Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks

[RSoxNo1]

I actually really like that idea, but how would you thematically justify Dinosaur? Or would Australia just replace Dinorama?

In short, Dinoland and Australia would be two small lands right next to each other. The corner of the road that indicates Dinorama would become Australia - the problem would be transitioning between the two areas.

Another option would be getting rid of the Discovery River Boat backstage area and if possible, filling in that part of the river - This creates a lot more room behind Finding Nemo the Musical.

Here's a view of the area:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.356449&lon=-81.5871119&z=18&l=0&m=b

 

[gmajew]

Jobs is by far this generations Walt! The effect he has had on so many different industries and our lives is unreal!

It is amazing to see what his vision has brought to our world.

Just like Walt changed us for the better Jobs has done the same.

 

[devoy1701]

Jobs is by far this generations Walt! The effect he has had on so many different industries and our lives is unreal!

It is amazing to see what his vision has brought to our world.

Just like Walt changed us for the better Jobs has done the same.

I agree. Almost completely, and I made the connection between the two in a thesis I wrote about the theory of iconic corporate leadership. The two men share many of the same personality traits and the love to design/build something better and more powerful than what is already available. But a key difference that I see anyway is that Walt's company was more in a position to have the image of "We're genuinely creating new and innovative products to make life better and more enjoyable" while Apple comes off a bit more of "we're looking for the great next technological gimic for you to buy."

Of course I think it also helped that there were no other companies at the time creating some of the works that the Disney Company created, whereas with Apple they are competing in a very broad, highly competitive market and while they may be at the forefront of the market here in NA, I don't know if that's true for the Asia Market.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Steve Jobs and Walt Disney

It might be fun to do a tighter profile comparison of the two. Compare their ethic and career.

 

[BlueLightningTN]

We have discussed how Steve Jobs could add the needed vision to Tomorrowland or EPCOT. Now we can see how he applies his vision to a large development. Here is his ambitious architectural vision for Apple's new campus. A radial plan at that. (Reminds me of the Fan Clutch hotel complex we proposed for Paris.) There is an odd Walt/Steve thing going on here as clearly this is his legacy (along with building a data center to serve any and all future products) and both of them conceived it, planned it, but never lived to see it complete. Mary Poppins transformed Disney and was pretty much the peak of success for Walt as Apple eclipses the market value of both Intel and Microsoft combined. Death is such a limiting factor, if only they lived forever who knows what they could have created together!

It will be a truly sad day when Steve Jobs passes on. I hope Mr. Jobs is able to improve his health and live on into a great, old age. The world needs people with vision and the courage to go for it. Death ends the contributions of the people in this life, but their legacy from those contributions lives on. May Steve Jobs have a longer-than-expected, high quality of life, and many more contributions for us to appreciate once his time here is over.

I hope all of us can live our lives with that aspiration.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Mr. Limpet in Little Mermaid?

I found this hard to believe till I saw it.

http://micechat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=11576&d=1306511261


"The incredible Mr. Limpet" (Don Knott's as a Fish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdK3z3Uqiws) hidden in the new LM Attraction. Considering this is not a disney film its gutsy that they did that. Love it and hope it does not get ripped out too soon.

 

[devoy1701]

In short, Dinoland and Australia would be two small lands right next to each other. The corner of the road that indicates Dinorama would become Australia - the problem would be transitioning between the two areas.

Another option would be getting rid of the Discovery River Boat backstage area and if possible, filling in that part of the river - This creates a lot more room behind Finding Nemo the Musical.

Here's a view of the area:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.356449&lon=-81.5871119&z=18&l=0&m=b

The placement of Africa as it stands currently ruins your grand layout idea though. Other than that it sounds ok with me.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The placement of Africa as it stands currently ruins your grand layout idea though. Other than that it sounds ok with me.

In terms of being too far North... Yes. In terms of East to west, it wouldn't be as bad if Camp Minnie Mickey became South America.

 

[wdwmagic]

We have discussed how Steve Jobs could add the needed vision to Tomorrowland or EPCOT. Now we can see how he applies his vision to a large development. Here is his ambitious architectural vision for Apple's new campus. A radial plan at that. (Reminds me of the Fan Clutch hotel complex we proposed for Paris.) There is an odd Walt/Steve thing going on here as clearly this is his legacy (along with building a data center to serve any and all future products) and both of them conceived it, planned it, but never lived to see it complete. Mary Poppins transformed Disney and was pretty much the peak of success for Walt as Apple eclipses the market value of both Intel and Microsoft combined. Death is such a limiting factor, if only they lived forever who knows what they could have created together!

http://www.9to5mac.com/71080/steve-...apple-super-campus-to-cupertino-city-council/

Watching that video is great. He presents to the council just like he presents a new Apple product at WWDC. He has that ability to convince people to accept/buy anything - and it is all done through his passion and complete confidence in that what he is doing is the best it can be. So many current CEOs just do not project any belief in their product. He is a one-off in today's world.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Watching that video is great. He presents to the council just like he presents a new Apple product at WWDC. He has that ability to convince people to accept/buy anything - and it is all done through his passion and complete confidence in that what he is doing is the best it can be. So many current CEOs just do not project any belief in their product. He is a one-off in today's world.

You raise a very good point. When you are selling something that is intangible or requires a leap of faith (not yet built) the audience buys you. That's how you sell a ride to a great degree. No one can see the "wow" but you. You have to convey that to analysts. What other choice do they have other than to trust you and your team's ability to execute? So they have to have a degree of faith. You have to see the project in your "mind's eye" clearly, as to explain it's richness and defend it's attributes with unflinching conviction. Steve Jobs explains unreleased products as if they exist and work seamlessly. Does he REALLY know ICloud will work? No. (MobileMe didn't, my Apple TV is a disaster).

We now buy into Jobs and his taste, demanding standards and Apple lifestyle. I love companies that have a clear "point of view" and when Steve returned to Apple, that "point of view" echoed right through his products. Clearly he wants to leave his mark, and "the Mothership" with it's aerial bullseye will do just that even from Space.

 

[ptaylor]

You raise a very good point. When you are selling something that is intangible or requires a leap of faith (not yet built) the audience buys you. That's how you sell a ride to a great degree.

This is a big issue I have with Tom Staggs, Jay Rasulo and Bob Iger. When they present, they don't sell it. They don't seem like they believe it themselves, and they don't seem like they know the product inside and out. In the current ranks, only Joe Rohde and John Lassiter seem to be able to really project that confidence and passion.

 

[wdwmagic]

We now buy into Jobs and his taste, demanding standards and Apple lifestyle. I love companies that have a clear "point of view" and when Steve returned to Apple, that "point of view" echoed right through his products. Clearly he wants to leave his mark, and "the Mothership" with it's aerial bullseye will do just that even from Space.

Yep agreed. Listening to Steve just makes me want to hand over the credit card as soon as possible! He's an unbelievable salesman, and what makes it even more special is that he can do this to the masses, not just tech and design geeks. I can't think of any other product or service that generates the sheer demand and "want" of Apple products. It must seriously kill the other manufacturers in Apple's space to see how people are fighting to get their hands on Apple products, but a release of their own equivalent products doesn't even cause a ripple.

 

[devoy1701]

You raise a very good point. When you are selling something that is intangible or requires a leap of faith (not yet built) the audience buys you. That's how you sell a ride to a great degree. No one can see the "wow" but you. You have to convey that to analysts. What other choice do they have other than to trust you and your team's ability to execute? So they have to have a degree of faith. You have to see the project in your "mind's eye" clearly, as to explain it's richness and defend it's attributes with unflinching conviction. Steve Jobs explains unreleased products as if they exist and work seamlessly. Does he REALLY know ICloud will work? No. (MobileMe didn't, my Apple TV is a disaster).

We now buy into Jobs and his taste, demanding standards and Apple lifestyle. I love companies that have a clear "point of view" and when Steve returned to Apple, that "point of view" echoed right through his products. Clearly he wants to leave his mark, and "the Mothership" with it's aerial bullseye will do just that even from Space.

This is a big issue I have with Tom Staggs, Jay Rasulo and Bob Iger. When they present, they don't sell it. They don't seem like they believe it themselves, and they don't seem like they know the product inside and out. In the current ranks, only Joe Rohde and John Lassiter seem to be able to really project that confidence and passion.

This is exactly the kind of thing I outlined in my thesis that I mentioned earlier. Put a name, face, and personality at the head of a company that your consumers can identify and relate to and you've got it made. A person can't relate to a multi-million/billion dollar corporation as easily as they can a single person that lives and breathes like them. If you change the relationship from a company selling you something to a person (Jobs or W. Disney) you can form that one-on-one bond, and it then becomes a lot easier to take that leap of faith on new products, and continue to strengthen the brand loyalty. Walt Disney was his company, he had a set of moral and ethic values that he followed and ideas that he set to accomplish and those traits carried through to his company and his products and eventually to his consumers. To me that is the game-winning combination that I set up with Iconic Corporate Leadership.

 

[menamechris]

This is a big issue I have with Tom Staggs, Jay Rasulo and Bob Iger. When they present, they don't sell it. They don't seem like they believe it themselves, and they don't seem like they know the product inside and out. In the current ranks, only Joe Rohde and John Lassiter seem to be able to really project that confidence and passion.

It's sad to admit, but I do have to agree with this. The passion doesn't seem to be there. They strike me as incredibly smart and talented business men, but I do not get the impression that they would be consumers of their own product if they weren't the heads of it.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

It's sad to admit, but I do have to agree with this. The passion doesn't seem to be there. They strike me as incredibly smart and talented business men, but I do not get the impression that they would be consumers of their own product if they weren't the heads of it.

What? No Tony Baxter? Maybe it's because he hasn't had a project to present a long time. Tony is a very convincing pitch man.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

It's sad to admit, but I do have to agree with this. The passion doesn't seem to be there. They strike me as incredibly smart and talented business men, but I do not get the impression that they would be consumers of their own product if they weren't the heads of it.

If I may add to this...

The interesting thing about Bob Iger is that he was the perfect antidote to Eisner's personality driven management style. As good as he was (and he was the best), Michael Eisner had evolved into a figurehead that was beginning to symbolize what was going wrong with the company. His point of view was evidenced by some bad hires like Michael Ovitz. There are times when you need someone who can just bring the right team of people together in a time of anarchy. People of that time were looking for some stability and Bob Iger was the right flavor change. The first thing he did was prove to us shareholders that he did not consider himself to be a creative genius, but rather to show that he recognized the need for the company to have one. So we basically gave the company to Steve Jobs in exchange for Pixar and John Lasseter. Wisdom and humility seldom go hand-in-hand, but as far as a leadership decision I believe he demonstrated both the elusive qualities. I would not consider Bob to have the same charisma as Steve Jobs or John Lasseter, but like Ed Sullivan he hosts a good show and knows how to point the spotlight at the right people. I'm just sayin.

 

[HMF]

This is a big issue I have with Tom Staggs, Jay Rasulo and Bob Iger. When they present, they don't sell it. They don't seem like they believe it themselves, and they don't seem like they know the product inside and out. In the current ranks, only Joe Rohde and John Lassiter seem to be able to really project that confidence and passion.

What about Tony Baxter?

 

[HMF]

It's sad to admit, but I do have to agree with this. The passion doesn't seem to be there. They strike me as incredibly smart and talented business men, but I do not get the impression that they would be consumers of their own product if they weren't the heads of it.

Staggs and Iger maybe but Jay Rasulo is completely clueless and I cannot be happier that he is no longer in charge of Parks & Resorts.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The new Apple Campus sounds too much like a utopian solution. I think at some point such a rigorous program will be insufficient and become a problem for its occupants. Just seems to be the course these grand, single solution building projects take.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

The new Apple Campus sounds too much like a utopian solution. I think at some point such a rigorous program will be insufficient and become a problem for its occupants. Just seems to be the course these grand, single solution building projects take.

That's kind of why I think it's his "legacy" project. Most radial plans are a mess but they look cool. Who wants to cross "the forest" to get to HR?