Thanks for today's article Jim. I know someone who is interested in working at WDI. As for Saudia Arabia though, personally I wouldnt want to work in a country where possesion of the bible is a crime.

Just more excuses.  Walt got the basic Anaheim park footprint up and running in a year, using an entire team with no theme park experience. Lucas, Speilberg, and Lassetter have all overseen major theme park projects without years of theme park design experience. The problem isn't the imagineers or finding anyone that works for the mouse that is creative. It would be feasible to blame the imagineers if it wasn't for that pesky Disney Seas in Tokyo. The problem is getting the accountants to release the money, then not having all the money sucked into administrative costs. The DCA makeover will probably just turn out to be another "Disney Decade" press release with minmal follow through.

Interesting... IF WDI is so actively looking for talent, one has to wonder why they aren't making use of folks who worked on past projects. I know of a number of people that have worked on projects (that any theme park fan would remember) dating back into the 80's who aren't being courted by WDI. And I know that these folks have updated their resumes only to be told, "We'll get back to you."

IF things are so dire, one has to wonder why folks like this aren't being asked back for more?

I agree. This doesn't wash. When it comes to design and thought, the core folks do it brilliantly if properly motivated (as in....has the gleam gone off the Mouseapple because of how badly they have been treated in past administrations? You can only lose your corporate reputation for being a good and nurturing employer of creatives ONCE)  As for the folks who actually do the painting, plastering, primping, and production...hey, this is STILL Hollywood, the biggest pool of creative craftspeople on earth. No shortages, and in fact lots of 'em out of work thanks to strikes past and, perhaps, future.  No, it sounds like excuse-making time for financial timidity in the executive suite to me, too.

All they have to do is ask.....and I will help em out.....WDI..call me..

http://www.raymation.net

I totally Agree. I dont think all the Imagineers are aging and just caring about the pensions I think the culture just needs to be changed  .  Alot of good things can come out of WDI. Granted if you go to teh Disney careers job site they list a bunch of imagineer openings thats expected anytime constructions going to begin on a new project.

                    I would have to respectfully disagree with Mr hill

The article says that the DCA revamp was pushed back until Autumn 2009, and then later postulates the question: why isn't any work getting done at DCA...  Well, if the work has been pushed back until autum of 2009, then the work's not getting done because it's still spring 2008!

Also, about Dubailand <rolling eyes>...  If Americans can't stand the thought of selling Dubai some of their seaports (remember the uproar?!), then why can they stomach selling them the rights to all of these theme park and entertainment franchises?  Universal, Dreamworks, Six Flags and Busch, they've all sold out to a foreign government entity that has links to terrorism.  How could there not be massive blow-back to these four companies stateside?

bonk!  

Jim i think you have your dates confused.

the plans were not pushed to spring 2009 then to the fall.

some of the construction was pushed to spring from early winter but of 2008 then later pushed to fall of 2008.

a large amount of work is scheduled at the moment to start right after labor day.

Prep time for Carsland is due to start this summer

Hate to be picky...but Saudi Arabia isn't Dubai. Dubai is Dubai.

Cbarry...nothing picky about that. Nothing more upsetting than when one of my country men lives up to every stereotype about the uninformed self centered American. And what country DOESN'T have links to terrorism...its such a broad term that every single super power has ties to not so savory people.

I can see one possible solution out of this, following these steps:

1) fire about 2/3rds of the dead weight bureaucrats that stand between Lassiter and the "average" Imagineer (not that these guys are average by any standard, of course).

2) pick one of those design firms that have a good mixture of new talent and ex-Disney staff.

3) get Jobs and Iger to pony up some cash and stock incentive to convince the board to flat-out buy that firm (the recent 1st quarter results should be incentive enough to show Disney stock has value to the shareholders of the target firm)

4) have Iger and Lassiter PERSONALLY meet with that firm and tell them flat out that the mistakes of the Eisner-solo era will never happen again, just as Lassiter has already done to the rekindling animation team.

5) have Marty Sklar write on a chalkboard "I will use my position to defend my creative talent from the bureaucrats" 1000 times.

simple, right?

According to WIKI FEB'08 - looks like Dubai & western relationships aren't splitting up anytime soon.

Dubai is one of seven states inside the United Arab Emirates.

The United States has enjoyed friendly relations with the U.A.E. since 1971. Private commercial ties, especially in petroleum, have developed into friendly government-to-government ties which include security assistance. The breadth, depth, and quality of U.S.-U.A.E. relations increased dramatically as a result of the U.S.-led coalition's campaign to end the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. In 2002, the U.S. and the U.A.E. launched a strategic partnership dialogue covering virtually every aspect of the relationship. The U.A.E. has been a key partner in the War on Terror. U.A.E. ports host more U.S. Navy ships than any port outside the U.S. The United States was the third country to establish formal diplomatic relations with the U.A.E. and has had an ambassador resident in the U.A.E. since 1974.

Principal U.S. Officials include:

Ambassador--Michele J. Sison

Deputy Chief of Mission--Martin Quinn

Political Officer--Al Magleby

Economic Officer--Oliver John

Consular Officer--Robert Dolce

Public Affairs Officer--Steven Pike

Management Officer--Stewart Devine

Commercial Officer--Christian Reed

For Dubailand <rolling eyes> I wonder how the former Disney imagineers will theme, or "plus", the separate entrances and queueing areas that women and girls will be forced to use apart from male guests?

bonk!  

I sent Mr. Hill a private message about this, but I'm still going to say it again - if WDI needs Imagineers, where do I sign up?  I mean really, I'm a year away from a BS in Computer/Electrical Engineering; yeah, planning on pursuing my PhD afterwards but I at least want to get my foot in the door.