Attention all Eisner haters...

[jcrb]

I don't hate Eisner - I believe that Roy brought him and Well- saved the company -If things were not done in the 80's then Disney would not be near what it is today. I believe both Eisner and Wells did this but I also believe that it is time for Eisner to go.

The company needs new directions!

It needs a new leader!

Mr. Eisner, if you’re reading this board - It relay time for you to go!

 

[Lee]

Ya wanna know my problem with Eisner?

Here's a quote from his letter to the Cast, dated 12/03/03:

"And we will not be distracted from what has been and must remain our sole focus — delivering growth and shareholder value."

Pathetic. The man hasn't a drop of Pixie Dust left on him.
Create magic? Deliver the best in family entertainment? Maintain the world's finest theme parks?

Nope. Please shareholders and Wall St.:brick:

Save Disney.

 

[Pixie Duster]

GREAT POINT!:sohappy: :kiss:

 

[BeachClub]

What about the fact that the "rat" tried to alienate Roy from his OWN COMPANY!!!

Its not called EisnerWorld...is it?

 

[brisem]

Unfortunately, Disney like most of the tourist industry, is experiencing lower than expect numbers. Add that to the pressure of the shareholders for better performance--cuts have to be made.
The other problem you have is the other companies Disney owns.
Their sports teams weren't profitable (although they sold the California Angels and are trying to sell the Anahiem Ducks) By getting rid of this part of the company, their focus is back to entertainment-Theme Parks and media.
ABC is also not profitable. And this drains the profits. Don't forget how unprofitable the Disney Stores are.

I don't totally blame Eisner. He did save the company. But what their focus should be is get back to the entertainment field only.

He's starting to refocus the company. He's selling off the sports franchanses. The Disney Stores are on the market. By doing this, more money becomes available to put back into the Theme Parks.

 

[MartyMouse]

Hey Pixie Duster great point on the Chester and Hester thing – I always loved that theme.

People leave Eisner alone!!!
I think Roy is a nice guy and all but he let the company fall apart in the 80s and had to bring Mike in to save – now 20 years later he wants Mike out, come on Roy!!! I can see why Walt never liked him – if things don’t go his way he cries and throws a fit.

Give Mike some time he’ll put things right.

If Roy gets Mike pulled (after the Box Office from Pirates – I don’t see it happening) who will take his place??? No one can, the only person who knows how to run Disney (at this point) is Eisner. Without him the Disney Company will fall apart, just wait and see.

 

[General Grizz]

Remember - Roy brought Eisner in.

Perhaps, Roy is using such judgement again. . . and learning from the past ten years.

 

[General Grizz]

Re: Re: Re: Okay, but...

Originally posted by Pixie Duster
ROTFL :lol:, honey child let me tell you a story...

There were these two cousins, Chester and Hester. Two entrupenuers that weren't that high class. Upon their many ventures they happened upon the Dino Institute and notice it had many visitors. So they decided to set up shop, literally. First came Chester's and Hester's, Tackiest Shop on Earth. Then after a few years, after they had made money of their store they opened Dino Rama, which included their wacky version of Dinosaur the ride (which is Primerval Whirl). The whole point of it, story wise, is to be a campy little roadside amusement area. It's not really meant to be Disneyish.

If it ain't Disneyish, why the heck is it in Disney? Let's put it in Busch Gardens.

Now maybe if Disney put this story in the area, I would have no respect. When I visited it, I heard no such story. I saw a bunch of cheap - yet EXPENSIVE - carnival games that give out the most medicore of un-Disneyesque prizes.

 

[mickeysaver]

I want traditional animation to stay. I want the animators in Florida to keep their jobs.

I want to see the maintence issues cleared up. I want to see clean well stocked bathrooms in the parks again. I want to see clean walkways over the entire resort. I basically don't want to see a bunch of dinged up, paint chipped, duct taped, bubble gum patched rides. I want to see the parks looking clean, well maintained, and SAFE throughout.

I want to see more CM's with smiling faces. This means hiring a few more to deal with the crowds. Yes, that means spending money, but it also means less stressed CM's and better customer service.

I want to see that Scoop Sanderson continues doing his pin trading talks.

I want to see better quality Disney branded merchandise. They used to sell some really nice quality stuff at the over inflated prices they charged in the parks and in the Disney Store, but now, they offer up junk and still try to price it the same. People like to spend money at WDW and I think it takes some of the sting out of the prices, if it's good merchandise.

I want to see Roy Disney and the rest of the remaining Disney family live out their days with the honor and respect that they so rightfully deserve for being a part of the Disney legacy that Walt created. If Roy or Diane want to serve on the board, let them do it.

Basically, I want MAGIC. I want to know that there is a place for animation and good family friendly theme parks. I want to preserve it all for future generations.

Maggie

 

[Djali999]

I don't object to Eisner so much as his attitude. when the CEO of a company has an attitude of "enough is too much", the attitude trickles all the way down through the company to even the low-level employees.

not to mention that he's micro-managing the animation and Imagineering sectors to death. Walt Disney almost bankrupted his company in 1954/55 to create Disneyland, the Disneyland television show and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. it was a hell of a gamble and it shot him up to an even higher level.

or, hell, lt's even use an example from Eisner's time. Beauty & the Beast was done with no money and no time. it was talent that made it work, and talent left alone.

he needs to be a little more creative and have some gall. no investment = no return.

I think the 'failure' that was Euro Disneyland blew the ambition right out of him. the Paris park was not what lost him money -- it was the stupid descision to surround it with a bunch of hotels that nobody was staying in.

but he just doesn't learn. he created the most beautiful, most ambitous Disney theme park in history and got a bad return. so of course the reason it wasn't successful is because it was ambitious.

it's the same reasoning he has for why Pixar's movies make money and his do not. it has nothing to do with the creative, exciting, daring animators over at Pixar - it's because they use computers, not celluloid.

ARGH.

 

[mac388]

I think that overall, what we're all saying is that we'd like to see the quality put back into the Disney company. SO, from there-
I'd like to see:
Better merchandise: high quality and variety. I'm tired of seeing the same stuff no matter where I go in WDW, and cheap plastic toys at Disney store. Also at Disney Store, I can only look at so many stuffed animals....
Better treatment of Cast Members: With the gradual decrease in time and effort put into Traditions and the cutbacks in benefits for Cast Members, it's no wonder many of them feel disgruntled. Who wants to work for a company that offers barely 6 dollars an hour and virtually no vertical movement throughout the company?
Better treatment of Guests: This is a slew of different things. I'd like to see things at WDW painted, clean, and better kept.
What bugs me about Eisner is that he presumes that Guests won't notice the dirty bathrooms or the fact that the same food is at every dining location. Granted there are still exceptions, but I can go to the Clambake at Beach Club and 1900 Park Fare, and a few others and see the same stuff. We all know it's cheaper to buy more, but I'm just bored.
As Roy said, I'm sick of Eisner doing things "on the cheap." I'd rather have one animated film every couple of years then this mass produced spitting out of movies with little quality. ALso, stop the sequels! They're horrible!

 

[mac388]

Also, many of you say, "Why hate Eisner? Roy brought him to the company in the first place!"
Yes, that's true. But, many of the successes of the company are originally attributed to Frank Wells.
I think that we can also agree that someone is not going to have the magic (excuse the pun) forever. His mindset of expansion and growth was great when the company was struggling and needed to increase shareholder support.
However, now he's gotten carried away. As quoted before, he is in an obvious position to please the shareholders. After all, they are the ones that decide his fate!

 

[jodez21]

dont get me wrong, im not a huge fan of eisner myself, but.... mostly every1 here has focused on a couple main ideas (better quality(rides, cast members salaries, merchendises, ect), and less focus on money making and more focus on "magic"). the problem is that these ideas contradict themselves!! in order to have better quality, you need more money, so you have to focus on money making!!! and to have more "magic" in the park, you need more money to purchase those extra little touchs to put into the parks/rides, and more money to pay cast members, ect!! so people before you go blame eisner for EVERY little problem you have with the park, put yourself in his position and you try to decide how to achieve all these things. i think you would havto focus on bringing the money in order to improve!!!

 

[mac388]

Well.....kind of....
The problem is that the company developed way too much with too little. No one is going to the Disney Store anymore because they have junk there. Cast Members are frustrated because they keep getting their benefits downsized, yet we still find enough money to build other things.
Walt Disney always wanted quality to be forefront. Eisner is building so much and buying so much and then running it with the least amount of money possible.
I would rather see things stay the same or downsize parks, so that quality can be more of an issue.

 

[HennieBogan1966]

Well I would agree that you have to have money in order to make some/all of the changes that are being discussed here. Now, let's see...where could we get more money from without having to cut more budgets? Hmmm, wait, I know, maybe, just maybe, the chosen few at the top could agree to make a few MILLION less this year in order to help begin making some of these improvements. And here's another thought, instead of building yet another "value" resort to warehouse those of us who can't afford better accomodations, maybe they could think about reducing the price of those $300 and up a night rooms they have. I mean, it's no wonder people wait for all the different discount codes to be released. And it's no wonder there's talk of those codes going away. (big mistake unless you are going to reduce rates.) And instead of building more so-called "thrill rides", whether they are popular or not, maybe we could just take those funds and put them into park improvements, castmember benefits (i.e. better pay-full time status). And I beleive I read on this site somewhere that the projected budgets for 3 new attractions for the coming years is 100 million per.

Now on the subject of the Disney Store: of which my Wife and I
are former cms. How about not selling cheap plastic crap, which no one wants, and offering something from the parks? You say, that doesn't give them reason to visit the parks? Are you kidding me? If that were the case, then surely Disney wouldn't offer a way to purchase those very same products thru their very own web site would they?

Bring back the full animation studio staff. Animation may be dead, but only because Mr. Eisner, decided that Disney shouldn't focus so much energy on that department anymore for some reason. If he did, animation would be big once again. Hmm, let's see, can you say Lilo and Stitch?, Finding Nemo, Brother Bear, not to mention all the classics. And I beleive that with the success of Pirates of the Caribbean that full length feature films are a great opportunity, when they are done with the right motives, cast, and storylines are involved.

Those are just a few of my thoughts, but then again, I'm not a financial GENIUS (yeah right), like Mr. Eisner is. By the way, how much is he going to make this past year and in 04?

 

[jodez21]

great points mac and hennie. i really enjoyed reading your opinions because they wern't just based on the same stuff every1 has been saying, and they had support to your ideas

 

[HennieBogan1966]

I'd like to respond to MartyMouse, and some comments made by him:

(1) None of us should presume to "know" what's going on in the minds of either Roy Disney or Michael Eisner.

(2) You say give Michael time to right the ship. Ummm, he's had nearly 20 years to get it right. Don't think he's figured it out yet. How about you? If he had, we wouldn't be having these conversations.

(3) What I can see is that Mr. Eisner tried to buy the company out of financial peril by taking HUGE risks with things like The Anaheim Angels, The Mighty Ducks, ABC, and the movie production companies he bought or bought into. All of these assets are very volatile investment vehicles. In other words, not good business decisions. Great when they work and produce positive numbers, but a drain on profits when they don't. What he should have when he "supposedly" saved the company was to invest for the long term not the short term. Which is why most of here talk about "vision". It's something he doens't seem to have at this point in time. And pointing back to his letter to cms on 12-3-3, he stated that the sole focus would be on producing shareholder growth. A noble idea to be sure. But don't you think his first responsibility should be to the MILLIONS of guests/customers of Disney products/vacations?

 

[brisem]

Hennie, you make some good points but Eisner did save the company in the 80's. He took some risk that didn't work sports and retail.

However, he getting out of those business which will long-term create more cash flow. Disney, I believe grossed the most money in the movie industry for 03.

I think Eisner defining year will be 04. The sale of Angels will be finalized; should have a buyer for the Ducks and Disney Stores. These moves will take some pressure off from the shareholders.

Let's see what he does with 3 of his biggest money losers aree off the book. Hopefully it goes to improvements to the parks.

 

[Tramp]

Someone needs to take a hard look at PARIS immediately. I recently saw a report that forcasted the yearly loss widening in 2003 by a whopping 75% from $39 million to almost $68 million. Attendance dropped by 5% this year to 12.5 million people but, more importantly, the company is carrying nearly $2.45 BILLION debt and the interest payments are crippling at best. Let's hope Euro Disney doesn't default on debt repayment next year as some have predicted.

 

[nancya75s]

You have to understand that the Walt Disney Company is a business.

Many people here seem to hate Mr. Michael Eisner Disney's CEO.

Why?

Before you blame Mr. Michael Eisner for anything let me ask you the following:

1. Who here has run a multi million dollar company?

2. Who here has ever been a real life CEO?

3. Who here has ever worked in the theme park industry for 10 years or more dealing with creative and financial responsibilities?

No one I thought so!

Do any of you realize how hard it is to run an amusement park company creatively, financially and other wise?

Hey people before you set blame on Mr. Michael Eisner realize business wise the difficulties, and impossibilities that come with it before you start bashing.

So what Roy Disney stepped down form the board of directors?

The board of directors doesn't mean anything as far as dealing with public relations or to have ride systems open and running.

This is not the first time Roy Disney stepped down from the board.

Roy Disney is legally getting too old to make any real decisions about anything.

It was Roy Disney's fault for the failure of Epcot Center, the closing of Horizons and leading the company into its current state of failure.

If Roy Disney is in charge that would mean that he is the person responsible for the company's failure.

Why can't you people realize that the Walt Disney family is a large one.

Roy Disney is not the only family member of the Disney linage at all.

Believe it or not there are many more "Disney's" in the world than you think.

Why won't you all stop embarrassing your self and get a grip on real life and how a business runs.

Mr. Michael Eisner single handedly saved the Walt Disney Company in the 1980's and made Epcot Center that was it's splendor.

It's time that some people voice some real opinion about how Roy Disney has been leading this company to its failure because of his age hindering him to make real life decisions about the company and blaming Mr. Michael Eisner for everything in between.

Mr. Michael Eisner has been running the company smoothly what is the big deal?

Mr. Michael Eisner I salute and support you sir!

Roy is "legally" too old to be on the board. I never said he is "too old to work".

The people who bash Mr. Michael Eisner will only accomplish:

1. False ignorant and mislead "hate".
2. Destroying the Disney Company by "bad mouthing" it across this board forum a thousand times in the name of Eisner!
3. Having the Disney Company shut down thinking Mr. Michael Eisner controls and owns "EVERYTHING" which he does not!!
4. Making the Disney Company lose money, jobs and attendance because of this Mr. Michael Eisner hate bashing.
Who here is a real life CEO and can sympathize with Mr. Michael Eisner with how hard it is to keep a public image and run a billion dollar company?
Unless you are a real life CEO please don't hurt Eisner!
Mr. Michael Eisner I Support you!