Meg and Co. Head West ...

[jt04]

It's funny that you mention Lee when you're trying to discredit his spirit friend. You consider Lee a credible source, correct? And surely you're seen him clarify 74's credibility? And you call him...a hack? A + B ≠ C

This is my last comment as you see what you want to see so I feel I am wasting my time. I am not questioning anyone's connections or knowledge. I am saying his tactics are borish and the points he makes are repetitcious beyond what seems humanely possible. :lol: He "walmarts" his own ideas.

And he can not live up to his own standards. Simple as that.

 

[jt04]

Another fight...I'm shocked! Can we please lock this up so no more time is wasted on it.

I would vote for deleting this thread. :wave:

 

[Lee]

Meg in Anaheim. Don't count on her "learning" anything. She isn't open to it, and nobody out there wants to risk their job by trying to teach her anything.

My 2 cents on '74's identity: it is only really unknown here in the fan community. The "powers that be" at Disney are quite aware of who he is, from hourly cms to the executive floors in Burbank.
It's far more about protecting one's privacy in general than a concern that Disney know who is criticizing them.

 

[TP2000]

But I do find it interesting that Al assumes that Meg isn't out there to attempt further ONE DISNEY homogenization/Walmarting of the Anaheim property or simply to show her dominance over George K and his TDA team. Of course, since one of Al's top sources happens to be ... 'close' to George, one wonders who is spinning whom.

Is that why the tone and info from Al Lutz has been so upbeat and exciting in the last few years? Certainly there's lots to be upbeat about around Anaheim in the last few years, and at least in my lifetime the place has never looked better cosmetically and operationally than it does now, but is that why Lutz has had almost nothing but good news for the last few years?

As for the ONE DISNEY stuff, isn't it possible that Crofton & Co. were sent out to Anaheim by Staggs to learn a few things? Over on Disneyland sites, respected CM's are stating that management has told them that Crofton & Co. was sent out to SoCal this week by Staggs who wants her team to learn theme park tips n' tricks from the Disneylanders.

If both WDI and TDA got together and staged a big multi-day series of presentations for Crofton and her WDW group on Disneyland's operation and DCA's 2012 plans, that tells me that someone in Burbank who oversees all three of those various divisions (WDI, DLR, WDW) was behind this and orchestrated the agenda and set it purposely in Anaheim.

I don't know that for a fact, I only know it from decades working in corporate life for various companies. When three different company divisions from opposite ends of the country are put together in one room at one specific property for a multi-day conference, it had to have come from an order above. In this case, the order would have come from Staggs in Burbank, and the fact that Anaheim played host would strongly support the theory that Crofton & Co. was sent there to learn and not to teach. :lookaroun

 

[ttalovebug]

Does JT's apparent obsession with '74 make anyone else uncomfortable? :lookaroun

 

[Cosmic Commando]

As for the ONE DISNEY stuff, isn't it possible that Crofton & Co. were sent out to Anaheim by Staggs to learn a few things? Over on Disneyland sites, respected CM's are stating that management has told them that Crofton & Co. was sent out to SoCal this week by Staggs who wants her team to learn theme park tips n' tricks from the Disneylanders.

I'd really like to believe that this will be the moment that turns everything around for TDO, but does Staggs really need to send them to Anaheim to tell them "Paint your @#$& stuff!" or "Did you know you can unscrew a broken light bulb and put a new one in its place?" ?

There have been moments like this before. I remember Al Lutz posted a while ago that TDO execs were showed around Anaheim and they were taken aback at how much better shape the rides were in at DLR, especially where DL completely replaced the sound system for POTC and WDW just did patchwork repairs. What have we gotten since that supposed moment of revelation? The half-way redo of Space Mountain.

 

[marni1971]

Does JT's apparent obsession with '74 make anyone else uncomfortable? :lookaroun

Yes.

 

[WDWFigment]

Does JT's apparent obsession with '74 make anyone else uncomfortable? :lookaroun

Only when others quote him. If everyone just put him on ignore, the world would be a better place.

 

[jt04]

Does JT's apparent obsession with '74 make anyone else uncomfortable? :lookaroun

Perhaps it would be better to be concerned with his obsession with Disney management types. The fact is he posts essentially the same thing over and over only changing the order of the sentences. Reminds me of that scene in "The Shining". The entire movie actually!

Very disturbing. :lookaroun

 

[jt04]

Only when others quote him. If everyone just put him on ignore, the world would be a better place.

...

 

[jt04]

Is that why the tone and info from Al Lutz has been so upbeat and exciting in the last few years? Certainly there's lots to be upbeat about around Anaheim in the last few years, and at least in my lifetime the place has never looked better cosmetically and operationally than it does now, but is that why Lutz has had almost nothing but good news for the last few years?

As for the ONE DISNEY stuff, isn't it possible that Crofton & Co. were sent out to Anaheim by Staggs to learn a few things? Over on Disneyland sites, respected CM's are stating that management has told them that Crofton & Co. was sent out to SoCal this week by Staggs who wants her team to learn theme park tips n' tricks from the Disneylanders.

If both WDI and TDA got together and staged a big multi-day series of presentations for Crofton and her WDW group on Disneyland's operation and DCA's 2012 plans, that tells me that someone in Burbank who oversees all three of those various divisions (WDI, DLR, WDW) was behind this and orchestrated the agenda and set it purposely in Anaheim.

I don't know that for a fact, I only know it from decades working in corporate life for various companies. When three different company divisions from opposite ends of the country are put together in one room at one specific property for a multi-day conference, it had to have come from an order above. In this case, the order would have come from Staggs in Burbank, and the fact that Anaheim played host would strongly support the theory that Crofton & Co. was sent there to learn and not to teach. :lookaroun

And people accuse me of reading too much into these events. Wow! :ROFLOL:

 

[Bolna]

Another fight...I'm shocked! Can we please lock this up so no more time is wasted on it.

I surely hope that this thread won't be locked!! I normally don't want to add to that stupid debate, but this really has to be addressed.

I don't understand why anyone would think that locking this thread would be an appropriate measure. Why should a discussion about the purpose of the trip of the president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations, U.S. and France to Anaheim be locked because one poster does not add anything to the discussion, but choses to make personal attacks against the OP by questioning his professional success and his personal integrity. Two topics which have nothing to do with anything that is supposed to be discussed here.

I would be happy for a moderator to take out all these posts (including mine on this topic), but to let those who go off topic be successful at derailing the on topic discussion with personal attacks against one poster so much that it gets locked would be madness.

I think it is an interesting topic, especially since there are people around on this discussion board who might have some insight in what is actually happening during this visit. If I want to know the future direction of Walt Disney Park and Resorts, things like that are way more telling than any armchair imagineering discussion - something which I find incredibly boring, but don't go around and complain about when other people enjoy it.

 

[ToTBellHop]

What disturbs me is that every thread ends up being about jt. Of course, when all of jt's posts are about himself or comparing himself to someone else, I guess that's only natural.

What is unfortunate is that this could actually be an interesting discussion if it weren't about jt. Meg going to DL is intriguing. Meg is now in charge of DL and DL Paris, right? Frightening. I don't like HR on a good day, so it was bad enough when they put an HR director in charge of WDW, let alone DL and Paris, too.

I understand the logic in putting an HR person in charge of WDW (lots of employees to manage), but I think someone who had managed a couple theme parks would also have the necessary HR skill and actually understand the Disney brand. Regardless of the fact that Meg has been working for the company for over 3 decades, I doubt there is much magic in the HR office.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I welcome everyone's posts here. The personal insider stuff is interesting and much more fun to read than the official press releases. Sure, there is obviously an issue between these two posters, but so what? I'll read on. There are pieces of news to be found among the mudslinging.

 

[wdwmagic]

How about we keep this on the topic. A lot of this would be better in Private Messages. Thanks.

 

[Bolna]

Meg is now in charge of DL and DL Paris, right?

Yes, the news story from July is here in the wdwmagic news:
http://www.wdwmagic.com/Other/Walt-...s-and-Resorts-Operations,-U.S.-and-France.htm

It says the following:

Walt Disney World Resort President Meg Crofton promoted to president, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations, U.S. and France
Jul 05, 2011

As part of an executive reshuffle, Tom Staggs today announced that Walt Disney World Resort President Meg Crofton has been promoted to President, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations. This positions Meg Crofton in the top leadership position of Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris.

George Kalogridis, president, Disneyland Resort, and Philippe Gas, president, Euro Disney SAS will both report to Crofton. While Crofton herself retains the role of Walt Disney World President, reporting to Tom Staggs.

 

[TheBeatles]

how can i ignore/block jt's posts?

 

[trr1]

Yes, the news story from July is here in the wdwmagic news:
http://www.wdwmagic.com/Other/Walt-...s-and-Resorts-Operations,-U.S.-and-France.htm

It says the following:

Will they find a new president for Walt Disney World resorts?

 

[TP2000]

Will they find a new president for Walt Disney World resorts?

No, Meg is still in charge of WDW too, and Disney made it clear there would not be a replacement named for the old spot. Meg's job didn't change much with this news, and it was rumored to be more of a figurehead position and a convenient way to save some embarassment for the company after the previous person who was in that spot needed to leave the company unexpectedly.

Meg still has the exact same role she's had previously with WDW, with no additional executives added to her ranks to take on some of her workload. She just took on a figurehead position for Anaheim and Paris.

In short, Tom Staggs effectively flattened the reporting structure that reports up to him directly. There's fewer people between him and the park properties now.

 

[TP2000]

And people accuse me of reading too much into these events. Wow! :ROFLOL:

As I said, I can't pretend to have the inside scoop on this one. But I have been around the corporate world for a few decades and know what it takes and what it means to have a giant executive pow-wow at one property, pulling in execs from several different divsions and sites from across the country. That's not exclusive to Disney, and it's easy to see what it takes to make that type of major executive event happen. Staggs had to have put that together.

The Anaheim Cast Members posting on other sites who are leaking what Anaheim management is saying quite smugly about this latest visit by Meg and nearly her entire executive team is also pretty easy to decipher.

Overall, this should be good news for TDO and WDW. But, as Cosmic Commando pointed out, this isn't the first time TDO execs have seen first-hand the growing difference in showmanship between Anaheim and Orlando and then did absolutely nothing about it. See the Pirates of the Caribbean rehab of 2006 as an example.

Ironically, Disneyland's Pirates is in the last month of a three month rehab this fall. This is the second multi-month rehab Disneyland's Pirates has had since the big Johnny Depp one in '06. In that same time since '06, WDW's Pirates has had just one 12-day rehab back in 2008. And now it shows. It's stuff like that where TDO's business model needs to change ASAP, and more visits to Anaheim should help them see the light.