Al Lutz

Al Lutz is an Internet journalist who publishes critical commentary and behind-the-scenes reports primarily about California's Disneyland Resort and other Disney businesses. He relies on anonymous sources for his columns at MiceAge.com and has been quoted in many mainstream news reports about Disney, including coverage in the "New York Times" and the "Los Angeles Times".

History

In the 1990s, Lutz posted messages in the "alt.disney.disneyland" USENET newsgroup before moving to the World Wide Web, where he edited the "Disneyland Information Guide", an unofficial resource for information about the Anaheim, California theme park. "It just started as an FAQ, but then we developed it into a gossip column," he told USC's "Online Journalism Review" in a 2007 interview. [Niles, Robert: " [http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/071022niles/ Beating the big guns on the Disney beat] ", "Online Journalism Review", 22 October 2007] "I think having the viewpoint is what's important to me. Because that's one thing they'll kill you for on the Web is not having one." The article also calls Al Lutz "the dean of theme park reporters on the Internet".

With owners of several other Disney-related sites, on July 17, 2000, he launched MousePlanet.com [" [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_July_17/ai_63494766 Happy 45th Birthday Disneyland, from Art Linkletter and MousePlanet.com!] ", "Business Wire", 17 July 2000] , a news and travel-planning Web site largely devoted to Disney's theme parks. In 2002 he left the site with fellow writer Kevin Yee to create MiceAge.com, a Web site devoted primarily to commentary and anonymously sourced reports about Disney's theme parks. Lutz currently is the site's editor-in-chief.

Disney reports

Beginning in the 1990s, Lutz often complained in his articles about a perceived decline in value and quality at Disney's theme parks, chiefly Disneyland and the neighboring park that opened in 2001, Disney's California Adventure. [Dickerson, Marla: "Self-Styled Keepers of the Magic Kingdom", "Los Angeles Times", 12 September 1996] Fact|date=September 2008 Much of his criticism was directed at Paul Pressler, the one-time president of Disneyland who later was named chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Cynthia Harriss, Pressler's successor as Disneyland's president. From 1996-2002, Lutz maintained a set of sarcastic Web pages called "Promote Paul Pressler!" [Lutz, Al: " [http://web.archive.org/web/19981205170046/http://members.aol.com/alweho/pressler/pressler.htm Promote Paul Pressler!] ", via Archive.org, 1998] Fact|date=September 2008, whose stated goal was "getting current Disneyland Resort President Paul Pressler promoted to a new job "somewhere else" within the Walt Disney Company!"

Lutz's July 2006 report on the alleged antics of Lindsay Lohan during a private party held at Disneyland for her 20th birthday [Lutz, Al: " [http://web.archive.org/web/20060718033807/http://miceage.com/allutz/al071106a.htm Lindsay: Fully Loaded?] ", MiceAge.com (via Archive.org), 11 July 2006] Fact|date=September 2008 drew a rebuke from a representative for the actress, who said reports of bad behavior were "complete bull". [" [http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2006-07-24 Lohan Slams Bad Birthday Behavior Reports] ", "World Entertainment News Network", 24 July 2006] Fact|date=September 2008 This report brought Lutz' website, MiceAge, briefly into the spotlight, and established Lutz as a Disney watchdog in the mainstream media.

In late 2007, mainstream media outlets including the "New York Times", the "Los Angeles Times", the Associated Press and foreign newspapers referenced claims made in two of Lutz' columns. One was about a planned refurbishment of the "it's a small world" attraction at Disneyland would modify the ride's boat and flume trough to accommodate boats capable of carrying heavier park guests, a claim Disney consistently has denied in subsequent media coverage. [" [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/09/financial/f140225S85.DTL&tsp=1 Disney's 'Small World' ride set to get supersized retrofit] ", Associated Press, 9 November 2007] .Fact|date=September 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.miceage.com MiceAge.com]