Matt Ouimet leaving DL for Starwood Hotels?

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Anybody heard about this? Is it true?

Edit:

here's a link: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060725/starwood_hotels_personnel.html?.v=1

[katiesue]

It must be - Disney has named a replacement.

Link (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060725/disney_appointment.html?.v=1)

[Not Afraid]

Its true I just got a call from SOMEBODY who was NOT a happy camper. This is sad news and I wish I was a fly on that wall for that resignation.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Interesting, Disney stock went down, and Starwood stock went up with the news.

[Gemini Cricket]

Nooooooooooo! :(

Maybe he was just there to get them through the 50th anniversary?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yikes, that does seem to be bad news.

My completely uninformed guess is that either he didn't get along with Lassiter, or he wasn't happy that the company wanted to give Lassiter as much control over the parks as has been reported.

[Moonliner]

or (adding my also uninformed viewpoint) Starwood knows a good thing when it sees it and made him one hell of an offer.

[Gemini Cricket]

Wasn't there some talk with Ouimet being unhappy with the school system in the OC area? That he wasn't happy with the choices of schools his kids had? I seem to remember that he liked the schools in Orlando better...

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Oh, I'm disappointed. I really liked his work.

Is Greg Emmer still there? He was the DL #2, right? I heard that he was part of the driving force; I hope he'll stay.

[Alex]

Well, unless he gets to telecommute, he is moving to White Plains, New York, corporate headquarters of Starwood.

Don't know how that ranks on a scale where Orlando is good and Orange County is bad (on my scale neither is very good).

Disneyland is now officially in the hands of an accountaineer. He even has the degree for it. Ed Grier is also a rookie, he has never been directly responsible for a whole resort.

[Not Afraid]

Disneyland is now officially in the hands of an accountaineer.

That is the saddesst thing I've heard in a while.

[Moonliner]

Top Ten reasons For CM Matt Leaving:

10. Goofy would just not stop giving him wedgies
9. He actually had to eat in an employee break room
8. Found out that Mark Shapiro gets free churros
7. Lost his primo parking spot to Steve Job's niece
6. Board booted his ass when he suggested an AP lounge would be cool
5. That picture of him on Flash Mountain
4. They started paying him with disney dollars
3. The mayor of toontown started taxing his morning coffee.
2. Disney denied his request to take the Columbia out for weekend junkets


and the number one reason:

He finally saw Dead mans chest

[Alex]

That is the saddesst thing I've heard in a while.

It has been pointed out to me that Ouimet's education was accounting as well. So that shows there is always hope.

[wendybeth]

You must spread some Mojo around before giving it to Moonliner again.

[mousepod]

First Alex posts about an accounting background and the NA responds. wendybeth, where's the MP "Accountancy Shanty" quote?

Come on, people! We have stereotypes to uphold here!

[Gemini Cricket]

Me, GC, heap big sad. Ugh.

[wendybeth]

First Alex posts about an accounting background and the NA responds. wendybeth, where's the MP "Accountancy Shanty" quote?

Come on, people! We have stereotypes to uphold here!

Well, since you asked....


The Accountancy Shanty

PIRATES:
It's fun to charter an accountant
And sail the wide accountancy,
To find, explore the funds offshore
And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy!

It can be manly in insurance.
We'll up your premium semi-annually.
It's all tax deductible.
We're fairly incorruptible,
We're sailing on the wide accountancy!

[Not Afraid]

WTF?

[Gemini Cricket]

WTF?
It's the new lyrics for DL's POTC.

[wendybeth]

NA's not still at the Pod's, is she? If so....Run Away, Mousepod!

[Not Afraid]

No, we left him in peace last night.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Well, unless he gets to telecommute, he is moving to White Plains, New York, corporate headquarters of Starwood.

Do you mean Ouimet, Alex, or Emmer? And if you don't mean Emmer... do you know what is happening to him?

The new guy has been onboard at TDL for a few years and I haven't heard anything but positive reactions to TDL.

[Alex]

Ouimet, presumably, will be going to White Plains (but maybe he is just allowed to live in the hotel of his choice). I do now plan to go up to him and say "we've met a few times, I'd like to personally ask that you get rid of those horrible beds your hotels advertise."

Grier has been at TDL since August 2004, so a little less than two years. I don't know exactly what he did but it sounds more like brand management than anything else. Oriental Land Company actually operates the parks so I don't know how involved he could have been other than setting the standards and agreeing to uses of Disney intellectual property.

But who knows, maybe he played a vital role. But he still has never been directly responsible for all aspects of a single theme park, let alone an entire restort complex. Is Disneyland now the entry-level resort-management position?

[mousepod]

I'm cautiously optimistic about the changes. I like Steve J & John L - and I was nothing short of impressed with everything about Tokyo Disneyland Resort (OK, maybe not Ikspiari, but otherwise...). Obviously, I have no concrete reason for my optimism, but I'm pleased that Disney went within its family for this one. Perhaps a fresh set of eyes - or at least a set of eyes that has been gazing on a fantastic Disney park for a couple of years - in conjunction with the creativity that we all hope flourishes under Lasseter will bode well for the flagship resort.

[Disneyphile]

iSm hasn't chimed in yet. Anyone wanna guess his response?? I'm guessing "Bah". ;)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

How come no one blames Ouimet for the Depp overlay in Pirates or the crappy bride in Mansion?

I feel very uneducated on this new guy so I have no opinions as yet.

[Andrew]

How come no one blames Ouimet for the Depp overlay in Pirates or the crappy bride in Mansion?
I kind of liked the bride stuff when we rode Mansion recently. Is there massive outcry over it?

[flippyshark]

I can at least vouch for Ed Grier as a personality. When he was Vice President at Disney-MGM Studios, he was personable, approachable, and very well liked by the cast members there. I really don't know what his priorities wlil be for Disneyland. I can only say that, if you meet him, you will probably like him. I'm going to go with cautious optimism for the time being.

(Side note - I got to work with Matt Ouimet on some Disney Cruise Line related projects years ago, and I had a very high opinion of him as a personality as well.)

[Alex]

How come no one blames Ouimet for the Depp overlay in Pirates or the crappy bride in Mansion?

I feel very uneducated on this new guy so I have no opinions as yet.

Personally, I don't have much of a problem with the new bride. I find it to be a more neutral change. Haven't seen the new Pirates yet, but most people don't find it crappy so the amount of people blaming him would be small, I imagine.

[Disneyphile]

I find this to be a real shame though. He has done a LOT of good for that park. He did more in just his short run than Pressler/Harriss did in a decade.

[Gn2Dlnd]

How come no one blames Ouimet for the Depp overlay in Pirates or the crappy bride in Mansion?



Well, clearly he's leaving in protest.

And I never got to personally thank him for everything he's done

sad

[Andrew]

I spoke to him briefly on the 17th (at which time I suppose he'd already given notice? Or certainly knew about the new job) and thanked him for two years (almost) of excellent work at the park.

[RStar]

Same here, but at the Red Carpet. A bit strange, as he must have known. Not that he was about to start spilling his guts around the park that day.....

[keith - SuPeR K!]

wow. that was unexpected!

CP- i love the new bride

[CoasterMatt]

It's about time they name a president that I know! :)

Maybe he'll bring the cool flavored popcorns to Disneyland, and more Chip And Dale merchandise...

[Alex]

Black pepper popcorn would be a very pleasant addition.

[Isaac]

What concerns me about Matt's departure is the timing. Usually people leave at the end/beginning of Disney's fiscal year (October). That's when Paul Pressler, Cynthia Harris, and Michael Eisner all left the company. Matt's departure is at the beginning of Disney's 4th quarter. It seems like an odd time to leave. I'm waiting to hear from 'certain people' why he really left. I'm not sure what to think of the new guy so I won't comment on him. I think Matt Ouimet did a great job. I'm grateful that he helped fight to get the Buzz Lightyear ride built, reopen Space Mtn before July 17th, brought back the original Disneyland font to the resort logo, and such. Can't say he was perfect. He DID approve of the bride inside HM and the cheesy movie overlay inside of Pirates. Still I appreciate him giving an effort to try to give his audience something new. For now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping Ed Grier (like Matt Ouimet) understands that people come to Disneyland to go on rides & not to shop for pins (like Cynthia Harris believed).

[Alex]

He was also, so I understand, the driving force behind getting the Lilly Belle back on the tracks (and it seemed like he spent almost as much time at the Monster, Inc., premiere party talking about that as the new ride).

I wonder if there is really much backstory on the departure. Perhaps he was just made an offer he couldn't refuse by Starwood. Obviously this wasn't a surprise to Disney and in contentious departures someone usually leaks it.

[innerSpaceman]

Yes, bah.


Actually, looking at how things turned out .... Ouimet was, in my view, meant to save the 50th and nothing more. I don't think lightly of that. It was an important mission and, now that he is leaving right afterwards, it's clear to me that it was his singular mission. He accomplished it well.

There was a year of wonderfulness that began on May 5, 2005 ... and expired not unlike a fairygodmother's spell at the year's end. I thank Matt Ouimet for that wonderul year.



Everything is cyclical. The Bride and the Pirates overlay say, to me in the minority, that the party's over. Knowing nothing about Grier, I have hopes that Lassister will keep things from getting too stagnant. I no longer have any hope about the current crop of imagineers ... but we'll see what we will see.

The 50th Year was a smashing success. Matt Ouimet is aces in my book, and I'm sad to see him go.


None of my business, but I think he's making a big mistake.

Perhaps he's looking for better schools(?WTF), a better social standing for his wife (apparently, their income did not put the couple near the top of Orange County social strata, and she was reportedly not happy about it), or - sigh - money (and being a bigger fish in a smaller pond). Nonetheless, Master of All Hotels is simply far less sexy than Commander of Disneyland. But, feh, his life.



Thanks for the 50th, Matt.


Now, get out.





(I'm sorry .... please get out)





Sorry for the quote, but I thought it was the most appropriate goodbye under the circumstances.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

What iSm said.

We've been in perfect agreement a lot lately.

[Kevy Baby]

or (adding my also uninformed viewpoint) Starwood knows a good thing when it sees it and made him one hell of an offer.That would be my vote.
What concerns me about Matt's departure is the timing. Usually people leave at the end/beginning of Disney's fiscal year (October). That's when Paul Pressler, Cynthia Harris, and Michael Eisner all left the company. Matt's departure is at the beginning of Disney's 4th quarter. It seems like an odd time to leave.The opportunity is now. I think the timing (in relation to the Disney FY) is irrelevant. At least in my opinion.
______________________

And I need to get Alex's autograph. He was quoted in a story about this in the Business section of today's LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney26jul26,1,3925253.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true).

[Kevy Baby]

What iSm said.

We've been in perfect agreement a lot lately.And in today's weather report, Hell checks in with a low of 29 degrees Farenheit.