Imagineers No More?

[Skamanjab]

I heard a while back that disney is replacing Imagineers with short term jobs for each ride. Can't believe it it was my goal in life. Any other rumors about this?

[Schmoofy]

Oh wow, the Imagineers are still around, and will always be around. Short term jobs wouldn't be right. It's all experience.

[Skamanjab]

Hmm thanks! I just thought it was in the plan because it was an article online and people were discussing it on a disney fan site.

[disnyfreek]

could you hyperlink the article so we can all see it?

[Oranges]

That doesn't seem right at all. Imagineers play a big role in the Parks and Resorts business. They are what design and construct all of the parks' new additions and experiences. Without them, there would be no parks.

~Oranges

[Prince_Sabastian]

It is true, however, that Disney let about a hundred people go from their self-made 3D animation studios (not Pixar, which did not let anyone go).

[GreatGatsby]

There is actually a story behind this rumor, and it's a little more complicated.

Now that Bob Iger is running Disney, he's been going from department to department removing some of the Eisner people and reorganizing those groups. That's why there was recent news that the Studio let a number of employees go.

Imagineering is one of the groups going through this now. For awhile, WDI has used contractors to work on short term projects. That's nothing new. What's happening now, however, is preparation for a undetermined number of "Imagineers" to be let go and the organization to be streamlined.

Part of this is the Eisner/Iger thing, but something else serious is making this happen: WDI is now too heavy and slow. A case in point is a comparison of an Ice Age ride in Spain with the Monsters Inc ride in DCA. The Ice Age ride was an existing attraction refitted to an Ice Age movie theme for about $5 million. The Monsters Inc ride at DCA was essentially the same thing (with, I understand the same results), but for a whopping $35 million. Love it or hate it, the Monsters Inc ride was not worth that amount.

That comparison alone raised eyebrows at Disney corporate and hastened the changes being planned at WDI. There are many other examples of WDI projects going far too long in development and far above the amount they should have spent. DLR's Space Mountain redo is another good one.

So, it's not a good time to be at WDI at the moment. Unfortunately, CatepillarAEIOU is mistaken about the situation. Much of WDI's future plans (notably staffing plans) are on hold. In October. WDI was advertising 30 - 40 openings. Many of those were suddenly cancelled, and for quite a while, none were listed. Today there are only about seven openings listed - a far lower amount than normal for WDI. Furthermore, the last one they advertised was from close to a month ago and it's for a contract admin.

Company newsletters, BTW, almost never discuss these things. Having written for dozens, I can speak with some authority that company newsletters tow the company line, and layoffs, hiring cuts, and regime changes are simply not covered.