Rilous Carter New VP of Epcot; Dan Cockerell New VP of Hollywood Studios

mm52200

mm52200

Well-Known Member
Question was Carter the one who made the decision on replacing Block Party Bash with Countdown to Fun? If so I guess it's a good thing there are no parades at Epcot for him to ruin.
 
SeaCastle

SeaCastle

Well-Known Member
jt04 said:
You are "imagining" such or do have actual evidence or are you just repeating talking points?

I think both parks have shown excellent progress under both VP's. The only thing lacking is more capital investment by TWDC. Both parks have done well with small adds done on limited budgets especially Epcot.

I'm still waiting for this to be confirmed beyond a couple anonymous random text messages. :rolleyes:
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You sure you want to be one to accuse me of "imagining" things, jt? :rolleyes:

I'm not one to repeat talking points. By reading the boards, I've seen insiders and outsiders speak very highly of Carter, especially when it comes to dealing with cast members. I wouldn't post anecdotes if I didn't believe that they were valid (for example, the maintenance of the Studios compared to the other Florida parks).

You'd have to be naive to believe that the son of the former vice president of WDW ops wouldn't have his position at least partially attributed to his father.

mm522 said:
Question was Carter the one who made the decision on replacing Block Party Bash with Countdown to Fun? If so I guess it's a good thing there are no parades at Epcot for him to ruin.
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I'm not sure who was responsible for the BPB/Countdown to Fun change. I believe that Entertainment is responsible for budgeting parades and spectaculars, and the funds for entertainment would not be allocated by Carter or a park VP.
 
W

WDWTrojan

Well-Known Member
SeaCastle said:
I've heard a lot of good things about Rilous Carter...he's supposedly an exec that really gets it. Furthermore, it's reported that the Fantasmic fiasco was a decision made above him. You can also make the argument that the Studios is the cleanest, best-kept park at the Resort (which, in my experience, is true).

Dan's father, Lee Cockerell, was a bigwig in the 1994 management team (when things started going downhill), and I'd imagine that Dan's mobility through the company can be attributed to his father's clout.
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Lee Cockerell wasn't just around in the 1994 management team. He was the EVP of Operations until just a few years ago. Incredibly nice guy. Had some strong points. However, he highly prides himself on a lot of the things Disney fans detest (homogenizing of food & merchandise across the property, for example)...

Back in the day, each restaurant was free to essentially use their own ingredients, source their own foods and offer a pretty large variety of options on their menus. None of that exists today, really. Sure, some restaurants still have freedom (mainly the ones that rely heavily on cash-paying guests, as opposed to DDP guests), but you'll notice that most of the restaurants use the same products nowadays (as noticeable as the dinner rolls, french fries and liquor menus). A lot of this can be attributed to the horror that the Disney Dining Plan inflicted on the quality of WDW restaurants, but the basis for it came from his office.

Same thing applies to how you can no longer get a lot of unique shop-specific merchandise. It's all global items now.

He still gives lectures about these "achievements" to this day.
 
Thrill Seeker

Thrill Seeker

Well-Known Member
I never have actually met Dan, but Rilous is a really nice guy. I've seen him many times lingering around Star Tours. I've heard good and bad things about Dan, but I'm going to withhold judgement until I meet the guy, if I ever do.
 
docandsix

docandsix

Active Member
trojanjustin said:
However, he highly prides himself on a lot of the things Disney fans detest (homogenizing of food & merchandise across the property, for example)...

...but the basis for it came from his office.

Same thing applies to how you can no longer get a lot of unique shop-specific merchandise. It's all global items now.

He still gives lectures about these "achievements" to this day.
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I now have a new nemesis. How someone could not see this as an insult and injury to the guests' experience is impossible for me to imagine. If he means "achievement" in the sense of padding the stockholders' bottom-line, I guess I understand. Otherwise, he's either oblivious or malicious.
 
Ransom

Ransom

Well-Known Member
docandsix said:
I now have a new nemesis. How someone could not see this as an insult and injury to the guests' experience is impossible for me to imagine. If he means "achievement" in the sense of padding the stockholders' bottom-line, I guess I understand. Otherwise, he's either oblivious or malicious.
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In the corporate world, there often is no meaningful achievement other than padding the stockholders' bottom line.
 
W

WDWTrojan

Well-Known Member
docandsix said:
I now have a new nemesis. How someone could not see this as an insult and injury to the guests' experience is impossible for me to imagine. If he means "achievement" in the sense of padding the stockholders' bottom-line, I guess I understand. Otherwise, he's either oblivious or malicious.
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Could not agree more. It works in some situations, to be sure, as a way to save money and streamline your efforts... however, if not executed correctly it can just make for a negative guest experience.

Lee used to use an example of how he cut the types of French Fries served on property (at WDW owned restaurants) from 14 to 2. Now, on paper that can sound great and you save X thousands per year. However, that kind of cut back really homogenizes things. Maybe there wasn't a need for 14, so scale it back to 8 or 10. Enough so that people can have unique food experiences at different restaurants on property. The same applies for the liquor menus. Many guests probably went to a specific bar on property to get their favorite cocktail (I went to Mannequins - RIP - for some favorites, I know). Alas, lounges no longer offer this... all the liquor menus are standard liquor distributor issued menus, that you can probably find in an airport Hilton.
 
M

myawn

New Member
So does this mean no more Osborne lights?

Since holiday lighting at EPCOT was discontinued since it's 'obsolete technology', does this mean Dan will discontinue the Osborne lights at DHS?

Or, taking the optimistic approach, does it mean we might finally see a replacement for the Lights of Winter at EPCOT from the new management?
 
SeaCastle

SeaCastle

Well-Known Member
myawn said:
Since holiday lighting at EPCOT was discontinued since it's 'obsolete technology', does this mean Dan will discontinue the Osborne lights at DHS?

Or, taking the optimistic approach, does it mean we might finally see a replacement for the Lights of Winter at EPCOT from the new management?
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I thought raven had posted a while ago that a new light display was going up this Christmas season at EPCOT, and had been in the works for a couple of years.

Based on photo reports I've read, it seems DHS really goes the extra mile with Christmas decorations, and I hope that Rilous brings some of that to EPCOT, which seemed to be lacking.
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Didn't Dan push the UOE repaint as one of his first directives?

I hope he hates the Hat as much as he loves reds and yellows...
 
W

WDW Monorail

Well-Known Member
trojanjustin said:
Same thing applies to how you can no longer get a lot of unique shop-specific merchandise. It's all global items now.

He still gives lectures about these "achievements" to this day.
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That's a huge positive for me. It makes it so much easier to get something I know I want without having to go to an individual shop.
Say There was something I wanted in a store in the MK, I haven't been to the MK in 6 years so I would be very happy to find it in DTD or elsewhere.
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
WDW Monorail said:
That's a huge positive for me. It makes it so much easier to get something I know I want without having to go to an individual shop.
Say There was something I wanted in a store in the MK, I haven't been to the MK in 6 years so I would be very happy to find it in DTD or elsewhere.
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But it cuts down on the number of unique items the resort can carry at one time.
 
B

BigThunderMatt

Well-Known Member
unkadug said:
But it cuts down on the number of unique items the resort can carry at one time.
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Agreed. I distinctly remember from my childhood many more attraction-specific types of merchandise. I had a Legend of the Lion King shirt from my first trip in '94. Last year, IMO was when merchandise hit rock bottom, but all the 40th stuff in addition to 'retro-style' shirts is definitely turning things around.
 

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