Walt Disney Company

Disneyland, Disney World, and all places Disney have been known as "The Happiest Place on Earth!". The goal of Walt Disney in opening Disneyland was not to just be a theme park, but to be a theme park that the entire family could enjoy, which is just what happened until September 11, 2001. On that Tuesday, two planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center while another one plowed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and yet another was diverted to crash in rural Pennsylvania. The "Happiest Place on Earth" has been a different place ever since.

Although the Walt Disney Company was founded in 1938, it wasn't until 1952 that the theme park, Disneyland, was opened to the public (General Business File, 2001). Although the company has had its ups and downs since then such as, the controversial 14 month presidency of Michael Ovitz in 1995/96, the investment of Sid Bass into a bulk of the company's shares and his backing of Michael Eisner since 1984, it has remained a strong company, with its theme parks being one of its strongest assets. All that changed, however, after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

This last year had already been a slow year for Disney. In June 2001, 4000 employees had been laid off (Bates & Verrier, 2001) and "Disney already has identified $850 million in cost reductions over the past two years" (Orwall, 2001, n.p.).

On September 11, 2001, after the attacks had been announced, Disney shut down the happiest

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icials, there have also been widespread cancellations reported from the United Kingdom and Germany, which are the second- and third-biggest markets after Japan for overseas tourists (Earnest & Harris, 2001). Although tourists from other countries, such as Ireland, which has a history of terrorism within its borders, may not be deterred by the fear of terrorist attacks, for now it appears likely that most foreign visitors are going to stay away from traveling in the United States, choosing instead to holiday locally or visit other destinations (Earnest & Harris, 2001). Disney's Response Fiscal Measures Financially, Disney is responding by continuing to streamline its organization. Michael Eisner has been quoted as saying, "There's no question that the current situation will have an impact for a few quarters to come" (Orwall, 2001, n.p.). However, Eisner doesn't believe the long-term value has been diminished, and running the company "as leanly and efficiently as possible" through the tough times would help deter any further financial crisis (quoted in Orwall, 2001). Furthermore, the California Division of Tourism, as well as other tourism officials, are set to boost marketing overseas to help encourage travel, especially to t

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