Eisner is the one who put the current leadership team in place, helped corrode the culture at WDI and Walt Disney Animation, used Tony Baxter as a scapegoat and threw him in a position where he couldn't do anything for decades, propped up losers like Michael Ovitz, Paul Pressler, and Cynthia Harris, etc.
Neither former Disney CEO Michael Eisner or his replacement Bob Iger are Walt Disney:
"Everybody thinks that Disneyland is a goldmine but we have had our problems. You've got to work it and know how to handle it. Even trying to keep that park clean is a tremendous expense. And those sharp-pencil guys tell you, 'Walt, if we cut down on maintenance, we'd save a lot of money.' But I don't believe in that. It's like any other show on the road; it must be kept clean and fresh."
It's clear that even while Disney President Frank Wells was alive, he and Eisner were cutting back on the meticulous quality that was so strictly adhered to by the "What Would Walt Do?" disciples. The simple truth is that Wells & Eisner forced out the last remnants of WDW's Old Guard (Bill Sullivan and Bob Mathieson) in the mid-1990s, effectively bringing an end to the Walt & Roy Disney era at WDW.
In a greater sense, Eisner and Iger are alike.
What
is different is the degree to which Eisner and Iger listened to those "sharp-pencil guys" Walt Disney railed against.
Eisner might have let those "sharp-pencil guys" influence decisions at WDW. However, Iger has made listening to those "sharp-pencil guys" central to his theme park management philosophy.
If there were quality cuts in the 1990s, I didn't notice them. Heck, even a decade ago when I did start to notice them, they were so minor that I tended to look the other way, still enraptured by Pixie Dust.
Even 5 years ago, after the shine had rubbed off, WDW was
by far the best game in town. 5 years ago, comparing WDW and Uni in the same breath would have been unimaginable. Not anymore.
As each year passes and the latest quality reduction becomes the new norm, those running The Show look for more ways to cut corners, to reestablish an even lower standard of Show at WDW.
Unlike Eisner, who believed in constantly investing in new additions at WDW's theme parks (even if we didn't always like the results), Iger clearly has no problem letting WDW stagnant for years if for no other reason than because it's cost effective.
Meanwhile, Iger has been very open about employing a price leveraging strategy at WDW. It's a case of "whatever the market will bear." We all know that MyMagic+ is more of the same, nothing more than one big money grab.
Yet in the end, it's still the same WDW, growing increasingly old and requiring a growing amount of capital in order to bring it back up to something even remotely resembling its former standards.
Iger has led the way on even more quality cuts, theme park stagnation, and much higher prices at WDW.
WDW remained fresh under Eisner.
Under Iger, WDW has grown old.
Everyone has their threshold of pain.
I did not reach my threshold while Eisner was in charge.
I have with Iger.
