Interesting developments, Jim! I'm a little worried about that comment about "We're no longer going to design projects we don't intend to build" - that could either be interpreted as "we're not going to let good projects die on the vine due to penny pinching and back-biting" or "we're not going to do any big projects unless we're avbsolutely sure John, Jay and Bob will say OK."  And I have to wonder if this move will mean the end of the idea of turning WDI into a contractor for outsourced projects a la Universal Creative or if it means those plans will be brought to fruition. Still, it sounds like they're making a step in the right direction -- it should be interesting to see what happens.    

If the 'anti-pixar' can be turned into the opposite, well then just maybe we'll start seeing better attractions put into the park.  I can only imagine that all the back-biting runs up design costs simply do to decisions and various other things constantly being changed.

With that said, I don't think using contractors for Disney projects is that big of a deal, so long as WDI is the heart for the project.

"John hasn't shown all that much enthusiasm for any of the other projects that Imagineering has shown him."  

Probably cause they're taking new technology and trying to build a ride/attraction around it. Once upon a time, the ride/attraction was focused on first, and THEN they tried to figure out how to do it. Pirates went from a walk-through to riding in boats - the focus was on the pirates. Boats fit the theme great, but Omnimovers would have worked too. If they opened the Country Bears today - you'd see the different bears while lurching by in your "out of control" jeep.

Focusing on technology instead of the attraction experience leads to problems. Turtle Talk = home run, plus it's the first attraction in a while that the whole family can enjoy together. At the other end, Lucky the Dinosaur could be just as entertaining with a puppeteer inside. Eight year old Billy from Denver doesn't care that Lucky is the first independant AA figure. The expense of all the technology inside doesn't increase the entertainment value.

Hey Jim: I hope that WDI people don't start leaking stuff online. That stuff must remail quiet. I will suggest one way of getting back on track: Build Marc Davis's Western River Expedition!

A good development, but I won't be all too optimistic, because I want to see first how the "new" WDI performs. I want to see first what kind of attractions they're going to put out, etc., before I pass further judgement.

But I wonder. When Iger became CEO, didn't he throw out a lot of those "Eisner people" in other divisions? So why didn't he at WDI, and why didn't he use this opportunity to REALLY clean up WDI?

And.. Uh.. If Fitzgerald is still with WDI, but not in charge.. What is he doing there then? What is his function now?

Eh ... I'm not sure I'm in the camp that considers "Lucky the Dinosaur" a good thing. Like curmudgeon said, it always seemed like a poor use for that technology to me.

I don't know if it's just me, but does anyone at WDI look at the lines for Winnie the Pooh? I mean that's just a classic, good old fashioned dark ride and it packs them in day after day. Ditto for Peter Pan ... and Dumbo, for that matter!

What I'm saying is, Mission: Space was one of these attractions that put new technology to use and it sure looks to me like a bomb. I mean I was enthusiastic abotu it in the beginning, but even I've lost interest by now. It's not a great attraction.

Much like a movie, a good ride is a good ride. It doesn't have to be a billion dollar special effects extravaganza. I just hope WDI remembers that and doesn't get too focused on all this "new technology" stuff.

Interesting....

But what I want to know is if the rumors of Disney trying to "woo" back Matt Ouimet are true.....

Change is good, and this is a good change.  Craig Russell is one of the hardest working Imagineers I've ever had the pleasure to know in my 17 years there.  His energy is umatched.  On the occasional business trip, a group of us would meet for breakfast at the hotel and Craig would saunter up to the table having already toured the city on foot!   I've never heard the man utter a negative comment.

I didn't know Bruce as well as Craig, but he was always a results oriented guy and also a hard worker.  Bruce is correct about Tom, there has never been a better writer at WDI...I hope Tom sees this turn of events as an opportunity to really start writing again...perhaps in an endeavor larger than a theme park context.

I think the prognosis is good, and once again Imagineering has proven to be self-healing.  The real trick is to stay busy, with several projects going at a time.  WDI always works best when challenged with a full workload...it's only when things slow down that the inmates start to bite each other.

Good luck guys!

"If they opened the Country Bears today - you'd see the different bears while lurching by in your "out of control" jeep."

Ahhh curmudgeon... thank you for that gem. I laughed out loud. I think in 25 words or less you summed up the WDI of today vs the WDI of yesteryear.

I hope these changes are positive ones. My fingers will remain crossed. Best of luck to all involved.

"We're no longer going to design projects we don't intend to build..."

Hopefully he means something along the lines of WRE or Disney's America.

I also concur with all of you who think current rides have placed technology before story telling (can anyone actually tell me the "story" of Mission: Space?) with Everest being a recent exception.

I concur with Captainhook91 - that comment from Curmudgeon was priceless. Last summer I made my first trip back to WDW in about 10 years. I saw Disney's Animal Kingdom for the first time. I thought the park as a whole was nice to look at but didn't offer a full day's worth of entertainment by any stretch. In particular, I was very disappointed with the dinosaur ride (whose name I can't recall) where, as Curmudgeon describes so aptly, you see the dinos "while lurching by in your "out of control" jeep." All that advanced technology pretty much gone to waste, I thought, when you're flying by at too fast a speed to let your senses take it all in. That's why I will always prefer the classic rides at both WDW and Disneyland, where one can savour the sights and sounds while moving by at a leisurely pace. Hopefully this new Imagineering management team will encourage more rides along the lines of the classics.

I'll also heartily second wec's vote that they finally build the Marc Davis designed "Western River Expedition". I recall with great fondness the small-scale model that was once on show in "The Walt Disney Story" on Main Street back in the late 70's. That wonderful set-up with its 9" maquettes of cowboys, desperados and delightful dancehall girls was enough to excite me about riding the real thing. I hope the Imagineers revisit the idea and bring it to fruition.

I was always far more impressed by the Vine Lady at Animal Kingdom than the AA characters, but then maybe that's because whoever was playing the Vine Lady was always, um...(what's a Disney-appropriate term for "hot sexy mama"?)

Mission:Space just gives me the creeps.  If someone dies on the WED-Way People-Mover because they were acting like an idiot that's one thing, but when tiny kids and middle-aged ladies die only because they had undiagnosed health problems, then that's scary.

How does Tony Baxter fit into these recent changes?

Question is, does this finally mean we'll actually get to see an update at WDW's Space Mountain?

As far as Disneyland is concerned ...

1. Bring back Country Bears - NOW.

2. Quit messing with Mr. Lincoln. In fact ... restore it to the Civil War tribute version.

3. Revamp STAR TOURS with HD video at least. The death star trench battle is timeless. I'm not for the pod race idea. If there has to be pod races... it needs to be a different atraction.

4. Start wooing Spielberg and Paramount NOW for the rights to Transformers. If Disney can do Indiana Jones... then they can do Transformers.

Transformers is not owned by Spielberg. It is HASBRO. Always is, always will. A toy company - first was toys, then comics, then the animated show, then the AWESOME animated movie (which will be better than this crap they give us now),.

I like this stuff going on with WDI.

A theme park attraction based on the Transformers cartoon would mean nothing to nobody. But mark my words here. This movie is going to be big. I am with you ... I also know Transformers well enough to see this movie as something pretty cool... but not really the ultimate chapter as far as the franchise is concerned. We are about 1% of the worlds population. The other 99% of the worlds population is going to treat this thing like another TITANIC. Once that happens.... the fact that Disney lost the chance to do Potter will mean nothing if they can get this. Im talking about the movie. There is no reason why Hasbro wouldn't say yes.  Hey.... who would have ever thought that STAR WARS or Indiana Jones would come to Disney?

Umm... I actually LIKE Mission: Space.

Story? Come on, did Mission to the Moon have a story?

I actually think one of the bad things to come out of WDI in recent years is this urge to tell stories. Folks joke about "out of control jeeps," but every recent ride is about Awe, Oh no!, and Ahhhh.

Pirates sort of tells a story, Haunted Mansion doesn't really, Nature's Wonderland/Thunder Mountain didn't/doesn't have one... You don't need an entire story to hang a great ride on, yet recently, nearly every ride stateside that's come out has some kind of plot that requires a setup/preshow.

Doesn't have to be that way.

Jim Hill's back with even more answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, Jim talks about why the Mouse was willing to abandon its negotiations with J.K. Rowling, what rethemed rides you can expect to find when you visit the "Wizarding