Walking East down Market Street in downtown Philadelphia in my sleek, black suit, I couldn’t help but wonder just what I would experience over the next 24 hours. I was heading towards the intersection of Market and 12th streets, trying to locate the Loews Hotel – the location of Roy Disney and Stanley Gold’s SaveDisney.com briefing.

Approaching the intersection, I was unsure of the exact corner the hotel was located on, but it didn’t take long for me to figure it out. Looking across the street at 2:45 PM EST – one hour and fifteen minutes prior to the start of the rally – I saw a huge gathering of people all lined up, beginning to wrap around a building. Following along the crowd to the front of the line, my eyes finally found the entry marquee above the main entrance to the building. It read LOEWS.

The line for the SaveDisney briefing wraps around the outside of the Loews hotel

Looking around after joining the line, I noticed news trucks from each of the local news stations parked along side the building. Walking up and down the line were several reporters who would occasionally stop to question those waiting to get in. Cameramen would walk up and down the line to capture the crowd on film. Photographers from some of the well-known Disney “watchdog” websites snapped away. It was then that I realized just how important this was – how much of an impact it could possibly have on the future of the Walt Disney Company – even the future of my career!

A little before 3:30 PM EST, the line suddenly lurched forward, but then stopped again just as I was about to pass through the main entrance of the Loews Hotel. After about ten minutes more, the line continued moving again, and I found myself in the lobby of the massive building, ascending a large grand staircase. At the top of the stairs, the line stopped again, but this time I could see why. Attendees were let in only a certain amount at a time, and were directed to a bank of tables. At the tables, we were greeted by a friendly SaveDisney volunteer in their red t-shirts with the SaveDisney.com logo prominently displayed across the front. We were handed a registration card asking for our name, address, e-mail address, and whether or not we were already registered with the site. Upon completing the registration card and handing it to one of the volunteers, we were handed a “goody bag” and sent on our merry way to the meeting room.

The goody bag contained a blue SaveDisney.com t-shirt, a SaveDisney.com pen and notebook, a SaveDisney.com lapel pin with a caricature of Roy Disney, a SaveDisney.com button, and a SaveDisney.com bumper sticker (which I already had due to registering with SaveDisney long before the meeting). Even the bags containing the “goodies” were printed with the SaveDisney.com logo! The bags also contained a plain, white, lined 3x5 index card, the purpose of which would be explained later on in the meeting.

Entering into “Millennium Hall” inside the Loews Hotel, I looked around in awe as five large banners hung to the left of the stage in red, orange, purple, blue, and green. Each had the SaveDisney.com logo, and then at the bottom had the name of the corresponding sections of the SaveDisney website (Employees, Consumers, Vision, Families, and Shareholders, respectively).

Millennium Hall is decked out for the occasion

At the front of the room, a large projection screen was set up, and was displaying a multimedia presentation that continually scrolled through a mixture of Walt quotes, Roy E. quotes, and letters that had been written into the SaveDisney website. Flanking the screen on either side were two more large blue banners that simply read “RESTORE THE MAGIC” at the top. Further back in the room and off to the sides, flat-screen plasma TV’s displayed the same picture as that of the large projection screen for the benefit of those sitting in the back of the room.

Just a few minutes after 4:00 PM EST, after having casually chatted with the gentlemen sitting on either side of me, the lights in the hall began to dim, and a video presentation began to roll on the large screen and plasma TV’s. The video mixed a smattering of well-known Disney images and an inspiring narration, with shots of folks who had written in to SaveDisney.com reading their letters. The presentation really set the mood for what this rally was to be all about.

Following the conclusion of the short video presentation, the lights came up on the podium, and Stanley Gold took the stage. Reading a prepared speech off the teleprompter, Stan gave a brief overview of what he and Roy are trying to accomplish, then launched into a discussion about the problems with the governance of the Walt Disney Company’s Board of Directors. His speech closely followed the writings that have been posted on the SaveDisney website, so for someone like me who reads the site daily, I heard nothing new.

Stan Gold presents his case to over 1000 attendees.

Following the conclusion of Stan’s speech, he introduced a lively gentleman who collects old slides of Disneyland circa 1959 from collector websites, Disneyana conventions, and the like. He then proceeded to narrate a nostalgic slide show of images of Disneyland’s early days. His comments were actually quite humorous, and drew laughter from the crowd several times.

After the slide presentation, the video screen was once again alive with movement as more personal testimonials appeared on the screen of individuals reading letters they had submitted to SaveDisney.com. At the same time, Roy Disney appeared on the stage to a standing ovation. Realizing that no one could hear the video presentation, Roy motioned to the large screen behind him as if to say, “Hey, watch that, not me!” Spliced onto the end of the video was the short video that has been available on the SaveDisney website featuring Roy talking about the beginnings of the Walt Disney Company and what he and Stan are trying to do. With the conclusion of the brief video presentation, Roy remarked that he had mistakenly come onstage too soon, as he was not to have appeared until after the video had concluded. He quickly quipped, “Well, that’s show business!”

Roy spent his time discussing the vision he has for the future of the Walt Disney Company. There was a twinkle in his eye as he spoke, and you could really tell that this is something that is very near and dear to his heart. It was obvious to me at this point that Roy is not in this for any personal gain, or because of any personal issues he may have with Michael Eisner or any other members of the board. As Roy spoke, he put into words what I as both a shareholder and long-time Disney fan had been feeling for almost the last 8 or 9 years. His message was simple: Restore the Magic to the Walt Disney Company.

Roy Disney addresses the gathering after a standing ovation.

Following Roy, Michael McConnell, Managing Director of Shamrock Holdings, took the stage. Mike used his time to discuss the ongoing poor performance of Disney stock over the past several years. His discussion focused primarily on the poor performance of the company financially. While he spoke, graphs and charts that supported his arguments appeared on the screen behind him, and those around the room.

At the conclusion of Mike’s presentation, Roy and Stan joined Mike on the stage, and took their seats behind a table for a Question and Answer session. As it turns out, the index cards in our “goodie” bags were for us to write down a question or two that we wanted to ask about the SaveDisney efforts. The cards were collected, and given to a moderator who then asked the questions to the assembled panel of Roy, Stan, and Mike.

Questions ranged from how they felt about the Comcast takeover bid, to if they could give names of who they feel are suitable successors to Michael Eisner, to why did Roy and Stan vote for and support many of the management decisions they now criticize.

To the first, Roy and Stan commented that they would very much prefer to see the Walt Disney Company remain independent AND under new management. As for successors, they admitted that they do have a short list of names, but declined to be anymore specific than that.

As far as the criticism of Roy and Stan of management decisions that they once supported, they explained that at the time these proposals were pitched to the board, they were shown flashy presentations that showed how profitable these endeavors would turn out to be. However, they continued on to say that because of the lack of a skilled management, these assets have not been able to reach their full potential, and are now severely underperforming. With regards to ABC Family channel, I think Stan put it best when he said that the problem is not that too few people are getting ABC Family, rather the problem is that there is nothing on it that they want to watch!

By far, though, my favorite comment of the evening came from Roy. As he was answering a question, he referred to the company as “we” or “us” as if to include himself as a part of the company. He suddenly stopped, apologized, and corrected himself saying, “I keep forgetting that I don’t work there anymore!”

Following the conclusion of the Question and Answer session, the meeting was concluded, but Roy, Stan, and Mike stayed behind for a few more minutes to personally answer any other questions that people might have. Everyone else was invited for complimentary drinks and hors‘dourves down the hall. I stayed behind for a few minutes to snap a few photos of the hall, and then made my way up to the front in hopes of getting to shake Roy’s hand. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as the crowd around him was too large at that point, and shortly thereafter, Roy was escorted out of the room and into a “backstage” area. So, I made my way down the hall to sample the complimentary food and drink.

After a few minutes of mingling with a few other attendees and stuffing my face with free food, a back door to the room opened, and Stanley Gold appeared. Immediately, he was surrounded by news media, and others, all shooting questions at him. After just a few minutes more, he retreated, and disappeared again into the back hallway.

After a few more minutes of mingling (and more eating!), I suddenly noticed quite a large commotion over in one corner of the room. A crowd had assembled, larger than the one that had previously surrounded Stan, and I knew that there was only one explanation for who could possibly be attracting that much attention...

The crowd was slowly moving in my general direction, so I decided to stay put. As the crowd moved closer, I joined it and followed Roy as he made his way through the room. Rather than asking him questions, the people in this crowd were getting pictures and autographs. I reached down to get my camera ready, bound and determined to get a picture with Roy. I tried to make my way to the front of what was now becoming more of a mob. When I finally made my way to the front, I was confronted by a security detail that would rival that of some of the most famous movie and rock stars.

Continually barking at people to keep back, and not to crowd Roy, the “agents” kept their arms out to hold people back. Roy tried the best he could to go from side to side and at least acknowledge each person. Eventually, I fell victim to the mob, and lost my place in the front. If my personality was more that of a pushy person, I’m sure I could have regained my spot, but nonetheless, that’s not how I am, and so my opportunity was lost. I did, however, manage to get a few good shots of Roy from about 3 feet away! Unfortunately, I’m just not in any of them!

Roy greets supporters in the reception room.

I then retreated from the mob, and watched as it exited the room, and continued down the hall outside. I grabbed another plate and sampled a few more food items (hey, it was free, and I was on a budget!), then decided it was time to make my way back to the hotel. I was pretty tired from the drive, and I knew I was going to have a big day tomorrow…