News Walt Disney Imagineering makes organizational changes and new creative leads at the theme parks

[the.dreamfinder]

In defense of WDSP they didn't throw much of anything at it due to them not really wanting to build the park to begin with. Tom also worked on Epcot. It certainly was a trying or strange time at the company then.

Fair. That’s above Tom’s paygrade. The park shouldn’t have been built at all and the capital should have been put into Parc Disneyland. Heck, Phillipe Gas was able to get the French Government to stall gate 3 for at least ten years.

Having said that, that does not excuse him from building a park that does not deserve the Disney name. It is the weakest of the budget engineered era parks.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Fair. That’s above Tom’s paygrade. The park shouldn’t have been built at all and the capital should have been put into Parc Disneyland. Heck, Phillipe Gas was able to get the French Government to stall gate 3 for at least ten years.

Having said that, that does not excuse him from building a park that does not deserve the Disney name. It is the weakest of the budget engineered era parks.

Should be interesting to see how episode 4 of the Imagineering Story talks about WDSP, if it even does at all.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Now that we’re 20 plus years out from the ABC/CapCitites deal, who acquired who? To what extent has the ABC part of the merged company subsumed control from the Disney part of the company. Who does the Fox deal make sense to on the Disney side, where fanboys make shallow arguments in favor because of rights issues, or to the ABC side, where they will have a greatly expanded TV business, especially in global markets where the bundle is still strong?

“Among all of our key people, I knew Bob Iger least well at the time of the merger. He quickly emerged as a significant force in the company. In addition to running ABC, he became the point person in the efforts to bring the two companies together. To a very complex job he brought a range of skills—not least that he woke up very early in the morning and worked very late in the evenings.”
- Michael Eisner, Work in Progress, p. 389

So there it is. Earlier in the book Eisner describes Iger’s response to the merger and there is no enthusiasm for Disney, just that it makes business sense. I included that last sentence because it’s an ongoing issue that shed’s light on a lot of Eisner’s poor decisions, like bringing in Ovitz who has just “left” on the previous page. For all his talk about Disney’s values and cultures, Eisner is constantly impressed by people who fit the right image of an executive, be it going to the right school or from the right family or, most often, being seen as a workaholic.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Should be interesting to see how episode 4 of the Imagineering Story talks about WDSP, if it even does at all.

I’ll be curious to see if TDS gets mentioned or WESTCOT/Port Disney/Disney’s America, for that matter.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I’ll be curious to see if TDS gets mentioned or WESTCOT/Port Disney/Disney’s America, for that matter.

They can't not mention TDS, even if only in passing. It's too well known and liked among the fans to just ignore.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Imagine the damage that would be done to Disney’s America had that been built. Frozenland would have totally fit because it’s an American movie! And Buzz Lightyear totally belongs on Ellis Island because he was imported from Taiwan.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Imagine the damage that would be done to Disney’s America had that been built. Frozenland would have totally fit because it’s an American movie! And Buzz Lightyear totally belongs on Ellis Island because he was imported from Taiwan.

Still better than subdivisons and a strip mall.

 

[n2hifi]

Still better than subdivisons and a strip malls.

I don't know...
More Frozen <> Strip malls
That's a toss up.

 

[Ponderer]

Imagine the damage that would be done to Disney’s America had that been built. Frozenland would have totally fit because it’s an American movie! And Buzz Lightyear totally belongs on Ellis Island because he was imported from Taiwan.

If Disney's America had been built, Eisner probably wouldn't have left.

Not that's a good thing, as Paul Pressler probably would've been put in charge at some point and just kept everything "running" with duct tape.

 

[ChrisFL]

They can't not mention TDS, even if only in passing. It's too well known and liked among the fans to just ignore.

Agreed, the bits about Tokyo Disneyland were hilarious....OLC doing the constant phone calls to Card Walker

 

[trainplane3]

Imagine the damage that would be done to Disney’s America had that been built. Frozenland would have totally fit because it’s an American movie! And Buzz Lightyear totally belongs on Ellis Island because he was imported from Taiwan.

...but...where would Zootopia go?

*dodges gunshots*

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Agreed, the bits about Tokyo Disneyland were hilarious....OLC doing the constant phone calls to Card Walker

I don’t know if this is true, but supposedly those phone calls go back to when Walt was alive.

 

[ChrisFL]

I don’t know if this is true, but supposedly those phone calls go back to when Walt was alive.

Have you seen the stuff about Nara Dreamland and how it was nearly the first Japanese Disney park?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Have you seen the stuff about Nara Dreamland and how it was nearly the first Japanese Disney park?

No. I had no idea. Reading up on it.

 

[ChrisFL]

No. I had no idea. Reading up on it.

Here's a video posted recently about it as well

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I’ll be curious to see if TDS gets mentioned or WESTCOT/Port Disney/Disney’s America, for that matter.

They did not hold back! All in 1 episode:

Disney Cruise Line
Animal Kingdom
Disney's America
WESTCOT
California Adventure
DisneySea
Disney Studios Paris (the least said, but honest)
Hong Kong Disneyland

And NEW interview footage with Paul Pressler!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

History has a tendency of repeating itself.

Bob Chapek's current idea of building IP things on the cheap like Mission: KABLAM, Avengers Campus, Toy Story Playland and Frozen Ever After sounds like something Paul Pressler/Eisner would have proposed if they were still in charge. Hell, the big solution to finally "fix" Paradise Pier was to...put Pixar characters on the existing rides.

There was an emphasis on low risk investment during the late 90s and Episode 4 takes a swipe at WDSP for copying other park's rides. Well, has that changed much since then? They're spending more money, but the philosophy hasn't changed.

Then Eisner says at the end of episode 4 "nobody's ever complained that the Disney company is in financial distress." Sounds like a lot of posters here when they talk about attendance and spending to justify ever increasing prices and weak park concepts.

 

[larryz]

Iger’s tenure may have made my stock soar, but I also know it’s been destructive for long-term creative viability because it’s all based on leverage existing brands and peddling nostalgia instead of innovating anything.

When the roller coaster ride is over, Iger retires with his mountain of stock, his lifetime Gold Pass, and the legacy of "rescuing" the parks from mediocrity.

And his successor gets the honor of breaking up the company and selling off the parts and pieces to Marriott, the Blackstone group, Six Flags, Cedar Fair and Viacom.

 

[Lilofan]

When the roller coaster ride is over, Iger retires with his mountain of stock, his lifetime Gold Pass, and the legacy of "rescuing" the parks from mediocrity.

And his successor gets the honor of breaking up the company and selling off the parts and pieces to Marriott, the Blackstone group, Six Flags, Cedar Fair and Viacom.

That's not even funny but could happen if the price is right.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Iger tried to be the guy who broke up Disney and sold off Disneyland and Walt Disney World.