UPDATED: Roy Disney, Stanley Gold resign from board, criticize Michael Eisner

i guess he was like peter reid for leeds but in the long run... fixed things up and got them back on their feet, but lately had extremely bad performace and the downward spiral begins...

tricktrak: Americans are much more tolerant of cultural imperialism than Europeans are, in deed if not in word. We all like to complain about the Evil Empire, but we all own Mickey Mouse t-shirts and watch ESPN. :)

I absolutely agree with the brand dilution problem in film---I went holiday shopping for my kids the other day. Of several shelves full of "Disney" DVDs, maybe five of them were worth spending money on; half of those are films at least 30 years old.

I'm a bit less convinced that building clustered parks (as opposed to expanding existing parks) is a bad business decision. It seems to me that the Disney resort hotels positively print money---this is particularly true in California, when the DLR hotels provide little if any extra perks to justify their 2x-3x rates. I'd bet the margins on the hotels are higher than in the parks, which already print money as it is.

Trouble is, to fill the hotels, you need to look like a multi-day destination. Having a second (or third or fourth) gate I think contributes to that impression---if you covered all of DL and DCA in one gate, I'd bet many people would still try to "do it all" in one day.

Now, if your second gate is a disaster that generates bad word of mouth, that's a problem. I think that is currently true at DSP. It seems less true of DCA, but that could just be my impression. The sense I get about DCA is that the Disney enthusiasts hate it as being "not what Walt would do", and for some pretty good reasons---it isn't separated from the outside world; attractions are either thrill rides or kid rides, not whole family rides; etc. How well that dislike translates to the general public, I'm not sure. I for one am really looking forward to visiting it.

Attendance is not what it could be, but what non-castle Disney park draws as this one was expected to? DCA's biggest problem might be the unreasonable expectations placed on it, and some consequently dumb decisions regarding season passes that alienated the core attendance base.

Disney used to stand for the highest quality entertainment possible in its animantion and theme park businesses. Under Eisner, the company has become a "make a buck at all costs" company, which was one of the items that Roy Disney noted. In serving its stock holders so upper mgmt could collect their bonuses, they completely lost their original philosphy of serving the customers and providing a pleasant work environment for the employees.

Disney movies used to be rare, something that would be in the theaters for a limited time. There were 2 Disney parks in the World. To buy a Disney souvenir, you had to go there, not the store. The only Disney show was the Wonderful World of Disney, 1 time a week. Now you have everything immediately out on video, worldwide, half-size theme parks, and Disney 24 hours a day. In making money any way possible, they reduced the value of the brand.

They want to continue to blame 9/11 for their theme park loss of business, which it was a factor. But their parks are becoming lower and lower in quality and a family can get just as enjoyable experience from their regional theme park for a fraction of the cost. By building half-theme parks, they have neglected what were their star attraction parks. Disneyland continues to close rides without replacement and both Disneyland and Disney World have only received the half-effort Winnie the Pooh ride in recent years.

The recent accident at Disneyland was also a result of their "make money at all costs" philosophy. When you start to cut something as imporatant as maintenance, something like that is bound to happen.

Disney used to be untouchable. Now it is medicore at best. The mgmt of the company are the ones who have made it substandard by cutting and cutting the magic out so they could claim their year end bonuses on the bottom line. They chose short term profits by cutting costs instead of long-term profits by investing. Its now starting to bit them back at last.

Epcot is a non-castle (non-Magic Kingdom) park and that generates pretty good numbers. I'm pretty sure that MGM Studios (FL) is pretty popular as well.

I agree that it is in Disney's best interest to have locations that are viewed as multi-day destinations, but if those additional gates look as though they were added just to get some more money out of the patrons' wallets, then they will ultimately hurt Disney in the long run. It is my feeling that DCA has left so many people underwhelmed for so long that it will take years of many ToT-caliber attractions to get people to respect the park and give them the desire to give it another try. Once a bad first impression is made, it is very hard to correct that problem. I think it will be years, if not a decade or so, for DCA to get the same respect that Disneyland gets.

I think that things are a little better in Florida, where it seems that Disney can take advantage of the endless amount of land that they own and create a park as they wish (DCA was built under serious space constraints). But still... when you have people saying that there isn't enough to do at Epcot or MGM, you don't go ahead and build another park. Disney has made pretty good strides to fix those issues: Epcot got Test Track and Mission: Space and will soon get Soarin', and MGM got R 'n' RC, Fantasmic and will soon get that auto stunt show from DSP, but many people still feel that the Magic Kingdom offers the most complete Disney experience. If the Magic Kingdom is what people feel is the complete experience, then Disney would be wise to build up their other parks to make them feel more complete rather than build another park that will need future investment to make it what people expect it to be.

Face it... people have very high expectations when it comes to Disney, and they have every right to. For years, even decades, Disney has created experiences that are unmatched at any other park. If they fail to do that as they expand further, then people can't help but feel that the Disney brand is being dilluted. And that never has any positive long-term effects.

you all make VERY valid points and i am finding that a lot of you are putting into words things that i couldnt.

thing is, Disney is one of the oldest and most beloved companies in this country. Walt was beloved by many. the parks and characters he created are generation-spanning and that is a rare thing indeed.

i have noticed, over the past few years, that the Disney advertising has been something along the lines of "guilt-tripping". like they are saying "Bring your kids to Disney or you're BAD PARENTS!"

now, is that any way to generate customer loyalty?? sure, for the kids, maybe. but when a family gets there and sees the outrageous prices and such (even BONO complained that pizza was too expensive, and he's a multi-millionaire) are they going to feel loyal? i think not.

anyay, i agree about the name being diluted. its just not special anymore and i remember it being a BIG deal when a Disney classic came back to the theaters. i also remember feeling a mixture of things at the release of Fantasia 2000...i was THRILLED it was FINALLY being treated the way it was intended to be, as an ongoing, constantly changing string of mimi-movies. but i was also feeling somewhat betrayed, because only two of the new features moved me the way they should have.

they took a WONDERFUL, perfect movie and ruined it. all to make a buck. we'll never see Fantasia in its original form again.

and that is a pretty sad statement.

THAT is why i dont like Eisner. he took a great company, brought it back from the brink of destruction and ruined it again...

Rob's right regarding the attendance figures. I went back to look at the 2002 numbers. The non-castle Florida parks *each* pulled no less than 1/2 the attendance of the Magic Kingdom. DisneySeas pulled almost the *same* attendance as Tokyo Disneyland. (!)

In contrast, DCA pulled less than 40% of DL's attendance. It's numbers for 2002 (its first full season of operation) are *down* from 2001, when it was open only 10 months.

DSP was only open half a season, so it's too early to tell if it will follow the California pattern or the Florida one. (I think it is safe to say it won't follow the Tokyo pattern.) When I visited in September of '02, I didn't even consider going in. Then again, I only had a half-day free.

No more Disney's at Disney and Eisner has complete control.... And a giant comet is hurtling this way preparing to wipe out all life on Earth.

Eisner may have saved the company when he started but it is a complete mess now. For whatever reasons, the company embarked on cost saving mesaures which have bubbled to the surface instead of staying behind the scenes. Paint has been neglected, rides are closed and sit dormant without any idea of what or when another attraction will take their place. Training is so bad that it has now led to two deaths. DCA, while okay, is not the park it could have/should have been. And the second gate studio park in Paris is the single worst park Disney has ever created.

The stock produces no return at all anymore, Eisner wanted new toys (sports teams) to play with and that didn't pan out so well, ABC struggles to regain the programming it once had, Imagineering is a mess...even taking the battle public with a sign on the closed DL sub ride and now even a Disney is pointing at the problems.

How many things can go wrong in one company before a change at the top is made? Disney needs new blood. While things are getting better in some areas, recent events have pointed out there are still plenty of problems. When this many things are wrong in a company, the only solution is a replacement at the top. Eisner has overstayed his welcome and needs to go.

WOW , what an insider battle this is going to be? Never the less, what ever comes out of all this , The Disney empire will always be pretty hard to crumble.I have been there many of times and Im always amased at what a grand place this. Total excape(ism). I hope that all works out in the end.

Is Roy Disney being serious this time? He probably is but, this is the second time he left the Walt Disney Company. Anyways, Eisner is a scab!

I suggest everyone read "Keys to The Kingdom" possibly the best book out there about Eisners Disney, and one of the best business books I have read. The ego on this man is something to behold, and god damn I wish Wells never got in that Helicopter.