Differences between Team Disney Anaheim and Tokyo Disney Management.

[tarheelalum]

Great post, CASurfer65, and sadly true. Eisner arrived in '84 and immediately started to squeeze the Park for large profits. Some of his first targets for reduction were CM pay, CM benefits, and the world-famous CM training program, which at that time was key to maintaining Disneyland's hiring standards.




Eisner put Pressler in charge of Disneyland in '94, with a mandate to deliver double-digit profits. Along with closing rides and slashing maintenance, he doubled down on Eisner's reduction in CM standards.

And killing people.

[CASurfer65]

Precisely, Wiggins. Eisner was a movie and TV guy. He had no interest or innate talent in addressing the needs of a theme park. So that seemed the likely place to make cuts. And it had an effect sadly.

I think people realized just how big a part Walt's parks played in the overall scene of who he was. And what he wanted to establish.

While Walt also started out as a huge movie and TV guy, he had this additional quality that made him special. And it was a talent that went far beyond just running a movie or TV studio. He wanted to bring something tangible into play. A physical space where families could spend time together. And it would begin as a great showplace for his wonderful characters and movies. And from there he would make it oh so much more.

And part of this was a group of Cast Members who would run the show. They would be special to him and become almost like his second family. And he would treat them that way.

This continued on for a while after his death. Through the 70s. I have plenty of friends who hired in in the 60s and 70s and said both decades were just great.

But then the shakeup happened in the mid 80s, and a lot of the CMs who had had such special thoughts about working for the man, and his vision, just didn't feel it anymore. It was clear it had gone corporate. And there was no room for family.

The Pressler years were especially bad, yes. He took it to the "n"th degree.