Originally Posted By DlandJB <<For the record, Al said that he saw a lot of good things on his trip, but he just wanted to bring the negative things to the attention of some people.>> A lot of people have mothers just like that. "I love you, darling, but I hate your hair." ;P
Originally Posted By Shooba Al Lutz has historically had very little, if any, mention of DisneyWorld. If I read an article of his on Disneyland, even if it is 100% negative, I know from history that there are things about Disneyland that he likes. With DisneyWorld, he hasn't really written about it before. He really needed to spend more than one or two sentences telling us what he liked about the place. I would have appreciated more, an article that listed the good, the bad, and the ugly about WDW. I agreed with some of his points and disagreed with others, but it's hard to accept the notion that he does like WDW in general. If it truly is the case, it should have clear from the article. I shouldn't have to rely on the Witches to clarify this stuff.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>And while I agree about Fantasmic, it is a HUGE crowd pleaser<< If you've never seen DL's it probably looks pretty good. Plus it has seating.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<If you've never seen DL's it probably looks pretty good. Plus it has seating.>> Plus it doesn't shut down that whole section of the park. Frankly, I didn't think much of DL's Fantasmic.
Originally Posted By dresswhites road trip, i am glad someone mentioned that al lutz had no effect on removing Pressler, Harris, or eisner. from all looks of it Presser left to become CEO of the Gap. I don't believed he was pushed out, and certainly not by LUtz. Harris was maybe pushed out, but i don't AL had anything to do with it. It was probabaly a combination of things. i mean there were hints that she was leaving before the Big Thunder tragedy. she only probabaly stayed a few more monthes after that, but it would look bad to leave so soon after the accident. Al having a hand in pushing out Eisner is the most absurd. Al has been bashing Eisner since at least 97, but Eisner didn't leave until late 2005. Eisner was done in my many different factors, i am just not sure Al was one of those factors.
Originally Posted By dresswhites the other think is, when i first started looking at disney websites, Al lutz was the first one i discovered. Perhaps because at that time (97) there really weren't websites about disney. i used to get a little depressed reading his stuff, because it did seem like Disneyland was becoming horrible. Also he talked about how they were tearing out the treehouse, small world, and parking the big boats and turning them into restraunts. this was also about the time i started working at disneyland. i have say part of what he said was right. in certain aspects there was a decline in some of the standards. However disneyland was still magical. and also many of things he said never came to be. Both big boats are still running, small world is still there. i enjoy reading his columns, but not to take them too seriously. some of things he writes about do come true, some dont. no use worrying about it. the other thing is, while i defend Al i had to shake my head when he talked about Pressler and Harris. at the time he hated everything Pressler and to a lesser extent Harris did. yet in this article about WDW, they both came out as good and that they helped disneyland's overall show. yet at the time he greatly disliked Animazement, Parade of Stars, Small World Holiday, and even didn't like the music selection for the believe shows. yet suddly pressler and harris were good at showmen ship?
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>Plus it doesn't shut down that whole section of the park.<< Absolutely. >>Frankly, I didn't think much of DL's Fantasmic.<< I think the show is much better than WDW's, but its a chore to experience it, and IMO that detracts from the total experience.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I love how posts/threads about Al Lutz always devolve into the man vs. the message. And while the spirit may move me to take part in his site's discussion boards, I have never met the man and won't tell you what a saint he is or how I'm going to name my poodle after him (not that I'd ever have such a girlieman/foo-foo pooch but I digressed). OK. Let's talk facts shall we? Al has a great track record as far as reporting news from the DLR long before the mainstream media. If you read his column's regularly, you'll get a far better pulse on what is going on in Anaheim, Glendale and Burbank than any other site. Al is required reading at Team Disney Anaheim as well as Burbank and Glendale. You can choose to not believe this (or anything else I write) but it doesn't change the inate accuracy of the statement. When he writes something, it is read by folks at the highest levels of the company. Al did not cause Michael Eisner, Paul Pressler or Cynthia Harriss to lose their jobs. Ultimately, the stockholders pushed for Eisner's removal, Pressler got a less stressful offer in a field he belonged in and took it and Cynthia (contrary to anything you read) was FIRED/ASKED to resign to spend more time with her family and paint sofas (that's an Al putdown, but you all likely know that) months before it actually took place. The tragic (and preventable) death on Big Thunder Mountain RR allowed Cynthia to stay on far longer than was planned because PR and, more importantly, legal felt it would send a very bad message if she suddenly left ... and if Disney would have publically fired her at the time, you would have seen one helluva lawsuit from her. Al may play a journalist, but he isn't one. He's a blogger. A famous one. A well-respected one. But that's it. And that means he can be as opinionated as he wants, as nasty, as spiteful. These are high powered, highly paid execs with what should be dream jobs in the themed entertainment business. If they can't handle the heat of an Internet blogger, they have NO business in their jobs. (Note:There may be some opinion in there as I am a stockholder who has been very unhappy with the company's performance and business decisions over the past decade.) Al IS significant to the Disney execs. He has brought about positive changes at DL due to his 'cheap shot' telling of the ugly facts about issues that have affected the resort. And, again, it's not just Al or Miceage. I was told point blank by a high level Disney official (as well as a few VPs and dozens of managers in both Orlando and Anaheim) that Disney regularly monitors certain sites (including this one) and certain posters (oops, I slipped out of my electric Pluto collar!) Al owes you guys/gals absolutely nothing positive, even though he often writes about all the great changes in Anaheim. The man hadn't visited WDW in a decade. There's been many changes. It may be opinion (at least to other spirits) but WDW is a pale shadow of what it once was a WHOLE. Individual pieces may still be spectacular. The buzz I've heard on Nemo: The Musical has been higher than ANY stateside show I can recall, for example. But if anyone wants to argue that show quality, upkeep, cleanliness, freshness, diversity is as great or greater than it was pre-96, good luck. Al had every right to be as negative as he wanted to be ... and I think folks are reading in more than was there because ... well, let's just say folks have their own opinions of the man. Al may have a personal agenda ... that just makes him human like everyone else here. So long as he doesn't lie to further it, more power to him. Rest assured, every Disney exec has an agenda and sadly for most of them maintaining the Disney Legacy isn't even on their lists. It seems to matter to Al. I am in no way someone who agrees with all the man writes. He liked Test Track, but took a shot at Illuminations? He thinks Mission Space is the best ride at WDW? He doesn't appear to be a big Epcot fan. It has been and continues to be my fave WDW park by far. Now, some opinions: I wish Al would move to Orlando for a few years. I'd love to see him bash puppet execs like Phil Holmes, Erin Wallace, Brad Rex and Meg Crofton for starters. I'd love to see him write columns that Scott Powers picked up and ran with (unlike the weak Kevin Yee Western Beltway Development Area Project that hit the news this week) in the local fish wrapper. ***Sidebar: the biggest reason this late 90s plan is being discussed again at Disney is due to the new DVC at DAK Lodge and the need to end the perception that the resort is 'in the middle of no where.' *** Back to main post. How I'd love to see Disney execs not be able to hide under the radar when they have allowed marketing and publicity hacks to dictate the direction of the resort instead of creatives and leaders with vision. I'd love to see weekly updates of the many, many, many, many, many areas at WDW that are simply rotting away because the company overdeveloped the property and now (guess I shouldn't have buried this so low but it's not like I'm a writer ...) has plans to TRIPLE the number of DVC units on property, while no plans at all to get new transport other than more magical buses, let alone fix things that have been broken for YEARS. I'd love to see him write about the monthly and weekly cutbacks that Disney often pushes thru because no one is paying attention that could give them the bad press they deserve. The WDW Press Office sits in their cubicles popping zoloft or zanax and thanking their lord that Al doesn't 'cover' their resort because, frankly, they couldn't handle it if he did. Now , wearing pretty lanyards while keeping the crazy housewives from New Jersey from jumping on Luke and Laura today at SuperSoap Weekend ... that's about what the Disney publicists are good for. Dealing with real reporters covering real hard news that gets broken by an Al Lutz type ... uh-oh, they'd be in trouble. Guess it's good that Al didn't talk to anyone in monorails ... or food and beverage ... or DVC planning. The Spirit has left the Cyber Building.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 Well, thank God. After the rest of us stumbled around with our own perceptions for 107 posts, The Spirit appears and tells us The Truth About Everything.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 (Oops. I didn't mean: "Thank God The Spirit has left the building." My sarcasm was supposed to be more general but less caustic than that.)
Originally Posted By mrichmondj <<< Al has a great track record as far as reporting news from the DLR long before the mainstream media. If you read his column's regularly, you'll get a far better pulse on what is going on in Anaheim, Glendale and Burbank than any other site. >>> There is no such thing as mainstream media reporting of DLR news. The people who buy mainstream newspapers and watch TV don't care. These Disney fan sites appeal to a very narrow population. The hosts of these sites can report whatever they feel like -- there is no catering to a mainstream. Al's site also likes to go into criticism of business decisions made by executives and middle managers, but it's pretty clear to me that there is absolutely zero understanding of basic economics or balance sheets by the commentators. It's one thing to criticize management when you have some knowledge of how to be a manager or have some successful business acumen to stand behind, but to be a 2-bit hack that points the finger to executive management all the time is a bit annoying. I found it a little bit surprising that the MiceAge junket chose to stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort for their WDW visit -- and attributed in their article that the lodging decision was based on a need to stay within a fixed budget. It's interesting that the author of so many criticisms of DLR and WDW management for making budgetary decisions finds himself "cheaping out" and making the exact same sort of decisions in his own personal life. With all of the hot air that is blown around on the MiceAge site in criticism of executive management decisions, I had somewhat envisioned the author to be a relatively successful businessman himself, with a good financial track record that might speak to a personal knowledge of how businesses work. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find out that the man behind the curtain is just an average joe staying at the moderate resorts like the rest of us and probably struggles to keep up his own household balance sheet at the same time he dictates how a multi-billion dollar company should manage its own.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Choosing to stay in a more modestly priced hotel can hardly be considered a fault by Mr. Lutz or anyone else, mrichmondj. It's interesting to see how far some individuals will go to find fault with Mr. Lutz. When there isn't anything legitimate to say, some bend over backwards to try and make certain perfectly innocent facts about the man seem--somehow--suspect; as if they can't rest until the find SOME way to discredit him. ORWEN: Well, instead, it works in the opposite way. You've only managed to discredit yourself, instead! ORGOCH: Yeah. What a sorry load a horse puckey THAT post was!!
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: By the way, Spiritof74, duckling. Your post was--on the other hand--very well put and you deserve more than a million dreams come true for your wise words.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj Thanks for emphasizing my point Witches! Nothing in this world is that black and white, yet the pages of MiceAge paint a picture that way every day in there good vs. evil description of disney management.
Originally Posted By kennect Well sorry, I thought the choice of a moderate resort was also sort of weird...
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Well, thank God. After the rest of us stumbled around with our own perceptions for 107 posts, The Spirit appears and tells us The Truth About Everything.>> The Spirit always likes to set the record (reasonably) straight, I-57. And since I do have some inside perspective on the whole Lutz/Disney relationship without personally knowing the man, I thought I'd share it with the rest of the kiddies here. The Spirit has left the Cyber Building.
