The BLOG FLUME - Who Will Replace Pressler?Business reporters in Southern California and Central Florida begin to speculate who will replace Paul Pressler as Disney's theme park chief. Even as some of those same reporters fail to understand why theme park fans hated him in the first place.
From Robert Niles
WHO WILL REPLACE PAUL PRESSLER?Posted September 27, 2002 at 11:13 AM Theme Park Insider - Sept 26 Los Angeles Times - Sept 27 Orlando Sentinel - Sept 27 Let the speculation begin. Disney theme parks chairman Paul Pressler has left to run clothing retailer The Gap, to the delight of theme park fans everywhere. But not everyone is convinced that Pressler's short-sighted management, and the resulting gutting of Disney quality, had anything to do with the company's recent decline. The Times story recites the declining attendance, falling revenue and increased customer dissatisfaction with Disney's theme parks that began immediately after Pressler took command, but never manages to put two and two together. The theme parks' problems were all "caused largely by events beyond his control," according to The Times. It's never good sign for your company when executives insist that everything good that happens to the company is the result of their wise leadership, and everything bad is the result of factors beyond their control. Universal enjoyed increased attendance, more revenue and soaring customer satistfaction during the same period that Disney declined. Is there some rip in the space-time continuum between Disney or Universal that resulted in Disney facing different market conditions? Or maybe, just maybe, Disney's management screwed up and Universal's didn't?
The Sentinel's now reporting what we told you about last week--Disney World is reinstating early entry for some on-site hotel guests, and the Hunchback show at Disney-MGM Studios is going away this weekend. NICE PICK Gotta love Yahoo's Editor's Pick for September 27, 2002. (Of course, I'm gonna be hating my server bill this month.... Go book hotels folks!)
Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond. From Robert Niles
One more on speculation about Pressler's replacement: At Disney, Speculation Over Executive's Successor, from the New York Times.Posted September 27, 2002 at 10:00 PM
From Robert Lindsay
you can't blame pressler,for all disney problems!one of the big reason why disney is off because of the bad investments in the animal park in fl.Also there not building the the great darkrides-that disney is famous for,that's the boards fault!!!!! coaster1robertPosted September 28, 2002 at 11:20 AM
From Robert Niles
Disney's board is notorious for rubber-stamping whatever management places before it. That's why at least one major business publication has called Disney's board the worst in America. (And this was before all the current business scandals.)Posted September 28, 2002 at 1:32 PM Disney built what it did over the past five years because that's what Michael Eisner and Paul Pressler wanted to build. If Disney's market share in the theme park business is suffering and if customer satisfaction is sliding, then Eisner and Pressler must take the bulk of the responsibility for that. They can't pass it off to a board that Eisner hand-picked and that rubber stamps every proposal he gives it.
From Kevin Baxter
Okay, Robert, I have a question to ask. The Yahoo blurb had some nice things to say, but that stuff about "Some helpful parents have posted inside tips" really irked me. Did it irk you?Posted September 29, 2002 at 1:46 AM Not that I have anything against parents (besides them BEING parents HEE!) but it generalized in a way that left out a large portion of your helpful posters. Furthermore, I think it makes your site sound more of a "parents-only" site instead of a site which appeals to parents, their kids AND adults WITHOUT kids. So I guess what I am rambling on about is that Yahoo, in one unfortunate sentence, seemed to marginalize what we are all attempting to do here. Which may in turn away many of your potential visitors. What do you think?
From Ben Mills
I couldn't agree more Kevin. I'm only 14. Unless they know something I don't (and on this subject I find that highly unlikely), they should be checking their information. At least we got some advertising though.Posted September 29, 2002 at 3:23 AM
From Robert Niles
If they spell the URL right and link it, frankly, I don't care all that much about what anyone says.... I'll take the traffic, thankyewverymuch.Posted September 29, 2002 at 9:29 AM Although if they would like to mischaracterize the site as a porn-laden online casino, that would really get the log files humming, now wouldn't it? ;-) Of course, this raises a larger point--the fact that theme parks are generally considered "family" destinations. Which is, as you point out, rather limiting. Fact is, many, many singles and childless couples enjoy theme parks. Their family-friendliness does not exclude other from visiting, and even, spending hours upon hours online talking about them. (grin!) Others shouldn't assume that, since theme parks are often family friendly, families must be the only people who visit them. As we all know here, that's just not true.
From Kevin Baxter
That was basically my point. Not that the advertising is bad, but how many people did you NOT get over to the site that thought this might be some broader online version of "WDW with Kids?" Posted September 29, 2002 at 10:30 PM It just irritates me because it is such lazy journalism. Not everyone here has advertised their family trees, so why assume that "parents" are the ones providing helpful hints. Like single people or teenagers are clueless in this respect?
From Robert Niles
Oh, boy. I could go for days without breaking complaining about the lackadaisical state of reporting in journalism today.Posted September 30, 2002 at 9:33 AM I've not talked about Disney's plan to merge ABC News with CNN and spin them off from both Disney and AOL Time Warner. But it'd be yet another example of the number of professional journalists being cut to make millionaire stockholders ever richer. Folks, your personal life and pocketbook suffer when journalists cannot or will not report the news. Obviously, it would've been nice if a few more people without kids had clicked over here from the Yahoo link. But that's no big deal in larger scheme of life. Heck, I'm happy they said anything nice about this site at all. I'm not complaining. But Kevin is right to point that much of the news you need, whether it be a brief on Yahoo or a report in your morning newspaper, is inadequate, incomplete or just plain wrong. Again, I don't fault individual reporters. But I do fault a system that leaves way too few reporters to cover way too much news. That leaves those overburdened reportes without the time to fully check out their sources and stories. Which means that they can easily be manipulated by powerful sources with an agenda to push. This is why there is an appalling conservative bias in the United States news media these days. We report too much of what powerful corporate sources what you to hear. And don't do enough original reporting to get at the truth. Ultimately, that's one of the reasons I started this site: To give the "little guy" an opportunity to be heard. Anyway, back to the topic: Disney's made its decision. The head of Disneyland Paris will run Disney's theme parks.
From Kevin Baxter
Well, we have that topic elsewhere now, so I'm going to chat about it there.Posted September 30, 2002 at 10:25 AM Maybe this one should turn over to the OTHER topic now. What is the general feeling out there about the "Extra Magic Hour" returning? Will this get you back onsite for your vacation? Or are WDW vacations still out of the picture until they start building new attractions?
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