Disney in the Nation's Capitol

As a Washington, DC area resident for nearly 20 years and an adamant Disney fan, I have always wanted a closer outlet to Disney. We’re a good 14 hour drive to Walt Disney World and a cross country flight to get to Disneyland.

Soon after my families arrival in the area my mother got excited...

Disney announced plans to open a third US theme park resort in the very county we lived in!

Disney’s America was set to be a park that brought together Walt’s love for American history with the company’s flavor for entertainment. Imagineering even had a beautiful design laid out for the park, which would consist of nine different areas.

Unfortunately, many land owners whose families had owned property in that area since before the Revolutionary War opposed the concept. Mix the money of the landed-gentry in with the environmentalist, anti-congestion and historical preservation crowd and the park was quickly doomed. We constantly heard stories locally of how Orlando was destroyed by Disney and our town would be as well. I always wondered, would Orlando be on a map without Disney?! (Side Note: Today that same land is a country club and massive housing development. I suppose real issue is Disney wouldn't pay enough! We now live only five miles from the site.)

In 2008, local Disney enthusiast got excited about the possibility of revitalizing this project. InBev has just purchased Anheuser-Busch and was looking to sell off the theme parks division, which included Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. The entire concept of Disney’s America was spawned by a trip Michael Eisner took to Williamsburg, so this seemed like a good fit. Unfortunately, nothing came of the concept and Busch Gardens was sold to someone else.

Well last year we got another glimmer of hope for a taste of Disney in the Nation’s Capitol. Disney announced the purchase of 15 acres of land in National Harbor and that the company would build a 500-room resort. Unfortunately, no progress on the resort has been made and earlier this week Disney put out the following statement (H/T to DVC News):

"We remain in the early stages of planning and design work and no final decision has been made on if or when the project will move forward. We will follow the appropriate channels to bid out work associated with the project at the appropriate time."

So, all we can do is wait. Hopefully someday soon the project will move forward. Would love have the many folks from the Disney Twitter-verse join the local enthusiast when Disney finally comes to Washington.

Book Review: Disney War

I recently purchased the Barnes & Noble Nook, which I must say is an amazing little gadget that has drastically increased my personal reading levels. One of the first books I purchased was Disney War by James Stewart.

Disney War focused on the tenure of Michael Eisner as Chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company. The book is extremely in-depth on a whole host of issues faced by Disney and its subsidiaries from 1984 to 2005. The author was able to provide a unique perspective of the inner-workings of Disney because Eisner granted him full access to the company for one year. Little did Eisner know that it would also be his last year running the mouse.

The book begins by foreshadowing the future—Roy E. Disney, son of co-founder Roy O. and nephew to Walt, has been asked to step down from the Disney Board of Directors. This move would effectively end the day-to-day involvement of the Disney family in the company and cement Eisner’s control of the corporation. As we now know, Roy did not fade into the sunset, rather he orchestrated the largest shareholder revolt in the history of corporate America.

The book covers several interesting areas such as:

· Roy Disney’s ouster of Ron Miller, Walt’s son-in-law, in-favor of Eisner and Frank Wells

· The revitalization and investment in the theme parks

· Eisner’s constant struggle to develop films as cheaply as possible, viewing success as hitting “singles and doubles” versus mage-movies

· Eisner’s close relationship with Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of film production, which eventually degraded to an all out war

· The debacle that was Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris)

· The acquisitions of ABC and other entertainment companies and the struggle to merge them into the Disney culture

· Company operations after 9/11 and the fear of the theme parks being terrorist targets

· The lost opportunities to pick up shows like Survivor and CSI

· The excitement around the revitalization of animation with Little Mermaid, Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast

· The budding relationship with Pixar that turned into a horrible relationship between Eisner and Steve Jobs

What I found must fascinating throughout the book was the constant struggle between running a modern media company and adhering to the vision of Walt. In the beginning you can tell that Eisner understands the shadow in which he walks and seems to respect the legacy while pushing the envelope. Towards the end of his tenure it becomes clear that Eisner views himself as the modern day incarnation of Walt. This hubris leads to his ultimate destruction.

While this book would certainly be good for any Disney fan to read, I think it is also an excellent look into corporate America. The consistent struggle between maintaining a developed brand image and corporate culture while being as profitable as possible exists in every public company. We see that struggle playing out almost everyday on TV as BP, with its public image of corporate social responsibility, repairs the real results of being driven entirely by profit margin.

So, check this book out. If you’re a Disney fan you’ll be fascinated by the internal dynamics that led to every major decision of the past 20 years. If not, it’s an interesting read on modern corporate culture.

Disney Twitter-verse

So those who follow me on Twitter have probably seen a shift recently. I’ve begun to eliminate most, if not all, of my work and political twitter activity. Instead I am now focusing most Twitter stuff on family and Disney. My social media bandwidth only stretches so far, so why not let the fun stuff be the focus?

I have had the pleasure of making several friends over Twitter. These are people who understand Disney nerdiness and make you feel like it’s OK (though it probably isn’t, we just enable one another’s addiction). It’s difficult to find people who “get” an adult who still loves a presumably kid thing like Disney, so Twitter has been a wonderful outlet to find others like me.

My list of Disney folks can be found at http://twitter.com/rwhitneyjr/disney/members

A few key people I recommend you follow include:

@DizneyDreamer

@WDCCDuckman

@MumsieinFlorida

@Shaene_O_Mite

@JimGarth

@BeOurGuestMike

@Duchess_99

@DisneyWorlds

@RobW66

@KidaniKatie

@DVCWinner

@RoraBorieAlice

@linzetort

@Tink302