The Spirited 11th Hour ...

[BrerJon]

Making people park a mile away from the gates and not providing any kind of transport is a dumb proposal.

They're going to be running buses and trams aren't they? You can walk from Mickey and Friends if you want, but they still provide transportation for those who need it.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I have the same questions about the leaders being chosen in the large organization where I work. People put in positions to lead others and they have no working knowledge of what people under their charge do. When you ask why, the answer is something like "you don't have to know how to do the job of the people you lead, you just have to know how to lead". Honestly it's a bogus philosophy that helps to foster cronyism.

Really management is a lot more then knowing how to operate a ride (or whatever). Management is organization and motivation projected to those that work for them. Learning the nuts and bolts of a job is relatively easy. Getting people to put those nuts and blots together is what management is all about. Anyone that graduated with a degree in Business Management is told that from day one. You can focus on a specific field of technical knowledge if you want, but, it isn't necessary. All you have to convey is a willingness to listen, to delegate properly and support your workers. (fight for them if necessary). That doesn't in anyway describe today's manager. All you have to do to be in management now is carefully memorize the words. "Yes, sir, your right sir! Right away sir! And the occasional... My staff sucks, it's not my fault.

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

I did have an interesting anecdote passed to me by someone with intimate knowledge of the man. Here's a bit of what said individual had to say: ''Chapek has had and still has a tremendous amount of learning to do -- about the basics of his core businesses. It was clear he had absolutely no working knowledge about DL or the theme park industry in general. Even as a Guest. The average tourist staying across the street at the Best Western knows far more about Disneyland than Bob Chapek does.''

Sorry, but this is an industry where intimate knowledge of the product is essential, if not personal enjoyment of said product. Hells bells... even Mikey loved the parks. So much so, he put himself at the top of the Imagineering food chain. And when an attraction failed to deliver, he knew it. And let everyone responsible know it, too. (Case in point: the first Journey Into Imagination redo.)

Seriously. This is like someone who hates sweets running a world class pastry shop. Or a vegetarian taking over an award-winning BBQ smokehouse. Why put someone in charge -- no matter how skilled they are at running different kinds of businesses -- who doesn't know as much about the product as the casual customer? How will this exec ever make knowledgeable decisions regarding the customers' most important desires and what will keep them coming back, again and again and again?

Not happy about another newbie running the show. Again.

 

[Andrew C]

Sorry, but this is an industry where intimate knowledge of the product is essential, if not personal enjoyment of said product. Hells bells... even Mikey loved the parks. So much so, he put himself at the top of the Imagineering food chain. And when an attraction failed to deliver, he knew it. And let everyone responsible know it, too. (Case in point: the first Journey Into Imagination redo.)

Seriously. This is like someone who hates sweets running a world class pastry shop. Or a vegetarian taking over an award-winning BBQ smokehouse. Why put someone in charge -- no matter how skilled they are at running different kinds of businesses -- who doesn't know as much about the product as the casual customer? How will this exec ever make knowledgeable decisions regarding the customers' most important desires and what will keep them coming back, again and again and again?

Not happy about another newbie running the show. Again.

Is this sarcasm?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Is this sarcasm?

No. Disney still thinks Paul Pressler did a good job and keep repeating that same concept.

 

[Andrew C]

No. Disney still thinks Paul Pressler did a good job and keep repeating that same concept.

That is disneys mistake. Nothing to do with the concept itself. So many companies succeed with this concept.

 

[hopemax]

That doesn't mean he is a bad guy or even a bad choice to run the division. It does give one pause as to how these decisions are made, though. Imagine a similar scenario in your own lives? How likely would it be that you'd get to run a division with absolutely no experience in it whatsoever, not even teen internships or part time jobs while in college? It's sorta like being the head of nutrition at a hospital and suddenly you are the head of neurology. Why? Are you detecting a pattern that in these "decisions'' there are really no choices to be made at all?

I am pretty sure the original WDW Ops people have stories about how they were suddenly elevated to positions they didn't think they should have because the original people with so called "experience" failed miserably. Especially, the hotel ops. And I'm not sure exactly how making animated movies makes one a great theme park designer, but that worked too. So I would say, it depends on the people involved. Some good people can absolutely work like that. Those people are worth their price in gold. Now, whether Disney has or values those people, and is Bob Weis one of them is a separate question.

 

[lazyboy97o]

That is disneys mistake. Nothing to do with the concept itself. So many companies succeed with this concept.

It has yet to work for this industry.

 

[Andrew C]

It has yet to work for this industry.

Yeah. Disney hasn't made this work at all throughout their history. There are zero examples. Yep...now this is sarcasm.

 

[BrianLo]

No one with any intimate knowledge of the situation has remotely suggested Bob Chapek has disdain for the parks, he's just inexperienced.

An imagineer throwing a temper tantrum and leaking information to Mice Age because Bob said "no, you are already spending too much money, figure it out" when they proposed a third attraction is not a 'budget cut'.

We'll see where this parking garage actually heads.

Can we at least wait for him to get a chance to truly do something before calling for a lynch mob?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yeah. Disney hasn't made this work at all throughout their history. There are zero examples. Yep...now this is sarcasm.

So name a name.

 

[Andrew C]

So name a name.

I dunno. Every animator who moved to WED and took lead roles in creating attractions and designing a theme park. Marty Sklar. Heck, even Eisner himself in some ways.

But if you would rather have some internal theme park guy take over the parks instead of Chappie, I'm sure it would work out great. They have been doing such a "great" job recently. Let's stay with the same set of eyes, right?

 

[lazyboy97o]

I dunno. Every animator who moved to WED and took lead roles in creating attractions and designing a theme park. Marty Sklar. Heck, even Eisner himself in some ways.

But if you would rather have some internal theme park guy take over the parks instead of Chappie, I'm sure it would work out great. They have been doing such a "great" job recently. Let's stay with the same set of eyes, right?

WED Enterprises never ran the parks nor are Disney's current executives the only people with industry experience.

 

[Andrew C]

WED Enterprises never ran the parks nor are Disney's current executives the only people with industry experience.

Yes I'm aware. Thanks.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Seriously. This is like someone who hates sweets running a world class pastry shop. Or a vegetarian taking over an award-winning BBQ smokehouse. Why put someone in charge -- no matter how skilled they are at running different kinds of businesses -- who doesn't know as much about the product as the casual customer? How will this exec ever make knowledgeable decisions regarding the customers' most important desires and what will keep them coming back, again and again and again?

This is the company that put Jay "I hate theme parks" Rasulo in charge of P&R. The man responsible for losing the Harry Potter rights to UNI, put Bruce Vaughn in charge of WDI, and greenlit NGE/MM+.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Thanks for derailing the thread with your petty arguments....

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yes I'm aware. Thanks.

So then why bother giving a non answer? You said there were plenty of examples of these times of leadership moves being a success within Disney's theme parks, and the best you could do was not one.

 

[Andrew C]

So then why bother giving a non answer? You said there were plenty of examples of these times of leadership moves being a success within Disney's theme parks, and the best you could do was not one.

I gave you some but they don't fit your narrative.

Anyways, we can end this now. We arent getting anywhere and Dave is about to bring out some saucy language.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I gave you some but they don't fit your narrative.

Anyways, we can end this now. We arent getting anywhere and Dave is about to bring out some saucy language.

You just said you knew that WED Enterprises never ran the parks. There is no other narrative than running parks. It has not worked at Disney or even any of the other park chains. If there were so many success stories you wouldn't need to resort to lying about naming some.

And I don't care if some idiot is going to make threats on a message board by quoting movies.

 

[Andrew C]

You just said you knew that WED Enterprises never ran the parks. There is no other narrative than running parks. It has not worked at Disney or even any of the other park chains. If there were so many success stories you wouldn't need to resort to lying about naming some.

And I don't care if some idiot is going to make threats on a message board by quoting movies.

You are referring to the industry as just park operations. I am not. Park operations. Park design. WDI. I'm considering that all part of the industry.