An Interview with Disneyland Resort President Cynthia Harriss - Part One,

An Interview with Disneyland Resort President Cynthia Harriss - Part One
Page 1 of 6

by Doobie Moseley
October 11, 2002
Disneyland Resort President Cynthia Harriss sits down for an extensive interview on several aspects of the Disneyland Resort - Part One of Two.


Harriss with former baseball player Cal Ripkin at Cal Ripkin Day at DCA

Cynthia Harriss was named to the top position at Disneyland and given the title of Executive Vice President in January 1999. In December 1999 she was promoted to President of the Disneyland Resort. Since that time she's overseen the expansion of the Disneyland Resort including Disney's California Adventure.

LaughingPlace.com editor Doobie Moseley had the opportunity to interview Harriss in her office on September 13th (prior to the opening of a bug's land and Haunted Mansion Holiday and prior to Paul Pressler's leaving Disney) about a number of subjects related to the Disneyland Resort. The first half of this interview is shown below. Part two is also now available.

Note: LaughingPlace.com first interviewed Harriss two years ago (click here to read) which includes much more background information on Harriss' career.

LaughingPlace.com: Let’s start with the big thing coming up. Tell me about Flik’s Fun Fair.

Cynthia Harriss: First of all, it’s a bug's land. Flik’s Fun Fair is a part of a bug's land. And we’re thrilled. Actually this weekend we’re doing our Cast previews and can’t wait to see the land filled with all the little guys because we’ve been having such a good time bringing it to life. Essentially … have you seen it yet?.

LP: No.

CH: Are you going to go out and see it today?

LP: Yes.

CH: Oh great. Because what you will see immediately is why we’re so enthused about it. This is truly a Disney experience and the bug's land is exactly what you’d expect of us in that you're being totally immersed. There’s actually a few things you’re not going to see that are getting finalized over the next couple of weeks.

Essentially Flik’s Fun Fair is where we can celebrate the Pixar/Disney favorite characters from a bug’s life. And in it we have five attractions. All of them are geared for the whole family but probably will be most intriguing for those guests that are a little shorter - little kids - and they’re just fabulous. So I think that’s what you’ll see. There’s Dots Puddle Park. There is Heimlich’s which actually I think is going to be the favorite to tell you the truth. Yesterday I was out there with the attraction’s Cast Members who are going to be the opening team. They’re all competing with who can do the Heimlich voice the best. So there’re so many funny things in it. We’ve got Tuck and Roll, Francis the Ladybug and Flik’s Fliers. But more importantly this is where you are immersed in the land. It’s where you become a bug. Everything is gigantic in size so that you’re bug size. In the entrance to Flik’s Fun Fair you walk through a cereal box and everything is themed. The restrooms are a Kleenex box - it’s fabulous. But it’s also given us an opportunity to really highlight a bug’s life by having it’s own land. What we’ll do in the farm, what you’ll see over the next couple of weeks, is some more buggy, really cool additions to it.

LP: Why the decision to make California Adventure first big expansion something geared towards youngsters.

CH: First and foremost it’s what the guests ask for. You’ve been here from opening day - well,. you’ve been here from dig the dirt with us - and just like with all our new parks what we do is open them with a full array of entertainment but then immediately go out and poll our guests about what additional things they want. And overwhelmingly people said they wanted more Disney and more things for their little ones to do. There’s lots for the whole family to do in Disney’s California Adventure. But just like what we have in Disneyland where there’s a Toontown and a Fantasyland, this is a land that’s really geared towards the little guys. And there’s just that dynamic. There are a lot of things to do and if you’re six years old you can just run from one to the next and are close by. It’s just a lot of fun. That’s why we put that focus.