Let me start off by saying that I know that today’s story is NOT going to make many Disneyland annual passholders happy. On the other hand, this column could turn out to be the best news that WDW cast members have heard in years.
To explain: Late last month, Al Weiss — the then-President of Walt Disney World — accepted a new position within the organization. Which was the presidency of Worldwide Operations for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
Now — when senior WDW officials asked who might be replacing Al — they were told that the Disney company had no immediate plans to fill this position. In fact, there was even talk that it could be as long as 15 months before Mickey found just the right person to replace Mr. Weiss.
Well — based on what I heard this past weekend — you can pretty much forget about that whole “15 months” scenario. For word has begun leaking out of the Mouse House that Disney management has already found the perfect new President for WDW. And he’s Matt Ouimet, the current President of Disneyland.
Find this hard to believe? Well, you have to understand that — prior to coming out to Southern California in October 2003 to replace then-Disneyland President Cynthia Harris — Ouimet & his family had lived in Central Florida for 21 years. More importantly, Matt, his wife, Kathleen and their teenage son & daughter just loved their Orange County lifestyle. Golf at Bay Hill. Jogging, cycling, etc.
But the living-in-LA thing? … The way I hear it, it really hasn’t worked out for the Ouimet family. Though Matt, Kathleen and the kids have given being-out-west the old college try, they still miss all of their friends & family back in Orlando.
Which is why when Jay Rasulo — the Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts — promoted Weiss to oversee Worldwide Operations, the Ouimets saw their opportunity to finally return to Orange County. Which is why Matt then allegedly quickly applied to become Al’s replacement.
Soooo … Under the scenario that’s now supposedly being considered by Disney’s new CEO Bob Iger, Ouimet & his family could be returning to Central Florida as early as the spring of 2006. When Matt would officially become the new President of Walt Disney World.
“But then who would become the new President of Disneyland?,” you ask. Well … The most likely candidate is Greg Emmer, the current VP of Operations for the Walt Disney Company’s West Coast theme parks.
So how likely is it that this proposed Disneyland-to-Disney-World-presidential-switcheroo will actually happen? Well, from what I hear … Ouimet has reportedly already begun reaching out to old Orlando-area acquaintances. Discreetly putting out feelers to see if these folks might be willing to join his WDW transition team.
Now I know that some Disneyland annual passholders will be probably be upset when they hear about this plan. These people were hoping that Ouimet might continue his efforts to upgrade & improve the Anaheim theme parks. With particular emphasis being placed on reinventing the still-struggling California Adventure.
Whereas WDW cast members … Given the magic that they’ve just seen Matt work on Disneyland (I.E. Get that resort ready for its 50th anniversary in just 15 short months. Making the place look better than it has in years), these employees will obviously be looking for Ouimet can do something similar with Disney World’s theme parks and resorts.
But what do you folks think? I mean, it’s easy to understand why Matt might want to make this move. He just wants to get his family back to Central Florida so that they can finally be happy again. But is this really the smartest thing for the Walt Disney Company to do right now?
Your thoughts?