DizBiz: So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

First published August 5, 2003

By C. W. Oberleitner

With apologies to the late Douglas Adams, C. W. Oberleitner returns today with part four of his trilogy on the coming 50th Anniversary celebration at Disneyland.

Following our first set of Disneyland Resort tours last March Jim and I began talking about "raising my Disney profile" among our readers. The reason being that if the demand for tours proved to be more than Jim could handle I, as a bona fide JimHillMedia Disney historian/expert, could step in and conduct the tours on behalf of JHM.com. With interest building in the Walt Disney Company's plans for the coming 50^th Anniversary of Disneyland I pitched the idea of a three-part story outlining the cultural and historical significance of this event.

Part One of the series, Walk The Walk, described the corporate culture inside Team Disney Anaheim and Burbank and why it was so difficult for executives trained at some of the finest business schools in the country to grasp the importance of Disneyland's 50^th anniversary. Part Two, One World One Disneyland, traced three seemingly unrelated historical events that collided with the creation of Disneyland to help make it a worldwide cultural phenomenon. And, Part Three -- which appeared on July 17, 2003, Disneyland's 48^th anniversary -- What's The Buzz. . . Tell Me What's A Happenen, talked about the "known" plans for Disneyland's 50^th Anniversary celebration and the tepid response those plans were receiving from the public at large.

Well the "buzz" about Disneyland's 50^th Anniversary celebration got kicked up a notch Saturday July 19, following Randy Baumberger's untitled presentation at the NFFC National Convention. Randall "Randy" Baumberger is Senior Vice President Resort Operations and Sales for the Disneyland Resort. In other words, if anybody knows what's going on inside Disneyland he should.

Mr. Baumberger, who bears a striking physical as well as verbal resemblance to actor Barry Bostwick, covered a wide ranging field of topics during his nearly forty minute presentation. Following a video review and remarks about this past year at the DLR Mr. Baumberger took a few minutes to talk about the year ahead. Among the things he told his audience were that everyone at the resort was looking forward to hosting the second ABC Primetime Preview weekend this coming September 6 and 7, as well as Fiestiva Latina every weekend from September 13, to October 5, at Disney's California Adventure.

Fans of Haunted Mansion Holiday will be pleased to learn that "Oogie Boogie finally arrives," in this year's Halloween/Christmas makeover of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Mr. Baumberger said, "he wouldn't bet on," Walt Disney Pictures holding the premiere for the movie Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. He said that while the recent Pirates of The Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl premiere event was a big success for both the park and the studio he did not think that the studio would want to premiere Haunted Mansion the movie while Haunted Mansion the ride was themed to a different film.

This just in, DLR cast members report that Oogie Boogie's arrival at Haunted Mansion Holiday will be in the form of a game tentatively titled "Oogie Boogie's Ten Spot." Apparently the idea is that Oogie Boogie sneaks in after Jack Skelington and the mansion's 999 happy haunts decorate the mansion for the holidays and adds a few touches of his own. Haunted Mansion Holiday guests will be encouraged to spot Oogie Boogie in 10 special appearances throughout the mansion.

Back in DCA, Mr. Baumberger said that a show would be added to the Redwood Creek Challenge area of the park based on the coming Disney Feature Animation film Brother Bear. He did not elaborate on how the California Redwood forest themed area of the park would be adapted to the film's deep Northwest woods and mountainous terrain.

It was, however, Mr. Baumberger's remarks about the plans for the coming 50^th Anniversary celebration at Disneyland that had his audience's full and undivided attention.

"The 50th Anniversary, so often discussed, so little disclosed… I'm going to be just as evasive." He humorously told the assembled group.

"I can assure you there are plans in place and more to come." He continued. He went on to say that they (TDA) are constantly updating and reviewing ideas for the 50^th.

After cautioning the audience that everything he did have to say was subject to change he went on to say that there would be, "More later this fall," and a big announcement a year from now on Disneyland's 49^th anniversary. Almost eighteen months after Cast Blast 2003 where Disneyland Resort CMs were first told they would hear all the plans for the 50^th Anniversary celebration.

Mr. Baumberger was able to say that Marty Sklar, head of Walt Disney Imagineering, would be heading up a Disneyland 50^th Anniversary advisory council. The advisory council, made up of Disneyland managers, cast members and Imagineers both past and present, will also have community input. It will be their job to assist the resort's current management with finalizing the plans for the 50^th Anniversary celebration.

Twice during his remarks Mr. Baumberger said the eighteen month long celebration of Disneyland's 50^th Anniversary would begin in April of 2005. He did not say why Disneyland Cast members had previously been told the celebration would begin in the fourth quarter of 2004.

More hints about the 50^th Anniversary came during the Q&A session that followed Mr. Baumberger's presentation. In response to questions about the condition of Tomorrowland he acknowledged it was one of the resort's biggest problems. He emphatically denied that there were plans to bring back either the Submarine ride or Circlevision Theatre.

Regarding Rocket-Rods he said there were no plans to return either it or the old People Mover. "Going back doesn't make sense." He said.

Mr. Baumberger unintentionally caused a bit of confusion answering a question about the possibility of Disneyland getting a Buzz Lightyear attraction similar to the one in Walt Disney World. In response to an earlier question about DCA getting a version of WDW's Rock N Roller Coaster he told his audience that DLR management didn't want to be in the business of bringing other popular Disney theme park rides to the Disneyland Resort. They want Disneyland, DCA, and the resort to be a special destination of their own. Tower of Terror being a special exception in light of the fact that it celebrates such California icons as Hollywood and TV's Twilight Zone.

His answer to the Rock N Roller Coaster question left most observers feeling that this would end any chance of a Buzz Lightyear ride being installed in the Circlevision Theatre. His response, however, when directly asked if there would be a Buzz Lightyear ride was, "Let's just say I didn't say no like the subs."

When asked if the new parade for the 50^th Anniversary would run afternoons and evenings, as the current Parade of Stars does, Mr. Baumberger responded by saying there would be a, "nighttime spectacular for the 50^th and a daytime parade." Sources familiar with the current state of the 50^th Anniversary Parade said they had not seen any plans that included recycling the 100 Years of Magic snow globe parade from WDW as previously reported.

Listening to Mr. Baumberger's presentation and later talking with Disney Company insiders attending the NFFC National Convention two things began to become clear. One, the need to hold a celebration of Walt Disney's Disneyland that exceeds people's expectations is becoming apparent to the folks inside Team Disney Anaheim. Two, despite this new found realization Disneyland still has some very serious and very costly obstacles to overcome before tens of millions of people begin to jam its walkways to celebrate the park's 50^th anniversary. And, the company still does not appear to be willing to spend the money necessary to make this happen.

Overall guest satisfaction at Disneyland is at an all time low. Consumer Reports recently ranked Disneyland below all of the Walt Disney World theme parks as well as Universal's Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego. One of the biggest reasons for Disneyland guest dissatisfaction is the park's decreasing attraction capacity.

Tomorrowland's many shuttered and underutilized attractions create increased capacity demands on the park's remaining attractions, shops and eateries. The need to find ways of accommodating park guests currently crowding the walkways was reportedly the reason that Disney Theme Parks and Resorts President Jay Rasulo originally asked TDA to look into reopening the Submarine ride and the Circlevision Theatre.

The addition of a Buzz Lightyear attraction to Tomorrowland would help the crowd capacity problem but only slightly. It remains to be seen if Buzz will be an exception to TDA's new anti-ride cloning philosophy and if so how quickly it can be built if it is given the go ahead. Space Mountain is not scheduled to reopen until November of 2005, six months after the official start of the 50^th Anniversary celebration. And, as Mr. Baumberger stated there will be no replacement for Rocket Rods.

Value for money spent is another area of guest dissatisfaction at the Disneyland Resort. In their recently announced earnings report for the third quarter the Walt Disney Company stated that Disneyland had a 7 percent quarterly gain in attendance and hotel occupancy, however, guest spending was down.

As one TDA veteran told me. "For a group of people known to be merchandisers they (TDA) sure do a lousy job of giving people a reason to shop there (Disneyland)." He went on to tell me how he could remember when going to Disneyland to shop for unique, only to be found at Disneyland items and gifts was a big deal. Shopping was a reason to go to the park, not avoid it. Now its just more and more of, "the same plush and <expletive deleted> princess crap…" in every shop in both parks and all the hotels.

At the same time TDA was lowering costs by standardizing merchandise around the resort it was cutting back on service as well. Two years ago they eliminated Package Express a service that forwarded guest's purchases to a central collection center just outside the park's main gate. You could shop from opening to close, buy items of all sizes and types and never have to worry about schlepping packages around or leaving them behind on a ride or in a restaurant. Now once a guest has purchased a costly or delicate item they either have to cram their purchases into a small locker or leave the park and return to their hotel room or parking structure to safely store their purchases. And once outside the park it's hard to spend money in the park for food or other items.

Dinning and eating while at Disneyland has never been more controversial either. Prices for meals at Disneyland have always been above average when compared to comparable "family style" restaurants around the park. Until recently, however, portion size in Disneyland restaurants was generally thought to be generous. That too has changed.

During the past year food prices did not rise but serving sizes shrank, as did the number of people dinning in Disneyland restaurants. Instead of offering a wider variety of lower cost meal items TDA responded by putting more fast food vending carts on the park's already crowded walkways.

While the outdoor food vending carts provide a quick relatively lower cost alternative to dinning in Disneyland's increasingly expensive restaurants they are not without critics of their own. Long time Disneyland fans tend to find the carts obtrusive and ugly. In Disney cast member speak, they're "bad show." They establish a tacky street fair atmosphere.

Mr. Baumberger's enthusiasm for the plans currently under development for Disneyland's 50^th Anniversary celebration is admirable. When those plans are formalized and announced hopefully they will address the concerns now being voiced by Disneyland's guests. As I said in my last column regardless of what TDA does or does not do for Disneyland's 50^th Anniversary millions of people will still come to the park to be part of the event. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they found a Disneyland that could inspire the same sense of wonder and awe it did on that first day in July, 1955.

C'ya real soon!