News Jill Estorino Named President of Disneyland Resort

[Disney Analyst]

Geez.

How many presidents has Disneyland had in the last 5-8 years ?

Wow this is crazy…

Sadly it seems we are all being punished for the unionization of entertainment.

Cheapskates.

 

[DrStarlander]

It always seems they pull these people out of Marketing roles for this position.
Is that really a good idea when it comes to being in change of an entertainment complex?

I'm no expert on past resort chiefs. And I'm not sure the sample size is large enough to know how someone from a certain career background is going to perform or not even if someone did point to this or that past example.

But generally speaking, in theory, absolutely, I could see a Marketing person can be a great fit. Generalizing, you could have someone with an engineering/systems background, someone with a theater/show/design background, someone from a hospitality/facilities management background, multitude of options. It's easy to imagine each would bring strengths and it's easy to imagine what great things each could accomplish, but also it's easy to guess what they may not watch closely or not care about. Would the engineer care about live entertainment? Would the entertainer care about ride reliability or food quality? Would the hospitality person know how to market the resort and bring people in?...cause if it's not making money everybody loses. Who knows.

What could be promising about a Marketing person is that as a field, Marketers tend to care a lot about what customers want, how they think. Marketing is where customer profiles, surveys and focus groups and competitive research exists. So, any dissatisfaction a person has with the parks -- bad food, weird hours, high prices, broken-down rides, missing entertainment, nothing new and exciting, etc. should be discovered and conveyed via Marketing research. And Marketing people bother to read this stuff and discuss it and care. That's their passion.

Some of those other backgrounds above maybe would care. Maybe they'd read or listen to what customers are saying. But they could also just have their own engineering or entertainment or whatever agenda, lots of ego, and a ton of faith in their instinct. They may not value guests' opinions as much.

So if Disney park fans feel that the parks "aren't listening to them," I think a Marketing person could be great. Do they need very strong lieutenants in charge of engineering, people management, food, etc.). Absolutely.

But imagine the meeting where Kathy Kennedy and Bob Iger are telling the Disneyland Resort chief that SWGE is going to be based on the Sequel Trilogy. A chief with a general hospitality or engineering background might say "Ok, boss." A chief with a Marketing background might slap the research down on the table and say, "you know, our research shows that guests don't give a flying ---- about the Sequel Trilogy." Who knows things could go more in guests' favor with someone passionate about what guests think and want.

 

[TP2000]

Geez.

How many presidents has Disneyland had in the last 5-8 years ?

Going back 8 years to 2018 when Josh D'Amaro took over from Michael Colglazier, Disneyland has had five Presidents Du Jour (D'Amaro, Campbell, Potrock, Mazloum, now Estorino).

Going back 5 years to 2021 when Mr. Potrock was a year into his gig, Disneyland has had three Presidents Du Jour.

 

[CoastalElite64]

The new president is coming in during hard times.

 

[DrStarlander]

The new president is coming in during hard times.

That may not hurt Disneyland Resort as much as it's so locals-dependent. May even boost visitation as travelers who may have gone to Europe (etc.) go to domestic destinations instead.

 

[eddie104]

It’s hard to say if there was even a major boost. Attendance was up in 2023 - but so were most parks coming off the pandemic. Heck Epcot was up 5% more on a higher attendance base and a redo everyone seems unpleased about.



Ya, separating the attractions popularity itself from the return on investment. It’s weird how much the needle was not moved, by what was a “big deal” addition for USH. And this seems just an oddity in Hollywood. It was huge in Osaka.

Going back 8 years to 2018 when Josh D'Amaro took over from Michael Colglazier, Disneyland has had five Presidents Du Jour (D'Amaro, Campbell, Potrock, Mazloum, now Estorino).

Going back 5 years to 2021 when Mr. Potrock was a year into his gig, Disneyland has had three Presidents Du Jour.

Wow.

Here in Florida we’ve had Jeff Vahle for almost six years now.

He became WDW president in 2020.

As much as people don’t like him..stable leadership does matter because the parks can really suffer if no one is truly guiding the “ship”.

How come Anaheim has become such a place for people to get the job and then leave after a year?

 

[Parteecia]

I'm no expert on past resort chiefs. And I'm not sure the sample size is large enough to know how someone from a certain career background is going to perform or not even if someone did point to this or that past example.

But generally speaking, in theory, absolutely, I could see a Marketing person can be a great fit. Generalizing, you could have someone with an engineering/systems background, someone with a theater/show/design background, someone from a hospitality/facilities management background, multitude of options. It's easy to imagine each would bring strengths and it's easy to imagine what great things each could accomplish, but also it's easy to guess what they may not watch closely or not care about. Would the engineer care about live entertainment? Would the entertainer care about ride reliability or food quality? Would the hospitality person know how to market the resort and bring people in?...cause if it's not making money everybody loses. Who knows.

What could be promising about a Marketing person is that as a field, Marketers tend to care a lot about what customers want, how they think. Marketing is where customer profiles, surveys and focus groups and competitive research exists. So, any dissatisfaction a person has with the parks -- bad food, weird hours, high prices, broken-down rides, missing entertainment, nothing new and exciting, etc. should be discovered and conveyed via Marketing research. And Marketing people bother to read this stuff and discuss it and care. That's their passion.

Some of those other backgrounds above maybe would care. Maybe they'd read or listen to what customers are saying. But they could also just have their own engineering or entertainment or whatever agenda, lots of ego, and a ton of faith in their instinct. They may not value guests' opinions as much.

So if Disney park fans feel that the parks "aren't listening to them," I think a Marketing person could be great. Do they need very strong lieutenants in charge of engineering, people management, food, etc.). Absolutely.

But imagine the meeting where Kathy Kennedy and Bob Iger are telling the Disneyland Resort chief that SWGE is going to be based on the Sequel Trilogy. A chief with a general hospitality or engineering background might say "Ok, boss." A chief with a Marketing background might slap the research down on the table and say, "you know, our research shows that guests don't give a flying ---- about the Sequel Trilogy." Who knows things could go more in guests' favor with someone passionate about what guests think and want.

As much as I despised Marketing because I was in R&D, this makes sense.

 

[DrStarlander]

As much as I despised Marketing because I was in R&D, this makes sense.

Yes, what I've found in companies is that people in other departments often don't like Marketing. They think the expense on Marketing is a luxury and it's difficult to correlate results. When there are big budgets cuts or layoffs, I've often seen Marketing hit first and the most because there's an underlying feeling it's expendable.

I was in Product Development and it was the Marketing team that was watching what customers were saying, doing sentiment analysis, meeting with our external partners, and bringing that feedback to us. And it was not always feel-good feedback . But truly, everything rests on the foundation of customer happiness so I knew in my resentful (haha) heart I needed to hear what customers were feeling and saying.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Marketing has been turned into a dirty word (and not completely without reason), but I do think there's a multitude of ways that having someone with a marketing background could be good for a position like this. But personally, I'm more interested in what she's learned from her time dealing with the international parks. That I see as promising.

 

[Parteecia]

Yes, what I've found in companies is that people in other departments often don't like Marketing. They think the expense on Marketing is a luxury and it's difficult to correlate results. When there are big budgets cuts or layoffs, I've often seen Marketing hit first and the most because there's an underlying feeling it's expendable.

I was in Product Development and it was the Marketing team that was watching what customers were saying, doing sentiment analysis, meeting with our external partners, and bringing that feedback to us. And it was not always feel-good feedback . But truly, everything rests on the foundation of customer happiness so I knew in my resentful (haha) heart I needed to hear what customers were feeling and saying.

Ours tended to make promises we couldn't keep -- features, deadlines, etc. But those aren't as applicable to a theme park.

They also forced all of the scientists and engineers to take a seminar on the scientific method because they'd only just heard of it. And then there was the move to open-plan offices which was detrimental to our work. So I would say maybe beneficial in specific businesses, given too much power in others.

 

[britain]

Yes, what I've found in companies is that people in other departments often don't like Marketing. They think the expense on Marketing is a luxury and it's difficult to correlate results. When there are big budgets cuts or layoffs, I've often seen Marketing hit first and the most because there's an underlying feeling it's expendable.

I was in Product Development and it was the Marketing team that was watching what customers were saying, doing sentiment analysis, meeting with our external partners, and bringing that feedback to us. And it was not always feel-good feedback . But truly, everything rests on the foundation of customer happiness so I knew in my resentful (haha) heart I needed to hear what customers were feeling and saying.

There are some companies where the marketing department is just advertisers and pitch makers. And there are some companies (like Apple for example) where the marketing department is working with the product development department WAY early in the process: “We want to sell a $599 computer to students, but we can’t until you’re producing chips for the iPhone powerful enough AND at large enough scale that the unit cost of the chips will be super cheap while still high end for the inexpensive laptop.”

 

[PiratesMansion]

Do you think we could convince Jill Estorino to come to her first day on the job at Disneyland like this?

I'd love her if she did!

The difference is people already know who Dolly Parton is and care about her, both tourists AND locals in that area.

If Jill did this same thing, people would find it tone deaf since very few people know who she is.

Dolly's park opening presence used to be even more extravagant than now; there was a time when she would do annual concerts and there would be a town-wide parade every year that she'd appear in to celebrate the park's opening; alas, she's scaled back over time and is apparently dealing with some yo-yoing health issues. She also lost her husband (who she was married to from the late sixties onward) about a year ago, which can't be easy.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

The difference is people already know who Dolly Parton is and care about her, both tourists AND locals in that area.

If Jill did this same thing, people would find it tone deaf since very few people know who she is.

Dolly's park opening presence used to be even more extravagant than now; there was a time when she would do annual concerts and there would be a town-wide parade every year that she'd appear in to celebrate the park's opening; alas, she's scaled back over time and is apparently dealing with some yo-yoing health issues. She also lost her husband (who she was married to from the late sixties onward) about a year ago, which can't be easy.

I got to see her at last year’s opening parade, and we were all genuinely shocked so she was even there. That was only a few months after Carl Dean passed away.

 

[TP2000]

The difference is people already know who Dolly Parton is and care about her, both tourists AND locals in that area.

If Jill did this same thing, people would find it tone deaf since very few people know who she is.

Don't worry, it was an attempt at a joke. I didn't actually expect the TDA President Du Jour to pull that stunt.

Dolly's park opening presence used to be even more extravagant than now; there was a time when she would do annual concerts and there would be a town-wide parade every year that she'd appear in to celebrate the park's opening; alas, she's scaled back over time and is apparently dealing with some yo-yoing health issues.

Ms. Parton is truly a National Treasure!

Fun Story: An old, old friend of mine from the service went on to become a doctor via college after the service. To help with the bills, he signed up to do a stint in the Indian Health Service after graduation that provide free top-notch medical/dental/vision care to Indian tribes, and he served on several Indian reservations for several years. Including an Eskimo town called Kotzebue (sp?) way up north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. He later built what turned into decades of a fabulously successful medical practice in Palm Springs.

He and his husband have been retired for over a decade now in Rancho Mirage, but he's stayed in consultation with the Indian Health Service. He and his husband donate to Dolly Parton's charity that sends children's books to libraries in under-privileged communities, and he makes sure all the books go to Kotzebue. There's now an entire library, with a new shipment of the latest titles arriving monthly, available free for the Eskimo children of Kotzebue, Alaska!

From a country singer with a sky-high wig in the Smokies, to a swanky old gay couple out in Rancho Mirage, to a fully stocked library for Eskimo children north of the Arctic Circle. With Love, From Dolly! Only in America!

 

[TP2000]

Speaking of Dolly and that fabulous entrance she made at Dollywood last week...

It reminds me of Walt's electric runabout he used to have. It was an Oldsmobile, wasn't it? Before Oldsmobile transitioned fully into gas cars around 1905? I doubt Bob Iger would have cared, but I wonder if Michael Eisner ever thought about getting such a thing to drive around the parks in during the 1980's when he was happy to be seen in them at the time?

 

[TP2000]

But personally, I'm more interested in what she's learned from her time dealing with the international parks. That I see as promising.

That's an interesting thought. Especially when you consider this actually seems to be a demotion for Ms. Estorino. A demotion in scope and scale, if not in title.

Previously, she was President & Managing Director of Disney Parks International. She oversaw the complete Resort operations for Shanghai, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Each one of those properties has their own President and executive team to oversee the daily operation and site strategy. They each reported to Jill, back in the USA. The one oddball is Tokyo, as it is technically owned by Oriental Land Company (President, Wataru Takahishi), but managed day-to-day by a rotating senior exec from the USA. That's currently Clark Jones.

Clark Jones, Senior Vice President Tokyo Disney Resort: 2 Parks, 6 Hotels, Ikspiari, 23,000 CM's
Natacha Rafalski, President Disneyland Paris: 2 Parks, 7 Hotels, Disney Village, 19,000 CM's
Tim Sypko, President Hong Kong Disneyland Resort: 1 Park, 3 Hotels, 10,000 CM's
Andrew Bolstein, President Shanghai Disney Resort: 1 Park, 2 Hotels, Disneytown, 14,000 CM's

All four reported directly to...

Jill Estorino, President & Managing Director of Disney Parks International. She oversaw 3 Presidents and dozens of senior executives, 6 parks, 18 hotels, 3 shopping malls, and 66,000 CM's. But now, Ms. Estorino has this title...

Jill Estorino, President Disneyland Resort: 2 Parks, 3 Hotels, Downtown Disney, 36,000 CM's

I don't know how you can't think of that as anything but a demotion in scope and responsibility, even if she retains the title "President" in her new Anaheim gig. She's now doing the site President role her previous underlings used to do under her direction at their various sites.

Hmm... That's an interesting realization. She may not be long for this world, if I know basic corporate strategy.

Or, she may be just a year or two away from 65 and as a good soldier for decades she just needed the Company to find her a final spot to land for a bit before her retirement party in the conference room. Either way, her new Anaheim gig appears to be a demotion in scale and scope and responsibility. Certainly on paper, if not also in prestige.

 

[TP2000]

Also, I did some Googling... It turns out the electric runabout Walt used in the park wasn't actually an antique Oldsmobile.

It was custom designed and hand built from scratch by Bob Gurr in the 1960's for Walt's personal use, and he gave it the look of a circa 1900 curved dash Olds.

Because, Bob Gurr.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

That's an interesting thought. Especially when you consider this actually seems to be a demotion for Ms. Estorino. A demotion in scope and scale, if not in title.

Previously, she was President & Managing Director of Disney Parks International. She oversaw the complete Resort operations for Shanghai, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. Each one of those properties has their own President and executive team to oversee the daily operation and site strategy. They each reported to Jill, back in the USA. The one oddball is Tokyo, as it is technically owned by Oriental Land Company (President, Wataru Takahishi), but managed day-to-day by a rotating senior exec from the USA. That's currently Clark Jones.

Clark Jones, Senior Vice President Tokyo Disney Resort: 2 Parks, 6 Hotels, Ikspiari, 23,000 CM's
Natacha Rafalski, President Disneyland Paris: 2 Parks, 7 Hotels, Disney Village, 19,000 CM's
Tim Sypko, President Hong Kong Disneyland Resort: 1 Park, 3 Hotels, 10,000 CM's
Andrew Bolstein, President Shanghai Disney Resort: 1 Park, 2 Hotels, Disneytown, 14,000 CM's

All four reported directly to...

Jill Estorino, President & Managing Director of Disney Parks International. She oversaw 3 Presidents and dozens of senior executives, 6 parks, 18 hotels, 3 shopping malls, and 66,000 CM's. But now, Ms. Estorino has this title...

Jill Estorino, President Disneyland Resort: 2 Parks, 3 Hotels, Downtown Disney, 36,000 CM's

I don't know how you can't think of that as anything but a demotion in scope and responsibility, even if she retains the title "President" in her new Anaheim gig. She's now doing the site President role her previous underlings used to do under her direction at their various sites.

Hmm... That's an interesting realization. She may not be long for this world, if I know basic corporate strategy.

Or, she may be just a year or two away from 65 and as a good soldier for decades she just needed the Company to find her a final spot to land for a bit before her retirement party in the conference room. Either way, her new Anaheim gig appears to be a demotion in scale and scope and responsibility. Certainly on paper, if not also in prestige.

Not for nothing but it’s possible that this was a choice she made. As long as she’s been with the company, I’m sure she has the room to approach someone like Iger or Josh and say “hey, I know this position is gonna open and I’d like to have it.”

She certainly wouldn’t be the first person I’ve heard of getting close to retirement and choosing to move into an easier, lower scale role.

 

[TP2000]

She certainly wouldn’t be the first person I’ve heard of getting close to retirement and choosing to move into an easier, lower scale role.

No, not at all. That happens routinely in any company and in any industry. So long as the organization is big enough to accommodate it. And the executive at hand has provided decades of solid service to the cause, of course. Ms. Estorino certainly has a long and valued track record with The Walt Disney Company. And the basic math says she's nearing retirement age.

But the interesting thing is that the company that owns the Anaheim theme park site also happens to be the largest entertainment company on the planet. They've got a lot of gigs in Burbank, Glendale and West LA that have the "President" or "Chairman" title in them. And she's been in Sales and Marketing her whole life, so she could go be Marketing President for any number of divisions or industries that Disney owns and operates. Streaming, movie studios, TV networks, merchandising, video games, etc.

It's notable because as of next week she'll be doing the job that she oversaw as the boss of this week. A demotion.

I mention it because I just don't see Ms. Estorino throwing herself into her work in Anaheim, much less sticking around for years and leaving a legacy of any kind on the Anaheim property. I'll be surprised if she's still here by St. Patrick's Day 2028.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

No, not at all. That happens routinely in any company and in any industry. So long as the organization is big enough to accommodate it. And the executive at hand has provided decades of solid service to the cause, of course. Ms. Estorino certainly has a long and valued track record with The Walt Disney Company. And the basic math says she's nearing retirement age.

But the interesting thing is that the company that owns the Anaheim theme park site also happens to be the largest entertainment company on the planet. They've got a lot of gigs in Burbank, Glendale and West LA that have the "President" or "Chairman" title in them. And she's been in Sales and Marketing her whole life, so she could go be Marketing President for any number of divisions or industries that Disney owns and operates. Streaming, movie studios, TV networks, merchandising, video games, etc.

It's notable because as of next week she'll be doing the job that she oversaw as the boss of this week. A demotion.

I mention it because I just don't see Ms. Estorino throwing herself into her work in Anaheim, much less sticking around for years and leaving a legacy of any kind on the Anaheim property. I'll be surprised if she's still here by St. Patrick's Day 2028.

I did have a thought once I hit send on my last message that I wonder about maybe being a factor in this

At this point, it’s an open secret that they’re preparing to press go on a second gate at Shanghai. Do you think it might be possible that it was decided to move her into this role for the rest of her time with the company before her retirement so that they can go ahead and get a new person in her role that will be there once the actual construction of that park begins rather than having to do that handoff in the middle of that project?

If her previous role is to be the person that the international presidents report to, I can imagine some value in having the person who’s fulfilling that role when construction begins, and the person who is fulfilling that role when that park opens being the same person.