Roy Disney continues crusade against Eisner
Posted
Roy Disney continues his campaign to get Eisner out of the Walt Disney Company's top spot, filing a document with the Securities and Exchange Commissoin, saying the company no longer supports "the creative soul" of its artists, according to Reuters. He also says that "off-the-shelf" rides at Disney's California Adventure in part led to that park's lackluster draw in its opening years.
Read more from Reuters.
Related parks
"off-the-shelf" rides at Disney's California Adventure"
Is that really accurate? I thought many of the rides there were custom instalations. Not being educated in the stock market, my opinion might not count for much, but a 50% fall in stock price seems to represent more than rewarding mediocrity to me; more like rewarding for very sub-standard performance. Of course, I acknowledge that stock prices have to be examined in the appropriate context and that factors other than the park itself can affect prices. I also wonder how much of this stock price fall can be attributed to this dispute- were they declining before it started and if so, what was the magnitude of the decline.
Just out of curiosity: how are other chains of themeparks doing?
Best. B
DCA is only three years old and needs time to grow. Adding ToT is a step in the right direction.
mOOSH
You could say the same thing about a lot of other Disney rides - there's nothing new about the rides themselves. Is there a huge difference between it's a small world or Pirates and any other Arrow log flume? The boats are bigger, sure, but there's no real technological difference. It's all about the presentation, and that's what Disney does/did well.
Seriously, I'd call the Reverchon mouse at DAK to be an "off-the shelf" ride modified fairly heavily by theming...don't know that I'd say that about ToT, even if Disney produced one before. There's a large cost savings still, but it's not like an attraction ANY park could just "order up"...
Take away those colorful backdrop panels, and you have a Crazy Mouse that differs none whatsoever than the others I have ridden. The only thing that looks remotely unique are the cars, which are closer to leftovers from Close Encounters of the Third Kind than standard Crazy mice.
I'm not complaining- I like Crazy Mouse coasters, and I think that more parks should have them. But it is evidence that Disney buying nothing but slightly-gussied-up off-the-shelf rides extends well beyond DCA. I do agree that ToT is not an off-the-shelf ride because its something unique to Disney. If ToT is off-the-shelf, then so are Splash Mtn, BTMRR and a host of other Disneyland/Magic Kingdom mainstays.
California Screamin' is a fantastic ride, it's everything you could ever want in a coaster. However, it's not exactly what I'd expect in a Disney ride - aside from the soundtrack it's a rather shallow ride, relying on "cheap thrills" rather than atmosphere and charm like all of the stuff on the other side of the monorail tracks.
I think DCA is done as well as something can be with it's particular theme (the celebration of California), but I can't help wondering if they Paradise Pier was included just as a way to cheaply install some big bad rides without the huge overhead normally associated with Disney rides. Grizzly River Run is superb - the scenery in that area is amazing, and Soarin' is certainly up to Disney standards, but a lot of the park really isn't. I mean, compare Disney-MGM, which has fantastic grounds to DCA's "Hollywood", which I thought was quite tacky in comparison.
Tower of Terror will definitely add some much-needed Disney to the park, but they needed it from the moment the place opened, which was Roy's point.
Having never been to Epcot, I'm probably not the best person to comment, but since most of the early attractions were dark rides, a standard conveyance system was used. There was nothing new about the ride itself, just the displays and content around it.
I wouldn't say that. When Epcot opened it used some very innovative ride systems. Where else can you sit in a theatre that disassembles itself, leaves the room single file, and then reassembles itself in another location? All while following just a very thin wire embedded in the ground. It may not be a fast ride, but the Energy pavillion uses some pretty amazing technology.
And Spaceship Earth is a pretty unique ride system as well. Actually the whole building is unique for that matter. The original Figment show had some Disney Magic to it as well, but that was saddly ruined in a new butchered version of the ride. But most of the park is still amazing in my opinion. And I was amazed from the first time I stepped through the gates. Something that I can't say about DCA. I like it, but it doesn't have too much of a "wow factor", except for maybe Soarin'. Hopefully that will start changing with ToT.
He's an idiot? How many Hollywood distribution deals have you brokered?
I'm not sure if I'd like to live in a world where someone's work could only be criticized by someone whose done a similar job. Outside of the advantage of it placing most rock and movie critics out of business, I think most services would become a bit substandard if folks outside of their said industries weren't allowed to criticize due to not having prior experience.
But regardless, I'll be nice and rephrase NEWTs comment so maybe you won't be as upset: Under Michael Eisner's reign of late (from around um... 1994 on), both Disney's parks and films have suffered leading to a perception of mismanagement toward Eisner and a feeling that he is maybe worshipping the bottom line a bit too much at the expense of creativity, quality, and even safety. Eisner is directly responsible for said slide due to his being the "captain of the ship," and seemingly setting an example that trickles its way down to middle management and all aspects of Disney leading to the drop in quality we are seeing today.
Now personally, I thought "Eisner is an idiot" was a much more succinct and expressive way to summarize the last paragraph but hey, who am I? I haven't even brokered any Hollywood distribution deals!
You must be logged in to post
