James A. Rasulo Promoted to President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

[imported_JohnY]

James A. Rasulo Promoted to President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2002--James A. (Jay) Rasulo a 17-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company (NYSEIS) and chairman and chief executive officer of Euro Disney S.C.A. has been promoted to president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide, it was announced today by Disney Chairman and CEO Michael D. Eisner and Disney President and COO Robert A. Iger.

"Jay has been instrumental in making Disneyland Resort Paris the most popular tourist destination in Europe," said Eisner. "His vision and extensive experience in the international arena will be invaluable as we continue to grow the business globally."

Iger added, "Jay has an exceptional understanding of our brand and the complexities of the parks and resorts business. His talents as a strategic thinker, accomplished leader and effective operator combine to make Jay the perfect person to lead the parks and resorts group."

"This is one of the most exciting challenges of my 17 years with Disney. I'm honored to have this opportunity to lead a fantastic team and look forward to sharing the Disney magic around the world as we continue to grow our parks and resorts business," said Rasulo, who will be based in Burbank, California.

In his new role, Rasulo, 46, whose appointment will be effective immediately, will oversee the company's theme parks and resorts, the Disney Cruise Line, Disney Regional Entertainment, Walt Disney Imagineering and Anaheim Sports Inc., management company for Major League Baseball's Anaheim Angels and the NHL's Mighty Ducks. In addition, he will be responsible for the business' long-term growth and international expansion initiatives, including the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland.

"Beginning with Walt Disney Word veteran Al Weiss along with Matt Ouimet of Disney Cruise Line, Cynthia Harriss of Disneyland, Don Goodman and Marty Sklar of Imagineering, Mas Imai of Walt Disney Attractions Japan, Don Robinson in Hong Kong and Regynald Washington of the ESPN Zone, we have an exceptional group of talented leaders to steer us through these challenging times. Through an extraordinary level of guest service and creativity, this team has positioned us to further capitalize on the great assets the company has built," Eisner added.

Rasulo joined the Walt Disney Company in 1986 in Corporate Strategic Planning where he led strategy development for all real estate-based businesses in The Walt Disney Company portfolio. He was senior vice president of Corporate Alliances from 1993 - 1995, organizing the sponsorship activities into a company wide strategic business unit. Rasulo also spent three years with the Disney Regional Entertainment business where he was part of the development of ESPN Zone. In 1998 he moved to Paris to assume the position of executive vice president, Euro Disney S.C.A.

In May of 2000, Rasulo was named Chairman and CEO of Euro Disney, S.C.A. and has been an integral part of the many growth initiatives that transformed Disneyland Paris into the top tourist destination in Europe. Just this year, Rasulo marked the beginning of a new and exciting era for the Disneyland Paris Resort with the opening of its second park, Walt Disney Studios. In January of 2001 he welcomed the 100 millionth guest to the Disneyland Paris Park which celebrated it's 10th anniversary this year.

During his tenure at Disneyland Resort Paris, Rasulo oversaw a massive period of real estate development and signed four major hotel deals with European tour operators and hotel chains for the construction of two thousand new hotel rooms on the Euro Disney property and surrounding area. Also under his leadership, the Disney Village retail, entertainment and dining center has expanded dramatically and seen record levels of revenue.

Rasulo succeeds Paul Pressler, who has become president and chief executive officer of Gap Inc. An international search for Rasulo's replacement is under way and in the interim he will continue to oversee Euro Disney operations until a successor is named.

A native New Yorker, Rasulo graduated from Columbia in 1978 with a degree in economics. He went on to earn both a MA in Economics in 1982 and an MBA at the University of Chicago in 1984. Rasulo is bi-lingual in English and French.

[dutchess18]

That didn't take long did it. They must of had this planned.

Hope he can bring back some of the lost magic.

[Figment!]

This doesn't sound half bad, the've never had any Cardboard Carnivals show up at DLP .

[TiggerRPh]

To me, this is encouraging...with what he's done with DLP. Let's hope he can turn WDW and DLR/DCA around too.

Was this planned? I kinda figured this was somewhat orchestrated when Pressler miraculously goes to GAP soon after Eisner meets with the Board of directors. It doesn't matter to me though...Pressler is gone and there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.

[mjstaceyuofm]

I have mixed feelings on this one... Rasulo could be what WDW needs. One of the encouraging things I've read so far about him is that he understands his audience. This was a huge mistake that was made when EuroDisney first opened. It was too American. The new park, while still lacking in some respects - well a lot of respects, is focused on French and European movie/film stars, instead of just shoving America down their throats.

What does this mean for us? Who knows, but maybe he'll actually listen to what Al Weiss and Cynthia Harris actually have to say about what guests really want in the WDW and DLR theme parks. Now that's assuming Al and Cindy actually know what we want. I'm somewhat encouraged because I think these 2 (Al & Cindy) might have been left in place because they know these resorts and are in a good position to make positive things happen (if given approval....)

I guess only time will tell.

[Ian]

Ehh ... Could be good, could be bad. Frankly I was hoping for someone with a more U.S.-centric focus that could recognize and address some of the issues going on domestically. I'm afraid Rasulo will tend to be more internationally focused since A. expansion is the glory side of that house and overseas is where expansion will occur and B. because that's where his most recent experience was.

The bottom line for me is this (and I think Matt said this before in another post, so I'm really just echoing his sentiments) ... What the parks need to get back in shape is an huge infusion of cash and fast. They need to bulk up their maintenance and Imagineer budgets ASAP if they want to get things back to where, in my mind, they need to be.

In this respect, I don't think it makes a rat's you-know-what of difference who leads Parks and Resorts ... Until Eisner is out and things get totally turned around the cash just isn't there.

[mjstaceyuofm]

From Today's Orlando Sentinel - another article about Rasulo. One interesting passage from the article:

The division, he said, will continue to streamline, while balancing the need to invest in the future.

"Maybe we tilted the balance a little bit toward seeking efficiencies and cost reductions," he said.

"Disney parks and resorts are fixtures of the landscape and they certainly depend on the quality of the execution of the Disney brand," he said. "We're not going to compromise on that."

What? A mention of quality and not compromising regarding the parks. Maybe he does *GET IT*.

One can only hope...

[Aurora]

Well that's encouraging, at least. Do you think he reads Intercot?

[Art Guy]

Hmmm. Eisner presents his succession plan to the board on Tuesday. Paul Pressler resigns on Wednesday. Coincidence?
Remember who brought Cynthia Harriss to Disney.... Paul Pressler. He might just choose to take her to the Gap, too. On the other hand, she might like it right where she is. Guess we'll see!

[jmusillo]

In a speech at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York, Eisner said he believes the economic downturn is near an end, leaving Disney well-positioned to cash in on recent years of heavy capital spending at its theme parks where, again, the Disney brand name helps bring in tourists.

Huh?

What Capital Spending? Is he serious or just blowing smoke up our chimneys. [img]graemlins/ack.gif[/img]

[mjstaceyuofm]

Uhh.... I'd say he's blowin' smoke [img]graemlins/smokin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/smokin.gif[/img]

[Ian]

I do like that quote by Rasulo ... I'm wondering if somewhere in the organization they aren't starting to hear/feel our pain.

The only problem I have is that I can't see things going back where they were ... maybe they just stop getting worse. In other words ... will they increase the maintenance budget again? Probably not ... they just won't cut it anymore, which really doesn't accomplish what the guests want.

I don't know ... Hopefully I'm wrong. I'm willing to adopt a wait-and-see attitude here and give Rasulo a chance to impress me.

[Roland]

Originally posted by mjstaceyuofm:
From Today's Orlando Sentinel - another article about Rasulo. One interesting passage from the article: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />The division, he said, will continue to streamline, while balancing the need to invest in the future.

"Maybe we tilted the balance a little bit toward seeking efficiencies and cost reductions," he said.

"Disney parks and resorts are fixtures of the landscape and they certainly depend on the quality of the execution of the Disney brand," he said. "We're not going to compromise on that."

What? A mention of quality and not compromising regarding the parks. Maybe he does *GET IT*.

One can only hope...</font>[/QUOTE]Maybe what he meant to say is that he won't comprimise quality any more than what we already and that any actions prior to his appointment is out of his hands.

If he does mean what he says, then we should see some pro-active corrections before the end of the year. If not, then he too is just blowing smoke.

I don't trust anyone at this point.

[Timbo]

I've been a bit out of touch with the latest Disney news due to starting a new job...
But I think that now that Pressler is gone, things have GOT to get better. Rasulo sounds like someone who can do the job right...he also seems to be in tune with the consumers. Pressler has such a strong retail background that all he could think about was balance sheets, maybe Rasulo will have a better consumer focus.

Only time will tell.

I wonder if he's responsible for any of the slew of changes that have occurred at Disney parks over the past couple of weeks.