Pressler's Replacement: James Rasulo

[Peter Pirate]

WDW announced that James Rasulo is the new President of Parks & Resorts. See
Rasulo

 

[manning]

It has been said that Al Weiss was campaigning for the job. Along with this being the second time passed up, do you think he will now decide to leave? If so, how would this affect WDW and the employees. He was instrumental in minimizing layoffs.

 

[wdw4us2]

I would like to read something from an outside (non-Disney) source about Mr. Rasulo before I form an opinion about him.

I am disappointed that Al Weiss was passed over, again. I just hope that he sticks around.

Lisa

 

[Luv2Roam]

Sorry to hear Weiss didn't get the position. But I think that is a blessing to WDW, and probably to us as well .

 

[Peter Pirate]

I think Weiss would have been good, of course thats barring the shackles of ME and I'm hoping that being passed over won't sour him (I think he's been very good at WDW). I think the fact that he's being passed on in favor of a 17 year veteran (who I think AV reported) wanted to come back to America will help to mitigate his bad feelings hopefully (I mean it may have been a harder pill to swallow if Harris had been picked instead).

As the head of European Disney Rasulo has certainly seen some battles...Whether this means he's ready for this is anyones guess. I would be interested to know if Rasulo is a guy generally believed to 'get it,' in the Disney vernacular (AV ???).

 

[lrodk]

I still strongly believe that the real positive change won't begin until a change is made at the top. It really doesn't matter a whole lot who ME picks to run the parks(although admitedly it would help if the person genuinely cared about the guests and CMs) since their hands will ultimately be tied by Burbank over all of the pressing issues. Pressler's departure IMHO is part of the corporate "blood-letting" process that will eventually lead to MEs departure. The only saving grace will be if ME jumps ship before the whole thing sinks to the bottom. That I'm afraid is unlikely. The best case scenario is that he is dismissed as CEO by the majority voting members of the board before any more damage is done. Unfortunately my gut feeling tells me that this whole situation will end in a huge ugly mess before things start to get better. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Bob O]

I would agre with Irodk that ME has to go to get real change. but i would have preferred a outsider rather than a inside person.

 

[Safari Steve]

Oh well. I'm sure that Al will be around for a while. His current position is still up there on the food chain. People were saying that Mr. Weiss could be passed over because he lacks "international experience" as a result of spending his entire career @ WDW.
European operations have been doing fairly well, I guess... so maybe this guy will be allright. We'll see.

As for insider vs outsider, I'll take someone who knows the company and the cast over the corporate "flavor of the month" any day.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Agree. Whenever an outsider is brought in to that kind of position everyone gripes about it anyway.

 

[meowthew2]

I'm glad neither Al or Cynthia got it. I want them to be around after Eisner leaves.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

From what I’ve seen in other groups he is NOT going to solve any of our woes! Additionally, he’s got to be a well known ‘yes-man’ to Ei$ner, otherwise he wouldn’t have even been considered. And from the news release, if this doesn’t just fill you with that warm and fuzzy feeling then I don’t know what will!!

Jay has an exceptional understanding of our brand and the complexities of the parks and resorts business. His talents as a strategic thinker, accomplished leader and effective operator combine to make Jay the perfect person to lead the parks and resorts group

It looks to me as if it’s the - Same old... Same old....

I hope I’m wrong. AV? Any insight?

 

[space42]

Originally posted by DVC-Landbaron
From what I’ve seen in other groups he is NOT going to solve any of our woes! Additionally, he’s got to be a well known ‘yes-man’ to Ei$ner, otherwise he wouldn’t have even been considered. And from the news release, if this doesn’t just fill you with that warm and fuzzy feeling then I don’t know what will!!



It looks to me as if it’s the - Same old... Same old....

I hope I’m wrong. AV? Any insight?

Yeah, but look at the bright side. When Ei$ner is ejected, we will still have Al and Cynthia around and by all acounts they do indeed 'get it'.

 

[indigo]

It is my belief that Rasulo might have the 'magic' in him. However, the fact that he presided over the building of the Paris Disney Studios, a park with all the problems of DCA, makes me wary. Was that a budget issue and he did the best he could? Or did the scope of the park provide the real limitation?

Also, Rasulo's real-estate background (read hotel development) puts him in the same pocket as Barry Braverman. The cheif architect of DCA. See a theme here?

Unless Rasulo is made from a different mold than Braverman and Pressler, then I think we're in for more of the same.

 

[hopemax]

My first impression is that AV's question of whether the board or Eisner would choose, and it looks like Eisner won. But I still don't know what that means.

I assumed AV's "the board" was really the Roy Disney/Stanley Gold faction, so this could mean that Eisner still has the approval of the majority of the board, we're still stuck with him for awhile. It could mean that the Gold/Disney faction isn't ready to go "all the way" and therefore didn't really fight Eisner's choice right now. When they do go "all the way," or whenever Eisner departs, however that happens, the new guy would probably choose his own guy to head the Theme Parks & Resorts.

I guess I'm feeling that whoever was picked, isn't going to be *the* guy for the long term, so whoever it is really doesn't matter, except maybe to say how long Eisner is still going to be around. I take this as,"Eisner's not on life-support quite yet."

Regardless of what happens, I'm glad Pressler's gone because it means he's NOT going to be Eisner's successor.

 

[Another Voice]

Very quickly...

Mike won.

As it was said to me - "Eisner found someone for the 'do the stalls really need the extra roll of toilet paper' mentatilty that the parks are about to be plunged into".

 

[hopemax]

You know, as bad as this sounds, I feel like I can't get too worked up.

I still believe that the problems at WDW are more to do with the decisions and direction of the past decade. The economy, threat of terrorism are catalysts. I still believe that people have money for luxuries. But they can't afford as many luxuries as they once did.

"Do I want a new car or a trip to WDW? Well, the last trip to WDW seemed off, I don't know why, and there doesn't seem to be very many new things that I'm interested in, and interest rates are so low right now...I think I'll go with the car." I believe that if things were better at the parks people would say, "You know, interest rates are really good right now, but my car still has life, it's still reliable, and with all this worry I really NEED a vacation, it will be good to spend time with the family, and WDW is so fabulous." Same scenarios playing out with other families trying to decide between trips to WDW and new computers, attending sporting events, and <insert your own luxury that is so important to you that you are still finding a way to do, even if it means brown-bagging lunch, or giving up some other luxury>.

I've heard a lot of bad stuff of the condition of the French parks. All of it from either Americans or the British. And they complain that the French don't care, and that's why the park is able to get away with it. Who are WDW's main audience? Americans and the British.

Yes, conditions will get worse. And attendence, hotel bookings, guest spending will get worse too. And the microscope will still be fixed on the offices in Burbank.

I feel like I'm gambling, and my opponent just offered "double or nothing." I could lose big, I could win big, but the game will stop dragging on like it has been. And as much as I'd like to win, I'm tired and I'd rather the game just be over. Under Pressler, I felt like a yo-yo, the schizophrenia that DVC describes, just enough good coming out to keep coming back, still too much bad to be satisfied. If it gets any worse, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to ever go back.

 

[JeffH]

the stalls really need the extra roll of toilet paper'

<br>
I don't really think that that stuff they have in the stalls is toilet paper. It's so thin it redefines the meaning of 'paper thin'. It's so narrow that your hand ends up doing most of the work. It's (lack of) texture is like teflon. I imagine that that stuff is cheaper per inch, but when I have to use about 2 yards of it per wipe and it takes about 10 wipes to feel clean, it doesn't really cost less.

 

[roymccoy]

I'm sure this guy was picked because he helped turn EuroDisney around. Eisner has one year to turn the parks around or he's out, so it was a pretty obvious choice. All the other names mentioned were all to bloodied by the failure of DCA and the not-so-great showing of AK. This guy is the only one that has had any sort of success in the last few years.

Roy

P.S. The toilet paper is a joke. At DL, there is an exhibit of space items in Tomorrowland which includes a piece of what is billed as "The thinnest material known to man" It will be used on future space missions to collect space particles. Someone taped a little sign to the display case that said "Disneyland toilet paper is the thinnest material known to man"

 

[manning]

There is a time to fight and a time to lay back and let the other guy defeat himself.

This could be what Roy and Gold may be doing, or they may not have their ducks in order yet. I would hold back and see what develops and if ME stumbles, it makes it easier to dump him.

 

[Planogirl]

Originally posted by hopemax
You know, as bad as this sounds, I feel like I can't get too worked up.

I still believe that the problems at WDW are more to do with the decisions and direction of the past decade. The economy, threat of terrorism are catalysts. I still believe that people have money for luxuries. But they can't afford as many luxuries as they once did.

"Do I want a new car or a trip to WDW? Well, the last trip to WDW seemed off, I don't know why, and there doesn't seem to be very many new things that I'm interested in, and interest rates are so low right now...I think I'll go with the car." I believe that if things were better at the parks people would say, "You know, interest rates are really good right now, but my car still has life, it's still reliable, and with all this worry I really NEED a vacation, it will be good to spend time with the family, and WDW is so fabulous." Same scenarios playing out with other families trying to decide between trips to WDW and new computers, attending sporting events, and <insert your own luxury that is so important to you that you are still finding a way to do, even if it means brown-bagging lunch, or giving up some other luxury>.

I think that many people may also be asking themselves if they should go with a trip to WDW or a trip to somewhere else. I had heard that many people are heading for destinations closer to home and that they are also trying to spend less money. After all trips to WDW are pricey and if they think that the parks seemed off the last time they went, what is the incentive to return?

I hope that Disneyland can hang in there through all of this. I don't know about WDW.