Interview with Bob Iger about the Parks

[HauntedPirate]

If not for Iger, Disney would have been acquired by some other company? Forget it, I'm not going down that rabbit hole...

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I know most will disagree but I'm a HUGE fan of Igor.

I have nothing but respect for Igor. He has never let the physical impairment of his hunchback get in the way of doing a good job in the lab.

 

[RSoxNo1]

If not for Iger, Disney would have been acquired by some other company? Forget it, I'm not going down that rabbit hole...

He's been great for the company but bad for the parks.

 

[RobbinsDad]

I know most will disagree but I'm a HUGE fan of Igor.

He is an incredibly clever businessman. He's made a lot of purchases and business choices which will set Disney up for many many more years. Without those decisions, I think things would be quite stale.

You can admire Iger's business acumen and appreciate what the acquisitions of Marvel, Lucasfilm and Fox mean to Disney moving forward, while also criticizing his short-sighted reliance on IP integration within the parks. It's not a package deal.

 

[RSoxNo1]

He's approving attractions based on the year 1 marketing when these things last 20+ years. I have zero confidence he understands how theme parks work.

 

[HauntedPirate]

He's been great for the company but bad for the parks.

He's certainly made himself and his lieutenants a lot of money via stock price.

You can admire Iger's business acumen and appreciate what the acquisitions of Marvel, Lucasfilm and Fox mean to Disney moving forward, while also criticizing his short-sighted reliance on IP integration within the parks. It's not a package deal.

I'd throw Pixar in, but that was a no-brainer after Eisner. For every perceived success, one can also lament the missed opportunity with Potter, the questionable licensing of Avatar, the bungling of the Star Wars franchise, the decade-long stagnation of the theme parks, price hikes that have resulted in ticket prices more than doubling in 12 years, the continued woes at ESPN, the tardiness of dipping their toes into streaming...

 

[Indy_UK]

Like I've said, I don't think the apparent IP intregration in the parks falls solely on Igor. It's also Chapek and his teams.

But saying that, if you help build and create these huge franchises, why aren't you going to capitalise on is and implement it into the parks.

The problem is that they have gone and done that but it's brought in far more new guests than they probabaly imagined, so now it's left the crowds too crowded.

 

[Indy_UK]

He's approving attractions based on the year 1 marketing when these things last 20+ years. I have zero confidence he understands how theme parks work.

Which is why you have teams in place who know about theme parks and get them to do the work. Even in this article, he says that he deligates a lot.

Problem is that he has a crap team in place for the parks.

 

[jt04]

Remarkable people don't have these same criticisms of Universal parks. Reeks of an agenda.

 

[jt04]

Problem is that he has a crap team in place for the parks.

This is words in search of a thought.

 

[Rteetz]

Remarkable people don't have these same criticisms of Universal parks. Reeks of an agenda.

Universal isn't the same though. Universal has always been about IP and licensing properties.

 

[Timothy_Q]

And who looks at Main Street and sees Mickey meeting with kids anymore?

This was pure PR fluff. Apparently someone thought his image needed a boost.

Happens every day at Disneyland

 

[jt04]

Universal isn't the same though. Universal has always been about IP and licensing properties.

Same as Disney. I'd argue there just wasn't enough IP s to fill Disneyland in 1955.

 

[Rteetz]

Same as Disney. I'd argue there just wasn't enough IP s to fill Disneyland in 1955.

Disney parks have not always been strictly IP and licensing like Universal. We wouldn't have things like Space, HM, Pirates, CoP, BTMRR, etc. if that was the case.

Like you said though less IP to work with then. That said no need to not only make IP baed attractions. Mystic Manor in HK for example is not IP based and considered a great attraction. Disney should be creating IP based attraction but I think there is definitely room for non-IP attractions every once and a while as well.

 

[TwilightZone]

He's been great for the company but bad for the parks.

Let's see now:
Shanghai Disney
Carsland
Replacing all of the downgraded and bad attractions in DHS with new lands
Closing SGE for good
Replacing the dated Ellen ride
Upgrading DCA
While still a sore spot for some, made DCA's TOT rerideable like the WDW one
Added a new night parade in disneyland/DCA
New Fantasyland
Miss Adventure Falls
Disney Springs
He has far from been bad for the parks.

 

[Stripes]

Universal isn't the same though. Universal has always been about IP and licensing properties.

I think it's only natural today that a CEO is going to go with the option the provides the best ROI. Honestly, I can't name a single Fortune 500 CEO that I think would build more original attractions if they were in Iger's position. Right now, people want IP. Mystic Manor and Roaring Rapids are I think the only original attractions under Iger. One is phenomenal, the other pretty meh. I've always believed execution trumps everything.

But, hey, at least Disney still has original, diverse stories in their new attractions regardless of whether it's IP or not...

 

[jt04]

Disney parks have not always been strictly IP and licensing like Universal. We wouldn't have things like Space, HM, Pirates, CoP, BTMRR, etc. if that was the case.

Like you said though less IP to work with then. That said no need to not only make IP baed attractions. Mystic Manor in HK for example is not IP based and considered a great attraction. Disney should be creating IP based attraction but I think there is definitely room for non-IP attractions every once and a while as well.

isn't Mystic Manor part of S.E.A.?

i just think that once Disney aquired a ton of IP through acquisitions the days of projects being approved that are not IP based ended.

The door is shut.

 

[Rodan75]

If you read through the entire interview, there are a couple parts that jump out at me. The bold, italicized parts are my emphasis.


How has your day-to-day routine at Disney changed over the years?

I delegate a lot more. The company [has grown] so large that no one human being could possibly manage in terms of hands-on on a daily basis. My senior team makes many more decisions. My priority hasn’t shifted in that we are as a company are far more reliant on the quality of our storytelling than anything else. There isn’t a day that goes by that something related to storytelling—a movie we’re making, a television series, a park we’re building—doesn’t end up on my agenda. I believe, because of my background, I bring some value to that. There’s nothing wrong with accountants, but it’s not like I’m an accountant reading a television script. I came out of the business of making things.


What’s your favorite thing when you go to the parks—or do you just look at it as a businessman?

I look at it as a human being. I go there and I marvel at how many people are there having the time of their lives. You just get the sense that in a world that can at times feel dark and as sinister as it is, these are people that have escaped all of that. They have spent time and good money, I will say, to provide themselves and their friends, their family, their loved ones, an experience that not only is going to make them feel good, but that they’re going to remember forever. That is never lost on me. I appreciate it as an executive, as a human being, and as a parent. I have grandchildren I take there.


Do you have a favorite ride?

I happen to love Pirates [of the Caribbean]. It was the last attraction Walt was really involved in creating. He died just before it opened. And you go and you think, this is just silly, but it’s great. You look at Main Street and you look at kids meeting Mickey. I love it because of what it means to people. I don’t go thinking, “Wow, look what we’re charging for these churros. Isn’t that great?”


You can be cynical all you want. I'm sure some people will say that it's all just marketing BS and that he doesn't mean any of it. But here, in this interview, we have him talking about how good storytelling is more important to the company than just looking at the numbers; that he acknowledges people spend good money for their experiences in the parks and that it's about creating experiences they will remember; that he takes his own grandkids to the parks and enjoys them as a human being, not just a businessman; and that he even has an appreciation for the attractions that Walt built.

It's almost as though Bob Iger is a real human being with his own kids and grandkids who appreciates the parks, who appreciates good storytelling, and who is concerned about the content Disney puts out. It might possibly be -- and I'm just spitballing here -- that while he might have a different opinion as to what makes good park rides or movies or TV shows than someone else might, and while he might make decisions that some people disagree with, that he isn't actually just a bean-counting automaton who cares about nothing but dollars and cents.

Great Points! I think folks are reading what they want into an interview with a Business publication about the Parks Business and turning it into an indictment of Iger as a businessman.

He said what we wall wanted him to say...investing in the Parks is a good return on invested capital, that it pays out nearly 3x. We can disagree with the Movie IP component, but Iger knows that Capital is well spent in the parks and that is a major complaint we levied against him for a long time.

And I love that he mentioned Crowding as a concern. That speaks volumes.

 

[Rteetz]

He has far from been bad for the parks.

Its certainly subjective but when he took over WDW was basically stagnant from 2005 to New Fantasyland in 2012. Its because of that stagnation that WDW is seeing so much happening right now.

 

[Rteetz]

I think it's only natural today that a CEO is going to go with the option the provides the best ROI. Honestly, I can't name a single Fortune 500 CEO that I think would build more original attractions if they were in Iger's position. Right now, people want IP. Mystic Manor and Roaring Rapids are I think the only original attractions under Iger. One is phenomenal, the other pretty meh. I've always believed execution trumps everything.

But, hey, at least Disney still has original, diverse stories in their new attractions regardless of whether it's IP or not...

I agree however like you mentioned original attractions can still work so why not try it once in a while. I don't think they should stop IP altogether but an original attraction in a place that fits might do well. Take guardians for example. They basically made up a storyline to fit the IP in Epcot because we all know it really doesn't. Why not an original futuristic type coaster?