.

Also, Eisner is responsible for transforming Disney World from a world class theme park resort with hotels into a timeshare resort with sub par theme parks.

Funds that should have been allocated for maintenance and investment in the theme parks were wrongfully diverted to fund timeshare projects.

The main damage had already been done before Iger took over.

With Iger at the helm we'd be lucky if it was finished by 2045

I totally disagree. Not with his ego. That's why I want him to stay and follow this through.

My concern is that the board is going to recruit a hatchet man or woman as the new CEO -- who would think *nothing* of slashing the budget for Star Wars at DHS. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I will remain positive.

 

[Disone]

Iger is involved, just not in the design. But here are three articles on his style. You will see weekly monday meetings to discuss projects.
http://fortune.com/2012/05/09/bob-iger-disneys-fun-king/

In this one he talks about a slew of projects, and how this will be it for awhile. But it was not, after saying no more, he the announce Pandora, Disney Springs, Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land. Also note at how honest he is about the original DCA.

http://thedisneyblog.com/2012/08/13/bob-iger-comes-clean-on-dca/

And finally a recent article on how personally Invested Bob is to Shanghai.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...shanghai-disney-iger-20160608-snap-story.html

I do not think he is as disconnected to the parks as some claim. But at article one says, he trusts the right people with the job. His job is not to run the parks, it to oversee the entire WDC.

@Progress.City , great ideas though. I would love to see it, but its going to take someone high in WDI, Parks and Resort or BOTH to sell this. Also, sincerely thank you for a civil discussion on our different view points. Very Refreshing to not agree with out the mug slinging..... now duck

 

[WEDwaydatamover]

I think the one thing about Michael Eisner that I really liked besides him getting the movie Airplane! made, was that he connected with people. Almost every week he would introduce the Disney Sunday night movie in a way that Walt would have.

Where as Iger comes across as kind of an aloof cold corporate fish.

The Eisner/ Paul Pressler days were horrible but in a really really awful way! But at the end of the day I think Eisner "got" Disney and I don't think Bobby does. Eisner definitely got it but he lost it.

The jury is still out on this one.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Many of his ideas were implemented. I don't have a list or anything. Some of them were mentioned in the book Keys to the Magic Kingdom, which was written in the mid-90's.

I'm sure that those notes can be found, however, whether or not he had the original idea or something that was suggested to him and he ran with it, is the part of the puzzle that we will never know. He did reject the first change in imagination, but, he didn't bring back the Dreamfinder or improve the attraction by a large degree.

 

[Progress.City]

I'm sure that those notes can be found, however, whether or not he had the original idea or something that was suggested to him and he ran with it, is the part of the puzzle that we will never know. He did reject the first change in imagination, but, he didn't bring back the Dreamfinder or improve the attraction by a large degree.

In that book, there is a chapter about the making of DHS. It said that he and Frank Wells gathered around a table and brainstormed for attractions. About half were suggested by Eisner and the other half by Wells. The exact attractions are mentioned by name in that book. I remember that the Indiana Jones Stunt Show was suggested by Wells.

Other suggestions I know that were Eisner's were Celebrations, Pleasure Island, and Typhoon Lagoon. He offered detailed suggestions for Celebrations and even named the architects he wanted to design individual buildings. But just vague instructions for projects like Typhoon Lagoon to WDI: "I want you to design for me the best water park you can design."

 

[Goofyernmost]

In that book, there is a chapter about the making of DHS. It said that he and Frank Wells gathered around a table and brainstormed for attractions. About half were suggested by Eisner and the other half by Wells. The exact attractions are mentioned by name in that book. I remember that the Indiana Jones Stunt Show was suggested by Wells.

Other suggestions I know that were Eisner's were Celebrations, Pleasure Island, and Typhoon Lagoon. He offered detailed suggestions for Celebrations and even named the architects he wanted to design individual buildings. But just vague instructions for projects like Typhoon Lagoon to WDI: "I want you to design for me the best water park you can design."

Well, I guess one keeper out of three ain't bad! Wait... it ain't good either. Even I could come up with ideas for DHS. I even would venture a guess as to the nature of the suggestions. First... it was hardly the first attempt at making a movie based, see how it's done concept. Universal and others had been doing that for a long time. All that happened were a cloning of what already existed elsewhere. If it's true, I'd guess that Mr. Wells was the driving force behind the more creative things. Which were not many at park opening.

 

[Progress.City]

Well, I guess one keeper out of three ain't bad! Wait... it ain't good either. Even I could come up with ideas for DHS. I even would venture a guess as to the nature of the suggestions. First... it was hardly the first attempt at making a movie based, see how it's done concept. Universal and others had been doing that for a long time. All that happened were a cloning of what already existed elsewhere. If it's true, I'd guess that Mr. Wells was the driving force behind the more creative things. Which were not many at park opening.

Well, I know some of the things that Eisner suggested were already designed by WDI for elsewhere. For example, Eisner's first suggested attraction was the Great Movie Ride, which WDI proposed for EPCOT as an entertainment themed pavilion for Future World. Eisner also suggested Star Tours, which already made its debut at DL.

 

[ford91exploder]

This is *so* true. Eisner is the reason why Disney's price is so high. Technically, we should all be paying like $45 for a full day at MK -- this is in line with other amusement parks.

Eisner totally eradicated Disney's affordable prices by adopting Broadway's flamboyant pricing model. Look at the basic prices for Broadway tickets -- Disney monitors them closely to determine park entry fees.

Also, Eisner is responsible for transforming Disney World from a world class theme park resort with hotels into a timeshare resort with sub par theme parks.

Funds that should have been allocated for maintenance and investment in the theme parks were wrongfully diverted to fund timeshare projects.

The main damage had already been done before Iger took over.

I totally disagree. Not with his ego. That's why I want him to stay and follow this through.

My concern is that the board is going to recruit a hatchet man or woman as the new CEO -- who would think *nothing* of slashing the budget for Star Wars at DHS. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I will remain positive.

The next recession will finish off SW at WDW quite nicely thank you and it may take the corpse of DHS with it as well.

 

[disney4life2008]

I hear Meg Crofton is coming out of retirement to take his post

 

[FrankLapidus]

Eisner leaving was 100% the best thing for the company at that time. No matter what is happening now or has happened since, it was not a mistake to remove him from his position.

Iger leaving will be the best thing for the company if/when he does go in 2018. I don't hate the man, I like some of the things that the company has done during his tenure, but ultimately we've seen the full scope of his ability as CEO and, personally, I don't think that it is enough to really build on the legacy he inherited..

Has he been a terrible chief executive? IMO no but then he also hasn't been what I was hoping for when Eisner went nor do I think he is what the company needs now. I think it is time for a change at the top, a change that I think needs to extend beyond simply replacing Iger as CEO, but a change doesn't necessarily mean that things will improve. With Staggs seemingly out of the running there really isn't an obvious successor and until there is it is difficult to know whether to feel optimistic about Disney's future post-Iger. I just hope that the right decision is made when the time comes.

 

[ford91exploder]

I hear Meg Crofton is coming out of retirement to take his post

Gaahhh that's the stuff of nightmares.

 

[Siren]

The next recession will finish off SW at WDW quite nicely thank you and it may take the corpse of DHS with it as well.

I don't understand what you mean by this. And, I thought we were still in a recession?

Eisner leaving was 100% the best thing for the company at that time. No matter what is happening now or has happened since, it was not a mistake to remove him from his position.

Iger leaving will be the best thing for the company if/when he does go in 2018. I don't hate the man, I like some of the things that the company has done during his tenure, but ultimately we've seen the full scope of his ability as CEO and, personally, I don't think that it is enough to really build on the legacy he inherited..

Has he been a terrible chief executive? IMO no but then he also hasn't been what I was hoping for when Eisner went nor do I think he is what the company needs now. I think it is time for a change at the top, a change that I think needs to extend beyond simply replacing Iger as CEO, but a change doesn't necessarily mean that things will improve. With Staggs seemingly out of the running there really isn't an obvious successor and until there is it is difficult to know whether to feel optimistic about Disney's future post-Iger. I just hope that the right decision is made when the time comes.

The amount of Iger bashing here is unreal. So, thanks for acknowledging that you don't *hate* him.

I totally agree that he was not the best for the parks. However, it was Eisner that removed emphasis from the theme parks and Iger remained on that track until it was too late.

But, Disney is investing in the parks right now -- more than we have ever seen. We just have to be patient.

Also, Staggs stepping down was not good. I have read stories about a board member from Marvel who holds disdain for the parks and he is all about *money*. He has a lot of power and was reportedly the one who forced Staggs to resign.

He is also rumored to despise Robert Downey Jr. and has been trying to slash his salary considerably, too.

Rumor is he wants a hatchet man or woman. Just be careful what you wish for in wanting Iger to resign like yesterday.

 

[Bacon]

Bob iger:Out *drops mic*

 

[Magenta Panther]

I think the one thing about Michael Eisner that I really liked besides him getting the movie Airplane! made, was that he connected with people. Almost every week he would introduce the Disney Sunday night movie in a way that Walt would have.

Where as Iger comes across as kind of an aloof cold corporate fish.

The Eisner/ Paul Pressler days were horrible but in a really really awful way! But at the end of the day I think Eisner "got" Disney and I don't think Bobby does. Eisner definitely got it but he lost it.

The jury is still out on this one.

I agree with you about Eisner. He made some awful mistakes, but he did at least seem to "get" and like Disney for itself, not just as a collection of brands, a la Iger.

 

[MMFanCipher]

I think the next CEO needs to be a great manager who can put talented people in the posts to run the different divisions. A person who cares about the parks and resorts to run them would be a nice change. Also, someone who will fight for the parks best interests. That's just my $.02 worth from the flyover country.

 

[Adam Snider]

Bob Iger should remain CEO until Star Wars Land at DHS is completed.

that could be 10 years considering construction

 

[xstech25]

Like it or not Bob Iger will be remembered as one of the most effective corporate executives of the 21st century. It's extremely rare for a company to have the kind of sustained success Disney has had under Iger's tenure. I don't feel the need to explain this just compare Disney's #s to it's competitors.

 

[ford91exploder]

We all must try and remember that there is so much more to TWDC then theme parks. Eisner had just scratched the surface of the expansion, he perhaps had more time to wonder around the parks with his ideas, which I doubt were ever actually acted upon directly.

Yeah so much MORE, ESPN is number one on the revenue producing scale and Disney P&R (which includes the cruise line) is number two. The rest of the operations do not even move the needle in terms of revenue contributions (and PROFIT) to TWDC compared to these two operations.

As for movies while you hear big box office numbers Disney itself only receives 25-35% of that reported amount.

 

[asianway]

FYI, there actually is serious discussion about bringing Meg Crofton out of retirement to become CEO.

Does anyone have thoughts on what her philosophy is regarding the parks, and how her tenure as CEO would affect them (especially in terms of budgets)? How much of the negative was her, and how much was her hand being forced by Burbank?

In terms of other options, would Steve Burke be interested in a new job?

Just making sure @WDW1974 saw this...