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Walt's Company To Rename Parks
by Michael Izgreadey
Burbank, Ca. - When Walt passed away in the middle 1960's, the park that now bears his name was almost completely planned out.
As a fitting tribute to his brother's influence in creating the theme park industry, brother Roy proposed to the board that the 'Florida project' be renamed Walt Disney World. In this way, visitors by the thousands who flock daily to the Orlando-area gate would see the company pay homage to the man who created the mouse on every sign, in every brochure, and in every conversation.
And now, with the shocking resignation of long-time board member, Roy Disney, a nephew of Walt, another name change may be in store for some of the theme park gates in both California and Florida. But, for the first time in its history, the company is considering naming the parks after someone other than Disney.
Inside sources tell us that former Sen. George Mitchell (and now Disney board member) will soon propose that the MGM-Disney Studios theme park in Orlando, and the California Adventure theme park in Anaheim be renamed to reflect the one person who is most responsible for bringing them to fruition.
"When people see the enormous sucess and magic that is Disney's California Adventure, I want them to remember the man who made this all possible. I want them to recall the creative ideas that flowed from his grey matter, and the blood, sweat and tears he endured to bring magic into that abandoned parking lot," gushed Sen. Mitchell at a recent gathering of industry professionals at the Century Hotel in Los Angeles, where Michael Eisner was presented with a lifetime achievement award.
"And so we will vote next week on whether or not we should honor Michael Eisner, our beloved President and CEO, by renaming the park to the more fitting 'Eisner's California Adventure' to forever cement his legacy in the theme park industry."
Michael Eisner was not available for comment during the awards presentation, but in a prepared statement, mentioned how pleased he was at preserving his contributions to the company. "I am deeply and humbly honored to have a whole park named after me. Everyone knows that we threw out the book on theme park design with California Adventure, and designed it from the parking lot up with no regard for how other parks were created. The public wanted something fresh and exciting, and I think I delivered.
"I oversaw the design and implementation of every nook and cranny, and I get immense please at the reactions I have seen to the wonderful paint schemes, and upholstery in the hotels, and the unique attraction that we added to the resort, Soarin' Over California, not to mention the immensely popular tours we injected."
Mitchell complimented Eisner on his additions to the Walt Disney World Resort and said that Eisner should be rewarded with a name change there, too.
Mitchell suggested that MGM-Disney Studios, an entertainment themed park, also be named after Eisner, possibly calling it Eisnerland or The Eisner Studios, since it was Eisner himself who rushed the imagineers into creating a half-day park right before Universal could unveil its own rival park.
Mitchell suggested that if there are problems with the MGM contract that would not allow the park to be renamed, then the board could just rip up the contract with MGM "as we have done in the past" or another park could be renamed. Although Michael Eisner did not himself design or build Epcot, the board apparently believes that his latest efforts to modernize the park have paid off, and that park may deserve a name change.
"Before Eisner personally rode herd on the modernization of the park, it was just a world's fair connected to some show buildings by a big pond," said Mitchell. "Now it is a truly immersive park, and may soon be worthy of splitting up into two separate parks with a two-ticket policy, considering the fact that so many great attractions have been added.
"Mission:Space, in and of itself, is worth the price of admission, and the idea for this giant spinner occurred to Michael one day as he was sitting in his penthouse watching his sons take the Jaguar for a high speed, g-force inducing spin down Burbank Avenue, and it was Michael's own idea to add 459 Figment cutouts to the wildly successful new Journey Into Imagination attraction."
Besides, Mitchell warned, having two parks on both coasts that bear Eisner's name continues a great tradition of honoring the men at the top who 'pollinate and create' the magic at the parks. "Yes, we know that there are hundreds of little people who scurry around and contribute to the magic, but it is only through Michael's leadership, energy and vision that the magic is created. We should all recognize that, and make it permanent. I only wish that I could get the board to rename all of Epcot as Eisnercot."
by Michael Izgreadey
Burbank, Ca. - When Walt passed away in the middle 1960's, the park that now bears his name was almost completely planned out.
As a fitting tribute to his brother's influence in creating the theme park industry, brother Roy proposed to the board that the 'Florida project' be renamed Walt Disney World. In this way, visitors by the thousands who flock daily to the Orlando-area gate would see the company pay homage to the man who created the mouse on every sign, in every brochure, and in every conversation.
And now, with the shocking resignation of long-time board member, Roy Disney, a nephew of Walt, another name change may be in store for some of the theme park gates in both California and Florida. But, for the first time in its history, the company is considering naming the parks after someone other than Disney.
Inside sources tell us that former Sen. George Mitchell (and now Disney board member) will soon propose that the MGM-Disney Studios theme park in Orlando, and the California Adventure theme park in Anaheim be renamed to reflect the one person who is most responsible for bringing them to fruition.
"When people see the enormous sucess and magic that is Disney's California Adventure, I want them to remember the man who made this all possible. I want them to recall the creative ideas that flowed from his grey matter, and the blood, sweat and tears he endured to bring magic into that abandoned parking lot," gushed Sen. Mitchell at a recent gathering of industry professionals at the Century Hotel in Los Angeles, where Michael Eisner was presented with a lifetime achievement award.
"And so we will vote next week on whether or not we should honor Michael Eisner, our beloved President and CEO, by renaming the park to the more fitting 'Eisner's California Adventure' to forever cement his legacy in the theme park industry."
Michael Eisner was not available for comment during the awards presentation, but in a prepared statement, mentioned how pleased he was at preserving his contributions to the company. "I am deeply and humbly honored to have a whole park named after me. Everyone knows that we threw out the book on theme park design with California Adventure, and designed it from the parking lot up with no regard for how other parks were created. The public wanted something fresh and exciting, and I think I delivered.
"I oversaw the design and implementation of every nook and cranny, and I get immense please at the reactions I have seen to the wonderful paint schemes, and upholstery in the hotels, and the unique attraction that we added to the resort, Soarin' Over California, not to mention the immensely popular tours we injected."
Mitchell complimented Eisner on his additions to the Walt Disney World Resort and said that Eisner should be rewarded with a name change there, too.
Mitchell suggested that MGM-Disney Studios, an entertainment themed park, also be named after Eisner, possibly calling it Eisnerland or The Eisner Studios, since it was Eisner himself who rushed the imagineers into creating a half-day park right before Universal could unveil its own rival park.
Mitchell suggested that if there are problems with the MGM contract that would not allow the park to be renamed, then the board could just rip up the contract with MGM "as we have done in the past" or another park could be renamed. Although Michael Eisner did not himself design or build Epcot, the board apparently believes that his latest efforts to modernize the park have paid off, and that park may deserve a name change.
"Before Eisner personally rode herd on the modernization of the park, it was just a world's fair connected to some show buildings by a big pond," said Mitchell. "Now it is a truly immersive park, and may soon be worthy of splitting up into two separate parks with a two-ticket policy, considering the fact that so many great attractions have been added.
"Mission:Space, in and of itself, is worth the price of admission, and the idea for this giant spinner occurred to Michael one day as he was sitting in his penthouse watching his sons take the Jaguar for a high speed, g-force inducing spin down Burbank Avenue, and it was Michael's own idea to add 459 Figment cutouts to the wildly successful new Journey Into Imagination attraction."
Besides, Mitchell warned, having two parks on both coasts that bear Eisner's name continues a great tradition of honoring the men at the top who 'pollinate and create' the magic at the parks. "Yes, we know that there are hundreds of little people who scurry around and contribute to the magic, but it is only through Michael's leadership, energy and vision that the magic is created. We should all recognize that, and make it permanent. I only wish that I could get the board to rename all of Epcot as Eisnercot."