Rumor Hollywood insiders say there's growing tension at Disney as CEO Bob Chapek chafes at Bob Iger's 'long goodbye'

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think that role is John Favreau's if he wants it, whenever the Alans retire.

Maybe…but they need a definitive move at LFL now

that was a huge Iger mistake. Should have made that move several years ago. If you’re worried about legacy…don’t look like you ignored your biggest studio problem before you snuck out

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm not sure it's possible to blame this on Rohde anymore -- WDI is spending even more money now than they were when he was doing things, and what they're building is nowhere as impressive as the work he did. It's clearly an institutional issue with the way Disney operates and not something you can really blame on any individual at WDI. For all we know, Rohde actually kept costs down; aren't they spending almost as much money on an unthemed box for Guardians as they did on all of Pandora?

It’s weird how knocking on Joe as wasteful has become this sort of way to claim knowledge. Joe dealt almost exclusively with one park and a few side projects. He wasn’t in charge of Walt Disney Imagineering or get to control the layers of input. Across the board costs climbed, not just on his projects.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Maybe…but they need a definitive move at LFL now

that was a huge Iger mistake. Should have made that move several years ago. If you’re worried about legacy…don’t look like you ignored your biggest studio problem before you snuck out

Disney has made a few high profile hires, promotions, and retentions for the sake of, shall we say, optics.

It’s weird how knocking on Joe as wasteful has become this sort of way to claim knowledge. Joe dealt almost exclusively with one park and a few side projects. He wasn’t in charge of Walt Disney Imagineering or get to control the layers of input. Across the board costs climbed, not just on his projects.

It's not just the projects though, it's the entire division. They're an expensive bunch of employees to administer, and in comes in part from a rock star mentality that pervades the group. Joe, for better or worse, was the face of that mentality.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It’s weird how knocking on Joe as wasteful has become this sort of way to claim knowledge. Joe dealt almost exclusively with one park and a few side projects. He wasn’t in charge of Walt Disney Imagineering or get to control the layers of input. Across the board costs climbed, not just on his projects.

So you’re saying he was good with budgets?!?

…guess all that stuff was a hoax, huh?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm not sure it's possible to blame this on Rohde anymore -- WDI is spending even more money now than they were when he was doing things, and what they're building is nowhere as impressive as the work he did. It's clearly an institutional issue with the way Disney operates and not something you can really blame on any individual at WDI. For all we know, Rohde actually kept costs down; aren't they spending almost as much money on an unthemed box for Guardians as they did on all of Pandora?

Do you think he kept costs down?

 

[lazyboy97o]

It's not just the projects though, it's the entire division. They're an expensive bunch of employees to administer, and in comes in part from a rock star mentality that pervades the group. Joe, for better or worse, was the face of that mentality.

Rock star mentality? How does a rock star mentality give too many layers of Operations a say in decisions? How does that create indecision? How does that create micromanagement of vendors? Overspecialization? Too many executives with a say? Bureaucratic bloat isn’t because of “rock stars”.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Rock star mentality? How does a rock star mentality give too many layers of Operations a say in decisions? How does that create indecision? How does that create micromanagement of vendors? Overspecialization? Too many executives with a say? Bureaucratic bloat isn’t because of “rock stars”.

I'm talking about "in order for us to properly do our jobs in an on-site trailer, we need to get an excavator and a crew of guys to dig out that palm tree and move it 20 feet to the left."

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Rock star mentality? How does a rock star mentality give too many layers of Operations a say in decisions? How does that create indecision? How does that create micromanagement of vendors? Overspecialization? Too many executives with a say? Bureaucratic bloat isn’t because of “rock stars”.

How about a 50 person junket to Nepal to look at stuff for a queue on a rollercoaster?
Is that bureaucratic bloat?

 

[UNCgolf]

Do you think he kept costs down?

He certainly didn't make them any worse than anyone else at WDI, which is the point. I'm not saying he kept them down, but he definitely didn't balloon them. Other projects that didn't involve him spent as much (or more) with results that were nowhere near as good.

New Fantasyland cost $425 million; Pandora cost $500 million. The quality of Pandora absolutely dwarfs NFL and whoever was in charge of that wasted a lot more money than Rohde did.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

He certainly didn't make them any worse than anyone else at WDI, which is the point. I'm not saying he kept them down, but he definitely didn't balloon them. Other projects that didn't involve him spent as much (or more) with results that were nowhere near as good.

Wow…the original construction at dak would like to have a word with you.

they ended up with 50% of a park at double the price

but it’s not ALL him…
I think cap is correct here…Joe was part of a culture that ended up torpedoing it’ll itself…he’s not the only one who didn’t understand the currents.

 

[UNCgolf]

Wow…the original construction at dak would like to have a word with you.

they ended up with 50% of a park at double the price

It's also the best park at WDW. Why would you want a bigger park/more attractions that are significantly worse? Would adding 2 or 3 mediocre to bad attractions have made it a better park? I'd rather have the DAK we have than something like original DCA. Original AK needed more, obviously, but I'd much prefer the overall high quality with the ability to add more later than something that's big and mediocre.

Rohde wasn't any different than anyone else when it comes to spending money -- he just got much better results out of it. Again, do you think New Fantasyland was a better use of money than Pandora? What about Cosmic Rewind? He's being singled out for reasons that don't make any sense because it's applicable to every WDI project, and usually with worse results. I'd take his work over the people involved with New Fantasyland, Toy Story Land, or Galaxy's Edge -- all of which cost tremendous amounts of money. It's not like Rohde was spending $500 million and everyone else was spending $50m on their projects. It's a WDI thing; not a Rohde thing.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

How about a 50 person junket to Nepal to look at stuff for a queue on a rollercoaster?
Is that bureaucratic bloat?

Don't forget though...those travels for research aren't limited to WDI...the studios do them, too. (Moana is the first that comes to mind.)

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Don't forget though...those travels for research aren't limited to WDI...the studios do them, too. (Moana is the first that comes to mind.)

So spending more/producing less is a way of life then?

the shareholders won’t be pleased

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It's also the best park at WDW. Why would you want a bigger park/more attractions that are significantly worse? Would adding 2 or 3 mediocre to bad attractions have made it a better park? I'd rather have the DAK we have than something like original DCA. Original AK needed more, obviously, but I'd much prefer the overall high quality with the ability to add more later than something that's big and mediocre.

You're also continuing to ignore the overall point, which is that Rohde wasn't any different than anyone else when it comes to spending money -- he just got much better results out of it. Again, do you think New Fantasyland was a better use of money than Pandora? What about Cosmic Rewind? He's being singled out for reasons that don't make any sense because it's applicable to every WDI project, and usually with worse results.

The best park ever built is (was) Epcot….let’s not do that “dak is great for what you don’t notice” thing, shall we?

and I’m a big fan of both…but there are realities to working for a public profit machine. You have to balance the art with the results…art doesn’t pay the bills and those bills come out of someone’s butt.

even disgruntled imagineers on fan sites…whether they want to accept it or not.

and don’t be naive on this…those cost bulges at Euro and DAK greatly influenced what you got at DCA…and studios paris

All were mistakes

 

[pdude81]

So spending more/producing less is a way of life then?

the shareholders won’t be pleased

I guess that's why we're paying for infrastructure with projected new spending again. This time they'll be able to account for it directly though.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I guess that's why we're paying for infrastructure with projected new spending again.

…the thought had occurred

 

[Lilofan]

So spending more/producing less is a way of life then?

the shareholders won’t be pleased

Travels and high level exec perks must be nice. Also enjoying vacations at Disney at probably company expense.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

So spending more/producing less is a way of life then?

the shareholders won’t be pleased

Not what I said. (And 50 people is A LOT for a research trip...I would think 10-15 would suffice.)

 

[UNCgolf]

The best park ever built is (was) Epcot….let’s not do that “dak is great for what you don’t notice” thing, shall we?

and I’m a big fan of both…but there are realities to working for a public profit machine. You have to balance the art with the results…art doesn’t pay the bills and those bills come out of someone’s butt.

even disgruntled imagineers on fan sites…whether they want to accept it or not.

I agree that EPCOT was the best -- I'm saying currently DAK is the best and it's not really close IMO (thanks to how they've butchered EPCOT over the years). Of course that's not solely due to the original construction, obviously, but the level of detail there certainly helped.

Anyways, I'm not suggesting Rohde was amazing with budgets. I'm simply saying singling him out doesn't make sense because every single WDI project has the same issue. There's nothing different about him from a budget/spending standpoint, except that his results were a lot better so people know who he is. Most people have no idea who was in charge of New Fantasyland or Toy Story Land.

Again, I think Cosmic Rewind is costing Disney almost as much money as the whole Pandora expansion. That's light years beyond any budgetary issues Rohde had. Some of Rohde's overruns look like absolute steals compared to the kind of money Disney is spending on things now.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Not what I said. (And 50 people is A LOT for a research trip...I would think 10-15 would suffice.)

They actually filmed that one and used it in a promotional video back then…that’s why it stuck in my head. Wouldn’t have paid it much mind otherwise.

I get your point…cost excess isn’t a WDI exclusive thing…
…but it surely is their thing as well.