Interview 34507 – Caption Index: 133
So, so we had, we had some really good people from other zoos, but now where are we gonna put ’em?… Read More
So, so we had, we had some really good people from other zoos, but now where are we gonna put ’em?… Read More
So first I went to White Oak because I was good friends with John Lucas and we were gonna put ’em up there. They have a lot of room up there. But then the lawyers got involved, their lawyers and our lawyers and they wanted to control the animals when… Read More
We, we knew we had to stage the animals offsite. First of all, you have to hire staff. So you hire staff. But right after you get staff in, at least the core staff and the core staff are really experienced people We could hire, inexperienced people get trained by. Read More
So the imagineers are giving their baby, you know, over to somebody else that’s gonna do it. Totally different than them. So very different, very, very different schools of thought. And you know, they, they, they didn’t always appreciate each other very well. The imagineers didn’t care about budgets so… Read More
How do you start to bring animals into Orlando and where do you keep them?… Read More
Because the animals are obviously a brand new concept. It was a, it was an adjustment and I made a lot of mistakes. But they were very nice to me, Rick. We just, you know, don’t say that. We know that’s true, but, you know, don’t fall on your sword… Read More
And, and I think the imagineers wanted to have invisible barriers on everything. And it was just not possible to do everything like that. So we had to make some compromises with the storyline. And then, and they didn’t want the keepers out there during the day at all, you… Read More
Now how do you fit into this Disney culture?… Read More
But they managed the budget. And we had, I think it was a $75 million contingency, $75 million contingency, you know, on this project. I didn’t know it at the time, but I also didn’t know that the construction Disney people, their bonuses depended on how if they use less… Read More
They’d throw shit and, and you’re in and things would rust. So you couldn’t, you couldn’t use that kind of doors. But everybody, it, it was just a, and then, and then the horticulture guy, his budget was three times what my animal budget was and he’s just planting the… Read More
You know who to go to and what. And so that, so that helped a lot. And then, because it was just the two of us until we got the, the, the three topping sexes and three years later. So it was exciting. Now I, I mean that’s what I… Read More
You didn’t, you didn’t have to advertise. It was Disney, everybody knew. I mean, did, did They did. They came to us. Resumes just kept coming in. Well, you don’t, you’re building, you’re building the dream zoo for most people. You know, I, I guess they advertised, but we didn’t… Read More
But this is such a good opportunity. Those are the zoo directors. I like the ones that, you know, don’t, don’t, don’t prevent their people from advancing because they’re just selfish about it. And so I did some of those and we hired some really good people. Like I said,… Read More
So it, it was pretty interesting. You make the move from San Diego to Orlando in 1996, what’s going through your mind Relief that we’re now on a construction site and we’re gonna be building that. It took, it was a, the park took five years to plan and three… Read More
Oh yeah. The only, the only stipulation was when I hired management positions, they wanted to do this Gallop profile. It was a, a phone interview that they would do. There’s no right or wrong questions, but they, it’s like a behavioral assessment of people and they’re usually statistically pretty. Read More
So were you advertising for these people and trade magazines?… Read More
Three years later, Bess Stevens came in and then we had the head vet come in and then, and, and then the animal person and, and those three came in. And then we started hiring more people in the next two years, I think we hired keepers from, we hired… Read More
Do you have, as they’re building it, do you have carte blanche to hire the staff you want?… Read More
So I was over the Living Seas, which was over there, discovery Island and, and the ranch, which had horses. So they put me over everything. So I had, I had plenty to administer at that time. Mary Healy was on Discovery Island. So, you know, I had Discovery Island,… Read More
Michael wanted to do it, but, but Frank was, Frank was, and and I, when, when I had, when I heard that news, they put our project on hold for a little bit. But, you know, and, and I helped with other projects at Disney, which was kind of interesting,… Read More