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Saratoga75
11-11-2003, 11:07 PM
Just curious by a show of hands how many people dislike Paul Pressler??? I Personally cant stand him. . it's proven he was more concerned about the price of Disney;s stock rather than public safety. . the article about him in LA times sickens me. . and today i met the first person ever to defend Paul Pressler calling him "an effective businessman with realworld experience" and for me not to be judgemental!! hmm. I will send him a link to this post hopefully someone here will agree with me.

MrTomMorrow
11-11-2003, 11:46 PM
I think Paul Pressler et al. certainly turned Disneyland in the wrong direction, and I can only hope that the park gets back on track soon. Things definitely began to go downhill after he joined the Disneyland team, and the effects are still being felt today.

One only has to remember the quote he supposedly said: "We have to ride these rides to failure to save money."

danyoung
11-12-2003, 04:29 AM
Not having any contacts within the Disney management, I can only go on what I read online, and of course my own personal observations of the parks. That said, I have been increasingly disappointed by the condition of the property and the attractions. It also seems that the shops used to carry a much more diverse selection of merchandise, but in the past few years have been homogenized into plush and pin stores. If that's the fault of Pressler, and Ms. Harriss, then I'm glad they're gone. I'm eagerly watching the new regime, and am so far somewhat encouraged.

But do I HATE Mr. Pressler? Hey, I don't even know the guy. I'm sure he must be a very capable executive, just the wrong one for such a unique company as the Disney parks division.

Doodle Duck
11-12-2003, 04:53 AM
"...and for me not to be judgemental!!"


Why not be 'judgemental' for purposes of debate? Who cares how or if I judge anybody rightly or wrongly...will they go to jail if I pre-judge them? Hell? The Gap? Off my Christmas list?
Means not a hill of beans if I think the guy is a greedy little twerp and a miserable excuse for a DL Executive and was completely wrong for the job, stinking up the formerly greatest themepark on earth...he also may have set the wheels (pun not intended) in motion for an accident or two.

'Innocent till proven guilty' is in the US court system not my thought patterns or internet posting habits...so...


GUILTY and THANKFULLY GONE!


Hate him? Nah...too much emotion required...
Distain? Yep.
Disgust? Yep.

merlinjones
11-12-2003, 05:13 AM
Capable executives are systematically destroying the fabric of our society... by all means be judgmental. It's our only hope.

daannzzz
11-12-2003, 07:15 AM
Based on what all I have read about they way he handled the Disney Parks I can say that I don't care for his style. I don't like some of the things I read he said. He may, or may not have been a nice person but he sure was cute.

tod
11-12-2003, 07:54 AM
Originally posted by Saratoga75
... today i met the first person ever to defend Paul Pressler calling him "an effective businessman with realworld experience" and for me not to be judgemental!! hmm.

I hate that kind of thinking.

Here we have an executive who took command of a perfectly well functioning park and slashed jobs, cut maintenance, replaced entertainment venues with candy and plush stores, closed attractions with no warning or explanation, changed the attitude of the place from a functioning whole to a lot of little fiefdoms at war with one another, built a Taj Mahal for his executive new-hires, and -- if the allegations are correct -- rolled the dice with people's lives to save money.

To say nothing of that billlion-dollar atrocity in the parking lot, conceived and built by people who thought that Disneyland was old-hat and needed something "modern and edgy" to counteract it, a stunning miscalculation that has been proved horribly wrong.

In the face of this dismal track record of woeful incompetence, (and remotely-possible criminal culpability in the case of two mechancal-failure fatalities) some corporate apololgist calls Pressler "an effective businessman with realworld experience" and asks that people not be judgmental.

Hah.

The time for common courtesy is long past. Pressler was the nemesis of Disneyland, and it will take 10 years of concentrated effort to undo the damage he has done. IF the Burbank suits can get their heads out of the sand (and Orlando) and gather the nerve, and money, to put things back on track before the people who actually made Disneyland work all die off and the place is operated by suits who think it should be dirty, dingy and dangerous because it was always that way.

Hate Pressler? Waste of effort. As I have said many times, "You can call people [jerks] all day long, but they commit suicide so seldom it's hardly worth the trouble."

Hate what he's done? Every time I tell my kids there used to be games in the Penny Arcade, and motorboats in Fantasyland, and I see graffiti and paint chipped down to the metal and trash sitting on the ground.

Which is every time I go to Disneyland any more.:crying:

--T
:fez:

JeffG
11-12-2003, 09:10 AM
I have never met Mr. Pressler and really have no knowledge of what specific decisions he did or did not make during his time at Disney. I do know that I did not approve of some (but not all) of the public-facing changes made to Disneyland during his tenure at the company.

-Jeff

blusilva
11-12-2003, 09:47 AM
Originally posted by Saratoga75
Just curious by a show of hands how many people dislike Paul Pressler???

I don't know Paul Pressler. I dislike some of the policies he created and implemented at the Disneyland Resort, and I think that Disneyland itself suffered greatly due to his role in the company. But I don't dislike the man personally.

HBTiggerFan
11-12-2003, 09:54 AM
I think he worked magic with the Disney Stores (the ones in the mall) but killed Disneyland and the *resort* with his retail line of thinking.

I think he's doing wonderful things for the Gap though. Retail is his thing, he's back in his element.

donatello3000
11-12-2003, 10:05 AM
I've been working for Gap Inc. for about 3 years now... When he became CEO, I was upset.
But I was upset with the work he did for the Disneyland Resort. I never knew what good he did at The Disney Stores, but now I know retail really is his thing (as HB Tigger Fan sad). I can't give out numbers, but my company is doing so much better now.
It's just so weird how I am now working for the man who un-happy-fied the happiest place on earth.
At least both sides (Gap and the Disneyland Resort) benefitted from his leaving.

merlinjones
11-12-2003, 10:16 AM
GAP vs. Disney: Disney is not just a product or brand but an experience, aesthetic and contextual point-of-view. Clothes are just products with attitude.

Old Blue
11-13-2003, 08:24 PM
I had met Paul several times both onstage and off, and found him to be very friendly and personable. He did not act like he was special or any better than I or anyone else. As a person I can only say that I liked him.
That being said I do not think he was the right person to run the resort. He was too retail oriented to run something as diversified as a theme park resort. I also believe that he listened to the wrong people giving advice. Little by little though I am seeing changes that are bringing us back to the ways of the past.

Germboy
11-14-2003, 02:06 AM
I agree that he is a cutie, daannzzz. And probably loaded too, after his tenure at Disney.

BUT Ouimet is also a cutie. And I think he has what it takes to succeed in his new position.

The park is slowly turning around. That makes Matt Ouimet all the sexier.;)

merlinjones
11-14-2003, 05:45 AM
A hot backside seems to be a pre-requisite for senor exec status.

...I wish there were more Walt admirers that did squats with their trainers.

Madame Leota
11-14-2003, 06:54 AM
I worked for TDS back in the day when Paul was in charge. I have to say that once he left the stores, the magic started to fade away. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with Cynthia assuming the position or not but....
Paul would come into our store frequently and was charming and warm. He ended up recruiting my Manager for Disneyland after his departure and was always friendly to me when I would see him at the park.
Now whether his niceness and charm makes him a capable businessman, I don't know. All I know is he was great with TDS - they could use him back right now IMHO.

merlinjones
11-14-2003, 07:33 AM
Simple: Sell Disney Stores to The GAP.

People with retailing and marketing experience are not necessarily storytellers, showmen, entertainers, engineers, visionaries or ethicists. Can they still be cute, personable and good at merchandising and bossing people around and schmoozing and quoting trendy seminar lingo? Can they have nice buttoxes? Sure.

Though the merchandise mix at the parks during Pressler's run was nothing to cheer about, was it?

Just like Beauty and the Beast, you can't judge a book by its cover.

cryan71
11-14-2003, 07:34 AM
Let's get to the real issue here.

Just curious by a show of hands how many people dislike cryan71???

its all about me.....

Doodle Duck
11-14-2003, 07:39 AM
Cute? This counts for something?

Anything?

Bill Catherall
11-14-2003, 08:24 AM
Originally posted by merlinjones
...I wish there were more Walt admirers that did squats with their trainers. I'm a Walt admirer and I do squats. Do I get the job? :D

HBTiggerFan
11-14-2003, 09:03 AM
Originally posted by donatello3000
I never knew what good he did at The Disney Stores, but now I know retail really is his thing (as HB Tigger Fan sad).

When I went to interview at the Gap last Christmas season I tried to impress the interviewer with the knowledge that Pressler was now with the Gap. She seemed impressed and said that the business was already improving.

Two things I love. Disney and the Gap. I'm glad he can help one of them.

Germboy
11-14-2003, 10:00 AM
You have to be a cutie too Bill. Squats alone don't cut it.

I disagree MJ...Cynthia's backside wasn't all that and she got to the top. ;)

merlinjones
11-14-2003, 10:27 AM
>>I'm a Walt admirer and I do squats. Do I get the job? <<

Post a pic and we'll see.

>>Cynthia's backside wasn't all that and she got to the top. <<

I guess it depends on who you have to impress...
;)

>>When I went to interview at the Gap last Christmas season I tried to impress the interviewer with the knowledge that Pressler was now with the Gap. She seemed impressed and said that the business was already improving.<<

Have you noticed the newly Queer Eye focused on Gap advertising? Madonna... Fran Drescher... that buttcentric guy blue jean ad? Sex sells. Guess they want to be Abercrombie & Fitch Junior.

Bill Catherall
11-14-2003, 10:35 AM
Originally posted by Germboy
You have to be a cutie too Bill. Squats alone don't cut it. Ah, dang! I guess Matt and Paul (and Cynthia) have something I don't have... A full head of hair. Shucks!

:rolleyes: <---- (looking at thinning hair)

Morrigoon
11-14-2003, 12:01 PM
Originally posted by Bill Catherall
I'm a Walt admirer and I do squats. Do I get the job? :D

And a cutie too, you got the job!