Oh wow...this is a fun one!
I added some comments, but I think you get my drift. I am going to continue to play devils advocate here because I feel that we tend to develop this mob mentality when none of us actually have the facts. It's very easy to join the crowd and point fingers, but without facts then are just baseless accusations. Again, I definitely don't agree with the lacking maintenance practices or broken effects...and I blame whomever may be responsible. However, just because she is the big boss doesn't mean she micromanages every area and every decision. The executives below her all got to their positions because someone believed in their decision making abilities.
Evan...in the business world, you are responsible for every decision that your subordinates make...regardless of whether you micromanage them or not. While certain maintenance decisions might have been made by an Operations Manager, or the decision to cut F! down to 2 nights a week might have rested with a VP, the decision to let
those decisions stand fall with her. In another scenario...a CEO or CEO might have no idea that a certain corporate accountant was cooking the books and supplying the auditors with false records, but it's still their responsibility to know and their fault they let it happen.
Anything that has happened under Meg's watch that has led to a deteriorating product is ultimately her fault.
I am not getting into the whole "Hate Eisner" bandwagon. It's tired, old and water under the bridge.
90% of the time we have no real clue what is going on behind the scenes when it comes to budgeting and financing all of the projects so many spoiled guests demand. All we can do is speculate and hope. I mean if you know so much about it why don't you submit a resume, ace an interview and go to work for them? Then you can dictate and come back and tell us all how easy it really is. Maybe you can wow us with your genuis and solve all the problems. See how easy it is to criticize a person you know nothing about???
If you paid any attention to my posts in the past..you would know that I am not a "Hate Eisner" bandwagoner...infact I'm probably the biggest proponent of Eisner on these boards. I'm not pretending to know how hard Meg's job is, but a business person can't use the excuse "do you know how hard my job is?" to explain away a deteriation in show quality, originality, and identity within WDW. That's absurd to use the idea that "we don't know what their job is really like" to ever defend against someone's actions as viewed from the public eye.
Seriously.
^ This was funny! ^ :lol:
I think it's funny that Meg gets blasted in almost every thread for issues that have nothing to do with her. Nobody is without their faults but seriously people... the mentality on this forum is sometimes embarrassing. Being upset/frustrated with the way things are operating at WDW is one thing... but hating and ridiculing some name you've been told is the villain is telling of character.
Perhaps in this case perception is reality. I can understand that. But I don't get how so many people can put so much blame about so many things that are wrong on just a few people.
I think for many of you, regardless of economic conditions or corporate initiatives... the name at the top of the flow chart is the one you will target. I just don't quite get the final goal of your mission.
You have to be able to put a name/face to an issue when addressing it. She is responsible for WDW, so she is to blame.
I don't look at it as some anti TDO propaganda machine... It's some posters on a message board who hate TDO - Which is a very generic, vanilla, cheap-operating management team. You're being a bit over dramatic, dude. And ridiculous. Proof is in the pudding and people have legit reasons to not like TDO. Personally, TDO isn't something to be impressed with. Especially going by the lastest attendance esitmates. WDW has fallen short on a myriad of different issues for years, all due to TDO.
Having said that, in a business you do need someone like Meg. You really do. You need the by the books, unsentimental, squeeze every penny type of personality. But you need someone with great imagination and creativity to to lead. You don't put someone like Meg in charge unless you have a strong leader over them. And I don't think they've had that until now. Especially over WDW.
This is the direct quote from Staggs:
That gives me hope. I've been riding the Staggs fanboy bus from the start
Mr. ID....I was going to say it...but then you did...so I thank you for addressing JT's post!
I am someone who loves the parks, will notice when things aren't the way I like them to be, be happy when things are looking good.
I also only get to go every other year or so, and don't pay too much attention to the "Inside Baseball" type stuff about who is on what board or what management team with WDW or DisneyParks.
I will just say this, it seems like the Internet Universe of Disney Fans was waiting for something to complain about for the last few years and now they've got it, and all the negativity seems to be for it's own sake.
Meg Crofton (whose name I only know from hearing it sometimes on Podcasts) apparently has made WDW a horrible place to visit and nearly destroyed our beloved institution. Well, that's news to me.
Pleasure Island closed. Yes, that wasn't a great thing. However, the clubs were empty nearly every night.
The Pixar Pals parade isn't amazing, OK.
Here's where we get into nutso territory:
"She's run the parks into the ground" Oy
"MK hasn't had a major expansion in 20 years" (If only there was an amazing MK expansion in the works)
I don't care about Meg Crofton. All I know is the Parks are a wonderful place for my son and family to visit. Disney's California Adventure is adding an amazing amount of attractions in the next year. Magic Kingdom's expansion will be one of the most incredible the park has seen in DECADES.
I am eagerly looking forward to my trip next month.
I guess I will just have to lay off the internet for a while, for fear of people telling me I am not allowed to enjoy it, that my dole whip won't taste good, that my kid won't love Toy Stpry Mania, that he'll cry the second we walk into the Magic Kingdom, because Meg Crofton got a promotion.
:brick:
Nobody is saying you souldn't enjoy WDW.... has anyone else here seen ANYONE say such an absurd thing????
I still love WDW, I still visit (though I'm taking a hiatus for 18 months), and I still have a great time when I visit.
This stance that "fans" like you take against those of us who want to see quality return the parks is ridiculous. How about you actually read the arguments and reasoning that people are supplying and think back to what the parks used to offer...everything from live entertainment throughout the parks to night time entertainment.
WDW is a great place (that used to be a whole lot better), Disneyland is better than WDW and offers just about everything WDW does, and I've been told that Tokyo Disneyland blows both out of the water by a longshot. With Meg's promotion though there is now a greater opportunity for not only WDW quality to continue to decline but for that to spread now back to Disneyland and Paris.
iubigman-
First of all, no one is telling you that you shouldn't be able to enjoy the parks. That's stupid and you shouldn't get so defensive about it. Don't try to make assumptions about people who visit these forums and express their own opinions. No one is going to get angry that you enjoy yourself, why the heck would they? Ridiculous assumption. Your opinion is perfectly valid, there's no problem with that...
For the rest of your comments- there's a lot more issues than the very few you listed (forget the maintenance issues?). While your son wouldn't necessarily know who Meg was, or pick up on tiny details, he'd probably wonder why certain figures in rides are either broken or severely messed up if he knew they were supposed to work in a certain way (like Brer Rabbit jumping along). Depends on the person, the thing you're looking for, and whether they go to Disney World a lot.
Now for the main thing- Disney as a corporation is basically counting on the fact that there are people who don't have any problems with the diminishing quality. This is NOT an insult (so don't try to read it as one), but that's sort of the kind of people that share your own attitude. While it's nice that you can still enjoy the parks, the quality issues are there whether we complain about them or not. Some people are genuinely irritated though (not without good reasons). It's not wrong to want the best since we are in fact paying for it. Complaining isn't even hurting your enjoyment anyways, is it? It shouldn't. Let people complain if they feel like they're entitled to do so (which they are, it is their money after all).
Fantasyland Expansion is quite popular in concept, but it really isn't adding a whole lot compared to what DCA is getting. All in all, we're actually effectively getting one physical new ride (Mermaid). Dwarf Coaster is replacing a pre-exising attraction, and Dumbo is simply adding more capacity. The rest is either food or meet n greets. Hopefully more improvements are eventually added (maybe a Peter Pan redo). I'm personally pretty happy with it, but you have to take things in perspective.
Merlin...I like you...please join our cause...
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:lookaroun