As Disney Cruise Lines is the owner of it’s own island in the Bahamas, it’s great to see how they are working on integrating some Environmentality into that community. More than 150 Bahamian children recently participated in a summer camp sponsored in part by Disney… Read More »Disney Cruise Line Sponsors Environmental Summer Camp in Bahamas
Hello, and welcome to the D23 Expo, Day 2 (for more expo coverage read my D23 Expo Day 1 and Alison’s D23 Expo Day 3 recaps!) where things were taken up a big ol’ notch. I know, I couldn’t believe it either.
This is where you say, “How in the world did they top the first day? Nothing could be sweeter than Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog singing a tribute to the late, great Jim Henson! Nothing could be better than Dick Van Dyke in concert!
Fair enough. However, where Day 1 was a tip of the hat to Disney legends, Day 2 was about the now and the immediate future. Hence John Lasseter introducing Billy Crystal to a standing ovation (Lasseter also received a standing ovation) while discussing the upcoming Pixar film Monsters University. Also, Jason Segel coming out with Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy to discuss the new Muppet Movie. And of course, the Avengers assembling. On stage. That’s right, with the exception of the Hulk and Captain America, the entire team came out to watch a trailer that they had never seen. Robert Downey, Jr. made us watch it twice. Basically, it was a parade of celebrities (including Jennifer Garner, Sarah Silverman, and Jon Cryer, to name but a few) and Disney awesomeness (including Rich Ross, Andrew Stanton, and Marvel’s Kevin Feige, to again name but a few). My inner geek setting was at 11.
There was news this week that Disney’s 3rd ship in its cruise line fleet, the Disney Dream, has been sailing to near sellouts since its launch in January with an average of 3,800 passengers a sailing on a ship capable of holding 4,000. That’s good… Read More »What Disney got Right, and Wrong, with the Disney Dream
In a long internal memo today, Tom Staggs made official the organizational shakeup everyone knew was coming after Staggs took over the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division. It’s nothing earth shattering, but it does flatten some of the levels of hierarchy that were said to have frustrated Staggs since he took over.
In short, current WDW president Meg Crofton expands to oversee all the domestic parks and the two parks in France. Karl Holtz, who a few years ago was rumored to be leaving Disney, is instead adding DVC to his DCL and Adventures by Disney responsibilities. Leslie Ferraro becomes executive vice president, Global Marketing and Sales combining those two closely related departments and Erin Wallace, executive vice president, Operations Integration also adds revenue management to her desk. The move also creates a new executive council under Staggs.
While Staggs’ reorganization did not cut any of the deadwood certain segments of Disney fans wanted to see go, I believe the general movement here is a good one. It will allow for efficiencies where they need to exist and independence, with oversight, as required for the parks. Combining marketing and sales is a no-duh in my book, they are both measured by the same final metrics (butts in beds and asses through the gates), so unifying them is good. The only move that looks questionable to me is giving the extra power of revenue management to operations. However, they are the yin and the yang of theme park operations. Having one person keep a close eye via her myriad of spreadsheets and minions (and I mean that in the nicest possible way), could be very positive.
Let’s keep a watch on this for the next 3-year planning cycle and see if there really is any improvement. Meanwhile, the pressure is kicked up a notch for these people to get things done or they too could be reorganized right out of a job.
The full text of Tom Staggs’ announcement is below the jump:
Read More »Promotions Shake Up Disney Parks & Resorts under Tom Staggs
As the Disney Wonder enjoys its first tours of Alaska, guests are reporting back that the views are spectacular. However, since it can get cold and rainy the usual sunbathing activity is a bit diminished. To compensate for the ship’s busier interior, Disney is holding… Read More »Mickey and Minnie dressed up for Alaskan Weather aboard Disney Wonder
Walt Disney World Photographer Matt Stroshane recently sailed on the Disney Wonder on its inaugural cruise to Alaska. Using over 10,000 still photographs he created this time-lapse video showing the cruise as it sailed past the panoramic Vancouver BC skyline, under the Lions Gate Bridge,… Read More »Time-Lapse Disney Cruise through Alaska
March 2012 is closer than you think. That’s the grand debut for the Disney Fantasy, the fourth ship in tbe Disney Cruise Line fleet. Disney just released a wonderful time lapse video showing the Fantasy’s construction. It’s pretty far along at this point, which makes… Read More »Disney Cruise Line Fantasy Ship – Time Lapse Construction Video
On Thursday, the Disney Parks blog announced that “Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular” will run on the Disney Fantasy. As I wrote in a previous post, a full stage production of Aladdin is expected to open at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle this… Read More »Disney Fantasy Announces Aladdin Stage Show