I wish I could have attended Micechat's events this weekend.
I'm most impressed that the new Disneyland Resort President Michael Colglazier attended a Micechat event! This willingness to listen to Disneyland's most passionate fans makes his ears as big as Mickey & Oswald's.
Or he just understands how to curry favor.
^Well, then at least he isn't afraid of us, unlike Meg and Ed.
At the book event Sat morning, he sounded very genuine. Recounted visits to the park as a child, seems to have a real enthusiasm for the park. At least he isnt afraid to walk thru the place.
He's still wet behind the ears. Once he sees the LA Times and OC Register referring to Micechat as a "Disney watchdog organization" he'll steer clear of them faster than a Starspeeder approaching the Death Star.
George Kalogridis gets a lot of credit for Ed Grier's work because one liked to take pictures with fans. It's a lousy measurement, but fans buy into.Originally Posted by WDITrent
No, they know exactly that and it has also been figured out that many will be far more lenient if you are seen by bloggers and forum members.
Nice of him to attend. I hope he fears the Disneyland purists, bloggers, APs, LA Times, etc... Ain't gonna be no messin' around.
Princess of Agrabah and Queen of Never Land
I completely agree with this. Rasulo and Ed started massive projects that Staggs and George were there at opening. I'm not saying George is bad, but at the end of the day, Ed and Rasulo were the ones that oversaw the DCA Expansion.
As for Staggs, I think he is the most overrated Disney executive to date. People referred to Rasulo as a penny pincher, yet he is the one that green lit the DCA Expansion, HKDL expansion, Fantasyland Expansion, Expedition Everest, and much much much more. Meanwhile, the only noteworthy items Staggs has done is Avatar, 7 Dwarves, and attend the opening ceremonies of much of what Rasulo set up.
Just my 2 cents
Someone is in his ear telling him what to do and how to approach us and deal with us. That my friends is the reality.
Or maybe he really wants to help the Disneyland Resort remain great & improve
and he's humble enough to listen to others.
Why put a negative spin on his attending a Micechat event?
From everything I've read about him, Michael Colglazier is an excellent leader and I'm grateful we have him.
And I expect WDW to clean up its act under the leadership of George K., unless Thomas Staggs is so obsessed with his $800,000,000 MyMagic+ bracelecuffs that he prevents George K. from spending $ on no brainer improvements.
Last edited by jcruise86; 02-04-2013 at 03:33 PM.
LOL I like all the comments here. Maybe he's just a huge fan of Disneyland and wanted to share in the experience. Executives SHOULD have a interest in their products. Not all of them do. The successful ones become engaged in all walks of their company.
Be damned if he does, be damned if he doesn't. No matter what he does, people will still give him crap about it.
DisneyTwins
Since May 2003
I think you're giving Rasulo too much credit. Something had to be done about Disney's California Adventure and the size of the project placed the project well above his head. Disney was also forced to prematurely announce the project due to concerns regarding challenges to the zoning of the Anaheim Resort District. I am not so sure the project would have maintained its scope had Disney not had to promise the project to the City of Anaheim.
The Hong Kong Disneyland expansion was also another pickle that Disney had to solve. The company screwed over the Government of Hong Kong and they were not going to take Disney's bull about why their under-built park was underperforming. Disney needed to appease the Government lest they try to get in the way of Disney's real goal with Hong Kong Disneyland, the Shanghai Disney Resort.
The Fantasyland "Expansion" had been place dont eh back burner for years and was necessary to address the capacity issues of the Magic Kingdom.
I believe Expedition Everest was in motion was Rasulo took his place at Parks and Resort.
Rasulo also rose through the ranks at Strategic Planning, along with Staggs whom eventually headed the group before its dissolution.
It's not about putting a negative spin on the occurrence, but trying to keep it into perspective. Being seen with fans is a good and easy way to calm otherwise vocal critics. It's a simple gesture that give's people pause before being highly critical.
Having an interest is not conveyed merely by being seen. It's not a genuine experience. People act differently when they know they are being watched. That is why Walt Disney instructed people to go without a name tag, to stand in line, to experience the park like everybody else. Walking around as the President is a different experience than walking around as Joe Tourist.
I'm sure that's part of it, but this truly is a no-win situation for him. If you're not seen interacting with fans, people accuse you of not giving a damn. If you are out and interact with the core fans, people accuse you of only doing it for posturing and so fans cut you some slack.
Personally, I'd rather have the latter and have it potentially influenced by ulterior motives. It demonstrates at the very least that he's not so arrogant that he feels above interacting with fans. It also demonstrates that he has enough personal interest in the parks to carry on sincere conversations with serious fans. An executive's breadth of Disney knowledge is often very different than a fan's, and some executives could easily embarrass themselves in conversations with fans. Those executives probably have good reason to avoid fan interactions so they aren't the subject of a 33-page thread on Micechat titled, "OMG, Park VP ________ Didn't Know Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland Was An Attraction!!!!!"
Look at it this way: if someone is in his ear telling him this is a good PR move, someone has been in the ear of Phil Holmes and Meg Crofton telling them the same things. Yet, they ignore the advice and are only on hand for occasional park events, and at those events they come across as plastic-y, canned, and without a genuine passion for the parks.
It's not a critical function of their jobs to be in the parks interacting with fans, but which type of executive would you prefer, regardless of ancillary motives?
Last edited by WDWFigment; 02-03-2013 at 12:09 PM. Reason: used former instead of latter in second paragraph...which is the opposite of what I meant.
Um maybe because MiceChat puts a negative spin on Disney Parks themselves and their management, as well as a positive but a negative spin nonetheless. I don't see how this is any different. We talk as if we really know what's happening in upper management and I know from my own personal experience that people in higher management have agendas and strategies.
I'm sure he had/has good intentions BUT maybe he's just doing what he's told. A possibility.
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Bookmarks