Jay Rasulo Disney CFO leaving effective June 30th

[Barnabe]

Does everyone think Tom Staggs will be just as detrimental to the parks as Iger has been?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Does everyone think Tom Staggs will be just as detrimental to the parks as Iger has been?

I think he might be better...
He's "come up" a little more with Disney and isn't a TV man...

Got a little too much accountant in him though...

 

[Barnabe]

I think he might be better...
He's "come up" a little more with Disney and isn't a TV man...

Got a little too much accountant in him though...

Well, at least he's been in the parks. I am still hoping they replace Iger with someone from the outside.

 

[rteetz]

Well, at least he's been in the parks. I am still hoping they replace Iger with someone from the outside.

That would be best in my opinion. Even tho Staggs is COO there has been a rumor that the board may still go outside the company.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Outside would be better...

What ever was left of the "Disney way" after Eisner had been crushed by CMB.

Might as well go free agent and get the best mind/manager

 

[Andrew015]

Outside would be better...

What ever was left of the "Disney way" after Eisner had been crushed by CMB.

Might as well go free agent and get the best mind/manager

This works out well if the board feels that it's time to put a stop to the ~33% uptick over the past 2 years at the little punk down I4, as they will target someone with the requisite experience in gaining back lost market share and putting a company on a growth trajectory. This doesn't work out so well if the board decides that it's best to keep the ship on the same projected course that it has been on for the past decade and hires a bean counter with expertise in extracting blood from turnips. IMHO, internal vs. external... it doesn't really matter unless he/she has the authority from the board to move in a different strategic direction.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Unfortunately lost share is but a small piece in a much larger empire...
Unlike when Eisner was brought in where it was a HUGE piece.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I agree with all of your points. It is mind-boggling but I suppose the old saying to be careful what you wish for applies big time.

1) Yep.
2) Sure, Eisner got pretty dictatorial during his second 10-years, but he DID CARE care about the guests and guest experience.
3) Something I seriously doubt about Ogre (I mean Iger).

 

[cmash95]

einer didnt give afig about guest experience. He did everything on the cheap and for copetition. the studios was built and had to be done in 1989 because universal announced they were building the studios in orlando and animal kingdom was done to compete with sea world and busch gardens. and both parks opened unfinished. then there was dca that only had three attractions worth seeing and the rest were shops and restaurants and a couple of lame shows. and of course the studios in paris that they didn't need but he wanted two parks at each resort. Finally you have hong kong need i say more. and I am glad rasulo is leaving. under his leadership what did wdw get? a bunch of cloned rides and what would have been a land of nothing but meet and greets. It was staggs that brought the mine train to fantasyland and avatarland as well as the plans for expansion of the studios. The only thing I wish would happen is that a family member would be added to the board but unfortunately none of walts or roys grandchildren see interested.

 

[Barnabe]

einer didnt give afig about guest experience. He did everything on the cheap and for copetition. the studios was built and had to be done in 1989 because universal announced they were building the studios in orlando and animal kingdom was done to compete with sea world and busch gardens. and both parks opened unfinished. then there was dca that only had three attractions worth seeing and the rest were shops and restaurants and a couple of lame shows. and of course the studios in paris that they didn't need but he wanted two parks at each resort. Finally you have hong kong need i say more. and I am glad rasulo is leaving. under his leadership what did wdw get? a bunch of cloned rides and what would have been a land of nothing but meet and greets. It was staggs that brought the mine train to fantasyland and avatarland as well as the plans for expansion of the studios. The only thing I wish would happen is that a family member would be added to the board but unfortunately none of walts or roys grandchildren see interested.

Eisner built 2 additional theme parks at WDW! How can you compare that to what's been done lately at WDW?

 

[rteetz]

Eisner built 2 additional theme parks at WDW! How can you compare that to what's been done lately at WDW?

Also the amount of resorts and other things that were added to the property.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Also the amount of resorts and other things that were added to the property.

Listen - and I can't believe I'm doing this after working during the mad period of the Eisner reign - but you cannot discount what Eisner and associates did in Florida.

Far from perfect... Many warts on that road...but they made wdw what it is. They probably "overbuilt it", if you're honest...especially on the resort side.

I mean...Iger has done well in other areas...but there is no comparison in Florida. The mean thing that you have to thank Eisner for is all the secondary areas - like boardwalk, the west side, typhoon and blizzard, fantasia gardens, etc. those don't get built by the current management. No way. They are not huge profit drivers but still are integral to the overall picture of the experience. It just simply wouldn't be the same without them.

That is the bigger part of the Eisner years...more than the flaws of studios and DAK.

You can't understate what having an executive that LIKES Florida/east coast did. Eisner is a New York/east coast guy.

Now so is Iger...but only Cali for him. Like it not... All the laurels for be our guest aside ...the primary management characteristics of Iger in Florida are magic bands and massive price increases.

That is the truth when you wash away the rest. The rest - investment spread out over 12 years - is not much more than "maintenance mode".

 

[Barnabe]

Listen - and I can't believe I'm doing this after working during the mad period of the Eisner reign - but you cannot discount what Eisner and associates did in Florida.

Far from perfect... Many warts on that road...but they made wdw what it is. They probably "overbuilt it", if you're honest...especially on the resort side.

I mean...Iger has done well in other areas...but there is no comparison in Florida. The mean thing that you have to thank Eisner for is all the secondary areas - like boardwalk, the west side, typhoon and blizzard, fantasia gardens, etc. those don't get built by the current management. No way. They are not huge profit drivers but still are integral to the overall picture of the experience. It just simply wouldn't be the same without them.

That is the bigger part of the Eisner years...more than the flaws of studios and DAK.

You can't understate what having an executive that LIKES Florida/east coast did. Eisner is a New York/east coast guy.

Now so is Iger...but only Cali for him. Like it not... All the laurels for be our guest aside ...the primary management characteristics of Iger in Florida are magic bands and massive price increases.

That is the truth when you wash away the rest. The rest - investment spread out over 12 years - is not much more than "maintenance mode".

I agree with you, except I also think maintenance has been neglected at the parks under Iger's watch. Additionally, I don't think AK and DHS would've been built if it weren't for Eisner.

 

[Planogirl]

Eisner might have built a few half completed parks but at least some things were built under his watch. The lack of progress under the current regime is sad.

 

[cmash95]

the reason that WDW has taken a back seat until recently is the amount of money pumped into three failing parks that needed to be fixed first. DCA needed a billion dollar investment to fix eisner's mistakes then you have paris that needed help not to mention hing kong. both of these last parks were built by eisner eventhough it was highly suggested that they wouldnt work and of course now we are pumping money into another boondoggle in china. disney would have been fine without animal kingdom or the studios but eisner was greedy. he wanted to bring everyone down to orlando from all sorts of socioeconimic levels and keep them solely on property for at least 7 days so he had to give them things to do for seven days that meant water parks, mini golf, shopping, and again AKand the studios to compete wit huniversal and sea world.

 

[Barnabe]

the reason that WDW has taken a back seat until recently is the amount of money pumped into three failing parks that needed to be fixed first. DCA needed a billion dollar investment to fix eisner's mistakes then you have paris that needed help not to mention hing kong. both of these last parks were built by eisner eventhough it was highly suggested that they wouldnt work and of course now we are pumping money into another boondoggle in china. disney would have been fine without animal kingdom or the studios but eisner was greedy. he wanted to bring everyone down to orlando from all sorts of socioeconimic levels and keep them solely on property for at least 7 days so he had to give them things to do for seven days that meant water parks, mini golf, shopping, and again AKand the studios to compete wit huniversal and sea world.

Iger and his team could've used the 1.5-2 billion on attractions instead of the ride rationing system. At least Eisner's developments provided guests with additional parks and entertainment. Can the same be said under the current management? No.

 

[Andrew015]

the reason that WDW has taken a back seat until recently is the amount of money pumped into three failing parks that needed to be fixed first. DCA needed a billion dollar investment to fix eisner's mistakes then you have paris that needed help not to mention hing kong. both of these last parks were built by eisner eventhough it was highly suggested that they wouldnt work and of course now we are pumping money into another boondoggle in china.

I don't disagree with any of this. WDW comprises 4 of the 8 largest theme parks in the world, of which, 3 are floundering. Why management decided to fix numbers 15 and 25 respectively before #6 (EPCOT), #7 (AK) or #8 (Hollywood Studios) is beyond me. Fix the cracked engine block before you worry about the exhaust system.

disney would have been fine without animal kingdom or the studios but eisner was greedy. he wanted to bring everyone down to orlando from all sorts of socioeconimic levels and keep them solely on property for at least 7 days so he had to give them things to do for seven days that meant water parks, mini golf, shopping, and again AK and the studios to compete with universal and sea world.

This, however, I'm not touching with a 10-foot pole...

 

[cmash95]

DCa opened with three eticket attractions and one copycat area. the rest were shops and restaurants. it was iger that fixed that mess and it was eisner who determined that
the studios in paris be built after paris was getting on their feet, so they had to go back into debt. I think iger has spent money wisely except for china. he adquired brands that enhance the disney name and he doesn't do things on the cheap. he is willing to put his money where his mouth is and willing to let people go who make big mistakes. ie magic bands and meg. He holds his executives responsible for the good and the bad and they are rewarded accordingly. Eiger never let his people do their jobs, lets talk about the million dollar fiasco with firing the president of the company after Eisner personally recruited him but the guy wasnt a yes man so eiger got rid of him. oh and btw Rasulo was one of Eiger's yes men

 

[rteetz]

DCa opened with three eticket attractions and one copycat area. the rest were shops and restaurants. it was iger that fixed that mess and it was eisner who determined that
the studios in paris be built after paris was getting on their feet, so they had to go back into debt. I think iger has spent money wisely except for china. he adquired brands that enhance the disney name and he doesn't do things on the cheap. he is willing to put his money where his mouth is and willing to let people go who make big mistakes. ie magic bands and meg. He holds his executives responsible for the good and the bad and they are rewarded accordingly. Eiger never let his people do their jobs, lets talk about the million dollar fiasco with firing the president of the company after Eisner personally recruited him but the guy wasnt a yes man so eiger got rid of him. oh and btw Rasulo was one of Eiger's yes men

Eisner had to build Studios in Paris because of the contract with Paris. Disney did not have full control of either park until this past year. The lack of additions or investment in Paris was not because of Disney it was because of the management with EuroDisney a separate entity. Disneyland Paris was built over budget of course and Disney did not have the money to build studios but were forced into building it.

Meg didn't have anything to do with Magicbands.

Eisner invested domestically. Eisner was worried about making WDW and Disneyland destinations for everyone. He cared about the guest experience in both. Iger is all focused overseas. After ABC Iger went into an international relations position with Disney and has been on record saying Disney needs to do more overseas. Without Eisner we don't have DHS or AK or DCA or DLP. I suggest you do some research on the history of the company and Eisner and Iger. Rasulo and Staggs may have both come into the company under Eisner but Iger did not get of Rasulo because he was doing a bad job. Disney was doing great with Rasulo. Rasulo left on his own because he knew he wasn't going to get the CEO job. Staggs who also came in under Eisner is now COO. I'm really confused at what the point is here.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I don't disagree with any of this. WDW comprises 4 of the 8 largest theme parks in the world, of which, 3 are floundering. Why management decided to fix numbers 15 and 25 respectively before #6 (EPCOT), #7 (AK) or #8 (Hollywood Studios) is beyond me. Fix the cracked engine block before you worry about the exhaust system.

They seem to have a horror of actually giving people "4 great parks" for their (admittedly discounted) money. In other words, they feel that fixing up #6, 7 and 8 would only pull customers from the overcrowded but very lucrative cash cow (park #1), whereas fixing #15 and 25 will attract wild, free-range money that would not have otherwise come to Disney.

It's a great way to do things ... but it's highly dependent on millions of people not noticing that their family starts whining and getting bored around 12:30 pm whenever they visit Epcot, AK and DHS, and not starting to resent that they're getting 1 great park and 3 half-parks for their money.