Please provide a link to this post (and I don't mean this in any kinda' smart*** way), 'cause I find it hard to believe that it was just as hard in Walt's day to get things moving at TWDC as it is today.
Walt and Roy Disney had difficulty raising capital just like anyone in business. Walt has become a legend today but even into the 1950s, he and Roy struggled to find the money to pay for Disneyland. It's the main reason other companies owned most of DL when it first opened. (I think Walt and Roy only owned about 30%.) DL was an almost instant success and Walt & Roy used the profits to buy back ownership from their partners, who were happy to get back their investment and turn a quick profit.Please provide a link to this post (and I don't mean this in any kinda' smart*** way), 'cause I find it hard to believe that it was just as hard in Walt's day to get things moving at TWDC as it is today.
Walt and Roy Disney had difficulty raising capital just like anyone in business. Walt has become a legend today but even into the 1950s, he and Roy struggled to find the money to pay for Disneyland. It's the main reason other companies owned most of DL when it first opened. (I think Walt and Roy only owned about 30%.) DL was an almost instant success and Walt & Roy used the profits to buy back ownership from their partners, who were happy to get back their investment and turn a quick profit.
In business, getting things moving is mostly about setting a direction and raising the money for it. Walt set the direction and, together, Walt and Roy were pretty good at raising capital. Bankers and investors didn't simply hand money to the Disney brothers, although Walt was a good pitch man. It was only for about the last 5-10 years of his life, after the financial successes of DL and Mary Poppins, that Walt started morphing into the icon that we think of him today.
Today, TWDC has the capital and business clout to get things moving without having to beg. What they lack is the direction to spend it on WDW. Today's TWDC's senior executives simply don't have a passion for WDW, they have a passion for money. In Walt's day, TWDC had the direction but not the money. Today, TWDC has the money but not the direction, at least when it comes to WDW.
At this point, it will take billions to "fix" WDW. I don't think anyone high up at TWDC has the stomach to foot that bill.
I would argue its not so much budget constraints as WDI can't budget properly. They would rather use more expensive products to achieve the same effect as what you can get from a local DIY store. And by all accounts came in way over budget.
He is already considered long in the tooth. He had some health issues a few years back, but appears to be fine now. Disney has wanted him gone as far back as the 1990s. He has largely had projects of small scale to work on. They haven't let him touch a WDW project in ... decades at this point, I believe.
He'd love to work on a new Imagination pavilion, but no one at Disney would love for him to stay and work on a new Imagination pavilion.
I've had folks tell me the tension between he and Eric Jacobson was palpable during IAAPA this week. Even during their panel together with Marty, Rick Rothschild and Bob Rogers, Tony cut Eric off when Eric was having difficulty 'splaining why attractions go in specific parks and why there's a difference between the MK and EPCOT.
Most at WDI wouwd like Tony to have been gone years ago, sadly.
He'd love to work on a new Imagination pavilion, but no one at Disney would love for him to stay and work on a new Imagination pavilion.
-I wonder how many RPMs Uncle Walt is spinning at today?
Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.