Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ... which I am sure is why WDI just hired away the head of Universal Creative, Scott Trowbridge. Trowbridge has been instrumental in the early design and planning on the Harry Potter addition to IOA. At WDI, he'll be VP of Research and Development under Bruce Vaughn. One must wonder if Disney hired Trowbridge because it needs to find out exactly how much it's going to have to spend at WDW in the next few years to avoid losing major $$$'s to Universal. Nah, I'm sure that had nothing to do with it at all. Yeah ... right ...
Originally Posted By figment1986 Didn't he just become head of Creative now that long ago? Maybe he brought some great idea with him...
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Does it also suggest that maybe Universal Creative ain't all that? I mean, if it was so neat and special and Harry Potterfied...why'd he leave?
Originally Posted By pheneix This is huge. Probably the biggest thing that's ever happened to WDI. For the first time ever Walt Disney Imagineering will be lead by a complete outsider. Scott is amazingly talented though. He will do great things for Disney. I am offically excited about the future of Disney theme parks.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror Friction is good for fires and energy and sparkly happenings. Bring on the friction!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA That's right, because up until this time, all Disney Imagineers were either blood related to Walt Disney, or were bio-engineered using Walt's DNA. Incredible...but true.
Originally Posted By twirlnhurl ^Except for that brief jaunt in the late 90's, when they were reprogrammed with Eisner's dark side.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Friction is good for fires and energy and sparkly happenings. Bring on the friction!>> Anything that helps shake up the status quo further and pushes people to be the best they can be can only be a very good thing for WDI ... and park fans.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy ... sounds to me like GE might not be investing as much in Harry as advertised or is scaling back on the project. If you were in charge of such a fantastic project, wouldn't it make sense to see it through to the end? What sorts of things would make you want to jump ship if you knew you were going to create something spectacular beyond belief? Well, maybe Harry Potter world isn't going to be as spectacular as all the hype.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror >>>... sounds to me like GE might not be investing as much in Harry as advertised or is scaling back on the project. If you were in charge of such a fantastic project, wouldn't it make sense to see it through to the end?<<< There are practical issues with the Harry Potter concept, as presented, that are incredibly problematic. A big one is guest capacity just for the environments. How many people can you pull through a truly interactive Hogwarts Castle, for instance? And this would not be a separate, boutique destination. I wouldn't be surprised if he was happy to leave and let someone else inherit that headache. Because WHEN Harry PotterLandia opens, my guess is it's going to be packed, not that satisfying, and kind of on the smallish size. And then of course, in 10 years, they're going to be wondering why it's empty.
Originally Posted By pheneix >>>... sounds to me like GE might not be investing as much in Harry as advertised or is scaling back on the project. If you were in charge of such a fantastic project, wouldn't it make sense to see it through to the end?<<< Or it could be that NBC decided that the gravy train was pulling away after Harry Potter and that with no major projects in the future Scott decided it was time to run down the street? Harry Potter design wise is done and the contacts are being awarded. The project has not really been scaled back at all. JK Rowling and Warner Brothers would crucify Universal if it ever was scaled back.
Originally Posted By hopemax Couldn't it be as simple as Disney offered him a salary he couldn't refuse? The cynical side of me says, it would be the cheapest way for Disney to "compete" with Harry Potter. Give the guy in charge as much money as it takes, project hits the rails, no reason to spend $1 billion on CAPEX.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << JK Rowling and Warner Brothers would crucify Universal if it ever was scaled back. >> Sorry, but JK Rowling and WB are bit players compared to GE. GE doesn't get "crucified."
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Couldn't it be as simple as Disney offered him a salary he couldn't refuse? >> Is that what motivates creative people? Also, Disney is notoriously cheap on their compensation plans. They are very careful not to set a precedent on escalating salaries for talent if they can help it. Bidding up the cost of talent is part of what did in their animation business.
Originally Posted By jonvn The Harry Potter thing never seemed more than a theme overlay and a couple rides. I think people make more of it than it will be. I suspect that GE is just not in the mood to spend much more on the place, and he has nothing better to work on anymore. Either that, or hey coughed up a large check. And yeah, I'd think money motivates creative people. The sane ones, anyway.
Originally Posted By pheneix >>>Sorry, but JK Rowling and WB are bit players compared to GE. GE doesn't get "crucified."<<< GE doesn't. Universal City Development Partners just might. They can tell you all about how Disney forbids them from even mentioning the name "Jack Sparrow" in any of their Halloween parodies this year. Either way, big win for Disney. Universal loses the heart and soul of their creative department and Disney gets the guy who designed Terminator 2: 3D, Jurassic Park: The Ride, and Spiderman.
Originally Posted By jonvn Let's see if this place actually does get sold within a few months now...I think GE has been trying to unload it since they got it.
Originally Posted By pheneix Now would be their best chance. The resort is turning a half way decent profit this year. They had around a $36 million profit on $260 million in revenue for the 2nd quarter, I believe. That's not bad considering their two biggest quarters are still ahead. GE only owns half the resort now anyway.
