News Jim MacPhee takes on new role of Senior Vice President, Operations at Walt Disney World

[EpcotMark]

I met Jim McPhee when I attended the 25th anniversary of Epcot back in 2007. Nice guy. I explained to him that I used to be a rescue ranger at Epcot. He told me, "Come rescue us again some day."

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Happy that he's a 40 year veteran of WDW! That's amazing.

 

[HMF]

Still a bit worried.

I am worried but it's more worry about more of the same than anything getting worse.

 

[Wegerter]

IMHO it could be a lot worse.

@marni1971 Do you know what this might mean for George K? To me it seems that by promoting Jim it delagates all of George’s responsibility to Jim.

 

[Kman101]

Can someone explain his history with the company? The name's familiar but I'm not entirely up on him and if this is a good move, a lateral move (where things roughly stay the same) or a bad move. Doesn't sound like he's too disliked based on the posts in here. But it also sounds like he won't rock the boat too much?

 

[sjhym333]

Jim is a great guy. Started in ops (transportation I think) and worked his way up. In the 15 years i worked at Disney i worked with and for him several times. It was always a great time. He has always been liked everywhere he works because he cares about the show and CM's. When he was VP at EPCOT he was the one who said there needed to be something to celebrate its 25th anniversary and pushed to open the look back at EPCOT in Innovations. You would also see him in the park all the time and he always stopped to talk to CM's. We would often see him on weekends in the parks with his kids. He was a driving force in the implementation of the MM+ system. What I have heard recently is that he had been recovering from a very serious health issue the past couple of years. Nice to see him still working in a senior role. He is one of the great old WDW regime guys still around.

 

[mikejs78]

Jim is a great guy. Started in ops (transportation I think) and worked his way up. In the 15 years i worked at Disney i worked with and for him several times. It was always a great time. He has always been liked everywhere he works because he cares about the show and CM's. When he was VP at EPCOT he was the one who said there needed to be something to celebrate its 25th anniversary and pushed to open the look back at EPCOT in Innovations. You would also see him in the park all the time and he always stopped to talk to CM's. We would often see him on weekends in the parks with his kids. He was a driving force in the implementation of the MM+ system. What I have heard recently is that he had been recovering from a very serious health issue the past couple of years. Nice to see him still working in a senior role. He is one of the great old WDW regime guys still around.

This is encouraging. I hope he fixes some of the operational issues Disney has had in recent years.

 

[brb1006]

Can someone explain his history with the company? The name's familiar but I'm not entirely up on him and if this is a good move, a lateral move (where things roughly stay the same) or a bad move. Doesn't sound like he's too disliked based on the posts in here. But it also sounds like he won't rock the boat too much?

So far he appears to be likeable.

 

[brb1006]

Jim is a great guy. Started in ops (transportation I think) and worked his way up. In the 15 years i worked at Disney i worked with and for him several times. It was always a great time. He has always been liked everywhere he works because he cares about the show and CM's. When he was VP at EPCOT he was the one who said there needed to be something to celebrate its 25th anniversary and pushed to open the look back at EPCOT in Innovations. You would also see him in the park all the time and he always stopped to talk to CM's. We would often see him on weekends in the parks with his kids. He was a driving force in the implementation of the MM+ system. What I have heard recently is that he had been recovering from a very serious health issue the past couple of years. Nice to see him still working in a senior role. He is one of the great old WDW regime guys still around.

Finally a person who actually cares. Now I'm optimistic

 

[tirian]

Finally, a WDW vet gets promoted instead of a mindless Yes-Man. When I was in the Celebration offices, Jim was one of the best leaders in meetings. He “got it.”

He’s still not high enough on the totem pole to veto Burbank’s lousy ideas, but he is a good balance of business experience and Disney culture.

 

[brb1006]

Here's a photo of him during Epcot's 30th Anniversary

 

[Kman101]

Jim is a great guy. Started in ops (transportation I think) and worked his way up. In the 15 years i worked at Disney i worked with and for him several times. It was always a great time. He has always been liked everywhere he works because he cares about the show and CM's. When he was VP at EPCOT he was the one who said there needed to be something to celebrate its 25th anniversary and pushed to open the look back at EPCOT in Innovations. You would also see him in the park all the time and he always stopped to talk to CM's. We would often see him on weekends in the parks with his kids. He was a driving force in the implementation of the MM+ system. What I have heard recently is that he had been recovering from a very serious health issue the past couple of years. Nice to see him still working in a senior role. He is one of the great old WDW regime guys still around.

Good to hear

Thank you!

 

[ChrisFL]

For those that weren't on this site 10 years ago...there was a big plan on this message board (and others) for a fan-based 25th anniversary celebration, as the Epcot VP at the time was not Jim MacPhee and didn't plan for a celebration. Then Jim became the VP and decided that they DID need to do a celebration, and between cooperation between the Epcot CM's and the fans, it became a great event.

Jim started his career as a parking CM on the first day of EPCOT Center (IIRC) and was there, moving up the ladder ever since. I met him on the night of the anniversary event as he decided to stay until late at night and meet the few dozen of us dedicated fans who were there to watch the fireworks special show (after a massive rainfall delayed it). He seems like a really great, dedicated guy.

 

[brb1006]

For those that weren't on this site 10 years ago...there was a big plan on this message board (and others) for a fan-based 25th anniversary celebration, as the Epcot VP at the time was not Jim MacPhee and didn't plan for a celebration. Then Jim became the VP and decided that they DID need to do a celebration, and between cooperation between the Epcot CM's and the fans, it became a great event.

Jim started his career as a parking CM on the first day of EPCOT Center (IIRC) and was there, moving up the ladder ever since. I met him on the night of the anniversary event as he decided to stay until late at night and meet the few dozen of us dedicated fans who were there to watch the fireworks special show (after a massive rainfall delayed it). He seems like a really great, dedicated guy.

Here are two old threads where he was mentioned and a topic.

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/jim-macphee-is-new-epcot-vp.178912/
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/new-titles-and-positions-announced-including-jim-macphee.408155/

 

[brb1006]

I wonder how @Figments Friend feels about this?

 

[TrojanUSC]

@marni1971 Do you know what this might mean for George K? To me it seems that by promoting Jim it delagates all of George’s responsibility to Jim.

There's generally been a top executive of operation, irregardless of the President position. Lee Cockerell, most famously, along with Erin Wallace and others.

 

[Thelazer]

I sure remember that rain storm...

For those that weren't on this site 10 years ago...there was a big plan on this message board (and others) for a fan-based 25th anniversary celebration, as the Epcot VP at the time was not Jim MacPhee and didn't plan for a celebration. Then Jim became the VP and decided that they DID need to do a celebration, and between cooperation between the Epcot CM's and the fans, it became a great event.

Jim started his career as a parking CM on the first day of EPCOT Center (IIRC) and was there, moving up the ladder ever since. I met him on the night of the anniversary event as he decided to stay until late at night and meet the few dozen of us dedicated fans who were there to watch the fireworks special show (after a massive rainfall delayed it). He seems like a really great, dedicated guy.

 

[Horizons78]

I met him on the night of the anniversary event as he decided to stay until late at night and meet the few dozen of us dedicated fans who were there to watch the fireworks special show (after a massive rainfall delayed it). He seems like a really great, dedicated guy.

I sure remember that rain storm...

That was one wild night. We did get the benefit of having dessert inside Odyssey which was cool.

MacPhee indeed seemed to be a very nice guy as you said @ChrisFL

Couldn’t believe that he showed up at the Isola that late at night and took the time to shake hands and share some conversation with the group. Certainly impressed me at the time.

 

[brb1006]

That was one wild night. We did get the benefit of having dessert inside Odyssey which was cool.

MacPhee indeed seemed to be a very nice guy as you said @ChrisFL

Couldn’t believe that he showed up at the Isola that late at night and took the time to shake hands and share some conversation with the group. Certainly impressed me at the time.

Why is it so hard to find pictures of him?

 

[wannabeBelle]

I too remember meeting him at the 25th event. It was so awesome that he took time to come out and speak with the fans. I remember being impressed. I am optimistic about what this could mean for the parks and the resort as a whole. Marie