For Reference: Space for a 5th Park at Walt Disney World

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Agreed. People keep forgetting, the removal of Eisner was ultimately necessary to restore Roy Disney's authority (until, sadly, his death 4 years later) and bring back some creative energy to the company. As the Imagineers miniseries lays out, Eisner was initially GREAT...but following the death of his excellent sidekick AND the financial struggles of EuroDisney aka Disneyland Paris, he ultimately moved to a "play it safe" mindset.

And after Roy's death in 2009, Iger did exactly the same.
Roy Disney had no authority.

The Imagineering Story is garbage.
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
Roy Disney had no authority.

The Imagineering Story is garbage.
You obviously missed Episode 5, where the Great and Creative CEO Robert Iger was highlighted exalted as ushering in a new golden age of Imagineering during his time as a creative CEO. It even showcased his immense talents, with a clip of him guiding Imagineers during planning for the DCA revamp by telling them “more trees”. He also knows about a nondescript roller coaster themed to India or something. It should be very apparent that he’s a creative asset to the company. AND! It’s on Disney+ and narrated by Angela Bassett, so it all must be true!
 

Eric M Blake

Active Member
Honestly hindsight's 2020. Of course the miniseries kisses up to the guy then currently in charge (and now back). Think in time it'll be seen that Iger's first run had a "First half great, second half not so much" pattern like Eisner had.

Movie-wise, certainly--and again, the decline there started (albeit gradually) after Roy's death. I mean, let's be honest: Constant remakes are the epitome of "play it safe."

For the parks, especially DHS, Galaxy's Edge is a win, absolutely, much as the filmmaking buff in me misses the Backlot Tour. Add Toy Story Land, and it IS a full-on expansion of the park.

That said...Great Movie Ride. Still mad about that.🤬

For his new term? Looking forward to what he's setting up with the 10 year plan. Though I *will* miss Dinoland. Pretty much wish they hadn't torn down the little coaster....
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Honestly hindsight's 2020. Of course the miniseries kisses up to the guy then currently in charge (and now back).
What does hindsight have to do with anything?

For his new term? Looking forward to what he's setting up with the 10 year plan. Though I *will* miss Dinoland. Pretty much wish they hadn't torn down the little coaster....
There is no ten year plan.
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
Honestly hindsight's 2020. Of course the miniseries kisses up to the guy then currently in charge (and now back). Think in time it'll be seen that Iger's first run had a "First half great, second half not so much" pattern like Eisner had.

Movie-wise, certainly--and again, the decline there started (albeit gradually) after Roy's death. I mean, let's be honest: Constant remakes are the epitome of "play it safe."

For the parks, especially DHS, Galaxy's Edge is a win, absolutely, much as the filmmaking buff in me misses the Backlot Tour. Add Toy Story Land, and it IS a full-on expansion of the park.

That said...Great Movie Ride. Still mad about that.🤬

For his new term? Looking forward to what he's setting up with the 10 year plan. Though I *will* miss Dinoland. Pretty much wish they hadn't torn down the little coaster....

Iger's tenure will have the same stale notes - Buy a company, raise prices, don't build unless a gun's put to his head, buy a company, raise prices, reduce experience, buy a company, and charge for everything possible.

So, what was great in his first 10 years?

And he doesn't think long-term, he's purely a quarterly report guy. $lappie was even worse.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Yup. As discussed earlier, the "lower left" corner of AK was originally going to be "Beastly Kingdom" (or probably "Beastland," to jive with Dinoland), with a dragon thrill ride and unicorns and what-not. But it was ultimately deemed WAY too expensive, so they did Camp Minnie-Mickey for essentially filler. Now we've got Pandora, of course.

Frankly, it may prove to have been for the best. Not just because Pandora's pretty cool, but because what they were going for with "Beastly Kingdom"/"Beastland" was so complex it may as well have been a base concept for a whole park....🤔

I am not sure if there are enough Disney IP's that would fit the Beastly Kingdom theme to be able to be able to build a whole park around it.
 

Eric M Blake

Active Member
So, what was great in his first 10 years?
I take it the aforementioned DHS expansion wasn't particularly great...?

Also, again, when Roy was alive we got Enchanted, Princess & The Frog, and Tangled--a renaissance in the making.

Was it all as "big" as the first half of Eisner's run? No. But it's not like there was nothing great.
 

Eric M Blake

Active Member
I am not sure if there are enough Disney IP's that would fit the Beastly Kingdom theme to be able to be able to build a whole park around it.
There weren't any pre-existing Disney IPs in Epcot when it first opened. They made new ones--see: Figment. But some CAN be brought in....

Beastly Kingdom can be based on the various mythological creatures of various cultures around the world. Like Fantasyland, there'd be a big land about European "beasts"--dragons, unicorns, etc. A water ride with Nessie....

There can be a Greek one (with Hercules characters, maybe...?🤔). A Chinese one with the more serpentine dragons (Mushu?). An Americas section with Jackalopes and Chupicabras....

Heck, they can do a full-on Dinoland--but this time, it's a world of living dinos (like in the Tarzan stories--hey, how about bring THOSE characters in!), not a dig and lab like in AK.
 

Eric M Blake

Active Member
Sure… it couldn’t possibly be that Roy didn’t return to the company and had even been dead for nearly a year before one of those movies came out.
So he wasn't involved at all with the Save Disney campaign--okay.🤨

Plus Walt died before Jungle Book and Aristocats came out, and...🤔
 
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danlb_2000

Premium Member
There weren't any pre-existing Disney IPs in Epcot when it first opened. They made new ones--see: Figment. But some CAN be brought in....

Beastly Kingdom can be based on the various mythological creatures of various cultures around the world. Like Fantasyland, there'd be a big land about European "beasts"--dragons, unicorns, etc. A water ride with Nessie....

There can be a Greek one (with Hercules characters, maybe...?🤔). A Chinese one with the more serpentine dragons (Mushu?). An Americas section with Jackalopes and Chupicabras....

Heck, they can do a full-on Dinoland--but this time, it's a world of living dinos (like in the Tarzan stories--hey, how about bring THOSE characters in!), not a dig and lab like in AK.

That's fine armchair Imagineering, but that's never going to happen under the current management. If a fifth park is going to be built anytime in the near future it will be fully IP based.
 

Eric M Blake

Active Member
That's fine armchair Imagineering, but that's never going to happen under the current management. If a fifth park is going to be built anytime in the near future it will be fully IP based.
Fair point, especially considering the obsession with adding characters to the Epcot rides.

But Iger's out in a couple years, so I'd wager he's leaving that part of the plan to whomever his successor might be. Meantime he'll just be around for the MK expansion, the AK renovations, and the Mary Poppins ride.

All of which is IP based, of course.
 
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Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
Agreed. People keep forgetting, the removal of Eisner was ultimately necessary to restore Roy Disney's authority (until, sadly, his death 4 years later) and bring back some creative energy to the company. As the Imagineers miniseries lays out, Eisner was initially GREAT...but following the death of his excellent sidekick AND the financial struggles of EuroDisney aka Disneyland Paris, he ultimately moved to a "play it safe" mindset.

And after Roy's death in 2009, Iger did exactly the same.
Whoa whoa whoa.

The whole 'Save Disney' thing was because Roy E thought he didn't have Eisner's ear and Roy E's fix was to try and get Comcast to launch a hostile takeover.
I take it the aforementioned DHS expansion wasn't particularly great...?

Also, again, when Roy was alive we got Enchanted, Princess & The Frog, and Tangled--a renaissance in the making.

Was it all as "big" as the first half of Eisner's run? No. But it's not like there was nothing great.
Roy E had nothing to do with ANY of that. His position was completely ceremonial. He had no decision making power or any type of actual influence inside the company. Also, both Princess & The Frog and Tangled are 'good' at best. Not 'great' or anything approaching a classic.
 

Eric M Blake

Active Member
Whoa whoa whoa.

The whole 'Save Disney' thing was because Roy E thought he didn't have Eisner's ear and Roy E's fix was to try and get Comcast to launch a hostile takeover.

Roy E had nothing to do with ANY of that. His position was completely ceremonial. He had no decision making power or any type of actual influence inside the company. Also, both Princess & The Frog and Tangled are 'good' at best. Not 'great' or anything approaching a classic.
Eisner was removed from power in response to the campaign. Thus, Roy got what he was going for, Comcast or no.
 

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