Disney's Synergy Monster

[DisneyWales]

Sorry for the shameful plug guys, but I've been thinking about something thats been bugging me alot lately and decided to write a blog post about it.

The thing thats been bugging me is Disney's Synergy Monster, or more specifically Bob Iger and his one man mission for Synergy.

I think that the biggest threat towards the future of the parks is Iger's insistence that everything that is built has some sort of Character tie-in, and in my blog I touch on why I think this is a growing trend, and a potential concern for the future of the Disney Parks.

So if you want to read the article the link is here: www.kierex.com

Im new to blogging so let me know what you think, and please lets discuss how we all feel about this here, I do think that if things carry on the way they are going, the Parks will soon loose their charm and become nothing more than glorified Merchandise shops and giant adverts.

Also please bear in mind that i live in the UK, so my times online are totally different to yours, so if i don't respond, its coz im sleeping or working.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

Sorry, DisneyWales, but I think that you are wrong in every respect.

Iger has been a great CEO and the company has been heading towards under his leadership lately. A far cry from the dark days that came about during the second half of Eisner's tenure.

 

[Optimus Mouse]

It could be worse - PRAY that Bobbie doesn't latch onto Six Sigma. All we need is a Disney full of Black Belts, Green Belts, Ninja Weenies, and other assorted baby statistics trash....

Or alternatively, Six Sigma could help them clear up some of the operational detritus from the back office operations so that more money could be spent "on the show", as Walt intended it to be. Tools are never more than tools, it's the people that wield them that you need to be wary of.

Signed,
An Advocate of Science and Quantitative Analysis in Managerial Decisions

 

[unkadug]

Synergy is nothing new. It's just a new term for the same things that Walt himself did. Almost all the opening attractions at Disneyland were based upon some aspect of a Disney show or movie.


It's nothing new.

 

[Mr Bill]

Or alternatively, Six Sigma could help them clear up some of the operational detritus from the back office operations so that more money could be spent "on the show", as Walt intended it to be. Tools are never more than tools, it's the people that wield them that you need to be wary of.

Signed,
An Advocate of Science and Quantitative Analysis in Managerial Decisions

Agreed.

 

[fosse76]

Synergy is nothing new. It's just a new term for the same things that Walt himself did. Almost all the opening attractions at Disneyland were based upon some aspect of a Disney show or movie.


It's nothing new.

Hmph! Beat me to it.

 

[DisneyWales]

Im not saying Synergy is new or bad, what i am saying is that Bob Iger is taking synergy and running wild with it.

Under his current direction we may never see unique attractions such as Spaceship Earth, Journey into Imagination, or even Magic Kingdom hallmarks such as Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion or Pirates.

Everything that has been green lit of late has some sort of tie in, i know Disneyland was built upon this very foundation, however we still got unique experiences that weren't based off exciting IP's.

The parks were once free to create new worlds for us to explore, not just expand existing ones.

My blog post tries to discuss the growing trend that if Bob is left to carry on at his current rate, every new attraction will HAVE to have a character attached to it.

Which im sure some people will be concerned about right?

 

[CoffeeJedi]

I'm with you DisneyWales.

WDI needs the freedom to come up with completely new experiences. Expedition Everest really was the last one, and from the looks of things, everything new coming out has to be tied to an existing franchise. Sad to see imagineers' creativity being stifled like that.

They need new attractions that can become franchises unto themselves like the classics.

 

[sublimesting]

It could be worse - PRAY that Bobbie doesn't latch onto Six Sigma. All we need is a Disney full of Black Belts, Green Belts, Ninja Weenies, and other assorted baby statistics trash....

Yeah, then Disney can run lean and keep their fall/winter hour and show cutback into summer.

 

[WDWmazprty]

Let the people on WDWMagic decide what upcoming attractions should be next at the World! :lookaroun:ROFLOL:

 

[Chape19714]

Im not saying Synergy is new or bad, what i am saying is that Bob Iger is taking synergy and running wild with it.

Under his current direction we may never see unique attractions such as Spaceship Earth, Journey into Imagination, or even Magic Kingdom hallmarks such as Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion or Pirates.

Everything that has been green lit of late has some sort of tie in, i know Disneyland was built upon this very foundation, however we still got unique experiences that weren't based off exciting IP's.

The parks were once free to create new worlds for us to explore, not just expand existing ones.

My blog post tries to discuss the growing trend that if Bob is left to carry on at his current rate, every new attraction will HAVE to have a character attached to it.

Which im sure some people will be concerned about right?

I wouldn't blame Iger. Eisner was even more synergy oriented. But as others have said, Walt did it himself.

However you should look at some of the more recent things that have been made which do not plug a particular film. Soarin', almost all of DAK (everest, Safaris, Kali, and the lands), Captain EO is back, and that doesn't plug anything (other than merch sales), And nothing in the Summer Nightastic lineup is done for synergy purposes (with the argument of the tinkerbell addition to MSEP).

But it should also be said that Disney is a big part of american culture. And people come to the parks to be put into the movies they love and grew up with. It should also be noted that Iger approved the Mystic Manor project at HKDL, which has nothing to do with a film and actually goes against the concept of synergy by giving HKDL a unique version of mansion. Unique experiences still exist in plenty, and right now i feel that there is a good balance.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

I'm with you DisneyWales.

WDI needs the freedom to come up with completely new experiences. Expedition Everest really was the last one, and from the looks of things, everything new coming out has to be tied to an existing franchise. Sad to see imagineers' creativity being stifled like that.

They need new attractions that can become franchises unto themselves like the classics.

You're just as dumb, discriminatory and short on brain cells as DisneyWales!

Hope the both of you get banned from this forum!

 

[emmersandjack]

DisneyWales....so off topic and i fully intend to read your blog, but I must comment on such a wonderful name. If I am understanding your name to be Kieran. I can say this, because my name is Kiera. And I love the name at the top of your blog, Kieranasaurus Rex.
So rare to find someone with a name even close to my own...not counting that misspeller Keira Knightly....so I just thought I would take a second to say I love your name. :wave:

We now return you to your regularly hijacked thread....

 

[sublimesting]

Very nice blog. Although I think EE was under Iger's reign was it not? Anyhoo, synergy is dangerous. In one way it is very helpful to strnegthn company. I look at it like a glue that binds the whole enterprise together. With strong synergy there isn't as much of a chnace of the company fracturing and being sold off as almost happened in the 80's and could still happen in the future if management isn't careful. But when synergy goes too far creativity is stifled and Disney's absolute core principal is creativity. We lost so much of it over the years. WOM became TT, JIIYI became crap, etc. Thank God Eddie Murphy stayed out of the HM but Nightmare didn't at DL. I think synergy is good to infuse some fresh blood into aging attractions you aren't through with yet but should NOT be used at all when developing new attractions (unless they are based off of a movie like LMM, Peter Pan, Snow White and other classics).

 

[DisneyWales]

I wouldn't blame Iger. Eisner was even more synergy oriented. But as others have said, Walt did it himself.

However you should look at some of the more recent things that have been made which do not plug a particular film. Soarin', almost all of DAK (everest, Safaris, Kali, and the lands), Captain EO is back, and that doesn't plug anything (other than merch sales), And nothing in the Summer Nightastic lineup is done for synergy purposes (with the argument of the tinkerbell addition to MSEP).

But it should also be said that Disney is a big part of american culture. And people come to the parks to be put into the movies they love and grew up with. It should also be noted that Iger approved the Mystic Manor project at HKDL, which has nothing to do with a film and actually goes against the concept of synergy by giving HKDL a unique version of mansion. Unique experiences still exist in plenty, and right now i feel that there is a good balance.

Soarin, DAK, EE were all signed off by Eisner.

In my blog post I kinda touch on Mystic Manor and Grizzly Peak, while there are new to some extent, they are reworking of existing attractions.

Summer Nightastic IMO is a lame excuse to make something simple sound more interesting than it actually is. Its not strictly Synergy, but its along the lines of milking what you already have over offering something new. DEP returns, nothing new, just refreshed, some new lighting for ToT, and a remix of an old fireworks display, heck even the make is reused from Cali.

Captain EO couldn't be a bigger example of a tie-in, its riding off the success of MJ's death! Now that his name is worth something, lets bring out his old attraction and make some money out of it, publicity, ticket sales, and merch. If MJ was still alive, there wouldn't be a Captain EO tribute, and its not out of some great respect by Disney for the legend that he was, its because there are thousands of fans out there now looking for a fix of MJ, PERFECT Synergy.

Im not saying that everything related to Synergy is bad, I'm just saying that Bob could be bad for creativity in the park in the future.

 

[DisneyWales]

DisneyWales....so off topic and i fully intend to read your blog, but I must comment on such a wonderful name. If I am understanding your name to be Kieran. I can say this, because my name is Kiera. And I love the name at the top of your blog, Kieranasaurus Rex.
So rare to find someone with a name even close to my own...not counting that misspeller Keira Knightly....so I just thought I would take a second to say I love your name. :wave:

We now return you to your regularly hijacked thread....

HAHA yeah, its was something my best friend called me one day, and its just kinda stuck, i think i loved it because i was also the BIGGEST Dinosaur fan when i was young, so for me it was the most amazing nickname ever.

One of my first blogs on my page is about why i named my blog kierex, but thats the short version of the story anyway.

 

[DisneyWales]

Very nice blog. Although I think EE was under Iger's reign was it not? Anyhoo, synergy is dangerous. In one way it is very helpful to strnegthn company. I look at it like a glue that binds the whole enterprise together. With strong synergy there isn't as much of a chnace of the company fracturing and being sold off as almost happened in the 80's and could still happen in the future if management isn't careful. But when synergy goes too far creativity is stifled and Disney's absolute core principal is creativity. We lost so much of it over the years. WOM became TT, JIIYI became crap, etc. Thank God Eddie Murphy stayed out of the HM but Nightmare didn't at DL. I think synergy is good to infuse some fresh blood into aging attractions you aren't through with yet but should NOT be used at all when developing new attractions (unless they are based off of a movie like LMM, Peter Pan, Snow White and other classics).

Thanks for the comments, im glad you enjoyed, as for EE, it was green lit under Eisner, but opened under Iger.

I dont thing Iger is doing everything wrong, in fact in some business areas im beaming from ear to ear, i just wish they i heard of something that was coming to the parks soon, that wasn't a referb , a reworking or a clone.