What would you do as CEO of Disney?

[HauntedPirate]

Ok, let's have some fun.

What would you do if you were CEO of Walt Disney Company? Please try not to squash others' ideas. Also, let it be a work in progress, so to speak; keep adding ideas as you get them.

1. I'd get Pixar back into "our house"
2. See #1. :lol:
3. I'd halt production on any and all cheapquel animation. No more sequels! Focus goes into new animated features, one every two years, to restore the prestige of a Disney animated feature.
4. I'd crack open the wallet to increase the number of CM's at the parks, so that the things like garbage laying in the grass, dirty rooms, etc. could be taken care of like they should be.
5. I'd try to get a new E-ticket ride every 2-3 years at WDW
6. No 18 month celebrations every 2 years at WDW. Make them special and actually mean something!
7. No more cloning of rides across parks. Make each place special in it's own right.
8. Tie Disneyland's 50th Anniversary across all Disney parks.

More to come after I ponder a bit.

 

[TiggerBW]

I'll tell you what Roy and Stanley said at the meeting. They'd want the following atributes:
-someone who understands, appreciates, encourages, and interacts with creative people.
-someone with a strategic vision - what the future looks like.
(decide which assets are most important.)

Pixar would come back if Eisner is gone. (At least that's what we heard at the meeting yestesrday.)

Roy and Stanley also stated that we need someone who will restore maintenance in Disney, and restore the smiles on CM's and guests.

Roy and Stanley said they have a list of about 5-10 people they would recommend to run Disney after Eisner.

P.S. - I like all your ideas!!!

 

[Bill]

Originally posted by TiggerBW
I'll tell you what Roy and Stanley said at the meeting. They'd want the following atributes:
-someone who understands, appreciates, encourages, and interacts with creative people.
-someone with a strategic vision - what the future looks like.
(decide which assets are most important.)

Pixar would come back if Eisner is gone. (At least that's what we heard at the meeting yestesrday.)

Roy and Stanley also stated that we need someone who will restore maintenance in Disney, and restore the smiles on CM's and guests.

Roy and Stanley said they have a list of about 5-10 people they would recommend to run Disney after Eisner.

P.S. - I like all your ideas!!!

In other words, he wants ME to be CEO. That's awesome!

 

[cloudboy]

This can be just too much fun!

Let's See...now going on the presumption that I didn't have to worry about takeovers and all those little nasty things like making ends meet and such...

1. Refocus on key competencies - Characters, Animation, Story Telling, Theme Parks and just plain good old customer service

2. Bring back the animation department. Big time. I would start work on animated features, but start with some good story lines. No time frame for movies, either - let them finish them the right way - we're not building cars!

3. Start looking for some good talent folks - vreative people who care more about the quality and the product, less about how to make a sale.

4. Focus on characters, and not overselling them - no sequels, not market saturation.

5. There may be fewer stores, but they would be bigger, have more and better merchandise, and be a destination, not something you stop in at while you are at the mall. It should be a place people seek out - perhaps the stores become their own little adventure worlds?

6. Get prices back in line. Sounds a little anti-profit, but in the long run I think it makes the customers value Disney more and less resistant.

And now to the good stuff!

7. Very first thing at the parks is to bring back traditions for the cast. And even improve it!

8. More Cast MEmbers, and better pay. Also, try and find extras - ediscounts, group acticvities, etc. Make disney more than just a job.

9. Little things such as maintenance and upkeep.

10. A MAJOR improvement to merchandising. The same merchandise will not be spread throughou the park - it will be better aligned to it's environment. Better quality, and it should be something special and different than what you can get at other stores.

11. (this is getting long) Food - I would improve the food, particularly the fast food. Isntead of trying to cut a few costs by the institutional food kitchen, I would break it up into individualized units. I would bring in more up to date trend in food (fast food has come a long way since burgers) and bring in more choices. I would laso focus on having special items that have a following - such as soft pretzels, cookies, various fruit drinks, candy, etc. Everyone should have a special food item that they can't wait to come to the park because Disney does it right!

12. Now we can start getting into rides and such. First thing - Castles. Each park shoudl have it's own castle - an icon for that particular park.

13. I would let each location have a Magic Kingdom, with a basic set of rides. But each would also have a few special rides that no one else has - at least one of which has to be an E-Ticket ride.

14. Ecah location would have a second park that is unique to them. Especially in the case of Disneyland Paris - there should be a reason to go there!

15. I would add a mix of attractions. You have to keeo the E-Ticket rides flowing to bring in new guests, but I would focus first on other rides, with the particular goal of setting Disney apart from anything else out there.

16. Along those lines, I would put a lot of effort into the themeing and place-making of the parks in between the rides. Especially in Future World at Epcot.

17. Stop trying to make every ride into a spin off of a movie! Rides can have their own characters and own stories!

18. I would do more with the shows that Disney offers, and focus them not just on childens shows. I think Tapestries was a great show and excatly the type of thing Disney needs more of. I would also try and get some more shows such as Cirque, Blue Man, and Stomp in there.

19. The magic should extend into the transportation and resorts - they need attention just as much as the parks do.

20. Finally - I would put the money into the parks and not into my bank account!!!!!

I think that is enough for now.

 

[Disneyland1970]

Well Cloudboy stole most of my ideas:lol:

What he said!:sohappy:

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

the #1 thing i would do is make Eisner follow the horses down Main Street....yup, he'd be a pooper-scooper! it'd be good for him...ya know, build character. or, i'd put him in the stalks (sp?) in Liberty Square and have buckets of rotten fruit around so guests could pelt him...i think it would add to the ambience of that area, don't you?

and then the usual stuff...bring back quality, bring back Roy and Stanley (make them both my right-hand men!), bring back Pixar, stop the making of sequels, sell ABC and the sports teams, restore the old attractions (rehab, of course, not replace), restore morale amoung CM's and all that, etc, etc.

 

[Gregory]

Originally posted by Bill
In other words, he wants ME to be CEO. That's awesome!

Wow... somebody has an ego problem... thinking they want YOU when it's obviously ME they want...

Anyways...

First think I would do... clean up Walt's room up in Cinderella's Castle, and make myself a nice little place to stay :lookaroun

 

[kal1484]

Give myself a Segway to use at work, and pay me 10 dollars an hour. :sohappy:

 

[HauntedPirate]

I want to drive the monorail. For free. And learn all sorts of obscure tidbits of trivia to give away to guests along the way.

 

[Bill]

You know, if Disney gave me just a modest salary, say, 1/10 of Eisner's and gave me a home in Celebration & pay the expenses for the house, yeah, I'd be CEO.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Well, the salary would be $100,000. But add in the house in Celebration and it almost reaches Eisner's $1,000,000 salary :lol:

I'd settle for living in Cinderella Castle.

 

[JBSLJames]

First, I'd have the Israelites make a gold idol in my image, then I would watch with horror as Tigsmom, walks down from Mount Disneyius and destroy my Idol with Walts 10 commandments.

10. Thou shall not build rides unworthy of my name
9. Thou shall not continue relations with ABC
8. Thou shall develop Disneys own 3-d animation to be the benchmark from here going forward.
7. Thou shall provide the best entertainment to families.
6. Thou shall not build another park until all current parks are running at top levels.
5. Thou shall not covet thy neighbors thrill rides
4. Thou shall not provide cheap thrills at a steep price
3. Thou shall honor thy father and thy mother and have no other vacation destinations but mine.
2. Thou shall not delve into ography in any way, shape, or form.
1. Thou shall have fun, always.


note* Thou shall not allow some guy from Cincinnati quote Biblical perspective in a Disney thread. Blasphemer!!! *end note

 

[cherrynegra]

I'm going to post my idea that I haven't seen here yet in the previous threads and that's to deal with the issue of cast member morale and salary.

First, I would definitely look at the idea of providing my CMs a living wage or at least a wage that will encourage people to work for the company who really love working there. I would structure the salary scale accordingly so that those that are in positions that would be considered "entertainer" such as the drivers for Kilamanjaro Safari would be paid appropriately.

Secondly, I've read in some post by CMs that the training in the Disney history and such for new employees is not as extensive in the company as it once was. Okay, everyone back to training. And I do mean everyone. Unless of course the current employees go through Disney continuing education. Many professions require professionals to keep up with the latest education and training in their field, and I think this would be a nice idea for CMs. Keeps the Magic fresh.


Third, I would have management in the parks go through training or retraining so that they understand the value of having bright and energetic CMs, and how to treat them. CMs are our representatives to the guests and the CMs must be treated with respect, must be shown loyalty, must be trusted, and must have an avenue of having their concerns not only heard, but addressed. They should be viewed as active partners in helping to maintain quality in the parks and promoting the Magic to our guests. Not merely as employees.

I'm sure those who have worked for the company would have many ideas of their own, but these are merely my humble, simple ideas.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I think I understand what you mean. It seems like a lot of CM's view Disney as "just a job". And I think I can understand that perspective. But the experience that Disney provides to guests, I feel, requires people who enjoy their work. Low-balling CM's and not caring about them has a definite effect on guests and their experience. Good points, cherrynegra. :sohappy: