If Walt Were Here...

[NJParkhopper]

What differences would exist at WDW if Walt Disney were at the helm of the Disney Corporation? (Prices, overall look and feel of the place, Downtown Disney changes, whatever you think...)

 

[bicker]

Unfortunately, I suspect that is Walt Disney were still alive, the Disney Company would have gone out of business by now (unless he had done what his family had done on his behalf in the early 1980s and hired Michael Eisner, in which case WDW would look exactly as it does today).

I think we've got the best WDW we could possibly hope for, given the realities of our world.

 

[2Xited4Disney]

he would be REALLY REALLY OLD


hahah sorry just thought it would be funny

 

[DancingBear]

Bicker's right, of course. The only possible alternatives would be either going out of business or hiring Michael Eisner.

 

[dbm20th]

Eisner was needed not because of Walt, but because of what came after Walt, actually more accurately what came after Roy. I am not so sure that Walt and Roy would not have continued to grow.

I think we would have seen alot more risks taken, but not finacial failure. The brothers built an empire out of nothing, and I don't think they would have failed to move forward.

Now to answer your question...

I think we would see less "classics" hanging around MK's non-Fantasyland areas (i.e. Jungle Cruise, Swiss, POTC) At the very least, he would have updated them relentlessly to the best AAs available.

EPCOT, if it were even built the way it is today, would certainly be moving forward much more rapidly then it has. I could never see Walt keeping SE the same way for 25 years.

I think there are many things the WDI has done that Wakt would have done himself or at least REALLY liked. Such as,

-AK He always had a love for the wild

-hotels the themeing is vintage Walt on many of them...okay, maybe not All-Stars

-Illuminations

-That walking dinosaur who I haven't seen and whose name I can't remember. That is totally Walt

 

[2Xited4Disney]

I think the post would be more beneficial to say what if walt never had lung cancer... and died of old age at a more appropriate age.... catch my drift...

Like if he had been capable of finishing MK and started on EPCOT


I honestly have no idea of what WDW would be like if Walt had not passed away prior to openening...But I think Biker is deffinately right...


Either Disney would have been broke in the 80s or Walt would have had to change to become a corperate @#$&)!#...

 

[Galahad]

I also agree with bicker. Also, I think there are probably a number of things at WDW that we all really love that would never had happened if Walt had still been in charge.

 

[DancingBear]

Either Disney would have been broke in the 80s or Walt would have had to change to become a corperate @#$&)!#...

Disney was never broke. It just became a target for takeover because it was perceived to have underpriced stock and underexploited assets.

Let's remember Eisner didn't arrive until 17 years after Walt's death.

Eisner/Wells essentially did just a few key things in the first years after they arrived: (1) put the Disney classics on home video, (2) developed the Florida property, and (3) reinvigorated live action and animated movie production.

Somehow I think Walt and Roy might have figured that out. Certainly Walt has his own ideas about how to develop the Florida property.

 

[DisneyBaby!]

Now I am no expert on the whole Disney/Eisner history but that said I think that Mr. Eisner made the company what it is today, for good or bad. He built the resorts, put the movies on Video and all of the things that we think of Disney to be today but his time was over long before he left. They stopped taking the risks the took in the begining, stopped looking past the current fiscal situation and the most recent earnings report.

I think that Walt would indeed have changed so many of the rides, and not had them stagnant for 25 years+. I would look at things like the Carousel of Progress as more of a Museum piece that Walt would not want changed but C'mon, the Pirates ride was WAY ahead of what people were doing at the time, as were all of the parks when they opened. Problem is that everyone else caught up, and in some cases, did it better.

The spirit of inovation and invention that Pixar is going to bring to the company, the brilliance of Steve Jobs and John Lasseter will only help to improve the quality. I just saw a post quoting Ray Bradbury about Walt, basically do something unnecessary so well you realize how necessary it was all along. We need more of that idea at Disney and the real challenge is the bar is so much higher today, people are so much more sophisticated it is more difficult to impress.

 

[2Xited4Disney]

I never said Disney was broke

 

[Mickmse2002]

My take, from what I have read about Walt, was that the difference in the company would be more at a philosophy/culture level then a "what attractions would be different" level. I think you would see greater emphasis on creativity, greater risk with cutting edge technology, etc.

 

[bicker]

Actually, if Walt had his way, there would have been only the one theme park in Florida.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Eisner/Wells essentially did just a few key things in the first years after they arrived: (1) put the Disney classics on home video, (2) developed the Florida property, and (3) reinvigorated live action and animated movie production.

Yes, Eisner took those steps to make better use of underperforming assets. One would have to wonder if Disney would have had such underperforming assets had Walt been around. He wasn't one to sit on his hands. We have no idea how he would have used the assets at his disposal, but he surely would have done something. Would it have been good or bad? Don't know. Would it have led to where we are today? Not sure, but likely not.

One thing I suspect is that Disney, under Walt's continued guidance, would have remained more focused on it's core business and philosophies. While Walt was never the easiest person to work for, he did let the creative types flourish. That is somehting Disney unfortunately lost along the way.

Also, it isn't what Eisner did in the years immediately following his ascention to power that most impacted the future of the Walt Disney Co, but what he did later. He wanted to play media mogul, and that may not have been something Walt was likely to do. Go.com, Fox Family, Cap Cities/ABC........these types of acquisitions altered the focus and course of the Walt Dinsey Company, and not necessarily in good ways. I don't think Walt would have gone down that path.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Actually, if Walt had his way, there would have been only the one theme park in Florida.

Yes, if you assume that Walt Disney's circa 1965 thinking would have remained static over the years. I'm not so sure that is a valid assumption.

 

[bicker]

On the contrary, Walt Disney's circa 1965 thinking, static or dynamic, would have simply resulted in something other than a destination resort, with many resorts and theme parks. It would have been something completely different from what we all are fans of.

 

[DisneyKidds]

On the contrary, Walt Disney's circa 1965 thinking, static or dynamic, would have simply resulted in something other than a destination resort, with many resorts and theme parks. It would have been something completely different from what we all are fans of.

Maybe, maybe not. What is more likely than anything is that Walt would have moved on to other interests (as he had been known to do) and left management and growth of theme parks to somebody else. From there all bets would have been off.

Now if Walt actually made E.P.C.O.T........well, that would have changed the landscape of the Florida Project immensely.

 

[DancingBear]

Yes, Eisner took those steps to make better use of underperforming assets. One would have to wonder if Disney would have had such underperforming assets had Walt been around. He wasn't one to sit on his hands. We have no idea how he would have used the assets at his disposal, but he surely would have done something. Would it have been good or bad? Don't know. Would it have led to where we are today? Not sure, but likely not.

One thing I suspect is that Disney, under Walt's continued guidance, would have remained more focused on it's core business and philosophies. While Walt was never the easiest person to work for, he did let the creative types flourish. That is somehting Disney unfortunately lost along the way.

Also, it isn't what Eisner did in the years immediately following his ascention to power that most impacted the future of the Walt Disney Co, but what he did later. He wanted to play media mogul, and that may not have been something Walt was likely to do. Go.com, Fox Family, Cap Cities/ABC........these types of acquisitions altered the focus and course of the Walt Dinsey Company, and not necessarily in good ways. I don't think Walt would have gone down that path.

Absolutely agree.

 

[DancingBear]

On the contrary, Walt Disney's circa 1965 thinking, static or dynamic, would have simply resulted in something other than a destination resort, with many resorts and theme parks. It would have been something completely different from what we all are fans of.

Certainly it would have turned out differently, but it may very well have been, or included, a "destination resort." Query how many hotels/resorts were in the concept for WDW when he died in 1967? Certainly there were a number of additional hotels/resorts in the pre-1971 future plans for WDW.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Certainly it would have turned out differently, but it may very well have been, or included, a "destination resort." Query how many hotels/resorts were in the concept for WDW when he died in 1967? Certainly there were a number of additional hotels/resorts in the pre-1971 future plans for WDW.

To answer your query...........as extracted from an article on another Disney site:

Phase One of the Walt Disney World project was to consist of the Magic Kingdom theme park, five resort hotels, an entrance complex, golf courses, and daytime resort activities. The five hotels in the original plan were to be:

The Tempo Bay Resort, which eventually became the Contemporary Resort
Polynesian Village Resort
Asian Resort
Venetian Resort
Persian Resort
By the time that the Tenth Preliminary Master Plot Plan was committed to paper, the latter three hotels had been relegated to “future development.”

Of course the Master Plan also made reference to Motels, which were to be on the fringes of the property.

So the idea was always to have a destination resort, but the future was a changing work in progress. Walt didn't envision anywhere near the number of resorts we have today, but it would be reckless to say that more resorts than appeared in the Preliminary Master Plot Plan might not have been added as valuable experience was gained at the Florida Project.

It seems Walt would have had a destination resort......but maybe not one as large as we have today, although one can't say that with any certainty.

 

[Another Voice]

Actually, if Walt had his way, there would have been only the one theme park in Florida.

Yea – the thrill of Dino-Rama more than makes up for what would have been the most unique city in the world.