A source has reached out through an intermediary to relay that The Walt Disney Company had allegedly lost confidence in WDI. According to the source, this is the reason a new “co-leader” has been brought back to the fold.
Bruce Vaugh, the highly regarded former Imagineer, is returning to WDI amid a number of significant underperformances by the Disney division. Two fireworks shows at Disney World were so bad that they are being removed after only one year. One of those replacements is at great expense. Tron at Magic Kingdom is already being panned for its brevity, in spite of the same complaints having previously been lobbied for the cloned attraction in Shanghai. The Galactic Starcruiser was once-lauded for being a new evolution of theme park storytelling — now it’s cutting “voyages” in half after only a year of operation. And many hotel refurbishments and reimaginings have left guests feeling more like they’re at a Comfort Inn than a Disney Resort.
According to a source reaching out to That Park Place with an expectation of anonymity and confidentiality, a number of factors have contributed to the company allegedly losing confidence in the Imagineering division.
First, there is great trepidation inside Disney Parks and Experiences about the upcoming Splash Mountain change. Public opinion is not well-received, attempts to shift public opinion have not been successful, and the company largely views what has been proposed for the attraction as being problematic. However, because the attraction has been so closely linked with racial issues, trying to veto the project’s direction at this point is almost entirely impossible. No, they’re not contemplating going back to Song of the South for inspiration, but we may get a delay now that Vaughn has been brought in. The current designs for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure feature lots of projectors, screens, and cheaper solutions to a ride that has been largely heralded as a magnificent E-Attraction — one of the best Disney has ever designed. Whatever Disney may say in public, the feeling from the inside is palpably different. According to this source, legendary Imagineers like Tony Baxter have elected to have almost nothing to do with the redo, despite claims from Disney.
At the same time, WDI seemingly has no idea what to do with the Galactic Starcruiser. While they are largely scapegoated for the mediocre response to Galaxy’s Edge (ignoring for a moment Rise of the Resistance) due to the micromanagement and overriding control Lucasfilm Story Group had in development… the Galactic Starcruiser is seen as a huge black eye for WDI. There’s just no way around it, it’s a failure that may rival River Country if something isn’t done. And it could even be a canary in the coal mine for Star Wars at large: a public symbol Disney wants to fix as soon as possible.
One issue allegedly is that Carmen Smith, Vice President of Creative Development for Walt Disney Imagineering, has apparently flooded the department with individuals and directives that are counterproductive to high levels of excellence. The source claims that Mrs. Smith has been “anathema to quality design and implementation”. As an example, the source claims that Smith put “crazies and kids” on the Splash Mountain project and ultimately doomed it to “a project in amateur activism”.
According to the source, the lackluster results of Imagineering as of late, combined with the difficulty of fixing the situation, is what combined to force Disney Parks President Josh D’Amaro to bring back someone with enough gravitas to override the poor decisions… even if they’re already in progress. We’ll have to watch closely to see if there are changes or delays to any of these projects as Mr. Vaugh settles in to try to right the ship.
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