PW-MAR20-30-33-Industry-Influencer.qxp_Feature 30/03/2020 17:19 Page 31


Industry Influencer www.parkworld-online.com


Before long he was heading up the Walt Disney World


Project Control Office. He and his team provided the project management and scheduling for all design, construction and manufacturing activities of this whole new “vacation kingdom” concept. Frank ensured the thousands of components for the successful opening of Walt Disney World were in place on the opening day he had recommended: October 1, 1971. During this same period (1965 to 1971.) he was also involved in every aspect of the development and operation of the “Disney theme show.” But it wasn’t all plain sailing. “Right after we opened Walt


Disney World,” says Frank, “there was an energy crisis. Gasoline was in short supply and we had just opened a major project that relied on 80% of the visitors driving from the upper Midwest, New York and New England to Orlando. Prices went through the roof, there were shortages, it was a major problem and people were concerned, but it was short lived, and we survived it.”


Putting Disney on the map overseas Following Walt Disney World’s successful launch, Frank continued to direct Imagineering’s research and planning. This encompassed a major capital expansion programme of “several hundred million dollars” to meet the overwhelming public demand in Florida, adding thirteen major new attractions, a new hotel, a campground, restaurants and more. He also continued work on the Mineral King Ski Resort and its successor, Independence Lake. He planned development for Golden Oak Ranch, conducted in-depth research for Epcot Center, and directed the business analysis for international theme park expansion in Japan and Europe.


This resulted in Frank becoming the executive project manager for both Epcot Center and Tokyo Disneyland. Eventually Frank volunteered to lead the overall


developmental process for Tokyo Disneyland. As the project’s vice president, he led its creation along a complex and challenging path, from feasibility to concept development to negotiations with Disney’s partner, the Oriental Land Company,


to the Park’s design, construction and successful opening. “The interesting thing is when we first went to Japan and


presented the initial analysis that we had undertaken at Disney, the first question I got from the chairman of Mitsui Real Estate, the leader of the OLC consortium was, “how did the oil shock impact Walt Disney World”? So that just shows you how important that aspect was. I was able to explain to


him that the problem was not so much the price of oil, or gas, the problem was the assurance that you could get it and I that once the fact that they could get the gasoline was filled – it took a little while for the price to be adjusted – the problem started to dissipate.” Upon the opening of Tokyo Disneyland, Frank became the


Walt Disney Company’s first corporate vice president of planning at the Burbank headquarters, helping to organise and coordinating the company’s future goals and objectives, resulting in the company’s first Annual Corporate Plan. As part of this role, Frank was asked to recommend a


location for a Disney theme park in Europe. Today we can hardly imagine Paris without it. “Disneyland Paris began with the Tokyo project and led to the internationalisation of the of the Disney theme park brand as well as a broader expansion of major theme parks overseas. That’s probably what I’m most proud of,” he says. I ask Frank why he chose Paris over other European cities. “When we finished work in Japan my wife and I, who is from


MARCH 2020


From L-R: Reza Ali of Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy Qatar, Bob Chambers of TPG, Darrell Metzger, TPG Executive Advisor, and Frank Stanek, seated, TPG Executive Advisor.


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Southampton in the UK, decided we needed to take a vacation. She said, “let’s go to Europe”, so we took a tour package starting in London. When we got to Paris, I noticed all these tour buses around the Champs-Elysee and Notre Dame and I said to one of the drivers, “why are there all these tourists here” and he said, “Spring always comes early to Paris”, explaining that the tourist season always started earlier there than anywhere else. I thought that was an interesting fact and it remained with me throughout our search for the European Disneyland location.” “There had been a lot of interest in the South of France and


The French


government was all for a Disney park being built there; I asked them to move the subway and they did it, they even moved the TVG station there.


Spain as prospective locations, the perception was that they would work better because of the warmer weather, but what I found from visiting these places was, in winter they are all shuttered up. I stopped by Benidorm and noticed it was full of retired British, which was not the market we were going for. “So, we looked at different locations across Europe and


Paris was chosen because of its tourism flow. In Western Europe, in the warmer months, the flow of traffic was to the South as everyone headed for the Mediterranean – we had a captive market. “The French government was all for a Disney park being


built there; I was very impressed with their system. I asked them to move the subway and they did it, they even moved the TVG station there. From a tourist and theme park perspective it was way on the mark,” says Frank. This project was not its without obstacles too; this time it


was the media. “When it opened it got a lot of press – the papers reported it as being empty. So, I went to seefor myself. I observed people on the train and in the park; and I worked out that it would have 50,000 visitors that day. Then I stood in line and spoke to people waiting to go on an attraction, including a group of eight people from the UK. I asked them how they were enjoying it and they said, “we’re having a whale of a time, it’s the first time we have been out of the UK”, which was exactly what we wanted. “After that, I walked into the parking lot to take a look and


the reporter was right. It looked half empty; but then I realised - it was filled with 500 tour buses, which meant that 25,000 people had come to the park on tour buses alone. The park was full. I also noticed that the buses were from every country in Western Europe, so I thought OK this park is doing what it’s supposed to do.”


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