WDW Magazine December 2015 - Crowds at WDW | Page 133

The Company Today

Carl- What do you think Walt would think about where the Disney company has gone today?

Jef- That is a great question and a question that I am very frequently asked. I think at one level, he would be thrilled that his little studio is today the number one entertainment company in the world. The manner in which Disneyland has thrived for 60 years and was replicated by way of Disney World and then of course, the international parks that span the globe. I think that would make him really, really, really happy. The way in which the corporation has sort of lost Walt ' s way in terms of treating each other as family, there is a hyperfocus on money and the dollar at the bottom line that I think Walt would really, really struggle with. When he built Disneyland, he charged a gate admission of $ 1. He didn ' t want everybody in there at the same time but he did want the people to be able to come in and even if they never rode any of the attractions, to enjoy Disneyland as a park, you know, sit and think about times gone by and prospects for the future and take in the environment and take in all of the without ever having to get on a ride.

Of course, those days are gone. The price of admission is almost $ 100 or maybe even a little more than a $ 100. He would struggle with that. Now, what is the solution? I don ' t know because the law of economics is the law of supply and demand and if they went back to charging a $ 1 admission, the overcrowding problem would be worse than it already is. I ' m always fascinated at the folks who complain at how much it cost it get into Disneyland but then once they ' re inside the gate, they complain about how crowded it is. and I ' m not sure Waltbut the manner in which it has thrived, the manner in which it has grown and evolved, I think he ' d be thrilled with. I think he would also, at the same time, love to come up with a way to have more people to be able to enjoy it as a park and for the company to return to treating each other as a Disney family.

Carl- Yeah. One thing I really noticed when I was out there as a long-time Disney World crazy is how much of the little rides there are out there. There ' s like 71 rides in California and there is less than 70 in all four parks in Florida so you don ' t have the little A, B, C ticket rides anymore and I think that the company has kind of gone away from that and that ' s where I think it ' s kind of lost its way.

Jef- Yeah and I wrote a little bit about this in the book, the chapter entitled Keeping Fantasy in the Heart of Everything. There are parts of the park that I think Walt would feel lost in and maybe even question some of the decision making and yet, I believe Fantasyland was for Walt his true [ inaudible 00:25:31 ] and I certainly believe that Fantasyland is the heart of the park for Walt itself. When the park opened Fantasyland, it had the most number of attractions and it still holds the most number of attractions and still holds the most number of original 1955 attractions. You could stand in Fantasyland and still feel right at home and even though Disneyland is smaller and is significantly more intimate than say Disney World.