Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "So instead of reading DisneyWar, I just bring the July issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine to the beach and take and retake the Cosmo Sex Quiz." In a Speedo or boardies? "But the fact that Mr. Pressler was let go shortly after that awful time suggests that Mr. Lutz wasn't the only one who thought Mr. Pressler was a poor leader." He got a promotion. A rather huge one at that - overseeing all Disney resorts worldwide.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>You have a valid question, Kar2oonMan, dear--and I understand your point.<< Thanks.
Originally Posted By doombuggy "when you could (and still can) find foreign tour groups doing it every day." But are these groups acting as know it all's and charging? which is what he was doing. Or are they simply leading them around? Did he ever rip on how the park was run when you took it? I ask cause that was one of the reasons they booted him. "Is it safe to assume that those operators have been sanctioned by Disney to conduct tours in the parks?" I'd think if they went through group sales it's fine. Or at least call and say "hey we have a tour group is this ok?"
Originally Posted By schnebs <<Is it safe to assume that those operators have been sanctioned by Disney to conduct tours in the parks?>> hans, I doubt that there's any kind of official sanction by Disney - I think it's more like, "We don't offer guided tours in Chinese (or whatever other language you like), so we really don't care that you're offering tours." If Disney ever decides that there's boatloads of money in it for them to offer tours in foreign languages, I suspect the tour guides would find themselves unwelcome in the Park.(So maybe Jim should have given his tour in Chinese?) doombuggy, Jim was definitely telling tales out of school, but they were more in the vein of unvarnished stories about Walt, the Imagineers, and prior Disney management, as opposed to sanitized versions of the past sanctioned by the Company and tales about the then-current administration. For example, he spoke about C.V. Wood's contributions to the Park's construction and the circumstances that got him ousted; C.V. has been totally whitewashed out of the Company's version of the Park's history. Another example was Jim's mentioning that there was more to Walt's ideas for creating Disneyland than the oft-told story about his taking his daughters to Griffith Park, and that Roy and Lilly's reaction to his plans were something less than full & enthusiastic support. We're talking more about Jim challenging the Disney canon than his telling people how Paul and Cynthia were screwing up the joint.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "hans, I doubt that there's any kind of official sanction by Disney - I think it's more like, "We don't offer guided tours in Chinese (or whatever other language you like), so we really don't care that you're offering tours." If Disney ever decides that there's boatloads of money in it for them to offer tours in foreign languages, I suspect the tour guides would find themselves unwelcome in the Park." It makes no sense to me that Disney would allow unauthorized tours of the parks. They have to regulate them somehow.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>"But the fact that Mr. Pressler was let go shortly after that awful time [the Big Thunder fatality] suggests that Mr. Lutz wasn't the only one who thought Mr. Pressler was a poor leader." He got a promotion. A rather huge one at that - overseeing all Disney resorts worldwide.<< Memory is a funny thing. Someone remembers things one way, someone else another way. And sometimes, they're both wrong. Here's the timeline for Mr. Pressler's career at Disney: 1987-90: Disney Product Licensing 1990-92: Consumer Products, Disney Stores 1992-94: President, Disneyland 1994-September, 2002: Disney Parks and Resorts (In 2001 the Angels and Ducks sports teams were added to his duties.) There were two fatalities in Disneyland that were not a result of guest carelessness: December 24, 1998: Columbia fatality; Sept 2, 2003: Big Thunder fatality. The 1998 "rotted cleat" fatality happened under Pressler's watch. At the time he had been President of Parks and Resorts for four years. The 2003 Big Thunder fatality was a full year after Pressler had left Disney, and was heading up the Gap. Cynthia Harriss was President of Disneyland at the time, and there was much speculation that she would be let go immediately. She held out another 16 months before leaving to join her old boss Pressler. During the investigation of the Big Thunder fatality, it was discovered that Paul Pressler had, indeed, cut back on long-established maintenance policies, including the infamous "ride these attractions to failure" memo. But he was neither fired nor promoted over it, as he was already out of the Company.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Disney does not allow any outside commercial activity in the theme parks. You can't sell stuff in Disneyland and you can't offer services for which you have been paid. Large tour groups are accommodated through Disneyland Group Sales. Tours are offered at City Hall. There are gift shops offering all the Disney geegaws you could ever want. Jim Hill was offering an unauthorized tour, for which he was charging a fee. He was not (and is not) alone in this. But his fatal mistake was not keeping track of who was in his group. As I understand, a couple of confused guests got into his tour, assuming they were on an official tour (for which they had paid). Afterward, they complained about their "tour" at City Hall. The confusion was cleared up, with negative impact on Jim Hill and his unofficil tour. It should be pointed out that while some have made a big deal of this ("Jim Hill BANNED from Disneyland!") it wasn't really all that. Jim Hill has since been invited to Disneyland media events, and continues to cover the Walt Disney Company on his site.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "But he was neither fired nor promoted over it, as he was already out of the Company." I never said, or suggested, that Pressler was promoted after Big Thunder. I was simply pointing out that he wasn't "let go" after leaving Disneyland.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Disney does not allow any outside commercial activity in the theme parks. You can't sell stuff in Disneyland and you can't offer services for which you have been paid. Large tour groups are accommodated through Disneyland Group Sales." Pretty much what I thought. Thanks for clearing that up.
Originally Posted By believe What about the events like the "gumball rally". Are those approved? And what if I've have one of those bus tours when I drive you from a hotel from LA to DL. And you don't have a tour inside the park, but you do charge more than the ticket price because of the bus ride. ie $25 more than admission price. If JH charged $25 to give a tour, but you get in the park yourself, what's the diff?
Originally Posted By TP2000 "Cynthia Harriss was President of Disneyland at the time, and there was much speculation that she would be let go immediately. She held out another 16 months before leaving to join her old boss Pressler." 16 months, Doug? Cynthia was let go 40 days after the Big Thunder death. I had to Google for a minute or two, but here's Cynthia's timeline. Big Thunder Fatality: September 2nd, 2003 Cynthia Harriss Immediate "Resignation": October 14, 2003 Of course she "resigned", but it was "effective immediately" and her memo used the now infamous cliche' "to spend more time with family", which was an odd thing for an middle-aged unmarried woman with no children to say. But Cynthia was gone, and the same memo that announced her resignation announced her immediate successor and his successor at his old post. In the corporate world, that's pretty clear code for "fired". In January, 2004, just under 90 days after Cynthia "resigned" from Disneyland, she took an executive position for Paul Pressler at GAP headquarters up in San Francisco. Apparently she didn't want to spend that much time with her family. Or maybe 90 days was enough and she just got sick of them?
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Maybe she has "Dory" syndrome and forgot she didn't have any family when she retired to spend more time with them.
Originally Posted By Brad "after my little episode with his lunatic ex-wife" LMAO!!!!!!!! Yeah, from what I know of her, she's a little TOO into it all, if you know what I mean....
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones The Jim Hill Tour thing is funny but I never thought he was bad for doing it. He did it, the property owner did not like it, and he was asked to stop. A bigger deal was made of it than it really was.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I sense that many DLR fans have a sense of ownership when it comes to the parks, especially DL Park. That always struck me as a bit obsessive. No offense to Jim Hill, but why would someone unaffiliated with DL feel compelled to start offering tours of the place? I can geek out with the best of them when it comes to DL, but there's definitely a limit to my interest.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "No offense to Jim Hill, but why would someone unaffiliated with DL feel compelled to start offering tours of the place?" Well, he was making money from it. Nice to be able to make a little cash from something he's passionate about. Note, I don't think he's a horrible person for doing it. But I can't really blame Disney for putting a stop to it.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Well, he was making money from it. Nice to be able to make a little cash from something he's passionate about." OK, I guess I missed that part.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "No offense to Jim Hill, but why would someone unaffiliated with DL feel compelled to start offering tours of the place?" They were advertising a video here of some girl revealing Disneyland secrets, and it was unauthorized. There's certainly a small market for this sort of thing. It's further encouraged by this idea that Disneyland's image is tightly controlled and that an unofficial tour/book/video would reveal more interesting information. This is also the point behind Mouse Tales.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I have a hard time believe a lot of the things in Mouse Tales. People love to exaggerate when they have an interested person listening to their interesting stories.
