Is new leadership needed at this point?

[TROR]

The talk about Disney needing a creative person near the top of the food chain had me thinking of who I would put in that spot, and honestly I keep falling back on Kevin Feige. Personally, I would hate it because it would mean someone else would be overseeing the day to day at Marvel, but it’s hard to argue with his track record. Feige started with Marvel not having access to their A-list heroes (Spider-man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four), so he took the B and C tier and turned them into a multi-billion dollar behemoth. And I don’t think people realize how difficult that task was with some of the choices; characters like Dr. Strange and Black Panther had a cult following at best, while the Guardians straight-up had one of the smallest Marvel fan bases you can have while still being relevant. And yet Guardians is now looking at it’s 3rd movie, Dr. Strange landed one of the most in-demand actors in its lead role, and Black Panther was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

While I think Marvel has had some missteps (the TV division has never been particularly strong outside Agents of Shield, and the Netflix series were average to terrible), it’s easy to look past them when looking at the totality of their success. Feige got Marvel Studios to the point where Sony came to them to make a deal so that they could fix Spider-man. And when Disney bought Fox, Feige was smart enough to recognize that they shouldn’t rush new X-Men movies into production, but wait awhile. That’s excellent brand management, and exactly what Disney needs at this point.

Feige has no influence over the shows. His record is incredibly solid. Also he’s a big fan of the parks. I would love for him to take the reins.

 

[Nirya]

Feige has no influence over the shows. His record is incredibly solid. Also he’s a big fan of the parks. I would love for him to take the reins.

Yeah, I know Jeph Loeb (a guy I really don’t like) is in charge there, but you’d think by now Feige would use his influence to bring that division more in line with the quality of the MCU.

 

[socalifornian]

This makes me wonder how DLR's Galaxy's Edge opening compares to Pandora's in WDW. Anyone have statistics?

A wdw cm friend told me that the dak parking lot would fill up and fop would balloon to 3+ hour long waits when it opened. It was still three hours when I visited in October 2018, nearly a year and a half after opening. Not much different these days. Granted, there aren’t very many other attractions in that park and fop has inflated ride times compared to the falcon since they still aren’t using fp here. I’m sure hourly capacities are different too, I don’t know the fop numbers

Forgot to add that they’re three hours ahead of us. I’m sure crowd flow is at least slightly different at any given time between the two resorts. None of this negates the fact that a new millennium falcon ride has a 45 minute wait

 

[Dead2009]

Judging by this thread, even the slightest bit of bad news means Disney is shutting down tomorrow. Got it.

 

[brb1006]

I tried to stay off the doom-and-gloom boat for as long as I could, but at this point it's the last lifeboat off this sinking ship.

Let's just review some of the facts here and feel free to contribute your own as we make a case against the current Disney management. Obviously, we specialize in Disneyland here, but wherever else the company may be failing, I'd be interested to learn.

1. Galaxy Edge Flops

At this point, it's a flop. People didn't turn up for it. Many of those who did ended up disappointed or just baffled. I think we logically went in expecting what Disney was promising with this "immersive" shtick. I guess we know better at this point. Obviously, all entertainment was cut from the land aside from very underwhelming characters who already appeared in Tomorrowland. There were no aliens, droids or that bounty hunter guy giving you crap if you crashed the Millennium Falcon. They don't even have music playing in there. It's a big desolate depressing middle eastern town in a canyon that doesn't have any of the qualities that people love about Star Wars. A big themed strip mall of overpriced nerdchandise with a disastrous ride that never opened and one disappointing simulator screen ride that no one is realistically ranking among the other real E Tickets at Disneyland.

2. The parks are dead

No one could have predicted that the parks would be dead for weeks in the summertime with seemingly record low attendance. CMs went from being prepared for Disneyland to reach capacity to having all their hours cut. A virtual queue for Galaxy Edge was invented and never used after the first day, when it wasn't even necessary.

3. Bizarre "Pop-Up Store" in Main Street theater

Yeah, I never go in here either, but the obviously strange decision to begin selling merchandise in this minor attraction in the most classic area of Disneyland rubbed many people the wrong way. In a seemingly unprecedented move, Disney responded to the backlash on social media and not only removed the merchandise, but added benches inside. With so much overpriced merchandise cluttering up so much of DLR as it is (Including much of Galaxy Edge), did they really need to shoehorn a store into this little theater? Obviously not. For many, that decision is reason enough to fire the people in charge.

4. Everything is overpriced and getting more expensive

I'm adding this one even though absurdly high prices have been the norm at theme parks and anywhere you go for a while now. I bring my own Tab and vegan sandwiches into the park because everything is so ludicrously overpriced. I did, however, recently eat at DLR and my overpriced meal was served on a tiny plate for toddlers with a pathetic portion while my fountain Diet Coke sloshed out all over the place because they don't even have lids. Terrible.

5. Cheap overlays and spinners

This one really ticks people off. Admittedly, I defend Guardians of the Galaxy. I think they did a decent job with it considering they were tasked with transforming the Tower of Terror into a funnybook movie space tower and it's perhaps a guilty pleasure. But something like Pixar Pier is impossible to defend. The Incredicoaster is such a pathetic crappy overlay. DLR has been getting absolutely screwed. DCA is like all spinning rides in the back. What the frig?

6. Poor response to Jerry Springer scene in Toontown

I hesitated to include this one. It's more bad press for DLR this month, a sad unfortunate incident. I don't blame the CMs for how they responded because I believe it's how they were trained. This is the problem. Their response isn't good enough. This goes back to whoever is calling the shots. DL should be a safe place, not somewhere guests intervene while women are being beaten up in the middle of a walkway. As it's been pointed out in the original thread which was closed like so many elevated transport rides in Tomorrowland, what if something worse were to happen? I guess we should just pray it doesn't.

Correct me if I'm wrong @TP2000, but I remember hearing a couple years ago about Bob Iger planning on leaving/retiring as the CEO of the company on a high note with the opening of Galaxy's Edge. I could be remembering some info wrong but it was mentioned before the news of Iger extending his leadership until around 2021 or so.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

View attachment 388990

Only 15 minutes for Dinosaur!

 

[eddie104]

This makes me wonder how DLR's Galaxy's Edge opening compares to Pandora's in WDW. Anyone have statistics?

Wouldn’t a better comparison be Cars Land since you know...well...that is actually in DLR.

Correct me if I'm wrong @TP2000, but I remember hearing a couple years ago about Bob Iger planning on leaving/retiring as the CEO of the company on a high note with the opening of Galaxy's Edge. I could be remembering some info wrong but it was mentioned before the news of Iger extending his leadership until around 2021 or so.

Yea I remember something about that to as well.

 

[TP2000]

Correct me if I'm wrong @TP2000, but I remember hearing a couple years ago about Bob Iger planning on leaving/retiring as the CEO of the company on a high note with the opening of Galaxy's Edge. I could be remembering some info wrong but it was mentioned before the news of Iger extending his leadership until around 2021 or so.

You are remembering correctly. In the last decade there have been multiple scenarios that Bob Iger has explored for leaving Disney "on a high note".

He was going to bring the NFL back to LA and build the new stadium, until the NFL owners heard his pitch in a Dallas conference room and didn't like him and refused to support his project. He was going to run for Senator Boxer's seat and be the junior Senator from California, until no one liked him enough to support him. Etc., etc., etc.

 

[Darkbeer1]

As for Bob Iger staying, it was the request of the Board for Bob to stay through the completion of the FOX merger, and it was implied that it was the wish of the Murdoch's for Mr. Iger to do the same.

Bob Iger Officially Extends Contract As Disney CEO Through 2021 | Disney News

So it looks like any potential presidential run for Chairman and Chief Executive Bog Iger in 2020 is now on hold. Thursday Walt Disney Co. announced that his contract with the mouse has been extended through December 2021. The move comes on the heels of Disney announcing its $52.4-billion deal...

mydisneydorks.com

 

[TP2000]

Only 15 minutes for Dinosaur!

And only 10 minutes for It's Tough To Be A Bug! That's not bad for a 9 minute long show.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Only 15 minutes for Dinosaur!

Dinosaur is a joke. When I went in January, this was a majority of the ride in a nutshell

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Leave Dinosaur alone. It's better than Indiana Jones!


How about all these crappy remakes of classic movies? It's unbelievable to me how Disney has been butchering their own beloved songs with people who can't and/or don't even sing. They should play this stuff on the muzak in Hell.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Leave Dinosaur alone. It's better than Indiana Jones!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Or did your mom ever bring home a case of New Coke?

It's kind of like that.

I don't like New Disneyland either.

Can we go back to Disneyland Classic?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

If someone put a major movie into theaters unfinished, promising to fix it at some point in the future, they would deserve every bit of flack they'd get.

Fun story, Disney did just that with The Watcher in the Woods.

They released it in 1980 without the intended ending, and then re-released it the following year with the completed scene.

Neither releases were successful.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

One thing is for sure and that is Disney management was overconfident and cocky. From Iger on down. Iger joked in front of shareholders about not even having to advertise for GE. Funding was allocated to get the park ready for the crowds that have yet to materialize. The steps they took to actively keep people away from the park around the opening. The Disney company as a whole has been on a roll financially and it is perhaps a good thing they get knocked down a couple of notches. Everything from the design, marketing, and roll out of GE stunk of hubris.

If things don't turn around quickly for DLR, I'm sure some changes will be made. Regardless, I hope that this serves as a wakeup call to management that they can't just do anything and the cash registers ring.

Excellent analysis (not surprising)...

But don’t be shocked if Florida screws this up and they walk away thinking the awful Hubris with both park management and their handling of Star Wars is justified.

Florida fans suck. I say this as they pull me from their ranks and tar feather me for being “so serious” all the time

 

[Darkbeer1]

And only 10 minutes for It's Tough To Be A Bug! That's not bad for a 9 minute long show.

Well, the DCA wait for "ittbab" is now waiting for Spiderman to come fix the issue.

 

[ParkPeeker]

I have not been in the smuggler's run ride(let alone galaxy's edge) in person yet, but judging from video I wish they had developed a way to make the ride more realistic. For instance inside the cockpit, when you fly out in batuu during the day, the inside of the cockpit is still very dark.
View attachment 383625
it really makes it feel fake. It should look more like this
View attachment 383626
Idk how hard it is to pull lighting tricks like that off, but part of me thinks they probably could have done it

This is more on the ride side of things but I posted this a while ago in another thread. I want them developing rides that are more ingenious and impressive. I came across a youtube video that was exactly what I was talking about when I made that smugglers run post

I know adding simulator stuff to that sky tech makes things way more complicated, but I want them to really invest in cutting edge technology and actually create stuff that's never been seen before. That video is from 4 years ago. Nothing at Disney really impresses me.

The artificial skylight has me way more impressed than smugglers run. Where is that creative innovative excitement in the disney parks? I need it. The guy in the video says 'it's pure magic.' That's what I want

 

[Rich T]

Leave Dinosaur alone. It's better than Indiana Jones!

Yes, Indiana Jones would be much better with a grating voice narrating every inch of the adventure. "Not our door!" "Mummies! Floor it!" "Bugs! Not so bad." "We only have a minute left! Get that motor running!" "Giant snake! Avoid!" "Skulls! At least they look happy!" "Darts! Duck!" "They're not gonna make it! They're not gonna make it!"

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The talk about Disney needing a creative person near the top of the food chain had me thinking of who I would put in that spot, and honestly I keep falling back on Kevin Feige. Personally, I would hate it because it would mean someone else would be overseeing the day to day at Marvel, but it’s hard to argue with his track record. Feige started with Marvel not having access to their A-list heroes (Spider-man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four), so he took the B and C tier and turned them into a multi-billion dollar behemoth. And I don’t think people realize how difficult that task was with some of the choices; characters like Dr. Strange and Black Panther had a cult following at best, while the Guardians straight-up had one of the smallest Marvel fan bases you can have while still being relevant. And yet Guardians is now looking at it’s 3rd movie, Dr. Strange landed one of the most in-demand actors in its lead role, and Black Panther was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

While I think Marvel has had some missteps (the TV division has never been particularly strong outside Agents of Shield, and the Netflix series were average to terrible), it’s easy to look past them when looking at the totality of their success. Feige got Marvel Studios to the point where Sony came to them to make a deal so that they could fix Spider-man. And when Disney bought Fox, Feige was smart enough to recognize that they shouldn’t rush new X-Men movies into production, but wait awhile. That’s excellent brand management, and exactly what Disney needs at this point.

He can’t handle the stock talk wolves of Wall Street and the Silicon Valley...

But I would love it if they would merge Disney’s “adventure” franchises - especially with the fox acquisition - into one creative division that can ensure character develolment and contjnuity...
Maybe even have them with a semi-autonomous division for park and product development/management?

And yes...I’m saying what it looks like I’m saying. It’s time for one division to end.