What would Walt think...

[Samuel Justice]

After watching this mornings DailyFix (Pete and JeniLynn, you rock!!) and hearing the news of Shanghai Disney's budget deficit affecting the operation of the other parks, my trail of thought started to make me think about the big man himself.

The other night I took to watching the "American Experience" documentary which made me think about Walt's enthusiasm to constantly evolve, challenge and change.

If he were alive now, I personally think he'd be disappointed (before I continue I'd like to point out that I'm not a pessimist, I absolutely adore WDW and the other parks, as does everyone else here). I believe he'd be awestruck at the scale and creative effort of WDW, and also the amazing influence it's had on global entertainment and vacation resorts, but this is the man who built Disneyland and was then thinking "right, onto the next thing! EPCOT!" (Which as we all know certainly isn't the Epcot we have today). With the news of the Disney company building another resort which follows roughly the same formula as all the others, shows how the corporate thinking is still running strong over the creative. If he were here now I think he'd be bored at the talk of yet another resort or park and would challenge the bods at the top quite heavily about it. I do wonder what Disney World would've evolved into if he was around to see it through (and outside of Disneyland, if he'd even approve of the others. Disneyland Paris I'm looking at you).

What are your guys thoughts on this? Or am I just mad :-D (p.s if this thread gets a shout out on the daily fix, it'd make my day!)

 

[Karin1984]

Walt would think a lot, but so would Roy.

Tbh I do think Walt would have welcomed magical places everywhere in the world. Especially in Europe as he used so much inspiration from European artists etc. The world has gotten smaller, it's easy to travel, making it also possible to transport ideas to other countries/cultures.

And that would exactly be the challenge each country / culture is different. I think Walt would have thought of Europe and Asia as an interesting challenge because it's different from his own.

 

[bom_noite]

Lot's of folks dismiss the Eiger era. I think he took the Walt concept and moved it forward with the resorts.

The Money Grub attitude is unflattering and we have lost some of the magic lost there since the 80's.

Regardless, I think Walt would be happy overall.

 

[Dan Murphy]

DailyFix (Pete and Jenny, you rock!!)

What's this?

 

[sunshine1]

Maybe he would be pleased that people still visit Disney depsite upping park tickets?

We will never know what he would think.

 

[BlueFairy]

@Dan Murphy http://www.wdwinfo.com/dailyfix/

today's video:

 

[disBEAST]

I think he'd be disappointed in the quality of the hot dogs you get at WDW.

 

[DWillowBay]

This was just a discussion in my house today. We'll never know for sure, but I wonder if the great businessman side of Walt would be frustrated with mismanagement. I think, in theory, he would have loved the expansion and growth, but at a reasonable and fundable pace. Just my 2 cents.

 

[rteetz]

What's this?

As the PP posted the video it's about a 4 minute video posted every weekday of the weather, news, and happenings that day at the parks. It's a great bit of Disney Magic wherever you are.

 

[bom_noite]

Maybe a better question is who is doing a better job? Universal, Disney, Legoland or Seaworld? I would tell you Universal is wining by a large margin.

 

[dfb]

Obviously over 50-60 years people change attitudes so who knows but I cannot imagine he'd be pleased about a park being in a communist country!

 

[bball15fan]

I think Roy would have more of a say in this since its money than Walt would.

 

[LilyWDW]

No way to know. He's dead and he lived in a very different time.

 

[bwang123]

Maybe a better question is who is doing a better job? Universal, Disney, Legoland or Seaworld? I would tell you Universal is wining by a large margin.

depends on what you are judging "winning" on. universal is not winning in revenue and attendance.

 

[Dan Murphy]

@Dan Murphy http://www.wdwinfo.com/dailyfix/

today's video:

As the PP posted the video it's about a 4 minute video posted every weekday of the weather, news, and happenings that day at the parks. It's a great bit of Disney Magic wherever you are.

Thanks. Who is she?

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

It's impossible to know what a dead man is going to think, especially considering how things have evolved. I'm sure he would be frustrated with certain aspects, maybe he wouldn't like the way the prices are now. But, at the same point, I'm sure he would love the constant innovation and how his parks have evolved.

 

[cjparker0110]

It's always hard to guess how someone would feel. Times are different. Disney is a MUCH bigger company than it used to be. It's possible that if he were still around that he would have little say due to the complications of the modern corporate world. I think he would probably do some things differently. I think he wouldn't cut hours of employees at WDW to fix issues at another park, but I do think he would find ways to save that park. He probably would have planned things differently to be more relevant to the culture. No matter what, he would have tried to put the guest first.

 

[rteetz]

Thanks. Who is she?

If you are not familiar with the disunplugged podcast it is a podcast run by the people who own and run this site. Pete is the owner of the disboards, host of the podcast, and co-owner of dreams unlimited travel. JeniLynn Knopp hosts another one of the disunplugged podcast called The Trip. JeniLynn also goes on local Orlando news stations when invited to talk on behalf of the dis about things going on in the parks.

 

[Dan Murphy]

If you are not familiar with the disunplugged podcast it is a podcast run by the people who own and run this site. Pete is the owner of the disboards, host of the podcast, and co-owner of dreams unlimited travel. JeniLynn Knopp hosts another one of the disunplugged podcast called The Trip. JeniLynn also goes on local Orlando news stations when invited to talk on behalf of the dis about things going on in the parks.

Thanks, Ryan.

I am familiar with unplugged, though I do not listen to it. I know Pete, back from my moderator days years ago. And Dreams also...took the first trip Dreams did back in '99. I only did not know what Daily Fix was nor who JeniLyn was.

Thanks again.

 

[Samuel Justice]

I don't think he would've built Shanghai Disneyland personally. Not at least in the current form, he was always about every project being fresh and pushing boundaries. But I also think he probably would've been pushed aside due to corporate America