Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[articos]

Let me preface this by saying, I agree and acknowledge everything you said. It is a sad state of affairs today in most large companies.

My point is that the rank and file have no control over these factors and only have it in their ability to fight for change within that (flawed) system. I've seen it in my own personal experience at my own company. I've sat in numerous meetings where changes are shot down by the CEO or high ranking executives in favor of the cheapest route. But I've also changed their mind on a few occasions by pestering, begging, and providing research that spending more now will make them more in the long run. And though I lose 9 times out of 10, that one victory does occur. Its the curse of middle management in the current business climate. Its inefficient and unnecessary the amount of work it takes to affect change, but unfortunately it is often times the only way. And, perhaps Imagineering isn't the best place for that to occur, but it has to occur somewhere or the suits will end up homogenizing the company to death.

I've had very limited dealings with Disney in my work, albeit not with P&R. But from what I have seen from people over there, mid level employees fear upsetting the legal department and their reportable numbers above all else. I work a great deal with another company that has this exact same corporate culture. Microsoft. And we've watched Microsoft turn from a cutting edge company, to the 800 pound gorilla, to a slowly becoming irrelevant shell of its former self. Sound familiar? When everything is played safe for the bottom line and wall street at a creative company, irrelevance is what will occur.

Now can imagineers or middle management save the company by fighting the good fight? Probably not. But I would hope that some would try anyway. But if so few are fighting the good fight now, maybe a purge isn't the worst thing in the world? Or maybe they are fighting and things are so bad there that they just aren't heard? I wouldn't know that. I'm just an outsider speculating based on my own experience. But that is what I see from my far removed viewpoint.

Great post. For things to change, the corporate culture has to change, and that starts at the top, unfortunately. Otherwise, people in the middle are too fearful of their jobs to stick their neck out.

Sorry I don't have the information immediately in front of me but most of Walt's wealth was company stock. If I correctly remember, Walt was the single biggest shareholder.

Walt Disney Studios was a relatively small company until the mid-1950s. I can look up the numbers later when I have a chance but company revenue exploded with the opening of Disneyland. I think the company's annual revenue jumped from something like $9M to $48M in one year. (Again, I'll double-check the numbers later.)

In order to fund DL (again, sorry if I get the numbers wrong), the Disney brothers had to sell off majority ownership. For example, for $500K cash and a guaranteed a loan for another $5M, they sold 34% interest in DL to ABC. Walt himself originally purchased 17.5% ownership for $250K. Bank of America funded most of DL, I think with a $11M loan. Walt supposedly was about $100K in debt until DL's finances fell into place. DL was a hugh financial risk and it took several years to pay off the loans. Eventually, Walt Disney Studios bought back 100% ownership of DL, including Walt's share. Sources note that Walt resented having to pay ABC $7.5M to buy back their share in DL, Walt feeling they hadn't done anything to earn it.

The company had a string of TV and movie successes from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, topping it off with Mary Poppins which was Walt's biggest commercial success. It was over this 10-year period that Walt amassed most of his wealth. Still, the company's revenue was dominated by DL.

I've read that Walt's attitude towards money changed during his last few years. Most studio executives were extremely wealthy and Walt felt he deserved to be one of them, given the personal financial risks he had taken over the years as well as the creative direction he provided his namesake company. Walt supposedly was a big believer in "earning" money and he felt he had done more than most to earn his money.

The company's most valuable asset was DL which they had invested about $60M in by 1965. They spent something around $5M to purchase the land in Florida. (I recall 27,000 acres averaging about $200/acre.) They had to scrounge around a bit for the money for WDW but it wasn't too difficult. Due to the success of DL plus having paid off their large loan to Bank of America, a lot of people had faith in the Disney Company. If I correctly remember, rather than take out loans, Roy Disney did something creative like issue company stock to pay for WDW.

When you read the numbers involved, it's amusing when people refer to Walt as a billionaire. I am old enough to remember a time when Howard Hughes was considered to be the richest man in the world yet his fortune was about $1.5B when he died in 1976. It was Michael Eisner who grew TWDC into the mega corporation that it is today.

Another couple of great posts from you here. You just have to look at the rate of growth on ticket prices, room rates, et al. at the World to see they've lost touch. The prices went up incrementally for the first 20 years, then exploded. It's not sustainable. Until recently, even Land wasn't crazy enough to do what World was up to.

 

[stlphil]

Is it just me or is it odd that we haven't gotten a column from Al Lutz yet in march? It have been 45+ days since his last column. Certainly wouldn't have anything to do with two of his top source being fired/relocated??

It could just be that not much major is happening at DL these days. With the new princess area open, there is nothing new- other than some nebulous plans for a Tomorrowland thematic redo and Iron Man ride, which may be a long way off.

 

[flynnibus]

It could just be that not much major is happening at DL these days. With the new princess area open, there is nothing new- other than some nebulous plans for a Tomorrowland thematic redo and Iron Man ride, which may be a long way off.

Well there are the new AP cards.. the change to entry age limits.. spring break crowd levels.. the new PFF... starbucks in market house.. where the TL and Frontierland plans are... Oz rumors.. etc

Lots of activity out there.

 

[WDW1974]

An interesting link to a totally BIASED view of how Disney handles social media so wonderfully:


http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/14094.aspx

 

[Lee]

An interesting link to a totally BIASED view of how Disney handles social media so wonderfully:


http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/14094.aspx

This part made me laugh out loud:

Although the conservative Disney corporation was uncomfortable with allowing open comments on the blog, the team fought for it. Since then, the team has received (and answered) tens of thousands of questions.

 

[ptaylor]

An interesting link to a totally BIASED view of how Disney handles social media so wonderfully:


http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/14094.aspx

One thing I hate more than social media - sites talking about social media. They seem to think they are so ahead of the curve, and cutting edge.

The Disney Parks Blog is reasonable, but realistically, with the resources they have available, it could be considerably better. Thomas Smith I believe calls the Fantasyland 'All in the Details' articles "World Class". Really? The coverage on this website on Fantasyland was far ahead of anything that they Disney Parks Blog put out. All they posted were a few abstract closeups of parts of Fantasyland, with a couple of sentences. If that is world class content, then we are in trouble.

Social media people really like to talk themselves up - instead of doing that they should maybe work on the actual job at hand. Just more evidence that social media in the corporate world is a huge collection of buzz words designed to keep highly paid "experts" in business.

Did you see what people were paying to attend that social media conference at WDW recently? It was obscene. And just to hear people go on about how great their social media strategy is.

 

[BrianLo]

Is it just me or is it odd that we haven't gotten a column from Al Lutz yet in march? It have been 45+ days since his last column. Certainly wouldn't have anything to do with two of his top source being fired/relocated??

Agreed. I was highly expecting an article yesterday. There are quite a few things I was expecting to hear about (his take on Disney Springs for one) as well as rumblings of the Oz project now that the movie has preformed quite well. If there still isn't an article next week it's not for lack of things to talk about.

 

[DocMcHulk]

This part made me laugh out loud:

They use Apple's version of "open". Anyone can submit whatever they want, they just reserve the right to never let it see the light of day.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

Sadly, you are being too optimistic.

In 1960, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was about 20-to-1.

In 1980, that number had risen to about 30-to-1.

As recently as 1990, the number was under 60-to-1.

In 2011, the ratio stood at 231-to-1.

Iger's CEO-to-CM compensation ratio is close to 2000-to-1.

Walt Disney, who built the company through his own effort, risking his money many times, never collected more than about $150,000 in annual compensation, about $1M adjusted for inflation. At the time of his death, Walt was worth about $35 million, about $250 million today. In today's age of mega billionaires, Walt would have been a pauper.

Walt was no fool but he was not obsessed with money either. It's not what drove him. As Walt said:

Pretty staggering numbers there. I found this article about Walt Disney's 1940 letter to Stockholder's (balancing his company's finances with his creativity and iconic persona) to further support your reasoning:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/219629657/13CEEE8D3D02411E875/3?accountid=28365

(Skip to pages 74 and 75)

Edit: (On a side note, as I watched @wdwmagic Splash Youtube vid today, I got an ad for this new WDW commercial I'd never seen before called "Where in the World" and I must say while there was a little princess moment in it, it was as good of WDW commercial I'd seen in a while)

 

[RSoxNo1]

I didn't think this needed it's own thread, as much of what I put in this article came from things I wrote in this thread.

http://micechat.com/24073-disney-fastpass-plus/

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

I didn't think this needed it's own thread, as much of what I put in this article came from things I wrote in this thread.

http://micechat.com/24073-disney-fastpass-plus/

Wow great find and great letter! Hopefully this gets through and to Burbank Management and maybe can at least delay the MM+/NGE rollout. I wonder if he will get a response from Iger similar to the one he gave for Markey. I wish I had the abililty to carefully think out and write such a straightfoward and to the point letter to get my concerning points across. He shares many of the same feelings most of us anti NGE/MM+ members have here. Only thing I wish he could've done was list more attractions that have seen a decline in show quality but at least the main/obvious ones were pointed out. I know I definitely agree with that article.

 

[George]

I didn't think this needed it's own thread, as much of what I put in this article came from things I wrote in this thread.

http://micechat.com/24073-disney-fastpass-plus/

Fantastic letter. Really. I hope everyone quotes this to keep it in the limelight for a bit.

 

[culturenthrills]

Here's a link to a story on FOX News by O-Town blogger Ricky Brigante (the guy who claims he doesn't like to cover negative Disney stories ). As an aside, I don't think his blogging had anything to do with landing the FOX gig. The dude attended one of the most exclusive prep schools in Florida and likely made some connections:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2013/03/18/walt-disney-world-makes-way-for-makeover/

And this is why Disney fails. Instead of innovating, they are gonna turn Downtown Disney into a carbon copy of every other upscale retail/dining complex in the country. Notice I didn't say entertainment cause I feel there will be little in the way of entertainment unless you want to pay thru the nose for it. Say what you will about Citywalk and the former PI you did get a good bang for your buck with your club pass. Much better than what you will have to pay for each separate experience.

 

[WDW1974]

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot....

I do often think how sad it is that so many fans didn't visit in the 70s and 80s when there was greenery everywhere and even on the approach you had vast swaths (like say Celebration sized) of empty land with bovine grazing. WDW is over developed now and they want it worse (more DVC, FC, Golden Oak etc...)

 

[WDW1974]

TDO is responsible for creating this "hustle and bustle vacation" mentality in their guests! Ugh. Makes me wanna throw my laptop at the wall.

Come now, you mean there's something wrong with paying $400 a night for a 3-star hotel in real word terms and spending all of six hours a day there? C'mon, where's your sense of MAGIC and Pixie Dust?

 

[WDW1974]

Tony was deliberately put into limbo by Vaughn so as to keep him away from anything meaningful being worked on in Glendale. By changing his position from active Senior Vice President to occasional advisor with the caveat that any current Imagineer wanting Tony's advice needs to get permission from Vaughn in order to seek it effectively squashes any input Tony might be able to give. His new position is basically a no man's land of isolation which Vaughn completely controls.

As for future projects, there's only a snowball's chance that Baxter will be consulted on anything, no matter who's in charge. Rumor has it that WDI is about to undergo a major restructuring, and anyone over the age of 55 pretty much has a bulls eye on his/her back. Seniority has now become a detriment to continued employment at WDI. You can basically kiss the "old school" Imagineers (what's left of them) goodbye.

I think ... check that. I know that Tony was only the beginning of the purge.

If I were Joe Rohde I might be calling up the folks at UNI or Thinkwell because somebody has a Yeti's chance at DAK of surviving this one ...

 

[WDW1974]

Quoted for seriousness. Tony could well have just been the beginning.

Was the beginning, old chum.

Just look at SDL, who exactly is designing and building it? Bob Weis and a bunch of contractors and nobodies. ... While Tony is pushed into exile and mid to high six figure folks sit around twiddling their thumbs. They have done far more cleaning than I have with my ephemera collection ...

 

[WDW1974]

Aside from the negatives of good people losing their jobs, is there any possibility that this could be a good thing? Is this purely out with the overpaid, or is it make room for new blood? Not to sound callous, but sometimes when things get stale you need to shake things up regardless of past successes or reputations.

I obviously have no real insight on this. Just looking for some bit of silver lining on that dark cloud.

No. Not good at all.

Disney hasn't trained a NEXT GEN of Imagaineers in the true ways of the company's greats. And they haven't hired the best and brightest either.

 

[WDW1974]

Remember by the time of WED... Disney still had a lot of outside influencers in the business.. WED was a way to operate completely under Walt without any interference - including Roy. Even tho they pillaged WDP for people and resources. Walt started playing hardball with his licensing of his name and likeness back to the company, etc.. which was a point of contention. The deals started to look pretty incestuous and drew some scrutiny too.

It is very hard to equate Walt's perceived greed in any way, shape or form with what we have at Disney (and in the USA in general) in the 21st century.

 

[WDW1974]

Does Tony Baxter think of himself as a victim, or is only this audience that victimizes him? Sounds as if the man did some great things, was compensated for them and had issues managing the politics of his role later in his career. That isn't all the fault of TWDC or his vilified leaders, Tony has some personal responsibility into how he managed his career. Companies do at times behave horribly, but everyone is accountable for how they handle that behavior.

Tony is/was no angel, no doubt. He is a highly talented artist with an ego to match. Not very different from any other Imagineer you'll find. And he wasn't good at playing politics versus other folks like his 'mortal enemy' Tom Fitzgerald (who will likely be unemployed as well very, very soon). But he was screwed over by TWDC and WDI's leadership since the late 90s -- led by Marty Sklar (and I like Marty, not only as a professional but as someone who pulled my mother out of the way of a moving car!!!)

In essence, Tony has been shelved since 1998. He has made the type of salary that I believe anyone here would kill for, and despite that, despite his amazing history of producing great content for the parks, was relegated to tiny jobs at DL and not given a sniff of anything Disney was working on around the world.

It was a disgrace. Tony is no victim, but he was victimized by plenty of folks ending with Iger, Staggs, Vaughn and Russell.