Tony Baxter D23 Interview: slams NextGen and The Myth of the Story

[Gabe1]

The issue with Staggs is that he doesn't really understand how to sell the product he's being asked to sell.

Probably because he, and many other Disney Execs, I suspect, don't actually do family vacations at Disney...or if they do, it's something like the Disney Cruise Lines or overseas.

Ahhh, my guess is they vacation on some South American beach front at an exclusive resort or island hop in the Caribbean. At some point most Disney employees need to get away from Disney. My DS opted to go on a Carnival cruise this summer. If the hire ups families are visiting the parks here or around the world, they are likely tagging along on a business trip, likely with a GAC or VIP tag.

 

[WDW1974]

We only have his words to go by.

That being said, it doesn't much matter what he personally feels about it.

His public words are a bit ...muted, as one could expect.

It does matter to me what he says because I respect him a great deal.

 

[WDW1974]

Maybe he is a robot and that's why NextGen's budget is bloated. They had to reprogram him and the coding was very complex and overly expensive. @WDW1974 this is confirmed right?

Yep. I think the Yoda AA will be more lifelike than the real Tom Staggs.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Seventh, I like the MyDisneyExperience App...when it works. I don't like it when it doesn't (which is often, even here at WDW where I am now)...and, in no way do I trust it with ADRs. For example, today I went to cancel my Dine with an Imagineer ADR for tomorrow...and the system was going to let me do it, but I cancelled at the confirmation page and called.

The only thing I trust it for is ADRs. Ive only had a problem once and thats because I wasnt properly logged in. (Of course i wasnt prompted to....)

 

[dadddio]

Wow. That totally assumes he was going to get work in the first place. You're amazingly naive if you think that was the case.

The man was fired. Vaughn and his minions hate him. Period. WDI's snot-nosed kids are done with Baxter. Game over.

I guess that you didn't read the post to which I responded.

 

[alphac2005]

The issue with Staggs is that he doesn't really understand how to sell the product he's being asked to sell.

Probably because he, and many other Disney Execs, I suspect, don't actually do family vacations at Disney...or if they do, it's something like the Disney Cruise Lines or overseas.

He's a numbers guy, not a sales guy and it shows. Creatives and sales executives can believably sell their product even if the case in terms of sales if it's a typical total salesperson type of farce in terms of how they really believe or like something.

When a guy like Staggs starts telling Tony Baxter how much he means to the company and that Imagineers like him are the heart of what they do and blah, blah, blah, it's simply nauseating.

 

[liko]

Is this interview posted anywhere? I wasn't fortunate enough to get to the Expo, but I'd love to hear it!

 

[lego606]

I bet Matt Ouimet can name all eleven parks his company runs off the top of his head. Anybody think Tom Staggs could name all eleven DisneyParks?

Of course! There's DisneyPark Florida, DisneyPark California, DisneyPark Europe, uh, the one in... uh... russia? england? one of those. and then I think the one in Brazil we don't own or something?

 

[ddrongowski]

"I think where it (technology) becomes intrusive, you gotta watch out for it. Because what that says to me, if we get to a point where people would rather be texting, or using their personal media, while their at the parks. Then the park attractions need to be ramped up and be more demanding..." Quote from Tony Baxter.

I agree with him.

 

[ddrongowski]

Is this interview posted anywhere? I wasn't fortunate enough to get to the Expo, but I'd love to hear it!

 

[DarthDisney]

Hmm. Very interesting.

Tony openly admitted that he was 'semi-retired' yet he's already received his Legends Award and will soon be honored with a Main Street Window. Most Imagineers had to wait years after full retirement to receive these awards. Yet Tony is getting both within a year of going from full-time SVP to part-time consultant?

Not getting paid?

Legends Award... Main Street Window... maybe a pilot on ABC/Family for a Discovery Bay series...

Methinks Tony is getting paid. Just not in the usual manner.

They are probably paying him , just so he cannot defect to another company. Wonder if he would even consider it, if it was offered ?

 

[Fable McCloud]

Okay, I remember seeing him do the behind the scenes in the last 3 years...when exactly was he let go/fired/quit?

 

[FrankLapidus]

There's something badly wrong when a supposedly creative company like Disney is pushing Tony Baxter out the door and letting penny-pinching morons reign supreme. In a five minute interview he's shown that he's more in touch with the fanbase than Iger, Staggs and Rasulo have in the last five years.

 

[lazyboy97o]

There's something badly wrong when a supposedly creative company like Disney is pushing Tony Baxter out the door and letting penny-pinching morons reign supreme. In a five minute interview he's shown that he's more in touch with the fanbase than Iger, Staggs and Rasulo have in the last five years.

That is because Baxter is a fan. What's worse is there are other fans who argue that fans should be purged from the Company and that the Company should not appeal to its fans.

 

[willtravel]

There's something badly wrong when a supposedly creative company like Disney is pushing Tony Baxter out the door and letting penny-pinching morons reign supreme. In a five minute interview he's shown that he's more in touch with the fanbase than Iger, Staggs and Rasulo have in the last five years.

But this happens in all businesses not just Disney.

 

[dadddio]

Okay, I remember seeing him do the behind the scenes in the last 3 years...when exactly was he let go/fired/quit?

He announced that he was transitioning to part time advisor in February on his 66th birthday.

Is it really unimaginable that he might simply be retiring?

 

[FrankLapidus]

But this happens in all businesses not just Disney.

So?

Disney is a company with a heritage steeped in innovation and creativity and Tony Baxter has played a huge role in that. There is no excuse for a creative company to be pushing a creative genius like him out the door.

 

[willtravel]

So?

Disney is a company with a heritage steeped in innovation and creativity and Tony Baxter has played a huge role in that. There is no excuse for a creative company to be pushing a creative genius like him out the door.

I am not saying it is correct. I am saying that this goes on in all businesses. Tony was let go and someone who has his creative genius is taking his place (hopefully). And someday, as long as he lasts, the company will do the same to him. Look at the owner of the Men's Warehouse who got ousted out of a company he started. A executive chairman/founder of his own company and get ousted by the board of directors. And I read that he did not like the direction the company was going. All I am saying it is sad but happens everywhere.

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

He announced that he was transitioning to part time advisor in February on his 66th birthday.

Is it really unimaginable that he might simply be retiring?

Is it really unimaginable that some of us might know what actually happened?

 

[FrankLapidus]

I am not saying it is correct. I am saying that this goes on in all businesses. Tony was let go and someone who has his creative genius is taking his place (hopefully). And someday, as long as he lasts, the company will do the same to him. Look at the owner of the Men's Warehouse who got ousted out of a company he started. A executive chairman/founder of his own company and get ousted by the board of directors. And I read that he did not like the direction the company was going. All I am saying it is sad but happens everywhere.

It didn't happen at Disney, people like Tony Baxter were not nudged into retirement. I accepted long ago that Disney has changed in that respect and that change has been for the worse, but when Tony speaks more sense in five minutes than Tom Staggs would have if he had spoken on stage for five hours at the expo it reminds me of just how much the company has changed. I find it very difficult to have much faith in the future of WDW when people like Staggs are the ones making the decisions.