Jim Hill
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The Wilderness Lodge Lobby at Christmas Time

This one seemingly innocent decision had a huge impact on Walt Disney World’s future. Why for? It set off a huge internal battle within the Walt Disney Company, as WDI and DDC went to war over which division would chart the future of the Walt Disney Company.

Why would Imagineering and Disney Design Company ever go to war? Shouldn’t these two divisions -- who clearly work for different parts of the Disney Empire ( Walt Disney Imagineering designed everything you’d find inside WDW’s theme parks, while Disney Development designed everything that you’d find outside the parks ) -- just get along? Well, in the early 1990s, the lines that separated these two divisions began to blur. DDC pushed for cutting edge concepts like WDW hotels that would actually be located inside the theme parks, while WDI took on such non-theme park projects as designing the luxury liners to be used by the Disney Cruise Line.

The real problem may have been that Disney Development Company and Walt Disney Imagineering were just two very different corporate cultures. WDI was peopled -- naturally -- with creative types: People who could paint, write, sculpt, or dream. Unfortunately, as talented as these folks were, the Imagineers were also not very good at meeting deadlines and/or sticking to a budget. Consequently, a lot of Imagineering projects in the early 1990s fell behind schedule or ran ‘way over budget. This didn’t make WDI look very good in Eisner’s eyes.

On the other hand, the Disney Development Company was peopled with folks who were always looking for new ways to make money for the Mouse. These business planners and accountants would show Eisner plans for elaborate new WDW resorts, then reveal the ways that they’d keep costs down on these projects by cutting corners.

The Imagineers resented DDC because they always made the bottom line the top priority. Disney Development felt that Imagineering management had continually dropped the ball by not holding WDI employees accountable for overdue or over budget projects. Unfortunately, DDC executives now had Eisner’s ear. Disney’s CEO did finally decide that Imagineering needed adult supervision -- so he effectively put Disney Development in charge of WDI in early 1993.

Eisner did this by merging WDI and DDC into one huge division: Disney Design & Development. Imagineering would still oversee the creative development of new shows and attractions for the Disney theme parks. However, once that process was completed, the Imagineers would then have to get construction approval from their new DDD bosses -- the former managers of Disney Development.

Truth be told, this merger couldn’t have come at a worse time for WDI. The Imagineers were still reeling from Euro Disneyland’s disastrous first year of operation. Though Disney’s opulent European theme park and resort received enthusiastic reviews following its April 1992 opening, Euro Disneyland never met its rosy revenue projections and almost immediately had cash flow problems. It took some fancy footwork on Disney’s part to keep EDL afloat. In the end, WDI took most of the blame for the resort being so over-built that it would take years for the project to come into profit. (Never mind that the real financial drag on the project -- EDL's five resort hotels, which weren't even coming close to meeting their occupancy projection -- were all the work of DDC top management. But that's a story for another time ... )

Add to this the other setbacks that Imagineering had experienced in the early 1990s: A “Disney Seas“ theme proposed for Long Beach, CA. that had allegedly been derailed by environmental (as well as financial) concerns; a second Disney theme park for Anaheim -- a West Coast version of Epcot that was to have been not-so-cleverly called Westcot -- ended up hitting the skids when Orange County, CA. fell into bankruptcy and local residents rose up against the project. Worst of all, a new East Coast theme park that was to have been built around the history of the United States, “Disney’s America,“ was meeting with vociferous vocal opposition from Virginian historians and law makers.

Since none of these new proposed Disney theme parks ever made it off the drawing board, WDI got hit with wave after wave of staff cutbacks and layoffs. Little wonder that -- by the time DDC’s managers came on board -- the few remaining Imagineers were completely cowed and had little fight left in them. Afraid for their very jobs, these Imagineering employees quickly bowed to DDD’s new management edict: deliver new WDW attractions at bargain basement prices.

Innoventions at Epcot

The first of WDI’s new cut-rate shows appeared that fall at Epcot. One of the Future World’s original attractions, “Listen to the Land, “ became -- via a new few props, a fresh coat of paint and a new narration read by actress Marsha Mason -- a supposedly brand new show, “Living with The Land.“ Communicore also received a makeover in July 1994 -- paid for mostly by firms like Apple, Intel and Motorola. This “Innoventions“ area was hardly very innovative, though. Most of the computers and appliances on display there were already be found at your local mall. Still, a clever ad campaign convinced WDW guests that there was something new worth seeing at Epcot. So attendance surged at that park that summer.