My Official Statement

[aymiewilson]

Why were Millennials mentioned here specifically? Are you saying your situation or feelings are different than other generations? I worked for small companies, had student loans which I paid off, have a family, a rental and now a mortgage, left jobs because of horrible bosses, etc and I am not a Millennial. Are we supposed to give a pass to the Millennial employees of the DIS because you think your situation is so much more difficult than previous generations?

I didn't mean that to trigger or offend any non-Millennial readers. I apologize if I did. I mentioned the generation just as an age reference (bc I don't know how old they actually are!) to emphasize the fact these are younger, less-seasoned working adults who are at the low end of the totem pole by virtue of being early in their careers. The longer you spend working with other people, the better you get at reading situations, navigating them, etc. And when you're in a lower-ranked position in a company, you have less power/influence even if you DO notice something is wrong. That would be especially true for people working under a narcissist!

 

[DanielleC]

Has anyone heard if the events scheduled for tomorrow, specifically the live chat from the Grand Californian are still on calendar? I noticed there has been absolute radio silence on the pinned thread, and the last post there reads:


Not trying to shame that poster, but that was yesterday afternoon, and it suggests there are people with some expectations that aren't going to be met. I can't imagine any scenario where that live show could or would occur, but conversely there are going to be some people wondering WTH is going on if it simply doesn't happen. I guess the same general question applies to the folks who are there for the official paid event: has the schedule for their experience been modified any? The last couple of days have been very loosey-goosey and unstructured, but tomorrow the actual event begins including the live show and the private party in Avengers Campus.

yeah, I was wondering too if they are still doing the live podcast. If so, will chat be enabled?

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

yeah, I was wondering too if they are still doing the live podcast. If so, will chat be enabled?

Live podcasts are live for the audience and prerecorded then released the following Tuesday.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

There’s a scene in the movie casino where Robert Deniro’s character wants to fire an employee for not fixing an obvious problem. His reason- the issue was so obvious that he was either in on it or he was incompetent. Either way, he has to go.

I can’t help but feel that way right now. Even if he didn’t know about the SA, John didn’t question the revolving door of employees in his own company, several of whom were romantically linked to Pete? I’m just a viewer and I always thought that was weird and that Pete was playing with fire. In any other company HR would be all over him. The odds of someone coming back with some sexual harassment/quid pro quo allegations were high, especially when there’s so many.

So just from the employee management part, I think John either knew Pete was a problem but tried to keep things pacified for the companies sake or he didn’t know which makes me question his abilities.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

I just hope that people are respectful and realize that this was likely a shock for many people and they shouldn't be nagged or questioned. Some clearly had no idea. Let them have a little fun before the poop show this is about to be, emotionally and frankly financially.

 

[mustinjourney]

Just food for thought here. Many people have mentioned that they saw how disrespectful they thought Pete was being to staff members on the podcast. Why didn’t anyone think to send a message and mention their concerns to John? If you have, and were ignored, my apologies. If you saw and didn’t say anything, why not?

Just putting it out there.

My support is for the victims here. I hope everyone who needs to, will seek some therapy.

John was sitting there watching it happen in the podcasts. What good would it do to send him a message?

 

[DanielleC]

There’s a scene in the movie casino where Robert Deniro’s character wants to fire an employee for not fixing an obvious problem. His reason- the issue was so obvious that he was either in on it or he was incompetent. Either way, he has to go.

I can’t help but feel that way right now. Even if he didn’t know about the SA, John didn’t question the revolving door of employees in his own company, several of whom were romantically linked to Pete? I’m just a viewer and I always thought that was weird and that Pete was playing with fire. In any other company HR would be all over him. The odds of someone coming back with some sexual harassment/quid pro quo allegations were high, especially when there’s so many.

So just from the employee management part, I think John either knew Pete was a problem but tried to keep things pacified for the companies sake or he didn’t know which makes me question his abilities.

Dreams is a corporation with three owners, PW, John and Donna (a silent partner). The Dis Unplugged is all Pete's John isn't an owner of it and only appears on the show from time to time. PW was very narcissistic, maybe full blown narcissistic personality disorder. They learn how to fool everyone because they need to feel they are always correct with what they do or are doing.

With DUT and The Dis, they were both home based businesses. This fostered an environment where PW could easily say "Yeah, they weren't what I was looking for in a contributor." In the grand scheme of things, The Dis really didn't have a whole lot of turnover. They have had 5 or 6 people who have come out against PW and they have had dozens of contributors on the show. Some of them have been there for years. If they have had around 50 contributors and double the number of people who have left (Bob Varley, Panda, Deni Sunderly, etc) that's still only a 20% turnover rate which isn't all that high, more so for an internet media based business.

I can easily believe that most, if not all knew nothing was going on. Why?

• The don't work in an office, all together, at the same time.
• Most of the time there are at most 7 of them together for a couple of hours a week
• PW rarely exhibited illegal, illicit, bad or wrong behavior in public
• A lot of what PW did was in private with the individuals
• John was not a part of The Dis ownership structure.

Sure Pete did a lot of nasty stuff. But no one saw him doing it on a day to day basis. When they saw P act out on the shows I bet many people were saying/thinking "Oh, that's just P being P." And I have to wonder, even if they wanted to say something, who could they say it to? Not P. John? Wasn't he a friend of P? Corey? Wasn't he a friend of P? With so few people there it would be way too easy to trace it back to who complained. I would have just walked away from the job but that's me. I probably wouldn't have when I was in my 20's or early 30's.

Sure you could tell John, John could talk to Pete and Pete would just say "Oh come on, I was just joking around." And in a few months they would be gone with Pete again saying "They weren't what I was looking for in a contributor."

 

[khertz]

Dreams is a corporation with three owners, PW, John and Donna (a silent partner). The Dis Unplugged is all Pete's John isn't an owner of it and only appears on the show from time to time. PW was very narcissistic, maybe full blown narcissistic personality disorder. They learn how to fool everyone because they need to feel they are always correct with what they do or are doing.

With DUT and The Dis, they were both home based businesses. This fostered an environment where PW could easily say "Yeah, they weren't what I was looking for in a contributor." In the grand scheme of things, The Dis really didn't have a whole lot of turnover. They have had 5 or 6 people who have come out against PW and they have had dozens of contributors on the show. Some of them have been there for years. If they have had around 50 contributors and double the number of people who have left (Bob Varley, Panda, Deni Sunderly, etc) that's still only a 20% turnover rate which isn't all that high, more so for an internet media based business.

I can easily believe that most, if not all knew nothing was going on. Why?

• The don't work in an office, all together, at the same time.
• Most of the time there are at most 7 of them together for a couple of hours a week
• PW rarely exhibited illegal, illicit, bad or wrong behavior in public
• A lot of what PW did was in private with the individuals
• John was not a part of The Dis ownership structure.

Sure Pete did a lot of nasty stuff. But no one saw him doing it on a day to day basis. When they saw P act out on the shows I bet many people were saying/thinking "Oh, that's just P being P." And I have to wonder, even if they wanted to say something, who could they say it to? Not P. John? Wasn't he a friend of P? Corey? Wasn't he a friend of P? With so few people there it would be way too easy to trace it back to who complained. I would have just walked away from the job but that's me. I probably wouldn't have when I was in my 20's or early 30's.

Sure you could tell John, John could talk to Pete and Pete would just say "Oh come on, I was just joking around." And in a few months they would be gone with Pete again saying "They weren't what I was looking for in a contributor."

My husband and I were talking about this exactly. I’m sure everyone around him was hearing Pete’s version of events where HE was the victim!

 

[starfrenzy]

My ex (a narcissistic abuser, small business owner with his own reports of SA just like PW’s that I found out about after filing for divorce) used to give the lamest reasons for dismissing people he hired “she was getting greedy”, etc. (And yes, he’s always the victim.)

He would do it for marriage therapists too. If a therapist was asking him to be accountable or focusing on how he was destroying the relationship, he’d make up some lame reason why we can’t continue seeing them: “She was BAD”, “He’s too expensive.”

If another therapist was falling for his manipulations and excuses, and asking me to be grateful for the good days, he’d let us stay with that therapist.

 

[beebop2173]

Dreams is a corporation with three owners, PW, John and Donna (a silent partner). The Dis Unplugged is all Pete's John isn't an owner of it and only appears on the show from time to time. PW was very narcissistic, maybe full blown narcissistic personality disorder. They learn how to fool everyone because they need to feel they are always correct with what they do or are doing.

With DUT and The Dis, they were both home based businesses. This fostered an environment where PW could easily say "Yeah, they weren't what I was looking for in a contributor." In the grand scheme of things, The Dis really didn't have a whole lot of turnover. They have had 5 or 6 people who have come out against PW and they have had dozens of contributors on the show. Some of them have been there for years. If they have had around 50 contributors and double the number of people who have left (Bob Varley, Panda, Deni Sunderly, etc) that's still only a 20% turnover rate which isn't all that high, more so for an internet media based business.

I can easily believe that most, if not all knew nothing was going on. Why?

• The don't work in an office, all together, at the same time.
• Most of the time there are at most 7 of them together for a couple of hours a week
• PW rarely exhibited illegal, illicit, bad or wrong behavior in public
• A lot of what PW did was in private with the individuals
• John was not a part of The Dis ownership structure.

Sure Pete did a lot of nasty stuff. But no one saw him doing it on a day to day basis. When they saw P act out on the shows I bet many people were saying/thinking "Oh, that's just P being P." And I have to wonder, even if they wanted to say something, who could they say it to? Not P. John? Wasn't he a friend of P? Corey? Wasn't he a friend of P? With so few people there it would be way too easy to trace it back to who complained. I would have just walked away from the job but that's me. I probably wouldn't have when I was in my 20's or early 30's.

Sure you could tell John, John could talk to Pete and Pete would just say "Oh come on, I was just joking around." And in a few months they would be gone with Pete again saying "They weren't what I was looking for in a contributor."

Those are fair points, but Pete has a track record of extraordinarily high risk and deviant behavior. Whether it’s lifestyle choices, sexual behavior, financial decisions, personnel decisions for his company, etc. This was transparent to many from afar. From near they saw it everyday.

And then choosing to put himself in a quasi-public view, with the amount of high risk baggage attached to him, was the riskiest move of all.

John and Kevin aren’t dumb - they knew this was a ticking time bomb and a matter of time. It was just a question of what outs it and how bad is the ending.

The Dis PR machine was effective and kept this buried for a long time. But the gigs up. Very sorry for the victims here and hope Sean, Dustin and others know they have support.

 

[disneyseniors]

By now I’m sure most of you have seen my blog post about Pete’s departure from Dreams Unlimited Travel and the DIS. If not you can see it here https://www.wdwinfo.com/uncategoriz...-and-co-owner-of-dreams-unlimited-travel-inc/

I know many of you want my official take on the situation. Due to legalities and under advice of council I am not permitted to comment on the allegations. I may be able to say more in the future but I can’t as of right now.

I can say that Dreams Unlimited Travel and The DIS both have incredible teams of people working for and with us. We are a very strong organization and we will continue to grow and improve, as we have done every year we have been in business. I have the best people in the world working for and with me and I am so grateful for all of them. We are on strong financial footing and our business continues to grow.

For those on these boards who have decided it is OK to be mean, nasty and threatening to Kevin and myself I must say I am totally and completely appalled. We have always been nice, friendly and respectful to everyone we have met. The vitriol and hatred coming our way is uncalled for and disturbing. Just because my response wasn’t fast enough for some people you have decided that it’s appropriate to hide behind an anonymous screen name and post whatever you like. You have created false narratives and fabricated stories without knowing the first thing about us.

For those who have been supportive and good friends both on the boards and in ‘real life’ I am eternally grateful to have you in our lives. Your friendship is a blessing and I am humbled by your support.

My virtual door is always open and I have posted my email address on these boards before but in case you don’t have it – John@DreamsUnlimitedTravel.com

John Magi
President, Co-Owner
Dreams Unlimited Travel, Inc.

John, thank you and Kevin for the update. It must be frustrating to have to deal with updates while going through this very public situation. I can't imagine why anyone would be mean and hateful to you or Kevin. I would think that most of the dis community would be supportive of you at this time. I am also sure that the Dis will be a better place in the future and am looking forward to the new dis with your wonderful staff.
It's a very unfortunate result of all the modern technology that anyone can put up a false name and say awful things to other people. I am sure they wouldn't do it face to face. Please disregard these people and know that most of us are behind you 100% and have positive hopes for the future

 

[yorkieteacher]

Those are fair points, but Pete has a track record of extraordinarily high risk and deviant behavior. Whether it’s lifestyle choices, sexual behavior, financial decisions, personnel decisions for his company, etc. This was transparent to many from afar. From near they saw it everyday.

And then choosing to put himself in a quasi-public view, with the amount of high risk baggage attached to him, was the riskiest move of all.

John and Kevin aren’t dumb - they knew this was a ticking time bomb and a matter of time. It was just a question of what outs it and how bad is the ending.

The Dis PR machine was effective and kept this buried for a long time. But the gigs up. Very sorry for the victims here and hope Sean, Dustin and others know they have support.

In hindsight, we can see his behavior as seeming high risk and being deviant, but before the AMEX lawsuit I guessed he was very wealthy and could afford it. I wasn’t privy to what was personal and what was corporate money. I knew from experience a small business like the Disunplugged broadcast which he reportedly was sole owner of, or at least controller of, he could hire and fire at will. I certainly didn’t expect him to be a sexual abuser of his employees. I think we are all assuming way too much about his other partners In the other businesses and employees of the Disunplugged based on what now has come to light. I believe and support his victims, but broad speculation is running rampant has been vicious at times , and is more than likely hurting innocent people as well.

 

[DonMacGregor]

In hindsight, we can see his behavior as seeming high risk and being deviant, but before the AMEX lawsuit I guessed he was very wealthy and could afford it. I wasn’t privy to what was personal and what was corporate money.

I think this is where many of the lines blur. Being in the travel industry, their bread and butter business requires the showcasing of travel destinations and means and methods. Aside from professional comps offered by the various vendors (Disney, Universal, cruise lines, etc.), a travel agency is going to spend a good chunk of their marketing budget on sending employees on junkets to review various destinations, hotels, airlines, etc. There is ZERO doubt that a massive percentage of Pete's travel was expensed by DUT (just like John and Kevin aren't paying a penny out of pocket for the current Disneyland trip).

The question arises from how much of the travel expense was legitimate, how much did the company anticipate reimbursing, and if any elements of the travel were considered personal expenses. As an example, our employees are given a pretty decent per diem when they travel ($100 per day, for personal meals). However, if they take a client to lunch or dinner, there's no hard cap on the cost of the meal (we just expect a reasonable amount of discretion, especially if the client decides they'd like to have some pre and post-meal cocktails). I know for a fact that people will jump at the opportunity to take someone out to dinner, knowing they can pocket the per diem and also get a nice meal to-boot, and that's cool too. The client is still happy, I'm happy, and the employee gets a nice steak and some cash. I just get a bit salty if it turns out to be a ghost client (however that is ridiculously rare).

Now, we're a construction consulting firm, not a travel agency, so the travel expenses in the DUT scenario are orders of magnitude greater, but there's still likely a line that can't be crossed. Maybe it takes repeated liberties taken along the lines of $5,000 cocktails with $900 gratuities, who knows.

 

[CookieGVB]

John was sitting there watching it happen in the podcasts. What good would it do to send him a message?

Paper trail?

 

[Kristina]

There’s a scene in the movie casino where Robert Deniro’s character wants to fire an employee for not fixing an obvious problem. His reason- the issue was so obvious that he was either in on it or he was incompetent. Either way, he has to go.

I can’t help but feel that way right now. Even if he didn’t know about the SA, John didn’t question the revolving door of employees in his own company, several of whom were romantically linked to Pete? I’m just a viewer and I always thought that was weird and that Pete was playing with fire. In any other company HR would be all over him. The odds of someone coming back with some sexual harassment/quid pro quo allegations were high, especially when there’s so many.

So just from the employee management part, I think John either knew Pete was a problem but tried to keep things pacified for the companies sake or he didn’t know which makes me question his abilities.

I think you are correct here. Dustin has stated a few times that the others didn’t know the full extent of what was going on and that they are good, fine people and to not blame them for what Pete did. It’s difficult but I want to honor his request and believe him both for what he’s been through but also why would he protect John or Kevin otherwise? He’s said they were always kind to him.

 

[Kyle George]

So whats the new tagline at the beginning of the podcast and all the videos going to be now?

"And remember this video and all of our videos and our sexual assault allegations are brought to you by Dreams unlimited travel"

I guess moving studios "because of Kevin's mobility issue" was focusing on the wrong mobility issue, the mobility of Pete's mouth.

Always suspected something was up since Oliver Green left....

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

deviant, but before the AMEX lawsuit I guessed he was very wealthy and could afford it.

Actual wealthy people don’t behave as PW did. He is similar to 45 in that regard with the narcissist behavior. Rich people find it faux pas to speak about money. They aren’t flashy either.

 

[Ruttangel]

My ex (a narcissistic abuser, small business owner with his own reports of SA just like PW’s that I found out about after filing for divorce) used to give the lamest reasons for dismissing people he hired “she was getting greedy”, etc. (And yes, he’s always the victim.)

He would do it for marriage therapists too. If a therapist was asking him to be accountable or focusing on how he was destroying the relationship, he’d make up some lame reason why we can’t continue seeing them: “She was BAD”, “He’s too expensive.”

If another therapist was falling for his manipulations and excuses, and asking me to be grateful for the good days, he’d let us stay with that therapist.

Sorry to hear you went through this

 

[bfost87]

Oh John. What an insincere, ******** statement.

You can’t have been around this long, in both a personal and professional relationship with the perpetrator, and then claim “I had no idea what was happening. You’re all being mean, stop”.

Time to shutter the doors.

 

[dachsie]

So whats the new tagline at the beginning of the podcast and all the videos going to be now?

"And remember this video and all of our videos and our sexual assault allegations are brought to you by Dreams unlimited travel"

I guess moving studios "because of Kevin's mobility issue" was focusing on the wrong mobility issue, the mobility of Pete's mouth.

Always suspected something was up since Oliver Green left....

Kyle - do you live in TX? I may know you if you are using your real name.