I place the blame ultimately with Bob Iger. He runs the company and has shown a management style where he ignores most of his business units, so long as they meet Wall Street numbers or have a good excuse (the economy now) for not!
Neither movie critics nor Wall Street have been impressed with how Iger has handled films, the parks, the internet presence, or anything other than television. His hands-off approach works with the right people (Lasseter) and bombs with the wrong ones ("G-Force"-and-"Beverly-Hills"-and-"Doesn't-know-how-to-release-Caspian" Cook, along with "Isn't-it-a-timeshare" Rasulo). To be fair, the television stations are flourishing under Iger, which makes sense because that's his previous background.
Unfortunately, a company with the WDC's legacy might never measure up to its previous greatness because it was begun by a legitimate genius. Walt was possibly the last great Renaissance man in American industry; he dabbled in everything from cartoons to lifelike animation, theme parks to serious transportation concerns. People forget he oversaw both "Snow White" and "True-Life Adventures." The company has expanded (some say bloated) beyond its late 80s/early 90s revitalization, and needs visionaries to helm every business division if it wants to mimic the excitement and greatness of Walt's company. Maybe that'll never happen again: it's easier for a lean athlete to score a goal than an overweight one.
Then, it goes to Jay Rasulo. When you have someone in such a position who takes no joy in the product, who never is seen in the parks unless he has no choice (Bob being there, media opp, important announcement etc), well ... what do you expect to happen?
Please remind me why he's still there. Board members have expressed frustration, Wall Street has complained he has no long-term plans, and Iger/Lasseter have had to step over him to fix DCA and the MK.
And Al Weiss is a trainwreck. It's funny how he really got his power in 1994, just at the end of what I believe was WDW's best years ... Meg is simply a figurehead ... she knows it ... and everyone else does. Erin is the one who runs the resort on a daily basis and if something important is happening, it's gonna get run by Al as well as Meg.
So there's a lot of responsibility for WDW's issues ... and MK's ... and let's not forget that Phil's predecessor at MK was Erin herself!
I'll end here. This is why I
do have high hopes for the MK right now.
Phil's reign has been nothing but a string of cuts, from attractions to stores, entertainment to maintenance, operating budget to landscaping. He refused to give POTC a proper refurb and new show scenes; he blocked necessary expansions and allowed Guests to overflow into the streets; he allowed Main Street to turn into a shopping mall with no reasons for Guests to pause and explore, thereby
decreasing chances they'll spend more than they planned (hasn't the man ever taken a business class?).
But Erin did a great job with the MK, from Splash to TL 1994. Those were the days when the lightbulbs were still regularly replaced, the streets regularly pressure washed, and the parades frequently upgraded. I'm starting to suspect that even now, she's pushing for more things than we know. Too bad the management restructure stripped resort presidents from the power they used to have. I'd like to see Erin as a Prez with real power.
So, back to Kevin.
With the awful job Val did at the MK and DAK, he'd have to try pretty hard to do worse. Any good thing the man does for DAK is going to make him look like the park's savior.
