I did not write this. It was submitted to SaveDisney -- PART 2:
A more cost effective WDI
So now that the creatives are buried under layers of bureaucracy and restrained by multiple systems of control, what's WDI like today?
Well, Peter Rummell and the land developers are gone, replaced by Don Goodman and the project managers. Don Goodman is the latest in the long line of financial managers to try to reign in the creatives. His tactics involve an army of project managers who believe they can manage the creation of a Disney theme park attraction the same way one manages the construction of a high rise condominium. There is little room for creativity or innovation.
Goodman has aggressively sought to cut costs-layoffs at Imagineering in recent years have been staggering. Of course, this is understandable due to the downturn in theme park attendance and the fact that WDI just completed three large projects (Disney's California Adventure, Tokyo Disney Sea and Walt Disney Studios Paris). What is not so easy to understand is who was laid off. Very few executives lost their jobs, while thousands of lower paid but highly skilled employees were sent away. One of the few executives that was laid-off was the creative lead for Tokyo Disney Sea (the only successful park of the three, budgeted and paid-for, not by Disney, but Oriental Land Company, owners of Tokyo Disneyland). The creative leads for Disney's California Adventure and the Walt Disney Studios Paris were given promotions. The explanation for this is simple. At WDI, promotions are given out based on ones willingness to support management decisions, not ones ability to achieve results.
Not only did a disproportionately large number of workers loose their job in comparison to executives; Goodman actually hired new executives. He created a "Business Development" department. This department has been tasked with analyzing the way WDI does business and makes recommendations about future development. They have made such brilliant observations as, "film-based attractions are less expensive to reproduce for other parks than Audio-Animatronics shows." The MBAs have been let loose on WDI. The result is a very top-heavy reporting structure with a lot of expensive executives barking orders at fewer and fewer worker bees. The MBAs quote trends, and analyze guest polls, and try to keep costs down by employing techniques they learned from textbooks (what works for a widget must work for a theme park). Well, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror has failed to revive the ailing California Adventure park, and Walt Disney Studios Paris is an anchor sinking the entire Paris resort. However, Tokyo Disney Sea, which was funded and managed by the Oriental Land Company (with creative by WDI) is the only success story in recent history. Paul Pressler (who promoted Don Goodman into his current position as WDI President) openly said that Disney would never create a park like Tokyo Disney Sea with its own money. "The profit margins are too low, our shareholders would never stand for it," he claimed. Ironically, the Disney shareholders have not been very happy lately, while the Oriental Land Company is doing well in a weak Japanese economy. It seems that the Oriental Land Company executives understood something that Pressler and the strategic planners did not-lower profit margins are still better than losses.
So, what ever happened to Pressler? He jumped ship again and was replaced by his partner in crime from Paris, Jay Rasulo. Pressler is now finding ways to reap short-term profits on cargo pants as the CEO of the Gap.
WDI Creative Development today
Artists are risk-takers by nature. They are innovators, freethinkers. It is simply illogical to expect a creative person to rise to the top of the ranks in a risk-adverse environment like today's WDI. As a result, the contemporary WDI actually recognizes and promotes non-creative thinkers, because they are willing to go along with whatever management says.
The WDI Creative Development department is continually tasked to create projects that are "hip and edgy," lower cost and lower risk. All of this stands in sharp contrast to the Imagineering of Walt's day which was challenged to create unique experiences that could stand the test of time, that were innovative and original.
Many of the WDI creative executives have, it seems, accepted their fate. Very rarely do any of them speak up against the Project Managers, Strategic Planners, or Park Operations executives. They've become comfortable with their high-income lifestyle and do not wish to rock the boat. Boat rockers usually get thrown overboard.
WDI is broken. It seems that as long as creative ideas need to be submitted to the strategic planners for approval, things will not improve. WDI must be allowed to take some risks. Ideas must be appraised based on their creative merit as well as their financial feasibility, and those conducting the appraisal must have a solid understanding of why Disney theme parks are appealing to people. These practices may seem like common sense, but unfortunately they no longer take place.
Many WDI executives have their high-level positions because of old friendships, not because they've proven themselves creatively or demonstrated that they know how to exceed the high expectations people have for Disney theme parks. The strategic planners in Burbank do not support investment in theme parks because they believe the profit margins are too low over the short term. The truth is...they simply don't understand how the business works (theme parks are not the same as widgets, it turns out). The theme park business is a long-term investment, which yields more stable returns then motion pictures, broadcast media or consumer products (not a good business for a fee-agent type interested in personal advancement at the expense of the company's long-term value).
But if these problems are rectified, there is hope. The recent creative and financial success of Tokyo Disney Sea demonstrates that the spark is still within WDI-well hidden under the bureaucracy. That spark can be fanned into a flame, and under the right conditions, will burn brightly again.
