Do you think Roy Disney's resignation will affect future DVC plans......

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Just wondered if Roy Disney's resignation today will affect the future of DVC and future resorts being built.

Walt Disney Co. Vice Chairman Roy E. Disney submitted his resignation from the company board on Sunday and called for Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner to step down from his own positions, the WALL STREET JOURNAL is reporting.

Disney, nephew to the late Walt Disney, sent Eisner a three-page letter severely criticizing his leadership during the past seven years:

'It is my sincere belief that it is you who should be leaving and not me,... Accordingly, I once again call for your resignation or retirement'... DEVELOPING HARD... www.drudgereport.com

 

[RobDoc]

Not at all.

Since Roy Disney's role with the company was in the Feature Animation Division, his departure won't have any affect on present or future plans for DVC. He played no role in developing the DVC program to it's present status within the company and DVC will continue with it's present leadership in his abscence.

Speculation about the future of the Walt Disney Company without Roy Disney will be more appropriate on the News/Rumors Board.

 

[tvwalsh]

Roy Disney has constantly criticized Eisner and the gang for "Trying to build parks on the cheap ... and it shows."

He has also criticized a next financial quarter focus and a lack of long term thinking.

For those of us who have experienced this type of cut, (e.g. $300+ park admission tickets printed on postage sized plain paper!) We have nothing but joy over the possible departure of o Eisner and his expensive cohorts!

Horrah for Roy!

 

[RobDoc]

Please keep discussion to the DVC topic of this thread.

Further discussion about how this affects other aspects of Disney are appropriate on the News/Rumors Board and not on this forum.

Thanks!

 

[PamOKW]

I don't think the departure of Roy Disney will have any effect on DVC. The departure of Eisner, might bring DVC under scrutiny by his replacement. However, I think DVC is a real profit center for Disney and I think the long-range plans for DVC are probably pretty solid.

 

[tvwalsh]

It is difficult to separate the ways that thoughtless cheapness and self serving cost cutting effect the DVC but let me try!

Roy has criticized Eisner since 1994 for short term thinking. Could the smaller rooms in resorts after OKW be part of that?
Could the lack of incentives offered to DVC members (Disney's best long term customers) be part of this? The list is endless!

 

[JimC]

Roy's departure is a loss to Disney and DVC. He represented the Walt's approach to quality and guest servie.

 

[Desperado]

Roy's belief in quality service overall for Disney could impact DVC, with further reductions in services possible. Top leaders set the vision and culture of an organization which affect divisions like DVC, DVC doesn't operate in isolation from the direction from the top. Roy's public departure critical of exsisting leadership may indicate a future trade off of expense reduction over quality services which we may see reflected in future DVC offerings/service reductions.

 

[Granny]

Since Roy mentions in his resignation letter that he believes that Eisner doesn't invest heavily enough in the parks, trying to build them "on the cheap".....I think that mentality could have long term adverse affects on our DVC membership if it becomes the main focus.

Let's face it, the value of our DVC memberships, at least the ones at WDW, are directly tied to the fortunes of the WDW parks. And what sets these parks apart from so many other theme parks is the little touches, the attention to detail, and the ability to tie in to the legacy of Disney characters without overt exploitationalism.

I think two things are noteworthy here...

1. Roy Disney was one year past the mandatory retirement age, and there were rumors that he was not long for his job no matter what.

2. Under Eisner, we continue to see heavy investment in the WDW experience, including the opening of Disney MGM and DAK parks with their great attractions. Think of WDW without these two parks and I think everyone would agree that it would not be as good of an experience as it currently is.

Also, we see continued investment in new attractions....Rock n Roller Coaster, expanded "lands" at DAK, Mission: Space and Expedition Everest come quickly to mind.

I don't see this having much of an impact on DVC down the road unless they start trimming things during good times just to help the bottom line. The cuts we saw after 9-11 were understandable, and have largely been restored.

As for DVC itself, it must be highly profitable and I don't see them cutting back on quality or quantity of this program until they quit selling it. Then, we will see what kind of perks, etc they maintain.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I totally agree, Granny! I view this resignation as BAD news for both WDW AND DVC!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

DVC as a stand-alone business:
1) I don't think the building of DVC's will change.
2) These are timeshares, and are thus a business decision.
3) I think business decisions will still be made the same.
4) Selling popular timeshares is a good business to be in.

DVC when influenced by WDW:
1) This might have an effect.
2) If WDW deteriorates, then interest in DVC would lessen.
3) As mentioned above, the draw to DVC is WDW.
4) Without a sound WDW, DVC is an overpriced timeshare.

General Conclusion:
1) I don't see a change in direction of building DVC's.
2) But I do have a worry for future WDW direction(s).

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Quoted in our paper was the comment that Eisner's leadership has led to a widely held perception of the company as "rapacious, soulless and always looking for the 'quick buck' rather than the long term value, which is leading to a loss of public trust"

I think DVCers have seen the 'quick-buck' mentality concerning the types of perks offered to frequent visitors (i.e DVCers and others)...no REAL pass discount. DVCers have also felt it in the value that Disney Corp will give DVC for traded points, expecially for the WDW onsite and DCL exchanges. I bet Disney Corp makes a handsome profit on these exchanges. For the DVC properties, I wonder how much of our dues go to support the shared facilities. Historically, the dues are higher at the hotel-linked properties-VWL, BCV, and BWV, when compared to the stand alone OKW (I don't know about SSR yet).

 

[Granny]

Originally posted by dianeschlicht
I totally agree, Granny! I view this resignation as BAD news for both WDW AND DVC!

Actually Diane, I think we are disagreeing on this one.

You are agreeing with Roy. But he hasn't been part of the decision/investment process regarding the parks for some time. And I have seen no indication of park deterioration under Eisner...just the opposite, IMHO.

I guess we'll have to take Doc's oft-repeated advice and "stay tuned!".

 

[CarolA]

Since according to Roy's letter he has NOT been paid any attention to. (Personally I think the letter was a BAD move) I assume that he had no impact in the past so I don't think his departure will either.

I think this was "publicity" attempt to get what he wanted and failed to attain thru other methods. If you are working to get the CEO fired, you can't think he will REALLY want you on the board.

I don't think the pass discounts have anything to do with this. I have seen several posts quoting pass discounts, AP rates, etc... as an issue. It looks more like creative control which AP rates, pass discounts etc. are not really considered creative control.

The Disney family would really like this to be the company Uncle Walt and Roy founded. That won't happen.

Keep in mind if it was not for Eisner the parks and entertainment division probably would have been sold off years ago. Wall Street wanted to buy the company up and sell off the pieces. (The parts being worth more then the whole prior to the Eisner years and the stock was even cheaper then it is now!)

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by Granny
Since Roy mentions in his resignation letter that he believes that Eisner doesn't invest heavily enough in the parks, trying to build them "on the cheap".....I think that mentality could have long term adverse affects on our DVC membership if it becomes the main focus.

Let's face it, the value of our DVC memberships, at least the ones at WDW, are directly tied to the fortunes of the WDW parks. And what sets these parks apart from so many other theme parks is the little touches, the attention to detail, and the ability to tie in to the legacy of Disney characters without overt exploitationalism.

I think two things are noteworthy here...

1. Roy Disney was one year past the mandatory retirement age, and there were rumors that he was not long for his job no matter what.

2. Under Eisner, we continue to see heavy investment in the WDW experience, including the opening of Disney MGM and DAK parks with their great attractions. Think of WDW without these two parks and I think everyone would agree that it would not be as good of an experience as it currently is.

Also, we see continued investment in new attractions....Rock n Roller Coaster, expanded "lands" at DAK, Mission: Space and Expedition Everest come quickly to mind.

I don't see this having much of an impact on DVC down the road unless they start trimming things during good times just to help the bottom line. The cuts we saw after 9-11 were understandable, and have largely been restored.

As for DVC itself, it must be highly profitable and I don't see them cutting back on quality or quantity of this program until they quit selling it. Then, we will see what kind of perks, etc they maintain.

Agreed!

 

[lenshanem]

This makes me want to cry! Wow, how could Eisner start off so good and end up so BAD?!? I'm very sad to see Disney go if for anything that connection to the Disney family and his desire to uphold that "heritage" as he stated in his resignation letter.

I think the future of WDW is very important to DVC. I don't even see how you can separate them. I would think most of us bought DVC based on our love for WDW, if WDW continues to go downhill at the rate it has been these last years I don't think many of us would have bought. My mother who went with me last July and who hadn't been in awhile, couldn't believe how badly the service, cleanliness and maintenance of the parks had deteriated so much from her past visit.

Simply, if the parks continue to deteriate are you going to feel as good about your personal DVC investment? Do you want to spend your vacations at a Six Flags or at what WDW used to be like when you originally bought?!? As DVC members we have almost permantely set the majority of our future vacations at WDW.

 

[Granny]

Not to get off topic (I hope) but...

if WDW continues to go downhill at the rate it has been these last years I don't think many of us would have bought. My mother who went with me last July and who hadn't been in awhile, couldn't believe how badly the service, cleanliness and maintenance of the parks had deteriated so much from her past visit.

....I simply haven't seen WDW going downhill. Just the opposite, in fact. But that's just my experience and opinion. We go in the summer and there have been clean parks, all attractions open and lots of people. So I can only speak from my own experience on this.

The only fear I have with Disney is that they forget their roots and try to get into a thrill ride competition with Universal and other theme parks. Especially if they don't weave the rides into their park theming and characters. The thrill rides are great at WDW, but not the core reason we go there every year.

 

[lenshanem]

Granny, I still love WDW, but I can see huge differences in the quality over the years. Here's a thread to a trip report from my last trip -

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=413599

Here's a part from the trip report that I copied and pasted. I still can't get over what I saw there. Regardless, we still always have fun -

Public bathrooms next to Morocco were the worst I have ever seen at WDW. I’m guessing at least 15 stalls? None had toilet paper, several were clogged, no paper towels and trash piled on the floor from days ago? My mom and I were totally blown away. My dad hunted down a CM and they called for someone to come clean. What a mess! Very disappointing!

Here's a wonderful site that is no longer updated, but can give you an idea of what I'm referring to about WDW going downhill -

http://www.wdwblues.com/

I'll always love WDW, but unfortuanetly I can see the difference.

 

[RobDoc]

This has begun to stray far from a DVC topic- please keep this on topic.

 

[PamOKW]

The bathroom description you give is extreme and totally unacceptable. However, I have to agree that I don't see a tremendous deterioriation of the parks and resorts. There are factors that have to be considered as to why it may not be up to the almost perfect status of years back -- 1) It's bigger, much, much bigger. 2) Quality workers are hard to find. There is a change in level of service in any place that depends on lots of minimum wage service personnel. Do you get the same service and attention you did at a restaurant 20 years ago? At McDonald's? At the grocery store? 3) Society itself is different. A lot of people don't care what they do and have been known to do somewhat amazing things. We've seen stories on these boards of outrageous behavior. It's not as easy to keep a place perfect when the guests are constantly undermining efforts. 4) It is too expensive to combat the above factors and keep things at exactly perfect levels. Every inch could be spotless and every leaf perfectly green but park ticket prices would probably have to be 25-30% higher than they are now. A balance has to be kept between acceptable and perfect.

What you describe with the bathroom is obviously wrong. That can't be allowed to continue. But, if replacing flowers once a week instead of twice a week to save money still keeps them looking okay, that type of thing is reasonable in tough times.