The Disneyland Resort: The Faces Behind the Magic

The Faces
Behind the Magic

Here are some of the people who are working to make Disneyland the best vacation destination in the world:

Paul Pressler: President, The Disneyland Resort
Barry Braverman: Executive Producer, Walt Disney Imagineering
Douglas M. Moreland: Vice President, Walt Disney Imagineering
Martin A. Sklar: Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering
William E. Ross: Vice President of Public Affairs, The Disneyland Resort

Paul Pressler
President, The Disneyland Resort

Paul Pressler was named President of The Disneyland Resort in November, 1994.

In his position, Pressler is responsible for the Disneyland Park, The Disneyland Hotel, The Disneyland Pacific Hotel, and other resort venues in Anaheim. He also oversees all park and hotel operations, finance, marketing and entertainment.

Prior to joining the Disneyland team, Pressler was president of The Disney Stores where he was responsible for their overall operation, business strategy, and expansion. Under his leadership, the stores expanded from 160 to 335 in eight countries around the world. One of his final duties in that position was to oversee the opening of the first Disney Gallery, a prototype retail entertainment experience developed by The Disney Stores, in the Main Place/Santa Ana Mall in Southern California.

Pressler joined Disney in 1987 as senior vice president, Disney Licensing, and became senior vice president for Consumer Products. Prior to joining Disney, he had been vice president of marketing and design for Kenner-Parker Toys.

A native of New York, Pressler is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta. He and his wife have two children and live in Los Angeles. The 40-year-old Pressler succeeded Disney veteran Jack Lindquist, who retired in November 1993 as president of Disneyland.

Barry Braverman
Executive Producer, Walt Disney Imagineering

Barry Braverman was selected in 1995 to lead the design team in the development of a new theme park for Anaheim. Braverman's responsibilities include playing a key executive role on the expansion team for The Disneyland Resort.

Before this assignment, Braverman served as the executive director of the Epcot Design Studio from 1990 to 1995. He was responsible for the creative direction of all design work on Epcot attractions at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

He also served as one of the Walt Disney Imagineering's principal contacts with Epcot participants. During his tenure, major participant agreements were signed with Coca-Cola, American Express, Kodak, Nestle USA, AT&T, General Motors, and Exxon, enabling the Epcot Studio to accomplish large scale renovations and attraction replacements throughout most of Future World.

Highlights of the creative output of the Epcot team under Braverman include refurbishment of The Land Pavilion, "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" for the Imagination Pavilion, and a major renovation of the Spaceship Earth ride and post show.

Braverman joined Disney Imagineering in 1977 as a research analyst after a career as an elementary school teacher. He holds a bachelor's degree from Pomona College in Claremont. The Philadelphia native lives in Altadena with his wife and two children.

Douglas M. Moreland
Vice President, Walt Disney Imagineering

Douglas M. Moreland is the Vice President of Development for the $1.4 billion Disneyland Resort expansion featuring a new theme park called "Disney's California Adventure," a 750-room hotel inside the theme park and a Retail Entertainment Center.

Moreland is spearheading the development of this first major expansion of Disneyland in its 41-year history. He is overseeing all development control activities for the project, related to master planning, entitlements, financing, land acquisition, government and community relations.

Prior to joining The Walt Disney Company in 1991, Moreland was Vice President of Development for TMC Development, directing entitlements for a 2,000-acre planned community. Moreland also worked with Pacesetter Business Properties, overseeing several major industrial and commercial projects in Southern California. Before joining Pacesetter, Moreland spent six years with Mobil Land Development Corporation, spearheading the design and entitlement process for a number of large-scale developments across the country.

Moreland is a licensed architect in the State of California. He received his bachelor and master degrees in architecture from the University of Southern California and his Master of Business Administration degree from Claremont Graduate School.

Martin A. Sklar
Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering

Martin A. Sklar, Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, has worked for The Walt Disney Company continuously since 1956. He provides leadership for the Imagineering creative staff, which is charged with delivering breakthrough entertainment concepts for Disney's theme parks and attractions. Today, Imagineering is responsible for every project, from idea through field construction, that goes into the present Disney theme parks (The Disneyland Resort in California; The Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida; Tokyo Disneyland Park in Japan, and Disneyland Paris in France) and future projects, including Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom, opening in 1998 at Walt Disney World.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, Sklar was Imagineering primary strategist for relations with American industry in the development of sponsored attractions for Disneyland and the Walt Disney World Theme Parks with emphasis on Epcot.

William E. Ross
Vice President of Public Affairs, The Disneyland Resort

William E. Ross is the senior Disney executive responsible for the administration, development, and implementation of all public affairs efforts for The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. During his 23-year Disney career, Ross has held both domestic and international assignments. Although he has spent the majority of his career at Disneyland, he also has held assignments at Tokyo Disneyland, supporting human resource needs, and at Disneyland Paris, where he was responsible for the recruiting and hiring of more than 10,000 European employees.

He serves on numerous non-profit boards, including the Anaheim Memorial Hospital, Children's Hospital of Orange County, Cypress College Foundation, and United Way of Orange County, and is chairman of the newly created Orange County Tourism Council.

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