I'll respond to each of your points:
Originally posted by King Triton
Here's how to save Disney:
1) sell off ABC
I agree that it's kind of dead weight right now. It will be interesting to see what having John Madden in the booth does for the ratings. I think that aside from a few shows here & there, most of them suck.
2) sell off the Angels and Ducks sports teams (these are only Michael Eisner's ego toys at stock holder's expense)
I think while owning a baseball team is an expensive proposition, a hockey team requires a fraction of the money to have a successful franchise. I agree that naming the team the Ducks was a bad move as fans were a little hesitant to get on board, but from what I understand the Pond is getting butts in the seats, even with a bad product on the ice. If they threw more money into the kitty they could look at getting some real key aquisitions. If you don't think it's possible to get turn around after having a bad rep, take a look at the Dallas Mavericks. A couple years ago making the playoffs was a pipe dream, now people are expecting the playoffs to be made & an appearance in the finals in the next couple years.
3) stop wasting money on internet deals - get out of the internet business
I agree.
4) Sell ESPN sports center - another huge waste.
I couldn't disagree more. Owning ESPN is a cash cow & instead of griping that the audience is watching some channel showing sports, they're happy that the audience is watching their channel showing sports. It's still the premier sports channel & selling it would be a follish move IMO.
5) Go back to the old Disney animation quality - stop it with the cookie cutter animation system. Atlantis was like watching a bad saturday morning cartoon.
I agree. Although I personally liked Atlantis I could see how people wouldn't like it & I think Hunchback & Pocahontas shouldn't even granted the honor of having the Disney name on the cover.
6) If you build a theme park, build it right. Example - DCA vs DisneySea. It's like night and day. DCA is a low budget joke.
Agreed. I also think they should focus on fixing current parks that aren't on the same level as should be expected. I get so tired of hearing about a 5th park when AK & MGM aren't even up to snuff.
7) Forget trying to attract teenagers with thrill rides. Removing cool rides like Horizons and World of Motion to make room for more thrill rides was a big mistake. People go to Disney for the imagination and magic - not to see a Six Flags type roller coaster clone rides. Build a Horizons II ride at Epcot. How about Journey into the Center of the Earth ride over here? Build rides that take you on a journey into your imagination. Walt was a master at that but Disney (Michael Eisner) got away from that in the 90's.
I don't mind a few thrills here & there...as long as here & there weren't once older rides. Call me an idealist, but with 43 square miles, you'd think they could a little extra space for new rides without that being at the expense of older rides.
8) Stop doing weird stuff like building Pop Century hotel. No way Walt would have approved that mess. Stick with the cool Disney themes.
Yep, tacky & ugly are the onlt adjectives that come to mind with that eyesore (wait I guess that's a 3rd adj.
)
9) Focus on Disney type movies. Princes gets the prince in the end type movie. Every time you leave a Disney movie, you should be humming some of the songs.
While I agree that the fairytales are a sure bet, I also like that the animation department is willing to flex their creative muscles & try new things. If not we wouldn't have had more creative departures like Alice In Wonderland, Make Mine Music, or Fantasia(s). As an artist I know that drawing the same style or theme gets really old & you want to explore other styles.
10) Focus on improving each theme park year after year. Put in more cool rides. Please no more Dumbo clone rides!!!
Geez, you mean 3 up & down rides are too many?
I'd agree with the caveat that adding new rides doesn't mean getting rid of old ones. I believe in expansion, not revision.
11) Disney needs to stop spreading themselves out too thin. Disney branches out into too many directions and the real magic gets watered down. Focus on creating the magic - never, ever get away from the magic!!!
I agree & I think ousting the current regime will be a step in the right direction to get things back on track.
I will say this...Fantasmic, Spectromagic parade and the fireworks are AWESOME!! That is what I love about Disney. Don't ever change that!!
I agree, though I do like that they are thinking about swapping parades around. IMO MSEP blows away Spectro. I wish they could do this with the set shows like Fantasmic! as I believe the DL version blows the MGM version away as well. I do think the WDW fireworks are much better though.
I love Disney with all my heart. I think I should have been an imagineer. I want Disney to be the best and I only point these things out because I love Disney so much.
I think we all do, at least I know I would have loved to be an Imagineer. I have to admit though when I heard that Pressler was taking WDI over my desire to be in that position dropped like Disney's stock.
