News
 

• Every show should begin with a round of self-congratulations

• Last Friday the Orlando Sentinel asked us to predict the kinds of things Disney World might build

• We said don’t be surprised to see Indiana Jones at Animal Kingdom, plus a couple of Encanto rides
• The next business day, Monday, Disney filed a construction permit for construction trailers and parking over in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom … with a road to Dinoland.
• Capacity?

• Disney Cruise Line announced its next ship, the Disney Destiny

• Themed to “villains and heroes”
• Should have same layout as Wish and Treasure
• Launches 2025
  

• CommuniCore Plaza will open June 10, 2024. As you recall, Disney said EPCOT construction would finish in 2023. But Jim, what we didn’t realize is that EPCOT’s management team has used the Xandarian calendar ever since Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened in 2022.  And a Xandarian “year” consists of more than 12 Earth months, so it all makes sense.

• Disney’s also running an Encanto-themed show, called ¡Celebración Encanto!, from June 10 to September 6 in front of the Plaza.
• Jim, is this testing the waters for more Encanto-themed things?
  
  Concept art:

• Disney also filed construction permits for Storybook Circus in the Magic Kingdom.

• Word on the street is that this is for the “Smellephants on Parade” scavenger hunt in Storybook Circus, presented by Scentsy.

Surveys

Listener Questions

Kiley writes in with a compliment and a question:

First things first - Len, your enunciation is impeccable.  In my earlier life, I was an opera singer by training, and one of the cardinal rules was to phonate both the terminal and beginning consonants of adjoining words, even if they were the same/similar.  Take for example "I won't take it". Most people, when speaking, will combine the terminal  "T" of "won't" with the "T" at the beginning of "take" = one enunciated "T".  You, however, are consistent with pronouncing both t's, in said example.  I just love listening to you talk.

Now for my question - On average, how much have WDW resort prices increased in the past 5 years?  We took friends to stay on Club level in AKL in early 2019 and, to my recollection, we paid ~$500/night.  That was a reduced rate because I was an annual pass holder.  We are looking to perhaps do the same in the coming year, and I was nearly apoplectic when I saw the price for the same room @ $1070/night.  Have all rooms gone up this much and, if so, what is the justification of 100% increase?  Is it sustainable?

Len says: It looks like the cheapest club-level Jambo House room would’ve been right at $520/night with tax in 2019 because of a 20% discount Disney was running at Deluxe hotels for the general public through April 27, 2019.

Adjusted for inflation, that 2019 rate would be about $630 in today’s money.

In 2024 the cheapest rack rate for AKL Jambo Club Level is $873 with tax. Let’s assume you can get that for 25% off as well, which would make it $654.  So after accounting for inflation that’s just under 4% higher than in 2019.

Incidentally, I’m also looking at ticket and hotel costs after adjusting for inflation, for an interview I’m doing later today with the Wall Street Journal. So Kiley, thanks for this question because it fit right in with that.

Last week Craig wrote in with a question about the best shore excursion for a Disney Cruise to Alaska.  And we recommended the Alaskan Sled Dog Experience.  A number of listeners wrote in to say that the sled dog experience was also their favorite shore excursion.  And our Australian mate John Mouland even sent in photos of his spectacular experience:

Research/Patents (use query "disney enterprises".as AND "theme park".ab)

Pixie Hollow feature
Part Two

Quick recap:  The Walt Disney Company launched its “Disney Princesses” franchise back in 2000. Which quickly grew from a $300-million-dollars-a-year business line to a $3-billion-dollars-a-year business line.

The only problem was that little girls aged out of liking & supporting this business line at 7. Disney wanted to keep milking this cash cow. So they began exploring all sorts of ideas. Like maybe creating another franchise that young girls could embrace after they aged out of lining the “Disney Princesses.”

Side note (Which ties in with Disney Cruise Line’s announcement yesterday of the newest ship in its fleet – the Disney Destiny – which is supposed to celebrate Disney’s heroes & villains) … For a time, Disney Consumer Products explored the idea of creating a “Disney Princesses” -like business line that would appeal to young boys.

“Disney Heroes” was launched in 2004. Action figure line that deliberately paired up heroes & villains from various Disney animated features:

·          Peter Pan & Captain Hook

·          Robin Hood & the Sheriff of Nottingham

·          Prince Phillip & Maleficent (in Dragon form)

Classic Disney story. “Disney Heroes” sold okay. Any other company would have kept this product line alive. But Disney expected “Disney Princess” money from this new business initiative. When that didn’t happen in Year One, the Company rapidly walked away from the “Disney Heroes” idea (FYI: This action figures are now selling for big bucks on e-Bay).

What’s interesting about this is – when the Company did an after-actions report on why the “Disney Heroes” product line didn’t turn into a “Disney Princesses” -sized success – the word that came was that Disney (the Company) hadn’t done enough to help support the launch of this new business line.

Going in, the thinking was – Well, young boys already know who the “Disney Heroes” characters are. I mean, they’ve already seen the classic animated features that these heroes & villains are pulled from. “Peter Pan,” “Robin Hood,” “Sleeping Beauty” and the like. So why spend additional money on explaining who these characters are.

Another thing that came out of this after-actions report. Because little boys already knew who Peter Pan & Captain Hook, Robin Hood & the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince Phillip & Maleficent-in-dragon form were … They didn’t seem all that special. They knew the adventures that these characters would go on based on those classic Disney animated films.

Takeaway for Disney Consumer Products was … When we do something like this again, we need to do a better job of supporting the overall launch of this new business line. Have as many arms of the Disney Company as possible get behind this initiative. We’re talking Publishing, Home Entertainment, the Parks. More to the point, we need to give our customers new characters to embrace.

This is why – when the Company launched “Disney Fairies” in 2005 – the initial wave of stuff came out of Disney Publishing. “Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg” by Gail Carson Levine hit story shelves on September 1, 2005. Introduced many of the characters and key concept behind Pixie Hollow (the enchanted palace where Tinker Bell & her Disney Fairies friends lived).

Phase Two was launching a line of “Tinker Bell” home premiere movies to support this toy line. In June of 2006, Dick Cook – the then-head of Walt Disney Studios – stood onstage at that year’s Licensing Expo (which was held at the Javits Center in NYC) and introduced Brittany Murphy (the star of “Clueless”). Who was going to be the voice of Tinker Bell in the first film in this series, “Tinker Bell and the Ring of Belief.”

This was a very big deal, by the way. Ever since Disney’s version of Tinker Bell was first introduced in the animated version of “Peter Pan” in February of 1953, this character had never spoken.

There was only one problem. Six months earlier (in January of 2006), Disney had acquired Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion dollars. And as part of this acquisition, John Lasseter – who was the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios at that time – assumed that very same role at Walt Disney Animation Studios AND at Disneytoon Studios (which was the arm at the Mouse House who produced the Company’s direct-to-video home premieres).

And here’s the thing: John Lasseter reportedly hated “Tinker Bell and the Ring of Belief.” Which was supposed to the first of a series of “Disney Fairies” films that would then help build interest in the “Disney Fairies” toy line. Which – again – remember was what the Company was counting on becoming the franchise that little girls would transition to after they lost their enthusiasm for the “Disney Princesses.”

So John – as the newly empowered head of Disneytoon Studios – insisted that all sorts of changes be made to “Tinker Bell and the Ring of Belief.” Chief among these being that Tinker Bell’s voice be recast. Which is why Mae Whitman (former child actor from films like “Independence Day,” later appeared in acclaimed TV series like “Parenthood” on NBC) replaced Brittany Murphy as Tink’s voice.

The other problem here was … Disney Consumer Products had already designed toys that would key off of characters & settings from “Tinker Bell and the Ring of Belief.” And Lasseter’s demands for changes in the first “Disney Fairies” film was tripping up the Company’s plans to have those toys on store shelves just as “Ring of Belief” was available for purchase.

All of the changes that Lasseter requested pushed back the release of the first “Tinker Bell” movie from the Fall of 2007 to Late October of 2008.

In this same window of time, the very first “Pixie Hollow” opened at Disneyland Park. This was located right off the Hub in the Alpine Gardens (directly adjacent to where the House of the Future once stood). Here – in a rethemed structure which once housed Ariel’s Grotto (This is where Guests had been able to meet-n-greet with the Little Mermaid since 1996).

Around this same time, at the Magic Kingdom in Florida, inside of the Toontown Hall of Fame at Mickey’s Toontown Fair (this was where this land’s dedicated meet-n-greet facility was located), a “Disney Fairies” themed meet-n-greet was set up. Here kids would get to hang with Tink and her friends Iridessa, Silvermist & Fawn.

The original “Tinker Bell” movie was followed with a second film in the series, “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure,” in October of 2009. Followed by a third home premiere, “Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue” in October of 2010. Toys & books associated with the “Disney Fairies” business line were selling well enough that WDI was inspired to design a “Pixie Hollow” land for the Fantasyland expansion project that was then in the works for the Magic Kingdom in Florida.

That version of this project really leaned into the “Disney Princesses” & “Disney Fairies” franchise. Had three NextGen meet-n-greets for the Princesses (Meet Belle at Maurice’s Cottage and then travel to the Beast’s Castle, Meet Cinderella at the Tremaine Chateau and then send her off to the ball, and meet Briar Rose at the Woodcutter’s Cottage and then help celebrate her 16th birthday). Pixie Hollow was supposed to be equally elaborate. Full-sized Pixie Dust Tree. Spinner flat ride (similar to the Mad Tea Party) made out of found objects that Tinker Bell had turned into ride vehicles.

Jay Rasulo – the then-Head of Disney Parks – revealed the Company’s plans to redo Florida’s Fantasyland (expanding the most popular land at WDW’s most popular theme park from 10 acres to 26 acres) in September of 2009.

Not generally well known: There were to be two Pixie Hollows, one in Florida and one in Shanghai as part of that project’s Castle Park.

November of 2009 … Bob Iger (who’s looking to decide who’s eventually going to replace him as Disney’s CEO) makes Jay Rasulo switch jobs with Tom Staggs (who – at that time – is Disney’s CFO).

We’ve talked about on previous “Disney Dishes” about how Staggs – who’s the father of boys – wasn’t a big fan of a Fantasyland redo that so heavily leaned into the “Disney Princesses” & “Disney Fairies” franchises (Tom is the guy who insisted that those “Cinderella” & “Sleeping Beauty” -themed NextGen meet-n-greet [FYI: Both of these experiences were going to be housed in the same super-sized show buildings and share back-of-house stuff. The entrance to the “Cinderella” meet-n-greet was to have faced south towards Cinderella Castle, while the entrance to the “Sleeping Beauty” was to have towards the Northeast).

But in his role as CFO, Staggs knew that sales for the third “Tinker Bell” home premiere – “The Great Fairy Rescue” – hadn’t been as strong as the sales for the previous two “Tinker Bell” films. This is why release of the fourth film in the “Disney Fairies” home premiere series (i.e., “Secret of the Wings”) was delayed ‘til October of 2012.

January of 2011, Staggs introduced revised plans for New Fantasyland. Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty NextGen meet-n-greets replaced by Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Pixie Hollow cut for Storybook Circus.

July 2011 – Disney Fairies leave Toontown Hall of Fame for Adventureland. Set up new meet-n-greet on Adventureland Veranda. Tinker Bell’s Nook.

Three more “Disney Fairies” films:

·          “The Secret of the Wings” in October of 2012

·          “The Pirate Fairy” in April of 2014

·          “Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast” in March of 2015

No gas left in the tank. Walt Disney Pictures opted to go another route (live-action film starring Reese Witherspoon as Tink announced in 2015. Didn’t go into production). Two further “Disney Fairies” films – “Tinker Academy” & “Tink Meets Peter” – already in development were placed on hold / never officially put into production.

Disneytoon Studios closed in June of 2018. John Lasseter – who went on a leave of absence in November of 2017 because of reports of inappropriate behavior – officially left the Walt Disney Company in that same month (June 2018).

“Peter and Wendy” – David Lowery movie – April 2023 on Disney+. Yara Shahidi from “Black-ish” & “Grown-ish” as Tinker Bell. Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies opening at Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySeas June 6th of this year.

Final note: Original “Disney Princesses” assortment of character dolls did feature Tink as a Princess.

Magical Nook – Adventureland Veranda – July 2011