When did Disney start overpromising and under delivering?

[erasure fan1]

Galaxy’s Edge may be the most egregious example of this. Promising a dinner show, roaming droids and aliens, guest reputation, etc.

Yea it really is. And it doesn't help that one of the rides is just sorta average and not that special. The way the land looks is fantastic, some of the best they've done. Is it the ultimate star wats experience that was promised? Not by a long shot. Can it be fixed? Absolutely.

or should we just assume that when Disney shows introduces concepts they’re nothing more than ideas which may or may not actually happen with the amount of detail that was shown?

This is exactly how it should be. Honestly I'm at that point with everything Disney. I'm at a strict I'll believe it when I see it mindset now. Even the films, I'll believe it when I see it behind cameras. Unfortunately the benefit of the doubt is not something they really deserve.

 

[HakunaMatata89]

Well, WDW was promised a city of the future and instead got a oversized golf ball and a bunch of festivals

 

[Bob Harlem]

For me it was when they redid Journey into Imagination, the first (and even second) attempt set the stage for disappointment since. The state of the Imagination pavilion is a symbol for the entire company to me ever since. (Compare it to what was there before that)

 

[Miru]

Around 2001-2005, then they took a break from this from 2006-2017, before doubling down from then onwards.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Galaxy's Edge was supposed to be an amazing exploratory land with tons to do that turned a beating that you can't wait to leave after riding the 1 decent attraction that's usually down or half way broken anyway.

 

[Chef Mickey]

I think it began after Disneyland Paris struggled, DCA, HS, AK, even Hong Kong were all made on a budget and under delivered.

I loved Iger his first decade, DCA 2.0 was amazing, Pandora is amazing, the Galaxy’s edge story is underwhelming but the land itself is amazing. The problem is he’s fixed some of Eisners budget created problems and added very little else. He’s built a few amazing things but that doesn’t make up for the billions he didnt spend that was absolutely necessary to keep up with attendance growth.

Even the new Lookout Cay is a fraction of what they originally proposed, seems like every piece of concept art they show you can expect 50% to get cut before it’s built.

Without Eisner, WDW wouldn't be nearly what it is today, in a good way. Eisner wasn't perfect, but he was amazing for WDW and they still stand on his shoulders for what he did there.

 

[Miru]

Without Eisner, WDW wouldn't be nearly what it is today, in a good way. Eisner wasn't perfect, but he was amazing for WDW and they still stand on his shoulders for what he did there.

Yes, but it bugs me that people accentuate the negative about Iger these days, who brought about the Disney Revival for example. I can understand why, that accentuating the negative would encourage more people to try and oust him, but still.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I think both Eisner and Iger did a lot of things to be proud of, both did a lot of questionable/bad things to be called out on also though, ironically had they both retired after their first decade as the boss it would be hard to fault either of them, it just reinforces my belief that a creative company needs to change its leaders often (every decade) to keep the creativity alive.

I think even Walt suffered from this, he pushed the limits of animation, then seemingly got bored and focused on theme parks, then seemingly got bored and moved on to Epcot… dreamers need to dream.

 

[Miru]

I think both Eisner and Iger did a lot of things to be proud of, both did a lot of questionable/bad things to be called out on also though, ironically had they both retired after their first decade as the boss it would be hard to fault either of them, it just reinforces my belief that a creative company needs to change its leaders often (every decade) to keep the creativity alive.

I think even Walt suffered from this, he pushed the limits of animation, then seemingly got bored and focused on theme parks, then seemingly got bored and moved on to Epcot… dreamers need to dream.

Chapek was the only leader with no redeeming qualities, though Iger’s sins are starting to overshadow his good deeds.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Chapek was the only leader with no redeeming qualities, though Iger’s sins are starting to overshadow his good deeds.

I was so excited when they announced Iger was returning, I was certain he was going to undo all of Chapeks boneheaded decisions and bring back the Disney magic we all knew and loved, instead he just carried on with all the unpopular changes which makes me think he was the mastermind behind them from the beginning.

The longer Iger stays the course the more I wonder how much of the blame Chapek actually deserves, the theory Chapek was just a (extremely well paid) fall guy doing the unpopular things Iger wanted to do but knew would be incredibly unpopular seems more likely with every passing day. I wish Iger had stayed away, all he did by coming back was tarnish his legacy.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

who brought about the Disney Revival for example.

What revival? You mean the live action remakes?

 

[Miru]

What revival? You mean the live action remakes?

No. I’m referring to The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Pooh 2011, Wreck-it Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana. Their legacy has been tarnished in recent years yes.

The live action remakes weren’t a thing until later, and Eisner’s era had an equivalent in the form of the cheapquels.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Yes, but it bugs me that people accentuate the negative about Iger these days, who brought about the Disney Revival for example. I can understand why, that accentuating the negative would encourage more people to try and oust him, but still.

I think Iger's negative has now proven to be more negative than positive. While I applaud the Star Wars acquisition, they have almost ruined the franchise for actual fans. They flopped on Star Wars land and they continue to cheapen the brand with miss after miss.

The last good Star Wars movie was Rogue One. They screwed up Star Wars 8 and 9 and 7 was "OK." Most of everything else has ranged from mediocre to a joke.

Almost nothing that's come out of Disney in terms of content has been good in the last 5 years. The movies have not only not been blockbusters, they've flopped...hard, and some of them even damaged the brand.

The push for tech at parks (My Disney Experience), horrible miss - the experience is worse. Even if you like the app, it cost literally billions and was way too expensive for what it did for guests who basically just got screwed with higher prices and longer lines at Parks.

Disney+ has been probably the worst managed streaming service of any. Miss after miss in content, horrible cost management, stagnating sign ups, and still zero profitability for investors. Ridiculous.

The stock has been abysmal. Inexcusable. The CEOs one job, abject failure.

ESPN and TV networks - Again, horrible management. Sporting right costs out of control, politicizing ESPN, awful ABC content, and this list of failures go on. Traditional media has been a disaster.

Parks have only done "well" because they have continuously raised prices and abused their customers to milk every last dollar possible from a park that was largely built by people prior to Iger. Then they ruined every other business and are 1/3 as profitable as they were 5 years ago.

Iger has been one of the worst CEOs in the S&P500 besides the idiot at Intel.

 

[John park hopper]

Dow went up Disney stock went down 89.81

 

[Chef Mickey]

Dow went up Disney stock went down 89.81

Market up with Disney down is just business as usual.

 

[John park hopper]

89.55

 

[Jrb1979]

Without Eisner, WDW wouldn't be nearly what it is today, in a good way. Eisner wasn't perfect, but he was amazing for WDW and they still stand on his shoulders for what he did there.

Agreed. I liked how Eisner took a chance with more adult attractions like Aliens and Pleasure Island.

I know I'm in the minority but I actually liked the original DCA. Mainly cause it kept the idea of each park having its own theme.

 

[phillip9698]

I’ve been a Disney fan for close to 50 years, especially the theme parks, but over the past five years or more, in addition to the decline of service and quality, Disney seems to say they’re going to do one thing and then do something much less ambitious. Galaxy’s Edge may be the most egregious example of this. Promising a dinner show, roaming droids and aliens, guest reputation, etc. Even the Toy Story Land concepts were grander than what we got. I don’t get this same impression from Universal. Will Disney ever exhaust its good will and reputation capital with guests or should we just assume that when Disney shows introduces concepts they’re nothing more than ideas which may or may not actually happen with the amount of detail that was shown?

If you saw the very early concepts for older lands and attractions you adore, they would be quite different from what we actually got. As someone else mentioned, the key difference is that early concepts are shared with everyone on the internet. And plenty of people make a living by making sure you see that content so if you are even slightly interested in Disney on social media, you are going to be beat over the head with every little bit of news.

People had no clue what was going on with the Haunted Mansion when it was first being built in Disneyland. They just saw an old looking mansion behind a gate and had to guess as to what the hell it was. It was back there for a very long time too, i think 6 years before it finally opened. But today, oh you know about potential rides and lands while they are still in the concept phase. From that point on anything that deviates from the concept that people dont like, they gripe about it being a downgrade and we didnt receive what was promised.

Disney just needs to stop sharing so much until either plans are finalized or its about to open.

 

[Miru]

I think Iger's negative has now proven to be more negative than positive. While I applaud the Star Wars acquisition, they have almost ruined the franchise for actual fans. They flopped on Star Wars land and they continue to cheapen the brand with miss after miss.

The last good Star Wars movie was Rogue One. They screwed up Star Wars 8 and 9 and 7 was "OK." Most of everything else has ranged from mediocre to a joke.

Almost nothing that's come out of Disney in terms of content has been good in the last 5 years. The movies have not only not been blockbusters, they've flopped...hard, and some of them even damaged the brand.

The push for tech at parks (My Disney Experience), horrible miss - the experience is worse. Even if you like the app, it cost literally billions and was way too expensive for what it did for guests who basically just got screwed with higher prices and longer lines at Parks.

Disney+ has been probably the worst managed streaming service of any. Miss after miss in content, horrible cost management, stagnating sign ups, and still zero profitability for investors. Ridiculous.

The stock has been abysmal. Inexcusable. The CEOs one job, abject failure.

ESPN and TV networks - Again, horrible management. Sporting right costs out of control, politicizing ESPN, awful ABC content, and this list of failures go on. Traditional media has been a disaster.

Parks have only done "well" because they have continuously raised prices and abused their customers to milk every last dollar possible from a park that was largely built by people prior to Iger. Then they ruined every other business and are 1/3 as profitable as they were 5 years ago.

Iger has been one of the worst CEOs in the S&P500 besides the idiot at Intel.

Thank you for clarifying. There’s even more cases of mismanagement aplenty (Muppets, Indiana Jones, Figment, LucasArts, The Owl House, various anime, etc.) going on, plus the (superficial) leftism has urged detractors to want significantly more right-wing people in charge (like Elon Musk or Donald Trump) regardless of it they’d actually be better for the company or not.

Marvel and Pixar seem to be pulling themselves out of the gutter at least. WDAS however is a coin flip on whether they’ll be salvageable or not, and Lucasfilm will probably be irrelevant by 2039.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Thank you for clarifying. There’s even more cases of mismanagement aplenty (Muppets, Indiana Jones, Figment, LucasArts, The Owl House, various anime, etc.) going on, plus the (superficial) leftism has urged detractors to want significantly more right-wing people in charge (like Elon Musk or Donald Trump) regardless of it they’d actually be better for the company or not.

Marvel and Pixar seem to be pulling themselves out of the gutter at least. WDAS however is a coin flip on whether they’ll be salvageable or not, and Lucasfilm will probably be irrelevant by 2039.

Not to get political, but let's just say one side is moving faster to one side than the other. The people you mentioned would be considered probably centrists to maybe center/right 25 years ago, for good or worse.

Regardless, Disney needs to walk the tightrope of being neutral. We all buy products and want content. Pandering to one side or the other just upsets 50% of the people. It's one of the biggest jobs of the CEO to walk the fine line of making everyone happy. Iger has absolutely failed to do that.

Marvel/Pixar have not been abused as much as Lucas, but there is time. Iger needs to be gone yesterday and he's just the tip of the iceberg. The entire management team is objectively awful.