An Interview with Paul Pressler, Part Two
Page 5 of 5
LP: Does anything stand out in your mind as a disappointment?
Pressler: Oh my goodness, lots of disappointments. Light Magic was a huge disappointment. A lot of lessons were learned from that. But we are in the entertainment business so we're going to take risks and we’re going to have failure. I hate failure. That was one that was disappointing. I also think that in the early part of my career at Disneyland, a quick-to-judge attitude which is why I came under a lot of criticism early on. But behind the scenes, a lot of that was just fostering change and getting people to make decisions, to do something new and to get excited about the business which had gone flat. We have changed our Cast policies - the way we treat our Cast today is significantly better than it ever has been before. I'm proud of that in particular.
So I look back and say sure, I wish Light Magic was a much better parade. But there’s going to be those along the way where you kind of feel like "o.k. we messed up."
Pressler at the ceremony bringing the Electrical
Parade back to the Disneyland Resort
LP: One last question. You, of course, travel to all the parks. Is there one attraction more than any other you look forward to going on?
Pressler: Pirates at Disneyland. I think, at the end of the day, Disneyland at Anaheim is still the most charming of all, particularly in Fantasyland. Pirates is the essence of what I think Walt and the Imagineers tried to do from the very beginning, which is try to get you completely immersed in a story. When I go through - one, I’m always discovering something new with that ride. Two, you really feel like you’re right there with these pirates and swashbucklers and when the mayor gets dunked in the tank - it’s real to me. And at the end of the day it's not very technologically special by today's standards. The Audio Animatronic figures were incredible for their time but today they're almost ordinary. The flume ride is a boat in the water and yet it is magical every time I go on it. I can do it over and over again.
LP: Thank you very much, I really appreciate your time.
Pressler: I appreciate your time very much
Discuss It
Related Links
- Part One of this interview
- Disney's California Adventure Grand Openings, Views and Reviews
- Tokyo DisneySea Updates
- July 2000
Interview with Disneyland Resort President Cynthia Harriss
Her first sit-down interview with an independent Disney website.
-- Posted July 31, 2001
-- Interview by Doobie Moseley