WDI Downsizing, and why it MAY not be a bad thing

[wdwmagic]

There have been a lot of stories about how WDI is being downsized, and people being layed off etc. While on the surface it sounds bad news, if we look at how WDI *used* to be ran, it may actually be a good thing.

The original WDI, as of Jan 1995 was only around 220 people. They had very clearly defined boundries and budget constraints. There were project trees, chains of command and support groups (which actually carried out the projects). The largest of the support groups was the Disney Development Company - who took WDI plans and made them into reality. The architects, construction engineers, safety engineers, reliability engineers, software engineers etc.

If you like, WDI was the top of the line, and DDC and others were the guys and gals that carried out the work as directed by the select few at WDI.

Now, after 1995, Disney merged WDI with several other groups (such as DDC and show services) and WDI grew to 1500 or so. All the structure and direction that they had before was gone. They had people heading up projects that can't even spell 'Disney', nevermind design entire attractions. This means that if 'Fire Mountain', or some other big eticket gets built, instead of the project going to one of the three great mountain designers (Splash, Thunder etc) , it'll go to somebody that used to make sets for a Disney store for a living. It'll go over budget, miss the concept, get scaled down in order to make the opening date and have all kinds of operational problems. This has been seen in a number of recent attractions and parks.

So in a nutshell, the famed WDI groups that everyone holds in the highest regard, was only comprised of only 220 "elite" theme park designers.

The new WDI that grew to 1500 in number, was only so large because it encompassed people who you would really not class as true Imagineers.

So now that WDI is being downsized, this may be a sign that management has learnt a lesson, and is returning WDI to its former self, AN ELITE group of Imagineers, who can draw on support crews as and when needed.

 

[garyhoov]

Thanks Steve, that's a great perspective! Too often when we hear that Disney is closing an attraction or changing something we are used to, we jump on them and say how wrong it is. Disney management is making tough decisions every day, and it's a lot easier to criticize on a superficial level than truly understand all the forces involved. Many of us who complain about Disney moves would probably make some of the same decisions if we were actually in position to do so with all the logistical, monetary and public relations pressures that exist.

 

[KevinPage]

Steve,

Great point. I think all of us take anything the company does and are waaaaaay too quick to jump on it, like they must be doing it to cut budget, and they don't care about quality anymore. When it actuality, it may be to make things "leaner and meaner".

Not to mention that Eisner as a CEO has to appease stockholders on certain things and can not jut "do as he pleases" on every issue. We have heard from many people that for all the bad traits you hear about him, he is a person that truly "gets it" when it comes to the Disney magic. How quickly everyone forgets what he did for the company when he was first hired.

Not that you can live off that moment your entire life, but it is something that is a HUGE part of the Disney history and why we expect so much out of the Disney corporation, that if there is the slightest "blip" on the radar, we all get worried. We have had our expectations raised so highly. Which I think is a testament to what the company has done over all these years.

Do I think Eisner and the board don't care about how AMAZING Tokyo Disney Sea looks? No way, I'm sure they are envious that they do not have that kind of money to filter into a new park.

Unfortunately, like any company, the bigger and more powerful it gets or becomes, the further it has to fall and the more people sub consciously "root" for them to fail. So all we get over the past few years is every little thing that Disney does wrong.

Honestly, I know this is like comparing ice cream to dog ________, but everyone thinks Island of Adventure is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Yet, even being a roller coaster fanatic, and owning a Universal season pass, I'd still rather visit ANY Disney park over USF/IOA without even thinking about it. And it's funny how you never hear anything "bad" or "negative" about Universal or there moves. Hence, everyone expectations are so low for them, that if they do anything decent, people go nuts and try to use it against the "Disney lovers". Not to rip on Universal, since I do enjoy going there, but they are the equivalent or of a "less clueless Six Flag".

I'll end it here since I'm starting to drift off topic and run out of things to " "

 

[Rider]

Yes, but... will the groups that merged into WDI get seperated with their own numbers?

Because otherwise you now have less pure WDI and more of the others that do other things. Not like back then when it was just WDI.

 

[pheneix]

Steve, you made a lot of good points there. I should also add that Imagineering was oversized in the 90's due to the many different theme park projects going on at the same time. But...

It's the "Elite" Imagineers that are getting fired, especially in R&D. It also doesn't help that the imagineers that were trained by Walt are reaching retirement age, and those who learned their skill from Walt's students are defecting to other companies that have much more lucrative projects and jobs (many people are beginning to learn to give up a not so good job at Disney for a GREAT job in other companies, or in entirely different industries). The reason I hate these budget cuts so much is because it is not the Barry Bravermans of Imagineering that are getting canned, it's the Tony Baxters and Marty Sklars.