Originally Posted By Westsider I haven't been at work since Friday afternoon, but I've got word from friends who did work Friday night and all weekend, and there's some great news... George Kalogridis has been seen walking around the parks every day this weekend! He was in DCA on Friday early evening to see the kickoff of the Halloween Party and how it works, then he spent time at the Main Entrance of Disneyland as they got ready to close the turnstiles to new park guests due to overcrowding inside Disneyland, then he was in the Hub for fireworks and to observe the Guest Control mess that creates. On Saturday he wandered around both Disneyland and DCA intoducing himself to any CM he saw, and he had lots of questions for Leads and managers that were working that day. Word is he knows exactly what he is talking about, and he knows all the Operations lingo and acronyms and code words for things, which have already earned him respect from people who have dealt with past senior TDA executives who had no clue what to call things or what certain Operations phrases or code words meant. Then on Sunday he walked in CHOC Walk in the park at 7:00 AM, stopping along the entire route in both parks to shake hands with CM's working the event and getting the parks ready for the operating day. He gave an opening speech on Main Stret USA to kick off the CHOC Walk, but instead of retreating backstage and jumping in his car after his public appearance with photographers, he actually participated for several hours in the entire event he had just kicked off. Word is he has to go back to France at the end of the month for a week or two to wrap stuff up there and pass off to his Paris replacement, and then he'll be back for good in November. I know it's not understood by some folks here, but I can't tell you what a morale boost it is to have a new President who not only walks inside the parks, but actually seems to enjoy it and know what he is talking about as he interacts with Cast Members working in those parks. The core product Disney sells here in Anaheim, after all, is a theme park, so it helps for the senior Anaheim leader to know a bit about... wait for it... THEME PARKS. Welcome to Disneyland George Kalogridis, your hourly Cast Members are very happy to see you in the parks!
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Not trying to be a jerk, but what a new boss does and says the first day on the job is rarely how he/she turns out.... He may be great for DL, but we can't base it on his honeymoon period, give it a few months and then we can see how great of a leader he will be.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 George knows his ops stuff. No doubt about that. He WAS Sr. VP of Ops there, after all. He just held the same position at DLP. And he ran EPCOT for five years in the 1990s. But he is also VERY Internet savvy. I can guarantee you that he'll read the post I am typing right now (or Andy will read it and relay it to him ... he won't even go through some TDA hack to tell him what's being said). He KNOWS how Ed was bashed for not being seen in the parks (I do think a Prez should be seen every once in a while, but I don't think they have to, or should, be out all the time.) He KNOWS how Al gushed like a school girl with a crush over Matt because he was visible and appeared to (and in reality did) care about what was going on and down in the parks. I saw him in the parks in his first stint at TDA. I also saw him in Epcot. Hell, I saw him at DLP having lunch a few weeks ago with Philippe Gas in what may have been his farewell lunch). He gets out. Here's a tip for you and your CM pals: if you want to get his attention, all it will take is a well-placed thread right here. And I am 100% deadly serious. He isn't gonna make Ed's mistakes. And, hopefully, he isn't going to repeat his own. That remains to be seen.
Originally Posted By Westsider Very true. George could be a complete disaster by 2011. But just the fact that he knows what he is talking about, and can easily embrace the unique language and culture of his workplace, speaks volumes and signals a huge break with the past Disneyland President.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 My money is on George doing a good job. He may be the best resort Prez Disney has anywhere now. What that says about the talent pool is another story. But with all the great new stuff coming to the resort, all he has to do is shepperd the place thru the changes and not screw anything up. His contract is for three years and we all know what that means. He'll be pushing 60 when it's up and that's ancient by Disney standards (again, whether that's right is another subject). And, rest assured, his 'coming out' party was well-planned right down to it being CHOC walk weekend. On a personal level, I am pretty sure he's doing cartwheels and believes he won the war with Cynthia and Co by returning. I'm sure the fact he was ordered to NOT show his face at the DCA second anniversary announcement of ToT and Bug's Land was very much in his mind as he was out and about like some conquering hero returning home. He just needs to get that 'home' isn't Central Florida ... that was a lesson he learned the hard way in 2000-2001. But I truly hope we won't read Al gushing over him again this week. I might puke.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "He may be great for DL, but we can't base it on his honeymoon period, give it a few months and then we can see how great of a leader he will be." I was thinking the same thing. I'm happy to hear the his presence is a big morale boost for cast members. However, as a guest, I really couldn't care less if he's in the parks or not. If he's not going to do anything about Tomorrowland and halt the slow erosion of Disney's meticulous storytelling (ie: toons everywhere), then I won't be impressed.
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle I for one am happy that people are at least generally very positive about him. That wouldn't be the case if he hadn't already proven himself elsewhere. Maybe he can push forward with some plans to fix the disaster that is Tomorrowland, namely, the ROCKET RODS TRACK.
Originally Posted By TP2000 Spirit, it would seem to me that your criticism of Al is a case of shooting the messenger. Al just relays info from his sources in TDA. If his sources, which have proven to be quite accurate and well placed, are excited about George K. arriving in Anaheim that's not Al's fault. Al ran his Tuesday morning story on George about 18 hours after it was announced publicly on Monday at Noon. The TDA sources for Al clearly were happy about the news, and they provided Al with quite a bit of behind-the-scenes info and drama to fill in the blanks on who this George guy was exactly. That info was already there, ready to go from TDA sources. And now we've got reports of hourly CM's in the parks excited to see George out with them on a daily basis, talking their language and embracing their unique culture right off the bat. More happiness from the hourly troops that lines up with the previous info from the salaried officers back in the administration building. Cast Members of all ranks seem genuinely pleased to have George here, even with the background info they already know about him. I'd be careful of shooting Al as the messenger, as there is clearly genuine goodwill from Anaheim Cast Members towards George K. And it all seems to put a final nail in Ed Grier's coffin quite firmly.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Special K dd ensure that DLP set up a refurb group to get old effects working, and there has been some marked improvements in maintenance, but overall, DLP is not anywhere near the park it once was. How much K is to blame for that, I do not know. I just hope he treats the original and best resort with the respect it deserves. And I hope with the leadership changes at DLP, we can dump the current trajectory and return to a less shallow and souless operating model.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Remember, it was K's watch in Paris that lead to there only being a few hours in the middle of the day when all attractions are open. To me, that is unacceptable and one of the reasons why I am now only going to Paris next year for the sake of my kids (never EVER thought that would happen, that's why we put down $25,000 on a timeshare there - I feel ripped off by Disney).
Originally Posted By Spyderman As long as George K. understands why Matt Ouimet was such a respected president and restores Disneyland's quality levels to the pre-Paul pressler days than I think he will be a terrific president.
Originally Posted By Mickeysbestfan ++one of the reasons why I am now only going to Paris next year for the sake of my kids (never EVER thought that would happen, that's why we put down $25,000 on a timeshare there - I feel ripped off by Disney++ When did you buy a DVC? Do you like it as much as the Marriott time share you talk about? How do the properties compare?
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo That is the Marriott. We do not have DVC in Paris. The Marriott in on the Disneyland Paris Golf Course and we bought it because of our love of Disney. Sadly, I now wish we had bought a unit in Spain instead. I would have never seen that happen. But having stayed in DVC and MVCI properties, I do believe Marriott has a more upscale product.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Spirit, it would seem to me that your criticism of Al is a case of shooting the messenger. Al just relays info from his sources in TDA. If his sources, which have proven to be quite accurate and well placed, are excited about George K. arriving in Anaheim that's not Al's fault. >> Al does far more than simply relay what his sources tell him. He pontificates on what that info may (or may not) mean based on his own preconceptions and biases. I have no idea how many CMs are like giddy school girls over George K's arrival at TDA. Again, I'd suggest many either weren't there in 2000-2002 or forgot what a disaster his first tenure was. I'll repeat again that this guys is very Internet savvy. He realizes how ignoring the fan chatter for years wasn't smart ... so much like Disney Burbank is trying to co-opt the fan community with things like D23 and The Disney Blog, George isn't an idiot. He realizes how just being seen in the parks and taking photos (like some celeb) and asking people their names and favorite attractions, immediately has fans standing in puddles of drool. ... Of course, these same folks don't get that was something Old Man Disney used to do. It's no biggee. Yet in today's information era, George knows how quickly his 'sightings' can engender positive remarks from sites like this one that Disney doesn't control. <<Al ran his Tuesday morning story on George about 18 hours after it was announced publicly on Monday at Noon. The TDA sources for Al clearly were happy about the news, and they provided Al with quite a bit of behind-the-scenes info and drama to fill in the blanks on who this George guy was exactly. That info was already there, ready to go from TDA sources. >> They apparently forget (or didn't know) that George actively solicted opinions on how to deal with Al going back almost a decade. And either Al is/was ignorant of the fact, or his agenda is such that he ripped Ed so much simply for not being touchy-feely that he is going to gush no matter whether there is any basis for it. More importantly, Al totally missed the fact that Jay Rasulo (who he correctly disses whenever he can) is behind George's promotion and he has now stacked the deck with people who owe their careers, bank accounts and lifestyles to the man. Every resort. While I'd love for George to be his own man and not cowtow to JR's wishes, I think we all know how unrealistic that is. Al should have at least manned up and presented the good and bad. Clearly, he has no clue what George did or didn't do in Florida and Paris. And he forgot all about George's tenure in Anaheim too. Just that simple. <<And now we've got reports of hourly CM's in the parks excited to see George out with them on a daily basis, talking their language and embracing their unique culture right off the bat. More happiness from the hourly troops that lines up with the previous info from the salaried officers back in the administration building. Cast Members of all ranks seem genuinely pleased to have George here, even with the background info they already know about him. I'd be careful of shooting Al as the messenger, as there is clearly genuine goodwill from Anaheim Cast Members towards George K. >> Guess what? I don't think it matters who the new Prez was, CMs were looking for a change. They'd be gushing if Michael O'Grattan had gotten the job ... or Jim MacPhee or Tom McAlpin ... hell, they may even have been happy about Phil Holmes! So long as it's a new face (even if it's an old one). <<And it all seems to put a final nail in Ed Grier's coffin quite firmly. >> And likely 'splains nicely why I ran into Al Weiss at the Grand last month prior to the DVC dedication. Disney needed another corporate face to put out there knowing full well that Ed was going to be spending more time with his family. People need to look deeper at how they interpret things that corporations do and why they do them. Instead, we seem to largely get sheep. So in this case ED NOT SEEN = BAD PREZ, while GEORGE SEEN = GOOD PREZ. C'mon, it's a whole lot more than that.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Special K dd ensure that DLP set up a refurb group to get old effects working, and there has been some marked improvements in maintenance, but overall, DLP is not anywhere near the park it once was. How much K is to blame for that, I do not know.>> George had considerable power at DLP. Much like he did the first go around in Anaheim. And DLP really (Peter Pan queue excepted ... maybe George can pick up a paint roller when he goes back to pick up his stuff) looked very good largely a few weeks ago. Lots of rehab had been done or was ... far fewer blantant things that needed work (see above ... also the Pirate ship really could use some paint as could some of Main Street ... and the siding is missing and peeling off the HISTA building). <<I just hope he treats the original and best resort with the respect it deserves. And I hope with the leadership changes at DLP, we can dump the current trajectory and return to a less shallow and souless operating model.>> Agreed on all counts. BTW, where did Leemac go?
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS He made the rounds at the restaurants in DCA - PB says he was nice. Not that that makes a great leader, but that's a start..
Originally Posted By Roger Rabbit By the way, in case you are wondering 'Kalogridis' is pronounced ka-low-gree-dis. And I had a chance to meet him and introduce myself to him Sunday at CHOC Walk. He seemed very surprised to see people going up to him and saying hello.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Another thought on being seen within the parks - We could be totally cynical .. and say - Just because he's making rounds around both parks does not mean he's genuinely interested, but just doing it for "show". Then I thought, IF that is remotely possible ... he'll at least get a clue how the parks are operating .. without having a series of "lieutenants" reporting back to him. But I do sincerely hope he has a genuine interest in the parks - especially DL.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Correction - I should say: Without having a series of lieutenants reporting back FOR him, so he does not have to do it himself.
