"The more things change . . ." well, what would you do?

KeithVH

KeithVH

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Only a few years ago, I remember every other post in the forums was "Eisner stinks", Eisner is the avatar of doom", "Eisner knows your momma", "the only thing wrong with Disney is Eisner". It didn't matter which park (they're obviously both the same), or which issue (just didn't matter).

Now, fast forward many years. All you have to do now is a global search and replace on the string "eisner" with "iger" (or Chappie or anyone else who is the current corporate villain du jour) and we're back at square one. Please note I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong but my thoughts are my own here.

Well, what would it take to make you happy? Clone Walt? Spend money to get his head thawed and re-animated? Hire one of the many members here who obviously have more/better experience running a multi-national entertainment conglomerate? What?

{admins, feel free to move this}
 
Heppenheimer

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
Eisner's judgement started to slip towards the end of his tenure, and he burned too many bridges within the company, so I can understand some of the ire at that time. I don't quite understand the anger directed at Iger, though. He has overseen probably the most successful period in the company's history, and he genuinely seems like a fairly easy-going guy (unlike the sometimes abrasive Eisner). The Disney Company has faced threats of hostile take-over ever since Walt first took it public, and as recently as the early 2000s. Disney is now such a conglomerate behemoth that a hostile take-over now seems unthinkable. Iger has done his job and done it well.
 
KeithVH

KeithVH

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yeah, probably so. Time will tell. I jut noticed a lot of vitriol of some of the most recent popular threads and this thought hit me. I could be skewed by just seeing a small subset of the population here saying the same thing over and over too.

Then again, I am a strong adherent of the school of declining by degrees.
 
Disstevefan1

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
KeithVH said:
Only a few years ago, I remember every other post in the forums was "Eisner stinks", Eisner is the avatar of doom", "Eisner knows your momma", "the only thing wrong with Disney is Eisner". It didn't matter which park (they're obviously both the same), or which issue (just didn't matter).

Now, fast forward many years. All you have to do now is a global search and replace on the string "eisner" with "iger" (or Chappie or anyone else who is the current corporate villain du jour) and we're back at square one. Please note I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong but my thoughts are my own here.

Well, what would it take to make you happy? Clone Walt? Spend money to get his head thawed and re-animated? Hire one of the many members here who obviously have more/better experience running a multi-national entertainment conglomerate? What?

{admins, feel free to move this}
Click to expand...

One thing that would make me happy would be to NOT do overnight 25 percent price increase of annual passes with no warning. Yes I know, I am a dreamer...
 
Smiley/OCD

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
The problem is that most of the people on here are looking at Disney from just the parks...it's just a spoke (or several) of the giant Disney wheel (so to speak). If you take the parks out of the equation, Iger has, like you said, done a great job from a stockholders perspective. The only arguments we, as a family, now have is all the nickel & dimeing that is now taking place...resort parking fees, reusable bags, upcharge events, etc. combine that with the reduced hours (few 11 pm's, midnights, etc.) I totally understand that things are not what they once were, but nothing in life is...beloved rides are gone, food quality has gone down (some has, but not all). We still find WDW to be an awesome place to vacation.
 
World_Showcase_Lover007

World_Showcase_Lover007

Well-Known Member
Mgmt.. could stick with what works...and fix what doesn’t work. Not the other way around.

They could also make it seem like you are getting bang for your buck...and not make everything a cash grab. Currently it’s super premium pricing for a kinda-premium product.

They could every once in a while do something/not do something in order to preserve the integrity of the brand...as opposed to doing something/not doing something merely bc it will add $4 to profits at the end of the fiscal quarter.

They could fix the Yeti.

They could remember it all started with a mouse.

They could care slightly less about what the shareholders want, and care slightly more what their customers want to appeal to long-term customer retention.
 
bryanfze55

bryanfze55

Well-Known Member
World_Showcase_Lover007 said:
Mgmt.. could stick with what works...and fix what doesn’t work. Not the other way around.

They could also make it seem like you are getting bang for your buck...and not make everything a cash grab. Currently it’s super premium pricing for a kinda-premium product.

They could every once in a while do something/not do something in order to preserve the integrity of the brand...as opposed to doing something/not doing something merely bc it will add $4 to profits at the end of the fiscal quarter.

They could fix the Yeti.

They could remember it all started with a mouse.

They could care slightly less about what the shareholders want, and care slightly more what their customers want to appeal to long-term customer retention.
Click to expand...

To be fair, all publicly traded companies have a legal fiduciary duty to their shareholders. Shareholders always have and always will come before customers.
 
MagicRat

MagicRat

Well-Known Member
I feel that the upcharges they do now are fair with the exception of increasing the passes as quickly as they do. I would have done the resort fees and special outings sooner. As for the late evenings, I remember in the 90’s when most winter and fall nights had closing at 9 or sometimes sooner. I actually liked it because it would force us to try something new.

I come to this board for information that I can’t find anywhere else. Unfortunately, besides the news it is mostly filled with negativity. That is what a fan board is, complaints about the present being nowhere as good as the past. In reality, I am not either.

I feel management is doing a good job.
 
TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
KaliSplash said:
Exactly. WDW IS a business and we continue to pay, so they continue to look for ways to slice the pie thinner for an increase in cost
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Correct. But would Disney be seeing the current need for deals if they had just left pricing, entertainment, and staffing levels alone?

I know I’ve stopped staying at Disney world resorts due to the lack of upkeep on the rooms (yes even the newly refurbished rooms are not cleaned that well anymore), and the parking fees.

The shareholders should be concenrned about the long term value of the shares. The CEO wants short term value up so he gets his bonus ;)
 
starri42

starri42

Well-Known Member
TrainChasers said:
I know I’ve stopped staying at Disney world resorts due to the lack of upkeep on the rooms (yes even the newly refurbished rooms are not cleaned that well anymore),
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I stayed in one of the new Pop Century rooms about six months ago, and I didn't have any problems.

I honestly kind of like the option to opt out of Mousekeeping. I am in favor of reusing towels to reduce water consumption, and I'm generally only in the room to sleep, so I don't need hospital corners on the bed. The one thing I wasn't fond of was running out of coffee after two days, and I wasn't sure if I could request more from Guest Services.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
World_Showcase_Lover007 said:
Mgmt.. could stick with what works...and fix what doesn’t work. Not the other way around.
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Not disagreeing just curious... what do you consider thing that worked but were changed and didn't work that wasn't?

The reason why I ask is because I truly believe that we have no way of really knowing what is working for Disney and what isn't. We tend to judge the quality of things based on our individual likes and dislikes. I can not understand how a company as successful as Disney would be really eliminating anything that is working and drawing sufficient crowds. To me they have a real knowledge of how many people go to each attraction/resort/shop/kiosk in their income folder and know what is working and what isn't.
 
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TrainsOfDisney

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Parades work and they have been cut down to one per resort (one in California, one in Florida). There used to be 1 per park, 2 per castle park.

Osborne Lights worked.... this is Disney, they could have kept the streets and still built Star Wars, or created a new area for the lights.
 
jloucks

jloucks

Well-Known Member
KeithVH said:
Well, what would it take to make you happy? Clone Walt? Spend money to get his head thawed and re-animated? Hire one of the many members here who obviously have more/better experience running a multi-national entertainment conglomerate? What?
Click to expand...

Well, yea, I mean that would work. But what we are really doing is not so much creating zombies so much as putting vision above profit. At least, on par with profit. I think/know the current state of the U.S. capitalist system is putting short term gains above long term gains. ... and this is super bad for numerous reasons reaching far beyond the entertainment industry. Sadly, I don't think we can fix it. It is human nature to be greedy. It is human nature to convince oneself that what you do won't hurt anybody. It is human nature not to comprehend that billions of people thinking that same way is going to turn out poorly for most.

Except maybe for deep woods hippies, we are all guilty to various degrees.

Walt was partially a deep woods hippie. One of the few capitalists that did actually make the world a slightly better place not based primarily on profit. A rarity nowadays.
 
Amidala

Amidala

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
Not disagreeing just curious... what do you consider thing that worked but were changed and didn't work that wasn't?
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Not my post but I'll jump in: Mission Breakout and Pixar Pier worked before. I like MBO fine (my views on Pixar Pier are less charitable) but don't see either change as a "net gain" considering the amount of money spent. For some contrast, I loved Wishes, Illuminations, GMR and UoE but understand the rationale behind those changes. Dino-Rama is probably the most glaring thing that doesn't work...its existence is an embarrassment IMO, it needs to be replaced ASAP. The level of "urgency" TDO/A assign certain projects vs. others is kind of incomprehensible to me, but then...I don't have the numbers, so my opinion doesn't mean much here.

KeithVH said:
Well, what would it take to make you happy? Clone Walt? Spend money to get his head thawed and re-animated? Hire one of the many members here who obviously have more/better experience running a multi-national entertainment conglomerate? What?
Click to expand...

No interest in the second coming of Walt & am sure if he were resurrected & became an Eisner-esque "creative head" within modern day Fortune 500 TWDC, these forums would still be filled with complaints. Financial constraints and the bottom line wouldn't magically disappear with Walt in charge...the media landscape is just not what it was in the 50s. I would be happy w/ the company hiring on a CEO whose methods are distinct from Iger's, in the same way that Iger's were distinct from Eisner's. It keeps the company from stagnating. My fear is that Iger will appoint someone who shares his views 100%, when TWDC is past due for another shake up.
 
BoarderPhreak

BoarderPhreak

Well-Known Member
Remember "If we can dream it, we can do it.™" The key part is "dream." Not photocopy Universal. Not cram IP in just for the sake of it. That said, we'll see how SWGE, Rat and GotG actually work out. Hopefully better than TSL... A land of harsh sun and broken tails.
 

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