Al Lutz: "Management must stop bending over to pick up pennies as dollars fly over their heads"

[the.dreamfinder]

Other than Rod Serling, name one character, actor, or episode title from the Twilight Zone. Just want to test out the IP of one of the greatest theme park attractions ever.

come to think of it, lets try it with the best WDI designed land: Mysterious Island in DisneySEA... Name a character from 20k leagues under the sea. Tell me what happens in Journey to the Center of the Earth...

It's not Avatar, that's the difference!

 

[twebber55]

But TOT has no heart how can it be a success?

 

[td1129]

At least Al Lutz has the courage to stand up and call Disney out when they are dead wrong i'm sorry if that upsets the blind sheltered fanboys on this here forum who aren't willing to criticize Disney

So anyone who doesn't presume to know better than the world leader in most things regarding entertainment, including theme parks (and it's not close) are blind sheltered fanboys? And it has nothing to do with the delusion of teenage message board junkies who probably wait tables for a living and think they know more than the multi billion dollar empire that is the Walt Disney company? You're really going to stand behind this comment?

 

[wm49rs]

With all those multi-billions Disney can well afford to keep the holiday party at DL....

 

[andre85]

And it's even more funny that the usual suspects who are attacking Al (a 12 year old, a troll and some people who believe WDW will never ever do anything wrong) still have never produced anything that Al has ever said that shows a "vendetta" against WDW, no matter how many times they say it.

There is at least one I can think of that shows a clear bias. In the year prior to Star Tours II opening, he would constantly berate the WDW version as being an inferior cost-cutting version in several ways, such as featuring inferior flight motions.

When the ride finally opened, the ride proved to be identical in practically every way. And not a word was heard from Al on the matters since. How strange.

 

[BenSmith]

Al is spot on in this article, says everything I believe is wrong with TDO right now.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

But TOT has no heart how can it be a success?

From the late Joe Ranft,

 

[twebber55]

Al is spot on in this article, says everything I believe is wrong with TDO right now.

I m with al on a lot of the article except avatar. Wdw s big issue os that it moves too slowly a
With little to no production

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Meh, I love Al Lutz. I don't think he needs to worry about the peanut galleries of Disney sites getting their knickers in a twist over some guy doing some critical reporting of Disney parks. Al is obviously well connected, is widely read, and writes eminently readible columns.

Avatar however has grown on me a bit.

My first choice for DAK is for it to be an animal park. Yes, a zoo. There's so much still unexplored territory you can do with the combination of zoo + theme park. Second choice is original expansion. Third and last is IP franchise. But if DAK must bring in a movie franchise, then Avatar is pretty high up on that list. Of realistic options, only behind Star Wars, Indy and Lord of the Rings. I do remember watching Avatar and thinking Pandora (its moon) would be a cool place to visit.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

There is no burning desire from anyone to go checkout an Avatar land at AK.

BUT...I can tell you this...my son and daughter (who are in their 30s) would probably go down to Orlando a few times a year on their own if there was a Star Wars land at one of the parks. Both of them love Star Wars.

If they made a Star Wars land at AK and had all the animals from the Star Wars movies my family would go absolutely nuts over it.

Everywhere I look people say this same thing. Build Star Wars. If they build it, we will come. There is so much goodwill towards that franchise it is untrue. I have never done that Avatar questionaire with my friends. But for Star Wars...I didn't even have to. Everybody I spoke to last month mentioned to me that Disney had bought SW, and that there was going to be a new movie, and what exciting news it all was.
Everybody loves SW, from eight year old boys to middle aged women.

 

[choco choco]

AL LUTZ WANTS YOU TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE AVATAR PROJECT!!!

- This is Al Lutz, who hates when Disney goes stingy, but then says Avatar will be funded very nicely.
- This is Al Lutz, who says the Avatar movie isn't good enough. He said the same thing about Cars, and Cars Land turned out to be a smash.
- This is Al Lutz, who worries about Avatar's merchandising potential. He formerly criticized Disney as being overtly obsessed with selling us stuff, but now would like to say that there is not enough of it.
- This is Al Lutz, who thinks corporate retreats are useless. It led to California Adventure 1.0, which was terrible. California Adventure 2.0 is not terrible.

And so the list of stuff Al Lutz doesn't like is now: corporate retreats and bad movies and California Adventure 1.0 and Paul Pressler and WDW's bus system and therefore AL LUTZ WANTS YOU TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE AVATAR PROJECT!!!

Stuff Al Lutz likes: non sequiturs.

 

[WDW1974]

Interesting column by Al ... dead on accurate in my opinion.

I worry that the only things keeping Avatar alive (and it is severely troubled yet again ... or still may be a better word) are egos. Iger's for losing Potter and determined to one-up UNI with something that never will simply because it isn't that popular. Staggs for thinking this was the answer and selling the boss on it (the 'story' that seems most popular, although many say it was The Weatherman's idea all the time) and for not greenlighting anything else of substance for the flagship resort. And Cameron's because ... well, he's James Cameron!

It's almost like all the fates are saying 'this is a bad marriage, don't go to the church' and the partners are chugging back copious amounts of alcohol in the hopes that it will clear their heads and give them the courage to do something they know doesn't feel right (like how many fanbois feel after spending quality time with an Imagineer).

I'm really not sure I want to read five pages of posts on this, but I hope y'all weren't hard on Lutz. He nailed it.

 

[WDW1974]

There just isn't enough reality in the WDW fan community for them to force a change to happen.

Well, this deserves repeating. Which is what I do continually ... to what affect, who the hell knows? Sometimes I get the feeling that being blunt and honest to the fan community means as much as the NHL lockout ... no one cares.

WDW doesn't have the same meaning to its fanbase as DLR does to its base. Don't know if it's history ... if it's size ... if it's just plain having less discerning visitors ... but there's a disconnect.

And I know I'm personally very tired of fighting fanbois who have never traveled west of Pennsylvania or beyond the borders of the USA ... or soccer moms who first visited WDW in 1996 and then came back in 2003 and were hooked ... and folks of that ilk who simply believe Mongello and Corless and Brigante and my old pal Doobie who think WDW has never been better and things like RFID chips somehow equal what UNI and SW are building.

Seems like such a wasted effort. ... Maybe Blondie and Crazy Gary and Tommy and the CPSMC (that's Celebration Place Social Media Cabal) have won the war ...













Or not!

 

[WDW1974]

Sorry, folks, but Lutz (who is once again wrong and has NO well-placed sources at all) DOES have a vendetta against WDW and it shows.

He continues to kill his own credibility with his overly-snarky and negative attitude.

It would be nice if Mommy and Daddy limited your access to a computer.

 

[Magenta Panther]

I hope other people besides Lutz keep yelling about Avatar and the other wrong-headed things going on at TDO. Although I don't know how much it would help. Remember that the Orlando Sentinel did a humiliating story about the broken yeti, and all Disney did was make excuses and continue to ignore the issue.

Tell you what...when Universal finishes building its value resort, I might just stay there next time I'm in Orlando and just hang out at Hogwarts and such, and just give Disney maybe a day or two of my time and money, instead of the usual two weeks.

 

[WDW1974]

They actually notice fairly quickly.
Trouble is, there are a lot if factors (ego, dedication to a business model, personal job security, etc.) that prevent them from caring/listening.

How many times does this point have to be stated before people believe it? How complicated is this?
Why do people want to believe the best about the management of company with a market cap of about $88 billion? What do they not get no matter how it is spelled out?

Was talking to 'our' fave fanboi in the Big Apple tonight about deep philosophical stuff and I just sure as hell hope there is more intelligent life somewhere in the UNIverse because I'm getting really tired of humans!

 

[WDW1974]

I agree with most of Lutz's article but a lot of what he writes is opinion, subject to debate. It does not contain enough substance to persuade someone with a different view.

I disagree ... to a point.

I feel that Al made a very good case for Avatar being a disaster that needs to stop before it starts (sorta where they are anyway).

I think the only way he doesn't persuade people is the same way folks who believe in a certain political party no matter what or worship a certain religion no matter what and view WDW as something akin to politics/religion will never change an opinion/belief no matter how many facts get tossed their way.

 

[WDW1974]

I, for once, totally back Al on this article.

Here's the problems the way I see it;

1. TDO is making money, so nothing else matters. (Microcosm example: I have a friend in Disney that works in a position privy to this kind of knowledge who tells me that DisneyQuest is a huge money maker for the company, like HUGE ... I use that as a perfect example, that place is in shambles, its outdated, its not really relevant but apparently no one cares because it makes tons.) PROBLEM: The problem with this logic is the two angle shortsighted nature of their "its not broke, don't fix it" mentality. Obviously the first is they are downgrading their product and backing it into a corner that will be difficult to get out of and second they aren't using the foresight to realize that new product (i.e. attractions/entertainment) means new ways to market, new guests, returning guests, new merchandise, and eventually new revenue (EXAMPLE: Potter, obviously there isn't another Potter sitting out there [yes there is it's called Star Wars] but new EXCITING INNOVATIVE attractions brings crowds, happy crowds spend money, its really very simple, don't complex it up).

WDW is making lots of money to be sure. But you have to look at how they are doing so. It's by being in the real estate and hotel businesses. ... Interesting about DQ, most people would say that it is an arcade that hasn't had an update since the 1990s that people only go to when it rains or when the parks close early, but with MYW tix, I could easily see them getting a large chunk of money simply for existing.

2. The fan community needs leaders (plural), leaders with faces I might add. I love @WDW1974 and I think if he thought he could rally the troops he would step out and assume that role but at this point it'd be counterproductive because Mongello, Brigante, the fully assimilated Jim Hill, et al will tow the company line and manipulate company image to the mass of lemmings that blindly accept mediocrity. I believe there are enough of us out there to enact change (I mean how many angry moms did it take to rip out Alien Encounter?) but we need organization, we need notoriety as more than just wishful fans but as intelligent CUSTOMERS (who pay their salaries and bills I might add), and we need leaders that have influence, recognition, or at least an audience to support them. I don't want to pick on Mongello too much but he'd be perfect, his audience is massive, but now his livelihood is tied to his opinions (allegedly) so that will never happen. Maybe Al will be the unlikely champion for change, maybe Jim Hill will have a mea culpa moment and join the charge ... but until we have leaders, no noise from the fan community will enact change.

I appreciate the vote of confidence, but believe me I can do far more both here and behind ths scenes than I ever could as some sort of O-Town version of Al. And at this point, you are quite right. ANY individual (even Al if he decided he wanted to retire to FL!) would get eaten alive by all the pixie dusted addicts who love WDW and believe whatever Mongello, Brigante, WannabeLou, the DIS folks and the approximately eight million Mommy Bloggers have to say. ... Now, maybe I misunderstood, but if you're suggesting that Mongello would suddenly change and be ... well, honest, that's never happening. And Jim Hill is thrilled at just being mentioned at all.

The change has got to come on the management side. Al began his slide to significance with his 'Promote Paul Pressler' campaign in the 1990s. Is someone going to start a similar campaign now? Using social media and those wonderful Twitter and FB tools to be taken seriously? Are there people who are going to make this their jobs unlike all the failed campaigns that have come before? Not likely.

So, sit back, wait for management change and hope you like what you end up with.

 

[Timothy W.]

A great Avatar test was done back on Halloween - you can find Cars, Star Wars, Pirates, Avengers, Potter, costumes but none for Avatar. The same test can now be done at Christmas as well - going to the toy stores - no Avatar action figures, no Avatar Lego sets, no Avatar anything I can find at all. My family with my oldest being 10 - I just can't let my kids watch Avatar with all the swearing, smoking, and alien sex. It's not like I am super over protective - they have seen all the Star Wars and even the Pirate movies - all the Marvel super hero movies have been family friendly especially Avengers - we did pass on the Iron Man movies for our kiddos.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Well, this deserves repeating. Which is what I do continually ... to what affect, who the hell knows? Sometimes I get the feeling that being blunt and honest to the fan community means as much as the NHL lockout ... no one cares.

WDW doesn't have the same meaning to its fanbase as DLR does to its base. Don't know if it's history ... if it's size ... if it's just plain having less discerning visitors ... but there's a disconnect.

I think it's the history. While both Disneyland and WDW have great backstories, I would argue Disneyland's history clearly has more substance and even more meaning, just because Walt Disney designed, lived and visited the park. The only one, at that, so Disneyland fans are prideful in that and they are A LOT more sensitive when it comes to negative things in the parks. I've noticed Disneyland fans almost take them as insults to not only themselves, but to Walt Disney, too. Being on these boards, I've noticed WDW fans are WAY more passive, don't really care as much and don't bring up Walt Disney's name as much either. Anytime something is wrong at the DLR, 99.9% of the time, someone will bring up Walt Disney and how he'd be turning in his grave, or something like that.