News Jill Estorino Named President of Disneyland Resort

[TP2000]

As I said I'm not going to get into this with you again. We've had this discussion before multiple times when other posters brought up your fondness to focus on CM looks, which all got deleted by the MODs. So its best to stay away from this topic.

Just saying this is not the first time you've been called out for how you speak about Disney employees. So maybe something you want to think about.

Until I actually inappropriately comment on Ms. Estorino's looks, which I haven't, I'll just ignore that bizarre comment entirely.

It would be funny, if it wasn't so weird and detached from the reality of what has been typed in this thread.

Now if you want to pull up comments about Josh D'Amaro's lithe, runner's phyique and winning smile, then a few of us here have been guilty over the past 8 years. C'mon, Josh is handsome, admit it!

 

[Disney Irish]

Until I actually inappropriately comment on Ms. Estorino's looks, which I haven't, I'll just ignore that bizarre comment entirely.

It would be funny, if it wasn't so weird and detached from the reality of what has been typed in this thread.

Now if you want to pull up comments about Josh D'Amaro's lithe, runner's phyique and winning smile, then a few of us here have been guilty over the past 8 years. C'mon, Josh is handsome, admit it!

As I said you never seem to think you do wrong when you're called out on this stuff, always deflect. And its clearly not one or two comments, there have been lots and have been called out by a bunch of posters. But whatever, I'm done with this, I said my peace.

 

[TP2000]

As I said you never seem to think you do wrong when you're called out on this stuff, always deflect. And its clearly not one or two comments, there have been lots and have been called out by a bunch of posters. But whatever, I'm done with this, I said my peace.

No, you aren't done here until you quote the comments I said about Ms. Estorino's appearance.

You can't accuse someone of doing something they didn't do, and then not provide that evidence. None of my posts here have been edited by me since I posted them last night. So go quote the parts that are offensive to you, and we'll discuss.

Until you can show your work, it's like you're a guy sitting on a park bench accusing the pigeons of being mean to you.

 

[Disney Irish]

No, you aren't done here until you quote the comments I said about Ms. Estorino's appearance.

You can't accuse someone of doing something they didn't do, and then not provide that evidence. None of my posts here have been edited by me since I posted them last night. So go quote the parts that are offensive to you, and we'll discuss.

Until you can show your work, it's like you're a guy sitting on a park bench accusing the pigeons of being mean to you.

I'm not the one who called you out, so go address the poster who did. And I'm sure they will give you clarification on what they had an issue with whether in the open forum or in a DM.

Also again you deflect, because you know damn well I didn't accuse you, I gave an example of our previous discussions surrounding the same. So go take that indignation somewhere else.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Let's do a recap of where we are with the Hall Of TDA Presidents, now that Ms. Estorino has joined the cast on stage.

The first person to hold the title of "President" of Disneyland was the late, great Jack Lindquist. He got that role in 1990, but prior to that it was always a grab bag of "Parks Committee" joint leaders for both coasts. Dick Nunis was in charge of the Parks as a whole for a time in the 1980's and 90's, as the first of what we would now call Parks Chairman.

But for Disneyland President's specifically, it's gone like this...

Jack Lindquist: End Of Last Ice Age to 1994 (true Disneylander, and a helluva good storyteller!)
Paul Pressler: 1994-1998 (came from Disney Store, promoted to Parks Chairman)
Cynthia Harriss: 1998-2003 (resigned suddenly after several deaths to "spend more time with family")
Matt Ouimet: 2003-2006 (saved Disneyland for the 50th, resigned after being passed over for promotion)
Ed Grier: 2006-2009 (no known personality, "retired" and yet still works in Higher Education out East)
George Kalogridis: 2009-2013 (saved DCA and rebuilt the Resort, started as a busboy at WDW in '71!)
Michael Colglazer: 2013-2018 (went to war with the City of Anaheim, a real snob, eventually fired by D'Amaro)
Josh D'Amaro: 2018-2019 (a fan favorite, winning smile, runner's physique, has a great tailor for his pants)
Rebecca Cambpell: 2019-2020 (she lasted less than a year, but Instagrammed the hell out of it)
Ken Potrock: 2020-2025 (sort of the unknown guy, lateral move to Major Events President)
Thomas Mazloum: 2025-2026 (that was fast! promoted to Parks Chairman. great wardrobe!)
Jill Estorino: 2026-20?? (been in Marketing her whole life. also rumored to be a woman. what is a woman?)

I hadn't realized Mr. Potrock was in there for as long as he was! Covid really screwed that up (see: Rebecca Campbell), but he stuck around for about as long as anyone.

Otherwise, it was about as I expected in hindsight. A few hits, a few total disasters, but mostly middling status quo.

Potrock seemed like a good enough guy. He worked hard on Disneyland Forward I believe, so he can be likely credited for helping setup the resort for the future.

But again, entertainment died under him so… fie!

 

[CoastalElite64]

No, I don't think any of us have ever heard of her. I certainly haven't, and I know too many names already.

A quick search of the archived forums here shows that the name "Jill Estorino" has never been mentioned on this website before yesterday afternoon, when @DCBaker kindly started this thread. She's a complete unknown. Like a rolling stone.

Which then answers the question why several folks here would go try to find out information about her, like that recent puff piece she did for an industry trade magazine. Other than that, and her corporate bio page, we're flying blind on Ms. Estorino and her potential impact to Disneyland. Although rumor has it she's a woman.

It's a valid question because the person is unknown to fans.

It's odd how someone at Disney can climb to the top and not have a public image.

 

[TP2000]

I'm not the one who called you out, so go address the poster who did. And I'm sure they will give you clarification on what they had an issue with whether in the open forum or in a DM.

I'm quoting you because you responded to me. This is how discussion works.

Also again you deflect, because you know damn well I didn't accuse you, I gave an example of our previous discussions surrounding the same.

I don't think you know what the word deflection means. Asking someone to quote your alleged transgression is the opposite of deflection. Asking you to use the quote function for my words here is actually bringing attention to the matter. It's not deflection.

Can you quote what I said about Ms. Estorino you find distasteful?

Welcome to "TP" speak, he's been called out for this before, he just laughs it off and says its how "his generation" speaks.

 

[Disney Analyst]

It's a valid question because the person is unknown to fans.

It's odd how someone at Disney can climb to the top and not have a public image.

Honestly I never heard of Josh before he became President of Disneyland … and he was the VP of DAK the summer I worked at Magic Kingdom

And now he’s CEO …

 

[Disney Irish]

I'm quoting you because you responded to me. This is how discussion works.



I don't think you know what the word deflection means. Asking someone to quote your alleged transgression is the opposite of deflection. It's actually bringing attention to the matter.

Can you quote what I said about Ms. Estorino you find distasteful?

Please go address the poster who called you out.

I’m not playing this game with you, I’ve done it too many times. I just gave some friendly advice, take it or leave it.

 

[TP2000]

It's a valid question because the person is unknown to fans.

It's odd how someone at Disney can climb to the top and not have a public image.

To be fair to Ms. Estorino, she's worked her entire career in Marketing. It's a typical white collar job, 8 to 5, holidays and weekends off, with two weeks of vacation every Christmas. It's a behind the scenes thing that no one knows about, but is admittedly necessary for any company to spend resources on.

With the exception of puff pieces in industry trade magazines, and that one linked here was a real doozy, you never hear from these types of people. She's never there when things are actually happening, and she's never really in the parks she works for as a "thought leader on brand experience".

 

[TP2000]

Please go address the poster who called you out.

I already did that. Point by point using the Quote feature, in Post #26.

Then you arrived 40 minutes later in Post #28 and said this...

Welcome to "TP" speak, he's been called out for this before, he just laughs it off and says its how "his generation" speaks.

So quote what I said in this short thread that you find inappropriate or concerning.

But if you can't quote those comments, because they don't exist, just go back to arguing with the pigeons.

 

[CoastalElite64]

Honestly I never heard of Josh before he became President of Disneyland … and he was the VP of DAK the summer I worked at Magic Kingdom

And now he’s CEO …

I feel good that Josh is leading at least he has parks experience.

 

[TP2000]

Honestly I never heard of Josh before he became President of Disneyland … and he was the VP of DAK the summer I worked at Magic Kingdom

And now he’s CEO …

He did have a rocket ride up the chain, didn't he?

Thinking about it at the time, he stood out for being so likable and relatable. He seemed to get it. It also helped him that he was surrounded at that time by some pretty unlikable executives; Michael Colglazier, that woman from Paris who also got fired whose name escapes me, etc. At the same time, there was a dearth of executive talent out at WDW once they moved Josh up to Disneyland President.

Speaking of.... did WDW get a new President with this? Who are they? Seems like Disneyland is Where The Action Is! now for moving executives up the chain, which is a total 180 from how things worked in the 1990's thru 2010's.

 

[Disney Irish]

I already did that. Point by point using the Quote feature, in Post #26.

Then you arrived 40 minutes later in Post #28 and said this...



So quote what I said in this short thread that you find inappropriate or concerning.

But if you can't quote those comments, because they don't exist, just go back to arguing with the pigeons.

I’ve already said what I’ve had issues with in the past in other threads about these same things, and you laugh them off. So again I’m not playing this “quote” game with you.

If the original poster who called you out wants to respond back to you that is on them. But I’m not doing this with you.

 

[TP2000]

I’ve already said what I’ve had issues with in the past in other threads about these same things, and you laugh them off. So again I’m not playing this “quote” game with you.

You can't quote me because there is nothing for you to quote to support your claim.

If there was such a quote of mine available to you, then you would have already used it. But there isn't.

If the original poster who called you out wants to respond back to you that is on them. But I’m not doing this with you.

Again, the two of us already had that conversation with each other this afternoon; Post #26 and #27.

You then chimed in awhile later with...

Welcome to "TP" speak, he's been called out for this before, he just laughs it off and says its how "his generation" speaks.

And I responded to your comment about me, asked you to quote what you meant, and you backed yourself into a corner.

 

[Disney Irish]

You can't quote me because there is nothing for you to quote to support your claim.

If there was such a quote of mine available to you, then you would have already used it. But there isn't.



Again, the two of us already had that conversation with each other this afternoon; Post #26 and #27.

You then chimed in awhile later with...



And I responded to your comment about me, asked you to quote what you meant, and you backed yourself into a corner.

I respectfully ask you to move on, I’m not playing this game.

 

[TP2000]

I respectfully ask you to move on, I’m not playing this game.

If you are asking me to leave this website, or this thread, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I do have a lot of travel planned for this summer and fall though, so I'll be rarer around these parts after July 6th.

If you don't want to be corrected for making false accusations against me, then don't make false accusations against me.

The ball is in your court on that one. Choose wisely!

Welcome to "TP" speak, he's been called out for this before, he just laughs it off and says its how "his generation" speaks.

 

[Lilofan]

I'm not sure what you're talking about.

The only observation made on her visual appearance so far is that she is a white lady, which was made in an aside about why she would be an executive leader for the "Black consumer experience". It's more a valid criticism of modern American corporations, not her specifically. She's just along for the HR approved ride on that one.



Vocabulary matters. It's why the CEO of McDonald's recently went viral and trolled mercilessly for calling his new hamburger a "product" instead of just saying hamburger. "I love this product." And the world laughed at him for days.



We don't have any information on how she acts in real life yet. There's no video or first-hand accounts of her personal style, so all we have to go on is her rather formulaic interview with a fawning reporter from a trade magazine. She seems very slick in that.

Slick isn't a bad thing, if it can be paired with genuineness. Josh D'Amaro was a slick guy, but he also seemed real and genuine, so that just added to his positive aura with fans. Let's see if there's realness behind Ms. Estorino's slickness, or if it's just corporate buzzwords and babble with no real substance.



I think the Parks Chairman role was first created for Paul Pressler circa 1998, so it's a new phenom. It goes about as well as you'd expect it to, with results from deadly and disastrous (1998-2003) to surprisingly effective (2012-2015).

The last true Disneylander who worked his way up from ride operator to executive was John Storbeck. But he was fired by Michael Colglazier (see my previous accounts of charity do's with him and his boring-as-dishwater wife), who was a real snob. And Colglazier was subsequently fired by Josh D'Amaro, after Josh leapfrogged him for the Parks Chairman role.



That doesn't work any more. When presented with commentary or observations you don't like, you can't accuse the world of being ists and phobes to shut them up. That stopped working several years ago now. There is no gender bias here. We have excoriated TDA Presidents Du Jour in this forum for decades, both men and women. We have also praised the ones who turned out to be fabulous.

If you have personal experience working with Ms. Estorino and are a big fan of hers, please let us know! She may turn out to be great. We just don't know yet.

But from the interviews and corporate communications released on her behalf so far, she seems like a run-of-the-mill senior executive from Any Company, USA who uses pre-approved phrasing and could be selling tires or toothpaste or theme parks.

For the good of Disneyland, I hope she turns out to be great! So far, though...

Read up on John Storbeck. After Disney he was quickly hired by Knott’s to be a VP in 16’. After the Cedar merger with Six Flags John was laid off in 25’ from Knotts.

 

[TP2000]

Read up on John Storbeck. After Disney he was quickly hired by Knott’s to be a VP in 16’. After the Cedar merger with Six Flags John was laid off in 25’ from Knotts.

I had heard he went to Knott's Berry Farm, scooped up by Matt Ouimet.

It's a shame that Knott's Berry Farm is now owned by Six Flags. I don't know how that park will escape that corporate mashup unscathed. I just hope the damage can be as minimal as possible.

 

[Disney Irish]

If you are asking me to leave this website, or this thread, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I do have a lot of travel planned for this summer and fall though, so I'll be rarer around these parts after July 6th.

If you don't want to be corrected for making false accusations against me, then don't make false accusations against me.

The ball is in your court on that one. Choose wisely!

I'm just asking you to move on from this, but since you won't here goes.

There is no false accusation. You've made comments in the past for which posters including myself have found distasteful have called you out for previously, a fact you don't even deny. That is all my post is about, ie I'm just agreeing with the poster who called you out for what they found distasteful and made the comment that this has happened before with you.

You want to get indignant, be my guest. But there is no false accusation by me, because it wasn't me who accused you in this thread, it was the other poster.