New Disneyland Resort President Named(Merged Threads)

[goofypirate]

Well Al's update restores my hope somewhat. Though its not like Rasulo lets the DLR President make any significant decisions anyway.

[WestsideCM99]

As long as the guy does something to regulate the crowd volumes and restore some balance to the park attendance demographics I'll be a happy camper. Having come from a background in operations management I would assume that he won't be making any waves when it comes to deciding what the types of new attraction or theming ideas will be. Instead it seems like he will be there to make sure that the walls go up and the demo-crews show up at the right times.

[techskip]

I don't post much over here these days, but I am very well-acquainted with George K, personally and professionally. Take that for whatever you deem it worth.

I just wanted to say thank you. As with any internet forum there is always a great deal of speculation and name dropping. It is nice when someone knows the individual on a personal and/or professional basis.

One thing I have always been keen of is survival. Surviving something like Cynthia and Paul does earn respect. It means the individual is either very powerful, or has very powerful friends. The fact that he "stood up" to Cynthia and was moved rather then term'd demonstrates that someone higher up liked him enough to give him a second chance. No doubt Paul hoped that he would simply stagnate and leave after the demotion. The fact that he stayed, and didn't openly grumble, also says a lot about the character. Specifically the ability to adapt, and do what is necessary to survive and eventually thrive. He likely owed a few political "favors" for that save and it's anyone's guess if he has already paid them off or not. I also question at what point George said no... what finally made him "stand up" considering he was the company press megaphone happily towing the company line months earlier.

My concern is that whatever Jay wants George may go along with, no fight, no questions, just dancing to the strings. Ed wasn't visible, so George is already going out of his way to say "I'll be visible". This bothers me. This is someone who has owed a lot in the past for a major save, has demonstrated that they will utilize any situation to make themselves look good, and who is willing to change on a whim to suit those needs. The corporate spin is that he stood up to Cynthia and survived Paul. The question is why? Why the sudden change of heart and why risk it all unless you know you're safe? I've said it before privately but I honestly believe his confrontation with Cynthia was orchestrated to save his own career. When he left DCA was already internally known as a failure. It hadn't met expectations. Had George stayed he likely would have been dragged down the same as Cynthia. Now he can spin it that he stood up to her... but the question remains how much did he go along with and what was his reason for standing up?

I know the jury is still out. I also know many will say "give him a chance" and I will. But I question his motives and I am concerned about how his presidency may affect the park.

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

I know the jury is still out. I also know many will say "give him a chance" and I will. But I question his motives and I am concerned about how his presidency may affect the park.

Rasulo has shown his true colors in running P&R for the past six-plus years, especially in his choices of park executives. The one common thread amongst them all (with the possible exception of Matt Ouimet) is that they're all puppets. Rasulo never appoints anyone who actually has power to make significant changes, or at least he never keeps anyone who isn't content to remain completely under his thumb.

Special K will be nothing more than a Rasulo flying monkey, doing the bidding of his master in Burbank. K's contract as DLR President will last no longer than three years, as it did with his predecessors. He's merely a corporate face for the park, the very definition of "empty suit." Any "damage" to the DL brand incurred on Special K's watch will be the result of decisions ultimately made in Burbank, not Anaheim.

Start the countdown now, kiddies. End of FY12, about three years from now, we'll be reading about K's retirement to spend more quality time with his partner. You can bank on it.

[techskip]

Special K will be nothing more than a Rasulo flying monkey

I was wondering how long it would be before someone came up with that nickname... let's hope Disney isn't dumb enough to use it publicly.

[DLRP_bopazot]

He's from here Disneyland Paris and i never saw him at the Parks .

[LittlePrincess1230]

George was out in the parks today meeting with the Cast.... Things are looking up

[Cadensmama07]

HE SPEAKS... See his exclusive interview with DisneyParks blog.

http://bit.ly/27qQg3

[WDW1974]

I just wanted to say thank you. As with any internet forum there is always a great deal of speculation and name dropping. It is nice when someone knows the individual on a personal and/or professional basis.

No problem. I have seen both the good, bad and ugly sides of George.
The bottom line is I hope he is very successful in his job. I love DLR, so I want George to do a great job and be able to sing his praises.

One thing I have always been keen of is survival. Surviving something like Cynthia and Paul does earn respect. It means the individual is either very powerful, or has very powerful friends. The fact that he "stood up" to Cynthia and was moved rather then term'd demonstrates that someone higher up liked him enough to give him a second chance. No doubt Paul hoped that he would simply stagnate and leave after the demotion. The fact that he stayed, and didn't openly grumble, also says a lot about the character. Specifically the ability to adapt, and do what is necessary to survive and eventually thrive. He likely owed a few political "favors" for that save and it's anyone's guess if he has already paid them off or not. I also question at what point George said no... what finally made him "stand up" considering he was the company press megaphone happily towing the company line months earlier.

Neither Paul nor Cynthia thought much of George. I don't take that as a shot at him because he at least had earned his position and had a clue about the business he was in. They did not.

It wasn't my experience that George stood up to Cynthia, although I won't claim to be privy to much of what went down. That's why I take issue with Al's column today. Many of the poor decisions made at TDA in that 2000-01 era were George's.

I know George had many friends in Florida. That's why he's with the company today. He's very good at playing the old boys club games that keeps one in power.

My concern is that whatever Jay wants George may go along with, no fight, no questions, just dancing to the strings. Ed wasn't visible, so George is already going out of his way to say "I'll be visible". This bothers me. This is someone who has owed a lot in the past for a major save, has demonstrated that they will utilize any situation to make themselves look good, and who is willing to change on a whim to suit those needs. The corporate spin is that he stood up to Cynthia and survived Paul. The question is why? Why the sudden change of heart and why risk it all unless you know you're safe? I've said it before privately but I honestly believe his confrontation with Cynthia was orchestrated to save his own career. When he left DCA was already internally known as a failure. It hadn't met expectations. Had George stayed he likely would have been dragged down the same as Cynthia. Now he can spin it that he stood up to her... but the question remains how much did he go along with and what was his reason for standing up?

I know the jury is still out. I also know many will say "give him a chance" and I will. But I question his motives and I am concerned about how his presidency may affect the park.

Anyone who's been able to stay at Disney P&R as long as George should be taken with an abundance of salt.

I don't disagree with the above, but that'll only work in private. Disney doesn't like airing its dirty laundry in public (proclivities of certain Imagineers, anyone?) ... So, in public George will never utter an ugly word about Cynthia, just like he'll never talk about what a disaster his first stint there was, no matter who is really to blame. It's just not done. It's all magic and pixie dust.

And the bottom line is he had a huge demotion (two actually) to stay with the company after his first TDA stint.

But as I said in Al's column thread, this move is simply about Jay Rasulo shoring up his P&R 'mafia' family. George may want to do great things, but he'll do what he's told and scripted to ... ultimately, that's why he gets to move into Cynthia's old office (I can see him doing a happy dance when he's alone and the place is empty!)

[WDW1974]

He's from here Disneyland Paris and i never saw him at the Parks .

If you hadn't of been partying in SoCal, you might have seen him (as well as Philippe) having lunch at Walt's on September 16th. I did ... would have congratulated him on the new gig. It looked like a serious meeting and I thought it would have been inappropriate to interrupt. I looked for him about 30 minutes later and they were long gone.

In hindsight, I wonder if it was his 'going away' meal.

[WDW1974]

HE SPEAKS... See his exclusive interview with DisneyParks blog.

http://bit.ly/27qQg3

Scary. Political. Predictable.

[Vashsky666]

Good lord the guy's been in the president's seat for what... A day? Maybe two? And some of you guys are already looking at him like some kind of Rasulo puppet or some kind of evil spawn between Paul and Cynthia! Creating nicknames like "special K" acting like you're so high and mighty in order to justify your own judgments of George Kalogridis. A man who, let's face it, you know nothing about! How childish...

Some of you think you know everything about him and every move he's gonna make for the next three years because you stopped and read a fraction of his history with Disney off the internet! Are you kidding me? Thank Christ none of you guys were on the committee who were choosing a replacement for Grier or else no one would be the president right now! It could be Jesus sitting up there in the position and it still wouldn't make you babies happy!

Look I'm not trying to offend any of you guys but seriously lay off him a tad would ya? Save the good left hand punch for the second round at least when he actually does something! I'm sorry I had to be the one who said it but you guys need to cool off and consider the fact that he still has to do the things that will dictate his reputation HERE! Not back in 2000, not in Paris... HERE!

He's the president NOW, so we had to at least accept that and go into with a clear mind. Disneyland is a very different place now, and he's in a very different position then when he was here almost a decade ago. I don't think ANY of us would want to be in his position at that time with the whole corporate structure changing all around you from Eisner to Harris and with unqualified people making decisions that will effect the parks for years to come in a horrible way and there's not much more you could to do about it then to sign off on it and hope for the best! You think you're gonna make a scene and risk your job and the future of the parks (if you're not around to save it) for something that everyone else around you is praising???

Lord knows I wouldn't. But at some point, he did!!! And he did it in a way that instead of getting him fired, got him eventually in the president's chair! That, as we all know, takes talent and skill but he did when no one else could or would! Remember Paul Pressler, Cynthia Harris, Michael Eisner, and T Irby are all gone now yet George is still here because he knew what it took to come back and knew the people around him at the time would eventually be held accountable for their thoughtless actions and lack complete lack of insight at some point, doesn't that at least say something??

Now he's finally been given the chance to things his way and how do we react??? Look, again I'm not trying to offend anyone or anything like that but we can at least give the guy a chance. That, at the very least, is what he deserves from us and anyone else in his position for that matter. I'm not looking to change any person's view about him, but just for us to hold our tongues and see what he does first before making any harsh comments just yet.

[Bexington]

Rationality is a rare luxury not often seen in fandoms of any kind. *shoots a rubber band off his finger*

I think bottom line it's fear of what may or may not come to pass.


so let's all Ask the Eight Ball

[Garfieldo]

With all that said, this IS the man who was a complete and utter disaster as the No. 2 of the resort for 18 months under Cynthia. He was not liked by the cast as he had a fundamental problem with the concept that DLR was not WDW and that the Florida model couldn't simply be slapped on Anaheim. This is the guy who tried E-Ticket nights in Anaheim for example. He was also largely behind alienating APers before DCA opened by stopping sales, even if it meant half a family wound up with them and half didn't. And many of those desperation DCA moves (like MSEP) were things that had his fingerprints at least partially on.

Well, I guess we'll just have to hope that he's learned from his mistakes.

*Sigh*

[Bexington]

=D robin hood smiley!