Pining for the days of Eisner

[Gitson Shiggles]

Why do I find myself thinking Eisner was better for the parks than Iger as time passes? I somewhat remember Roy E.’s campaign to oust him, and I recall supporting that effort.

But now I miss Uncle Mike. What’s the deal?

 

[Magenta Panther]

Eisner was kind of better for the parks, and he seemed to genuinely like Disney, unlike Iger, who has no liking or understanding of Walt's legacy except where it might make a buck. But Eisner wasn't that good for the studio. He nearly lost Pixar, and of course started the buying-of-castoff-IP spree with his ridiculous purchase of the Muppets, a practice Iger pounced on with glee. Now, I wouldn't mind the purchase of stuff like Marvel and Star Wars if they were limited to movie production only; those franchises make money, which is good for the company and maybe help the parks? But no, Iger has to stick them into the parks as well, and that's what disgusts me. Seeing tacky dippy superheroes like the Hulk running around in Walt's parks make me sick. So anyway, Eisner was a mixed bag. I can't say I miss him that much.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Before we get too nostalgic, looking at Disney Parks and Recreation as a whole, recall that Eisner was the one who oversaw the debacles of California Adventure and Eurodisneyland when they first opened.

 

[Gitson Shiggles]

Before we get too nostalgic, looking at Disney Parks and Recreation as a whole, recall that Eisner was the one who oversaw the debacles of California Adventure and Eurodisneyland when they first opened.

True, but that could be spun as Eisner actually took risks. He just didn’t have a Roy O. to reel him in.

 

[Shouldigo12]

True, but that could be spun as Eisner actually took risks. He just didn’t have a Roy O. to reel him in.

I don't think California Adventure and EuroDisney's...issues...can really be blamed on risks. It was just bad decision making. Who bans wine in a French theme park?

 

[Model3 McQueen]

There were some great accomplishments achieved under Eisner, as well as some real dizzying lows.

I think Iger is the "safe" choice. I refuse to believe he & Chappy really care about the theme parks; it's apparent with their IP movement, but people keep going.

 

[PorterRedkey]

Why do I find myself thinking Eisner was better for the parks than Iger as time passes? I somewhat remember Roy E.’s campaign to oust him, and I recall supporting that effort.

But now I miss Uncle Mike. What’s the deal?

You're missing Frank Wells. All of Eisner's decisions, after Well's tragic death, were significantly worse than when Wells was his rudder.

 

[donsullivan]

I don't think California Adventure and EuroDisney's...issues...can really be blamed on risks. It was just bad decision making. Who bans wine in a French theme park?

While there are lots of different issues that plagued Euro Disney when it opened in 1992, there was one over-riding one that was all about Eisner. At that time in history, Eisner fancied himself a big patron of architecture and some major architects. He hired major architects like Stern and Gehry and together they way overbuilt hotel capacity for what was at the time a one park resort. They so overbuilt hotel capacity that for a while in the early years, the Newport Bay hotel would be closed for the winter to reduce room inventory. When things got tight with other operational issues in the park they didn't have any money available to respond to it due to the massive debt payments each month. At least half the hotels that were built for the opening should not have been built at that stage. It took them nearly 2 decades to get out from underneath the debt caused by Eisner's hubris on that topic.

 

[Shouldigo12]

While there are lots of different issues that plagued Euro Disney when it opened in 1992, there was one over-riding one that was all about Eisner. At that time in history, Eisner fancied himself a big patron of architecture and some major architects. He hired major architects like Stern and Gehry and together they way overbuilt hotel capacity for what was at the time a one park resort. They so overbuilt hotel capacity that for a while in the early years, the Newport Bay hotel would be closed for the winter to reduce room inventory. When things got tight with other operational issues in the park they didn't have any money available to respond to it due to the massive debt payments each month. At least half the hotels that were built for the opening should not have been built at that stage. It took them nearly 2 decades to get out from underneath the debt caused by Eisner's hubris on that topic.

Yep. EuroDisney (which even had a bad name, considering the French use the euro as currency, making the name the equivalent of Dollar Disney) had a lot of issues, and Eisner definitely played a large role in that. Weren't they at one point even considering shutting it down? I can't remember if it was this park or Hong Kong.

 

[JIMINYCR]

For years Wells and Eisner made a fantastic team. Wells was able to reign in Eisner but once he was killed in the copter crash, Eisner took complete control knowing he was answerable to pretty much no one. He began to make missteps, had the Katzenberg blow up which was very costly, and started looking to enrich himself as much as possible off of Disney, knowing he was falling out of favor with Roy Disney and the Disney board members and his end was near.

 

[donsullivan]

Yep. EuroDisney (which even had a bad name, considering the French use the euro as currency, making the name the equivalent of Dollar Disney) had a lot of issues, and Eisner definitely played a large role in that. Weren't they at one point even considering shutting it down? I can't remember if it was this park or Hong Kong.

It was indeed very close to that at one point in the 90's when they simply could not keep up with the debt payments. Those financial strains showed up in the declining maintenance and operation of the parks which began to have a negative impact on attendance. They eventually found a white knight in the form a Saudi Prince who bought up much of the debt and helped them to restructure it. Along they way Disney (Burbank) had to give up much of their royalty and management fees, etc.. as part of this whole restructuring for many years. Keep in mind that at this stage, Euro Disney was a separate legal company and the Walt Disney Company only owned ~49% of it and after the restructuring they dropped down to ~39%.

 

[Gitson Shiggles]

You're missing Frank Wells. All of Eisner's decisions, after Well's tragic death, were significantly worse than when Wells was his rutter.

The Frank Wells who was involved in the planning of the controversial and cancelled Disney’s America? AK is significantly worse? True, Wells was around initially for AK, but Eisner could’ve cancelled the project because of Wells’ death; the lukewarm reception of Euro Disney; public backlash from Disney’s America; and doubt from within the company. However, he didn’t cancel AK.

As a previous poster explained (and if memory serves me right), Eisner’s downfall was his handling of the studio and television networks. Roy E. had complained of Eisner’s micromanaging. I would long to see a return to that, in respect to the parks. Roy E. also complained the company had become soul-less under Eisner. I won’t ignore the parks were also part of the complaint; however, only in respect to the parks, there’s less soul in them now than when I first visited WDW in 2003, and I was an adult.

 

[juniorthomas]

Eisner was kind of better for the parks, and he seemed to genuinely like Disney, unlike Iger, who has no liking or understanding of Walt's legacy except where it might make a buck. But Eisner wasn't that good for the studio. He nearly lost Pixar, and of course started the buying-of-castoff-IP spree with his ridiculous purchase of the Muppets, a practice Iger pounced on with glee. Now, I wouldn't mind the purchase of stuff like Marvel and Star Wars if they were limited to movie production only; those franchises make money, which is good for the company and maybe help the parks? But no, Iger has to stick them into the parks as well, and that's what disgusts me. Seeing tacky dippy superheroes like the Hulk running around in Walt's parks make me sick. So anyway, Eisner was a mixed bag. I can't say I miss him that much.

But how do you really feel?

 

[SirWillow]

There is a lot in common with the end of the Eisner era in the parks and the end of the Iger era in the parks. Remember the end of Eisner is when maintenance levels at Disneyland were absolutely horrible, culminating with the kleat at the boat dock ripping loose and killing a guest, followed up by the Thunder Mountain accident. It took people dying before they realized they couldn't keep the park in that condition and started to fix it up. (yes, that's a rather simplistic look at it, but that's it at the core). WDW managed to avoid some of that budget cutting at the time.

Seeing the same types of patterns emerging at the parks again, expect this time it's at all of them- cutting budgets, upkeep, staffing, etc all over the place.

Edit add in- don't forget that the end of the Eisner era was also a time of bad, unoriginal and derivative movies coming out of Disney as well. 102 Dalmations, Little Mermaid 2. Extremely Goofy Movie. Air Bud 3. Cinderella 2. An occaisional gem in a bunch of junk. Gee, does this pattern sound familiar?

 

[networkpro]

Eisner was actually personally involved in parks while Iger is hands off.

Then who gwts the blame for hiring Meg ?

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Iger has aggressively expanded the parks worldwide. Eisner did so but post Wells he started to get progressively worse.

 

[danyoung56]

All of Eisner's decisions, after Well's tragic death, were significantly worse than when Wells was his rutter.

Rutter?

 

[PorterRedkey]

Rutter?

Oops! I meant rudder. Fixed. Thanks!

 

[PorterRedkey]

The Frank Wells who was involved in the planning of the controversial and cancelled Disney’s America? AK is significantly worse? True, Wells was around initially for AK, but Eisner could’ve cancelled the project because of Wells’ death; the lukewarm reception of Euro Disney; public backlash from Disney’s America; and doubt from within the company. However, he didn’t cancel AK.

As a previous poster explained (and if memory serves me right), Eisner’s downfall was his handling of the studio and television networks. Roy E. had complained of Eisner’s micromanaging. I would long to see a return to that, in respect to the parks. Roy E. also complained the company had become soul-less under Eisner. I won’t ignore the parks were also part of the complaint; however, only in respect to the parks, there’s less soul in them now than when I first visited WDW in 2003, and I was an adult.

Roy's 2nd "save Disney" campaign came long after Wells death in 1994. So that is an example of Bad Eisner which strengthens my point.

Here are a few accomplishments for the Studios/Parks during the Wells/Eisner partnership.

• The golden renaissance of Disney animation to include hits like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
• Blockbuster films like Pretty Woman, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Sister Act, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Good Morning, Vietnam.
• Television hits such as The Golden Girls and Home Improvement, along with making The Disney Channel one of the largest pay television networks.
• The tremendous resort growth of Walt Disney World and its competition against Universal with The Disney-MGM Studios and a slate of hotels, water parks, and resort offerings.
• The creation of Disneyland Paris with a Magic Kingdom, hotels, a campground and The Disney Village.
• The redevelopment of Disneyland as a resort destination and not simply a park, with the purchase of the Disneyland Hotel, and property throughout Anaheim.
• Development of The Disney Store and its consumer products division to include video releases.

So not bad.

Here's a recent article explaining their relationship more. Wells was the check against Eisner's bad ideas and the support for Eisner's good ideas.
http://allears.net/2019/02/04/michael-eisner-and-frank-wells-formed-a-formidable-disney-partnership/

Oh and I think Disney's America would have been a great park (for a while). I am sad it didn't get built, but I can't imagine how it would hold up in today's political climate.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It’s pretty 50/50. So far guests aren’t dying because of poor maintenance, although the monorail door could be compared to the Disneyland riverboat incident... someone could have easily died or not died in either incident.

As much as I dislike the Iger era “slap an ip wherever it’s easy” mentality, I don’t think eisners Dino-Rama era is any better.