Matt Ouimet Leaves Disney

[Maxdad]

Well, I was being flip, and I really didnt want to get into it, but actually, Mickey came from the 20's and at that time it was very common to have images of black minstrels with white made up faces (humorously, Al Jolsen would make up himself black and then back to white again for his "mammy" songs), which we find terribly insulting and racist today. Mickey, to some degree, displays much of the "Minstrel" behavior in early short cartoons.

Which to me, only points out how Mickey is everyman. He can be any race, color, or creed. Therefore, he celebrates Christmas, Shinto holidays in Japan, Kwanzaa, etcetera. And it explains the universal appeal of the Mouse. He is whatever you want him to be, which is probably most like you, so that you can identify with his angst.

I was only trying to say that the whole discussion about Mr. Grier being black (or African American, if you must), is pointless and irrelevant to his abilities to run the park well. Disney Tokyo has done very well. Here, he has a different challenge: operating with top management that are more local, and no Oriental Land Company complications.

We wish him well. And Matt,

well, ya ticked me off. Freakin' short timer.

[KNRG]

Oh.. about putting "i'm black" in his intro...

The company intranet posted his biography, letters of succession and such, and his photo, to which every CM thus far has exclaimed "He's black!"

[R2-D2]

Wow. Matt's turnover was almost as short as it is for the CMs in Anaheim. Kind of strange, isn't it? Regardless, Matt will be missed. He did a great job with what resources he had.

[Briguy1314]

I find it interesting that when good things happen at DLR its easy to give Ouimet full credit,like the paintjobs before the 50th etc,however once something not so good comes about suddenly Ouimet has minimal control.

Look,I can admit Ouimet did great in some areas,however I think he dropped the ball on many issues too,unfortunatly many of those issues involved DCA.I wish him the best of luck in whatever he does,but I would be lying if I said I will miss him,I am looking forward to some fresh ideas and hopefully a renewed focus on DCA.

Wow, some will just never be happy. As many have pointed out, DCA has actually received a lot of attention under Matts guidance. You have to remember, he came in at a time where Disneyland needed the attention. It was its 50th after all, and DL had to be the front runner for the sake of MANY. He had to completely revamp the 50th plans, which took a while, then implement them. that right there was most of his time spent as the DLR president.
The fact that DCA did receive so much, and was part of the 50th marketing campaign, speaks a lot for how much he did/does like DCA. But alas, some people will just be set in their broken record ways.

BTW Nemo, have you asked him about his thoughts on DCA? Becuase I have, and its actually very nice to hear him speak honestly about it. Little secret: he does actually like it.

[Nemo88]

I wouldnt call it a 'broken record',its just my opinion,its a valid one weather you guys agree or not.I think Ouimet has done some good things for the resort and some bad things.My own personal wish is that he would have been more aggressive in plussing DCA,if you guys dont agree with that,then fine.Everyones entitled to thier viewpoints.


With all of that said,I look forward to Ed Grier coming to the resort,I hope he puts a huge emphasis on DCA and tries to plus it to the point where DCA shines next to its big sister Disneyland.I hope that some kind of concept can be agreed upon for DCAs next E ticket and hopefully a cohesive direction for placemaking is set in concrete.

[cinder]

I think Ouimet has done some good things for the resort and some bad things.My own personal wish is that he would have been more aggressive in plussing DCA

You don't say.





Again.





And again.






And.....

[ismael flores]

Some more info about Ed Grier

He is a CPA!!!!!!

Certified Public Accountant!


Lets hope he doesn't start finding ways to save a buck and cut corners.

[TP2000]

Why does it matter if hes black? it should be the best person for the position,who cares what color they are.What a stupid thing to dwell on.

It doesn't "matter", but it is "interesting". Those are two different words with two different meanings.

He's the first black person to run Disneyland, or even hold an office above the Director level in TDA. Disneyland has never had a black Vice President before, let alone a President who is black. That's interesting and something to note. It's the same kind of interest as when Cynthia became the first woman to run Disneyland 8 years ago.

After decades of white guys, it's interesting to get a little diversity into those executive offices in Anaheim.

[ismael flores]

oh by the way there is an article in the bussiness section of the Lat times about Matts leaving. Some of his comments and yes a picture of Ed grier.

Yep his black!!

and he is a CPA!!!!!

He only worked at Tokyo reosrt for two years before that he was general manager of Epcot and DMGM. (now lets hope that its not the years that those two parks had nothing new to offer yet had attractions cut and shuttered. Imagination pavilion comes to mind.

I could just hear the conversation

(how about we re-design it so it doesn't stay stale -- WDI

fine but its too pricy cut the budget in half and save some money -- oh by the way get rid of the only mascots in the park from the attraction then we could save on maintenace on those AA's -- Ed grier CPA)


We have to be fair and give this guy a chance. After all nothing we can do. lets hope he can follow in Matt footsteps and make us all happy --- and yes even NEMO

[disneyfreak62]

...He is a CPA!!!!!!...

Hmmm....a bean-counter at the helm....we'll see.....