Stop the "If Walt was alive"!!!

D

DisneyMann

Active Member
Original Poster
Why do so many people think they have intimate knowledge of Walt Disney and what he would and wouldn't like??

Between posts here and on most of the Facebook pages in the comments sections, it's so tiring and ridiculous for people to say "it's not would Walt would have wanted" or the like.

100% of those statements are so ignorant and NONE of those people have ANY clue what Walt would have wanted or thought in 2018.

Just because someone had some historical knowledge of the man, it doesn't mean you know him or what he would think 50 years after his death.
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
DisneyMann said:
Why do so many people think they have intimate knowledge of Walt Disney and what he would and wouldn't like??

Between posts here and on most of the Facebook pages in the comments sections, it's so tiring and ridiculous for people to say "it's not would Walt would have wanted" or the like.

100% of those statements are so ignorant and NONE of those people have ANY clue what Walt would have wanted or thought in 2018.

Just because someone had some historical knowledge of the man, it doesn't mean you know him or what he would think 50 years after his death.
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with what Walt would have thought or wanted in 2018...he would be 117 years old this coming December 5th, and be slobbering all over himself, among other things, if he were still alive.
It's about how high he set the bar back in the day, because he gave a carp about the guests and not squeezing every last thin dime out of their wallets. He wanted to present the best show possible at a reasonable price, so that guests would want to return again and again. Volume vs. an occasional overpriced vacation. Read some Walt Disney biographies, if you haven't already. He was mostly more interested in making more money for better guest experiences than for himself. And whatever he made for his family is nobody's business, and I have no problem with him taking care of his family in the way he did. And, the memories he's made for, literally, billions of people across the planet are imeasurable.
The man was no saint, but, good grief, if you think he would approve of much of the company culture at this point, you're the "ignorant" one IN MY OPINION.
 
D

DisneyMann

Active Member
Original Poster
donaldtoo said:
It has nothing to do with what Walt would have thought or wanted in 2018...he would be 117 years old this coming December 5th, and be slobbering all over himself, among other things, if he were still alive.
It's about how high he set the bar back in the day, because he gave a carp about the guests and not squeezing every last thin dime out of their wallets. He wanted to present the best show possible at a reasonable price, so that guests would want to return again and again. Volume vs. an occasional overpriced vacation. Read some Walt Disney biographies, if you haven't already. He was mostly more interested in making more money for better guest experiences than for himself. And whatever he made for his family is nobody's business, and I have no problem with him taking care of his family in the way he did. And, the memories he's made for, literally, billions of people across the planet are imeasurable.
The man was no saint, but, good grief, if you think he would approve of much of the company culture at this point, you're the "ignorant" one IN MY OPINION.
Click to expand...

But again.....you have no idea if he would approve.... that's my point.
 
eliza61nyc

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
TwilightZone said:
I've haven't heard the what would walt do question in a long time.
But yes, it is the worst question to ask ever.
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oh we use it alot here. It might not be worded exactly like that, usually it goes along the line of "Walt would not want this for his park" or "walt would be so upset if he saw Epcot now". When I see it, it's always in relation to Epcot. lol.
 
eliza61nyc

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
donaldtoo said:
I
The man was no saint, but, good grief, if you think he would approve of much of the company culture at this point, you're the "ignorant" one IN MY OPINION.
Click to expand...

there may not have been a "company" culture if he were alive. the company began going public on the stock exchange in 1957, I understand before then there were stock issued but I'm not sure how. Would walt and Roy still have maintained control? who knows? Would they have expanded the brand now to include tv and sports? that is why IMO there is no way you can even remotely prophesize what wdw would have become. Could he have even conceptualized what the company has become today?

Lastly just because we don't approve of how the company is being run does not mean that all stockholders and visitors feel the same way.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
donaldtoo said:
It has nothing to do with what Walt would have thought or wanted in 2018...he would be 117 years old this coming December 5th, and be slobbering all over himself, among other things, if he were still alive.
It's about how high he set the bar back in the day, because he gave a carp about the guests and not squeezing every last thin dime out of their wallets. He wanted to present the best show possible at a reasonable price, so that guests would want to return again and again. Volume vs. an occasional overpriced vacation. Read some Walt Disney biographies, if you haven't already. He was mostly more interested in making more money for better guest experiences than for himself. And whatever he made for his family is nobody's business, and I have no problem with him taking care of his family in the way he did. And, the memories he's made for, literally, billions of people across the planet are imeasurable.
The man was no saint, but, good grief, if you think he would approve of much of the company culture at this point, you're the "ignorant" one IN MY OPINION.
Click to expand...
His bar was high for his day of theme park building, in the 50's and 60's. Compared to today's standards of both theme park operators and highly knowledgeable Guests, that bar is laying on the ground now. I think I am sure that he would have kept up with technology, just like operators of today are trying to do, but, really, please everyone look back at what he actually built and do it objectively and lovingly and it isn't hard to tell that compared to back then we are in a pretty spectacular time to be attending theme parks. He would be as great now, assuming being 117 didn't slow him down mentally. We just all need to get reality based and not some fantasy memories of a time that didn't exist in how we think we remember or envision it.
 
larryz

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Maybe it's because the company and the Florida facility still bear his name...

If they want to bring the company up to date, the thing to do would be rename it after the current CEO. You know... Igerland, Bob Iger World, Iger/ABC.

They might as well, considering the impacts he's had on all of them.
 
DisneyDoctor

DisneyDoctor

Well-Known Member
I think what OP is trying to get at is his distaste for people constantly complaining about the state of the company. I, too, get a little annoyed by that as well, and I mostly argue pro-Disney to play devil's advocate (and to have a little fun as well :p).

But, OP, if you think Walt would be satisfied with the state of today's company you are grossly wrong. Even I'm not too blind to see that. As someone stated before, read up on your history and it's clear how much the parks have deviated from his original vision.

As an aside, OP, if you want to make a compelling argument, avoid using and capitalizing over-generalizations. I'll make bold some of the words you should avoid using next time you want people to believe what you're saying. "100% of those statements are so ignorant and NONE of those people have ANY clue what Walt would have wanted or thought in 2018."
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
DisneyMann said:
Why do so many people think they have intimate knowledge of Walt Disney and what he would and wouldn't like??

Between posts here and on most of the Facebook pages in the comments sections, it's so tiring and ridiculous for people to say "it's not would Walt would have wanted" or the like.

100% of those statements are so ignorant and NONE of those people have ANY clue what Walt would have wanted or thought in 2018.

Just because someone had some historical knowledge of the man, it doesn't mean you know him or what he would think 50 years after his death.
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You mad, bro??

...if we try to be honest, walt disney would have likely bankrupted Disney or been removed like his son in law was...

The idea of “Epcot” was pure fantasy and a path to embarrassing bankruptcy...

So Walt’s way probably wouldn’t have worked long term.

BUT...that doesn’t mean that Disney catering to an increasingly mentally LAZY clientele in Orlando isn’t a real thing...

That’s crossing the streams
 
geekza

geekza

Well-Known Member
There's very little doubt in my mind that, were Walt alive and still healthy (purely hypothetical, of course), he probably would have moved on long ago from being as hands-on with the theme parks. The man was well-known for obsessing over a particular thing, taking it as far as he felt it could go, and moving on to another big idea, leaving the organization to take over the previous obsession, while only occasionally stepping in to offer his opinions. That's what happened with the films, once he started working on Disneyland. At the end of his life, his attention was focused on EPCOT, the city, with the theme park in Florida simply being a way to fund EPCOT and convince the State of Florida to get on board with the project. He was always looking forward.

With that said, were he to suddenly appear today after being dead for over fifty years, I'm not too sure he'd be happy with the way that the company has changed. In the end, though, nobody can know for sure. We can look at his history and how his thinking evolved over his career and get a good idea of the type of person he was and his expectations from those who were in his employ and say, without question, that today's parks are most certainly not what he would have approved of during the final years of his life, but we can't say how they would have been different, had he lived another twenty years.

I don't think it's wrong to say, "What would Walt do?" within the context of expectations of creativity and quality and the importance of guest experiences. Walt was never good with money, though, which is why Roy was always worried. Walt was a kid in a candy store that was always one giant lollipop away from closing. Walt and Roy made a good team. Unfortunately, Disney (the company) doesn't seem to have a central "dreamer" in a position of power any longer. Once Eisner came in and everyone who worked directly for Walt retired or died, the company changed for good. We're lucky in that Walt left a heckuva legacy when he passed and, though it seems to dim more and more with the passing of time, there's still much of it around, making people happy.
 
S

StarshipDisney

Well-Known Member
After reading this thread, I'll say this...

Considering that the current management of WDW is nothing more than a group of elitist who want to do as much as they can to dilute the Disney experience while working as hard as they can to squeeze every last penny out of you... I will be happy to say here or anywhere that Walt would not be proud of what he would see today...and I do believe that!

His ideals were far too high for what you see happening today with the focus purely on making more $$$.
 
jloucks

jloucks

Well-Known Member
DisneyMann said:
Why do so many people think they have intimate knowledge of Walt Disney and what he would and wouldn't like??

Between posts here and on most of the Facebook pages in the comments sections, it's so tiring and ridiculous for people to say "it's not would Walt would have wanted" or the like.

100% of those statements are so ignorant and NONE of those people have ANY clue what Walt would have wanted or thought in 2018.

Just because someone had some historical knowledge of the man, it doesn't mean you know him or what he would think 50 years after his death.
Click to expand...

Walt would wholeheartedly disagree.
 

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