Disney World to get new president amid theme-park-management shakeup
The Walt Disney Co. shook up its senior theme-park management ranks Wednesday, reassigning more than a half-dozen top executives — including a new president for Walt Disney World.
Disney said George A. Kalogridis, now president of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., will move East to take over as president of Disney World, the company's biggest and most-profitable resort.
He will succeed Meg Crofton, who will focus exclusively on her duties as president of all operations for Disney theme parks in the United States and Europe — a new position created a year and a half ago amid another management restructuring.
The move instantly elevates the 59-year-old Kalogridis — a University of Central Florida alum who began with Disney as a hotel busboy in Orlando — to a position as one of the most influential corporate executives in Florida, atop a sprawling resort with four theme parks; two dozen hotels and time shares; and more than 66,000 employees.
Crofton, 59, will move to Disney's corporate headquarters in Burbank, Calif. She has been the face of the company in Central Florida in recent years, serving on the governing boards of entities ranging from the University of Central Florida to the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission.
The changes were ordered by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs and are designed, the company said, to give upper managers "the opportunity to broaden their knowledge" of Disney's global vacation empire.
The logic evoked a higher-management shakeup orchestrated three years ago by Disney Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger, who had Staggs, then the Disney Co. chief financial officer, trade jobs with Jay Rasulo, then-chairman of parks and resorts.
"With all that we currently have in flight across our resort destinations in the U.S. and France, the time is right to move forward with this leadership transition," Staggs said in a prepared statement.
"This group of Disney veterans has the knowledge and expertise needed to continue delivering on our legacy of creating unforgettable experiences that our guests have come to know and expect."
Disney would not make Staggs or Kalogridis available for interviews.
The company said no one would leave Disney as part of the changes. All appointments are effective Feb. 1.
The movement extended far beyond Disney World. To replace Kalogridis atop Disneyland, which has experienced enormous growth this summer following the opening of a "Cars"-themed land, the company tapped Michael Colglazier, vice president in charge of Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in Central Florida.
Kalogridis and Colglazier will both report to Crofton.
Replacing Colglazier at Animal Kingdom: Josh D'Amaro, who currently runs the company's Adventures by Disney packaged-tour business.
Disney also appointed a new head of Disney Vacation Club, its Celebration-based time-share arm. It promoted Ken Potrock, a highly regarded Central Florida executive currently in charge of the company's sports-tourism businesses and the Downtown Disney retail complex, to the position of senior vice president and general manager of DVC and Adventures by Disney.
Potrock will replace Claire Bilby, who had run Disney's time-share business since August 2011, after former unit President Jim Lewis was ousted. Bilby will move to Paris to become senior vice president of sales and marketing for Disneyland Paris and Europe.
Tom Wolber, No. 2 executive at Disney Cruise Line, will succeed Potrock as head of Disney Sports Enterprises, which includes Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and the company's rapidly growing runDisney marathon program, as well as Downtown Disney.
For Kalogridis, the appointment as president of Disney World is a homecoming. The 41-year company veteran began his career as a busboy in Disney's Contemporary Resort in 1971, the year Disney World opened.
He has held an assortment of positions for the company, ranging from vice president in charge of Epcot to chief operating officer for Disneyland Paris. He has been president of Disneyland, which has two theme parks, three hotels and about 25,000 employees, since 2009.
He most recently steered Disney's original theme-park resort through a period of dizzying growth after a $1.2 billion makeover of Disneyland's second gate, Disney California Adventure, which culminated this summer with the opening of the 12-acre "Cars Land." He has also become a favorite of Disney's passionate, and sometimes critical, fan blogosphere.
"I am excited to return to my roots and have the opportunity to lead our talented Walt Disney World Resort cast," Kalogridis said in a prepared statement distributed by Disney. "I look forward to again working with my Florida-based colleagues and reconnecting with Central Florida's community and business leaders."
