Overview of Respective Roots
Steamboat Willie
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney for short, is an international pioneer in the family entertainment industry. Although their headquarters are in Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, Disney has offices, parks, and hotels around the world. Most notable are their theme parks which are located in Orlando, FL (Walt Disney World), Anaheim, CA (Disneyland), Paris, France (Disneyland Paris), Tokyo, Japan (Tokyo Disney), Shanghai, China (Shanghai Disney), and Hong Kong (Hong Kong Disneyland).
With around 166,000 employees worldwide, Disney has become a colossal industry that is well past its early stages as a simple animation films studio. The company is separated into five distinct business sections: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products, and interactive media. Each of these sectors focuses on different vital aspects of Disney and it’s worldwide success. The most popular and well-known aspects of Disney are their films (under the studio entertainment, or The Walt Disney Studios section) and their resorts and theme parks. Due to Disney’s vast nature and world encompassing business strategy, we have chosen to focus on one section of the company in one specific area: their parks and resorts section located in Orlando, FL; aka: Walt Disney World.
Disney’s stated mission statement is very product oriented, with its primary goal being a financial one to “maximize earnings and cash flow.” However, Disney is renowned for creating a magical experience for their customers. Creating and maintaining the magic of Disney is of utmost importance to the company. Their employees, entitled Cast Members, are issued a lengthy “Standards of Business Conduct” article that lists all the ways in which Cast Members are expected to present themselves. The conduct rules state:
“Throughout the years, we have earned the trust of guests, audiences, consumers and shareholders because of our commitment to high standards in everything we do, everywhere we operate. Integrity, honesty, trust, respect, playing by the rules, and teamwork – these define not only the operating principles of our Company, but also the spirit of our diverse global workforce and how we function.”
The company prides themselves on their ability to maintain a family friendly atmosphere, even offering a “Mom’s Panel,” a place to ask and answer all types of family related questions about the parks for guests planning on vacationing with children. The company portrays itself in an extremely positive light, offering guests a magical place to visit where “fairytale dreams do come true for children of all ages.”
Jurassic Park Exhibit
Universal Orlando Resort, while also located in near proximity in Orlando, Florida measures an astonishing 673 acres in physical size, making it the notably largest property owned by NBC Universal. This large vacation destination encompasses two theme parks within the complex – Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, in addition to three themed on-site hotels – Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel and Loews Royal Pacific Resort. A nighttime entertainment complex called CityWalk is also included on the resort. Furthermore, when measuring the size of this organization in terms of staff, the approximate count of 12,000 employees is just as impressive. Interestingly, we found 2,413 employees alone on the professional networking site “Linkedin.” In terms of its budget, Universal Resort is the single largest taxpayer in the city of Orlando. Its’ taxable assessed value for the 2013 fiscal year comes in at an astounding 1,079,182,207.
From a glance at a brochure of Universal Resort Orlando, they place emphasis on the value of family and vacation. While their the motto of “Vacation becomes Adventure” immediately catches the eye and draws in prospective guests, the corporate media website reiterates that it Universal Orlando is the only place where you can turn spending time with your family into spending time as a family. The organization proclaims that it is a vacation destination for the entire family “where you can be courageous, be outrageous and be extraordinary.” The entire organization is essentially focused on the values of family, friendship, and enabling you to go above and beyond the normal experience.
Growth from Past to Present
Founded by Walt and Roy Disney in 1923 as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (later changed to Walt Disney Studio), Disney has grown from a small animation studio into a worldwide media conglomerate, listed by Forbes as one of the world’s most valuable brands.
In 1923, brothers Walt and Roy Disney moved from Kansas City, Missouri to start an animation studio in Los Angeles. The brothers developed their first original cartoon series entitled “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.” The cartoon rabbit’s story was distributed by Winkler Pictures through Universal. Oswald was a hit, but the brothers success with Oswald would be short lived. In 1928, Disney lost the rights to Oswald through a series of unfortunate events that culminated in Winkler Pictures essentially stealing Disney’s beloved Oswald rabbit and hiring away all of the studios animators to work for Winkler and Universal. Every single one of the Disney Brothers animators was hired away, except for one: Ub Iwerks. Iwerks would soon prove to be the most valuable animator to work for Disney.
Later in 1928, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks were attempting to find a new story to tell to make up for the loss of Oswald the rabbit. In conjunction, the men designed and animated a little mouse that would eventually become one of the most iconic symbols in the world; the mouse’s name was Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse made his first sound film debut with the short animated clip entitled “Steamboat Willie.” This was the first sound film produced by Disney and the first ever cartoon to use synchronized sound.
The rest is history; Mickey Mouse’s success and popularity made the Disney brothers enough money to make their first feature length film in 1937, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Snow White became the highest grossing film of the time period by 1939. The profits from Snow White were used to build the companies current animation studios in Burbank, CA.
Walt Disney Studio would continue making films, most notably Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and Mary Poppins (1964). They opened Disneyland in Anaheim, CA on July 17, 1955 with the intent of creating a park where families could enjoy themselves together. The success of Disneyland coupled with the continued success of the films being produced by Disney led the brothers to begin scouting territory for a new park outside of Orlando, FL. Disney World was the brainchild of then CEO Walt Disney, and the plans for the park were released to the public in 1965. Walt Disney loved Disney World and oversaw every detail of its creation. His unparalleled imagination allowed him to make the impossible possible at Disney World. Unfortunately, Walt would never live to see the grand opening of his beloved park. His death from lung cancer at age 65 on December 15, 1966 rocked the company. His brother, Roy Disney, took over his position as CEO, and his first item of business as CEO of Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio was the rename the iconic Disney World to Walt Disney World, as a tribute to his brother.
Walt Disney World would open in 1971 and would eventually be expanded to include four different parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM which would later be renamed Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom). Roy Disney passed away on December 20, 1971, just two months after the opening of Walt Disney World.
The company continued to grow and expand, going international with Tokyo Disney in 1983. In Walt Disney World, hit attractions like The Hollywood Tower of Terror (opening in 1994) and Dumbo’s Flying Elephants (remodeled in 1994 and again in 2013), had ticket sales continuing to grow and expand. In 1995, Walt Disney World welcomed their 500 millionth guest into the park. Disney’s film industry skyrocketed with hit films in the 90’s such as Beauty and the Beast (1994) and The Lion King (1994). They joined arms with Pixar Animation Studios to create films such as Toy Story. The company went on to buy Pixar from Steve Jobs in 2006. They continue to top the charts in family entertainment with their highly successful film industry and theme parks.
In 2013, Walt Disney World underwent its biggest expansion in the history of the park. New Fantasyland opened in 2014, increasing the size of The Magic Kingdom by 25%. Disney recently announced plans to expand their Animal Kingdom park in Walt Disney World. The expansion is the biggest in Animal Kingdom’s history and is expected to open sometime in 2016. The new part of the park will be dedicated to the film “AVATAR” by James Cameron.
Disney has been blessed with creative and innovative minds to run their company. The most noteworthy leader of The Walt Disney Company is non other than Walt Disney himself. Other important leaders include Roy Disney and the current CEO and President Rob Iger. John Lasseter has more recently become a leading figure in the Disney company due to his chairman position in Pixar.
In terms of its history, Universal Resort is a relatively new competitor in comparison with Disney. Universal Resort Orlando opened its door on June 7th, 1990, just three years after MCA (the parent company of Universal Studios) began construction in 1987. While the original Universal Studios in Hollywood was a major attraction, it was decided that a larger area and the addition of another park would yield opportunity for the ability to expand and create larger versions of the attractions, in addition to new and innovative ones. The initial opening included popular attractions such as Jaws and King Kong that were single self-contained instead of being simply a small part of a tram tour like at the Hollywood park.
1995 marked a notable year as The Seagram Company, Ltd. Purchased MCA, the original owner and creator of the Orlando destination. MCA was then renamed to Universal Studios in 1996, a year later. The year 1999 then marked a big year for Tourism and profits as the second theme park in the complex, named Universal’s Islands of Adventure opened, with The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman being the main attraction. The whole complex is rebranded Universal Orlando. A decade after its opening in 2000, Vivendi merged with Seagram, including its interest in Universal Studios, Inc. A few years later in 2004 General Electric purchased Vivendi Universal’s acquired interest and merged the company with NBC. From then on it became NBC-Universal. Most recently in 2010, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was opened and has since drawn in record crowds.
Looking at corporate leadership positions at Universal Orlando Resort, William A. Davis sits at the top of the list. He is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Universal Orlando Resort, and reports directly to Tom Williams, Chairman of Universal Parks and Resorts. Thomas L. Williams, having served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since September 1999, oversees Universal Studios Parks & Resorts, including the entire Universal Orlando resort and its counterpart in Hollywood. In addition to this, he is in charge of the Universal Parks & Resorts in Japan, in addition to developing new theme parks in metropolitan areas as far away as Dubai, Singapore and South Korea. It is quite notable and speaks to his experience that Williams has been with the organization since he joined Universal Studios Resort since its origins in 1987, being a member on a team in charge of essentially developing all aspects of the brand new theme park.
When it comes to past and recent performance, Universal Resort Orlando shows constantly innovation and growth, a large part of which may be a result by the rising pressure amounting from Disneyworld. Just by taking a quick look into their press releases, 2014 appears as if it may become one of their most epic years yet. It has been announced that the CityWalk will undergo a historic expansion in 2014, yet this is only the beginning. Plans have been announced for the opening of the vacation destination’s largest hotel yet, to be named Cabana Bay Beach Resort. Furthermore, already extremely profitable and crowd drawing Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening the new Diagon Alley exhibit. Naturally, new business ventures also call for more staffing needs. In response to this, Universal Resort has also announced the the addition of 3,500 new jobs in 2014 in order to keep all new operations running smoothly.
In the Headlines
Disney is in the news on a routine basis. Being an international household name with hubs of business across the world, there is always some Disney related news to report on. Recently, Disney has been receiving a lot of coverage for their newest feature film “Frozen,” which has been widely successful, surpassing the $900 million mark for box office totals. Their recent increase in ticket prices at Walt Disney World also has the news sphere buzzing; a daily ticket to Walt Disney World now costs $99. Disney’s impressive performance on the Dow Jones Industrial Average has also been receiving some attention, seeing as how their business is able to continuously grow, largely in part due to their continual success at the box office. Another exciting event that is catching Disney media attention is the AVATAR-themed land currently being built in Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. Check out this blog post on Disney Parks Blog to catch a first glimpse at this amazing new world currently under construction in Orlando, Florida!
There has been recent and noteworthy coverage of Universal Resort Orlando in the media. Just last year, quite a few employees of Universal became outraged at the effect that the newly passed Affordable Care act would have on their benefits. Specifically, this article details that the coverage for part-time employees of Universal would have to be dropped by the end of 2013. While Universal spokesman Tom Schroder mentioned that only approximately 3 percent of the 17,000 team members were affected, it appears Universal Resort is not alone in struggling with the adjustment to the new policy. Both Walt Disney World and Sea World Orlando were also mentioned to be in discussions about making decisions about the matter at a later date.
Walt Disney World vs. Universal Resort 