Disneyland, any change in 8 years?

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Merlin

Account Suspended
For the record, Al Weiss is the President of Walt Disney World, Cynthia Harris (by the way, I've met her and she is NOT a nice person) is the President of Disneyland and Paul Pressler (whom I've also met and is a really nice guy) is Chairman of Walt Disney Attractions.

Also, statements such as, "It's the ORIGINAL!" and "Without Disneyland, we wouldn't have any of the other parks!", aren't intelligent arguments. Face the facts, Disneyland has gone downhill. In the mid-80's Michael Eisner vowed, "Disneyland remains our flagship!" and said that it would always set the standard by which all the other parks would be measured. What happened?

In my opinion, what happened was Cynthia Harris. She gets good press, which means that she knows how to schmooze the media. But do any of you really know that much about her background? She used to run a retail chain in the Midwest (ironically called, Harris Stores), which went bankrupt. For reasons which remain a mystery, someone hired her to be the Vice President of Stores at The Disney Store in the early 90s, where she proceeded to oversaturate the market by placing a Disney Store on practically every street corner in America. She also brought her "retail expertise" to The Disney Stores and changed the focus to a sales versus service culture. Paul Pressler, who was the President of The Disney Store (replacing Steve Burke who left to run a division of Disneyland Paris), was Cynthia Harris' mentor. So when he left to become the President of Disneyland, he brought Harris with him. When Pressler was promoted to his current position, he quickly promoted Harris. Although she has been in charge of Disneyland for a few years now, the fact that Disney Stores are closing right and left due to financial losses is Cynthia Harris' fault. Now she is spreading her "magic" at Disneyland.
 
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dianedisney

New Member
Question for Merlin????

Interesting information Merlin, how did you come by it? Did you use to work for Ms Harris? Do you or did you work for DLR? Just kind of curious, have a Disney Day!!
 
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Merlin

Account Suspended
Yes I did use to work for Cynthia at The Disney Stores. I didn't report to her directly, but my boss did. The great thing about The Disney Store was that it wasn't started by "experts" in the retail industry. That used to remind me of how when Walt was getting ready to build Disneyland, he consulted all these amusement park experts. He finally realized they didn't understand his concept and ignored their advice when building the park. The Disney Stores started out in very much the same way. Steve Burke, who started the concept, talked to retail experts who told him they would be crazy to show Disney video clips on the wall when they could use that wall space to hang more t-shirts or something. They said it was crazy to pay employees to constantly go around cleaning and straightening the store. They said it was crazy to have an employee just stand at the entrance and greet customers as they entered the store. Burke ignored this advice (just as Walt had with DL) and the Disney Stores opened to phenomenal success (at one time, they were the most successful retail operation per square foot in the US).

Then Cynthia came into the picture and started getting rid of the "Disney" people and bringing in her own retail cronies. I remember working there when she actually made everyone at Disney Store Corporate (we called it Home Base) re-interview for their jobs. She implemented sales quotas for the cast members (and actually had a rule that managers and assistant managers would be written up if the store didn't sell it's quota of videos each hour). She got rid of the concept of having cast members keep the store clean (why dust that shelf when you can be over there selling a watch to someone?). She also did some pretty evil things. I remember a guy who sold his house and moved to Glendale because he had been promised a promotion. The guy was absolutely qualified, but Cynthia gave the job to a family friend instead (even though it had been promised to this other guy). Anyway, I could go on and on (obviously), but the point is that please don't believe what you see and hear and read about her being "one of the nicest people" someone has ever met. She comes across that way, but has her direct reports do her dirty work for her.

When I heard she was taking over Disneyland a few years back, I hoped and prayed she wouldn't ruin it like she has the Disney Stores. I still keep in touch with friends who work for her at Disneyland now and it sounds like she hasn't changed. For example, she actually gave serious consideration to taking a wrecking ball to the Matterhorn because maintenance on the ride had become so expensive. The woman is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
 
CmdrTostada

CmdrTostada

Member
Original Poster
I think that If she did consider taking a wrecking ball to the Matterhorn there would be a whole lot of people chaining themselves to the ride.:D Thanks for the info Merlin. But if pressler is her mentor wouldnt he be the same way?
 
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Merlin

Account Suspended
Good point. And I actually only met Pressler a few times and he always seemed like a nice guy. But you can't always tell a lot about a person from just a few brief meetings like that. On that note, someone earlier in this string said they met Cynthia Harris and that she was one of the nicest people they had ever met. I just wanted to set the record straight that she really isn't a very nice person. Also, Cynthia has done some things at Disneyland that (thank goodness) they have not done at WDW. For example, have you ever noticed that if you visit Disneyland and an attraction is down for more than an hour it just remains down for the rest of the day? That's because it's park policy under Cynthia's watch. They only have one maintenance shift now as a means of saving money. I heard from one of my contacts at Disneyland that they tried that out at WDW for about a month and that Al Weiss basically said "this is b.s.!" and they went back to the way it was before. So I think that shows that Paul is not necessarily involved in the day to day details of running the parks. Hence, I still blame Cynthia.

Another interesting idea they tossed around regarding the Matterhorn (and keep in mind that I thought this was a joke when I first heard it, but I was able to confirm it with several different sources)... They considered building an identical brand new Matterhorn on the Fantasyland Autopia spot. The new one was going to be the roller coaster and they were going to turn the old one into several layers of shops. They were going to refer to these twin Matterhorns as the "Twin Peaks". Again, this was because of the extremely high cost of maintenance on the original Matterhorn. In the end, they decided that each year it will just be down for routine maintenance a little longer than most of the other DL attractions.
 
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DLMAGICDARREN

New Member
Originally posted by Merlin
. For example, have you ever noticed that if you visit Disneyland and an attraction is down for more than an hour it just remains down for the rest of the day? That's because it's park policy under Cynthia's watch.
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I've been to the park when an attraction was down more then an hour, but later came back up, sounds like you are bitter at Cynthia for some bad times you had in your Disney Store days.

I understand what you are saying about not really knowing a person based on a brief public appearance, but Cynthia charmed me, which I know is not really saying anything for her management style. But reading web info is not actually a true analysis of her management style either.

Cynthia has always reported to Paul Presslor, from her Disney Store days, to her current resort president days. He calls the shots, Cynthia has to implement them.

But as long as she's within budget, she's pretty much left alone, yet has still done some great things like bring back the Davey Crocket canoes for one. Layoffs were her recent unfortunate duty, but she didn't just wake up one morning and decide to lay off, higher ups ordered her to do it.

When I met Paul Presslor, he seemed cold and shallow, did not even make a public speach at Disney MGM Studios for Walt's 100'th birthday celebration, even though he was right on the sideline with Roy E Disney. I've still never met Al Weiss, only seen him once breifly passing by and it was not a public ceremony. Michael Eisner also is very pleasant in person! I've seen him both at DLR and WDW! He seems to care, but in reality is probably way out of touch with the day to day operations at either resort. He's to busy fixing ABC to worry about the parks.

I'm just wondering where you are getting your information about how Cynthia manages DLR, because you are making a lot of claims without backing them up with facts, but only relating them to how you perceive things.

But back to topic, although it's cutting it close, Indy is still not eight years old, so that's a change. It opened March 4'th 1995, so it will not be eight until next Spring. Although most of the new Tomorrowland did not work, Inoventions is still there (like it or not), and Honey I shrunk the Audience replaced Captain E-O, but it's the same show that plays at Epcot. Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was converted to Tarzan's Treehouse, and the new Autopia opened. So I would say there have been a few changes in the last eight years.

Of course none of these Disneyland changes refer to any of the changes you will see at Disney's California Adventure, or Downtown Disney, or the rehabbed Disneyland Hotel area. Also the old Pacific Pan hotel, was purchased by Disney, renamed to the Disneyland Pacific Hotel, but then in 2001 again renamed to the Paradise Pier hotel to accomoadate the resort expansion.
 
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Merlin

Account Suspended
When you say that you've been to DL when an attraction was down for more than an hour and later was open, how recently was that? I (as well as most of the members posting on this message board) can make that claim as well, because for most of DL's (almost) 47 year history that's been the case. What I'm saying (and I apologize for not being more clear on this) is that this is a recent policy that Cynthia put into place.

As far as "backing up" my claims "with facts", I'm not sure how you want me to do that. But I can assure you that what I've written about Cynthia is not merely my perception. I still keep in touch with many of my friends who work for various divisions at Disney and those individuals are my sources of the information I've posted. Now whether or not some of it is THEIR perception is, I suppose, another debate entirely.

And no, I'm not bitter. It was several years ago that I worked for Cynthia. I had already been working there a couple years when she started and I'm not kidding when I say that she made an excellent first impression. So I know exactly what you are talking about when you say she was charming. But that faded fast when she started implementing changes that really were not for the better (not for morale, not for the business). But really it was something I had not thought about for years until a few nights ago when I read earlier in this string that someone (was it you?) referred to her as "one of the nicest people I've ever met". I just couldn't let that one go, especially since my friends at Disneyland say she hasn't changed a bit.

Hmmmmmm....You know something? Maybe I am a little bitter after all.
 
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DLMAGICDARREN

New Member
Originally posted by Merlin
When you say that you've been to DL when an attraction was down for more than an hour and later was open, how recently was that?
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I'll be glad to give you an example, I was there on May 8'th. Big Thunder was down all morning, but came back up in the evening! I don't think you should be so quick to speak for most members of this board, trust me they speak for themself fine, without you implying what the rest of them think. Let them speak for themselves please.

As far as backing up your statements with facts, it's not a hard lesson. You are free to feel however you think, but when you claim how a manager runs her office, you should probably think more about writing facts (you know dollar amounts, dates, specifics about your case), not a simple and my friends think so too! :) I don't doubt you have some friends that agree with you, but do you really think that proves your case?
 
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Merlin

Account Suspended
Well, I apologize if I've struck a nerve with you on this issue (It sounds like I have). I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
 
CHAPPS

CHAPPS

Account Suspended
I've worked for Disneyland Administration for 9 years and you (Merlin) are dead-on correct in your "perceptions" of Cynthia Harris! The woman is a viper! But she knows how to come across to the press, to guests and even to the frontline cast members working in the Park as "really nice". Those of us who work closer to her know her better. She is not my immediate boss. Thank God, because if she was I would quit. But because of my position, I'm present at a lot of the meetings she conducts and am therefore privvy to many behind closed doors discussions.

The policy on the one-hour down time you mentioned, Merlin, is known as the Third Shift Plan and your description of it was about 95% accurate. It just went into effect and most of us don't think it will last. Basically, if an attraction goes down just a few hours after park opening, there is a good chance there will be enough maintenance staff on hand to have it up and running again that day. But by mid-afternoon or later (the precise times vary), if an attraction goes down, an evaluation is made on whether a two-person maintenance team can bring it back up within one hour. If the answer is no, the attraction will remain closed.

And Darrin, don't be so quick to defend Ms. Harris. Cast members in the Park are instructed to tell guests that we're "working on having the attraction up an running soon" even when there is no plan to even attempt it. Also, she has said many times behind closed doors that she "can't stand Disnoids" and doesn't want any working for her. I used to keep my Disney Spirit Award proudly displayed on my desk and now I keep it at home because I don't want her to label me a "Disney Geek" and think I don't take my job seriously. She's also made derogatory remarks about Walt.

Oh you're wrong about Paul Pressler though, Merlin. He's kind of a jerk too (Not as bad as Cynthia Harris though).:fork:
 
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DLMAGICDARREN

New Member
Originally posted by CHAPPS


And Darrin, don't be so quick to defend Ms. Harris. Cast members in the Park are instructed to tell guests that we're "working on having the attraction up an running soon" even when there is no plan to even attempt it. Also, she has said many times behind closed doors that she "can't stand Disnoids" and doesn't want any working for her. I used to keep my Disney Spirit Award proudly displayed on my desk and now I keep it at home because I don't want her to label me a "Disney Geek" and think I don't take my job seriously. She's also made derogatory remarks about Walt.
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I'm not defending Ms. Harris based on anything but what I've seen. I didn't make my statement that Big Thunder was up and running, based on what a cast member told me, I based it on the fact that it was up and running later the same day, when Merlin claimed it would not be, that's all.

I'm sure she's said many things behind closed doors that she would not want heard in public, (whay high position exec hasn't?) but I'm judging what I've seen since she's come to the resort.

No nerve was struck here, I just don't think a few CM's that say she said this or that, which can't be proven one way or another says anything.

I'm not judging by what she says in public, I'm judging by what I see when I visit the parks. Disneyland has a lot of issues, such as problems with DCA, and the failed Tomorrowland, but both projects were starrted before she was even on board.

Even Ms Harris, does not call a lot of the shots, she is the implementor of decesions that come from higher up, and she has to determine how to keep the budget in line. I don't wish that job on anybody to make such a happy place, run with less money this year then last, and still try to keep everyone happy.

Presslor really still does run Disneyland. he just got a bigger office. I blame him more so then Harris for cuts, because Harris only allocates the budget, she doesn't set the amounts for spending, which are really the only people that can change anything for the better.
 
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Merlin

Account Suspended
Be careful what you post, CHAPS. DLMAGICDARREN will want you to back it up with facts, figures, dates, quotes from Cynthia herself, charts, graphs, tax returns, etc....

Of course, for someone who expects all that, DLMAGICDARREN is sure quick to make himself sound like an authority on Paul Pressler (i.e. "Pressler really runs Disneyland. Harris just implements it all." - or something to that effect). I'd be curious to know how DLMAGICDARREN became so sure of that (or is it simply his...."perceptions"?).
 
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DLMAGICDARREN

New Member
Originally posted by Merlin
Be careful what you post, CHAPS. DLMAGICDARREN will want you to back it up with facts, figures, dates, quotes from Cynthia herself, charts, graphs, tax returns, etc....

Of course, for someone who expects all that, DLMAGICDARREN is sure quick to make himself sound like an authority on Paul Pressler (i.e. "Pressler really runs Disneyland. Harris just implements it all." - or something to that effect). I'd be curious to know how DLMAGICDARREN became so sure of that (or is it simply his...."perceptions"?).
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LOL, of course it's my perceptions. I said he seemed cold and shallow when I met him (which were my perceptions), but I don't think I ever said that I think Presslor is a good or bad manager. I would not be qualified to make any such claim. I just said he runs the place. It's common knowledge that Pressor is who Cynthia reports to.
 

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