eg Crofton, president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts U.S. & France, to retire June 1

[PortMickey]

Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts U.S. & France, to retire June 1

Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts' U.S. and France operations, will retire on June 1..

She has overseen the parks' operations since 2011. Before that, she was president of Walt Disney World Resort since 2006.

Crofton, who now works at Disney's headquarters in Burbank, Calif., has been with the company for 35 years.

The company has not yet named her successor.

In an internal memo, Crofton said "I wanted to leave while I still had plenty of juice left for the next chapter in my life," and that she and her husband want to live in San Francisco.

Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in that same internal communication "there are few people within (the division) who have inspired as many people and made as significant an impact as Meg has. She has devoted her career to nurturing countless cast members, encouraging them to achieve new heights, coaching them to succeed and helping them down the path, no matter where they wanted it to take them. She has amassed innumerable achievements over the years, literally spanning the globe."

Crofton ceased directly overseeing Walt Disney World once George Kalogridis, who had been president of the company's Disneyland Resort dating to 2009, was named president in the resort in 2013. At that point, Crofton began focusing exclusively on her duties as president of all operations for Disney theme parks in the U.S. and Europe.

While based in Orlando, Crofton had been highly visible in the community, serving on the governing boards of groups including the University of Central Florida and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.

Crofton worked to merge functions and responsibilities between its various resorts after her promotion in 2011, reporting directly to Staggs. The fourth executive to lead Walt Disney World since its opening in 1971, she had attended Rollins and earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Florida State. Before taking over at Walt Disney World in 2006, she was Disney's director of human resources for all parks and resorts after holding key positions in personnel, operations and sales.

Some information taken from Orlando Sentinel archives.

 

[An1mag1qu3]

Hallelujah! I thought this day would never come... Good riddance! I hope the next person is someone who actually cares about the parks (at least more than Meg does).

 

[rteetz]

Hallelujah! I thought this day would never come... Good riddance! I hope the next person is someone who actually cares about the parks (at least more than Meg does).

Well... Until Staggs and Rasulo are gone then we could get talking about some change. But unfortunately one of them will probably be the next Disney CEO.

 

[wallrock]

Unfortunately it doesn't really matter who gets the spot. Whoever takes it will take their direction from Burbank for park development.

 

[Alice Royal]

I believe she was one of a few execs who got her MBA at my school. Regardless of opinion I hope to follow in her footsteps one day.