News

• Jim and I are doing the second annual Gingerbread Challenge in Walt Disney World, starting Friday December 2, 2022.  
  

• Jim I want to address a scurrilous rumor from the Disney Dish that all of the contests were rigged in order to give prizes to small children.  And that’s scurrilous because it’s not a rumor, it’s true.  The winner of our Run Like Jack Sparrow contest was a lovely child named Katella, and she got an actual trophy that was almost her size.  We saw her later that day and she was still carrying it around.  We’ll probably do the same thing here.

• We’re doing a live podcast recording on December 2.  Tickets available at https://touringplans.com/2022-disney-dish-tp
  

• I’m speaking at IAAPA (Int’l Ass of Amusement Parks and Attractions) in Orlando on November 18.

• Disney’s released Galactic Starcruiser dates for 2023, and Jim and I - and Hank Lonely - are doing the voyage on March 30, 2023.  We’ve already got over 20 cabins booked, and that’s a decent portion of the ship for the Dish.  If you’d like to join a band of stellar misfits on a journey for the ages, visit http://storybookdestinations.com/disneydish/ to get a quote.
  

• Disney After Hours Events return to Walt Disney World in 2023

• Starts Jan 4 at DHS and Jan 9 at MK
• 
  

• EPCOT Candlelight Processional packages and narrators announced.

• These go on sale October 6
• The restaurants and prices:

• Biergarten Restaurant - $65 adults, $37 children
• Coral Reef Restaurant - $74 adults, $30 children
• Garden Grill Restaurant - $71 adults, $46 children
• Le Cellier Steakhouse - $100 adults, $39 children
• Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue - $40 (same day only)
• Rose & Crown Dining Room - $64 adults, $28 children
• Spice Road Table - $52 adults, $23 children  (same day only)

• Narrators:

• 11/25 – 11/26: TBD
• 11/27 – 11/29: Edward James Olmos L&O
• 11/30 – 12/1: Raul Esparza (NEW) L&O
• 12/2 – 12/3: Whoopi Goldberg L&O
• 12/4 – 12/6: Isabella Rossellini
• 12/7 – 12/9: TBD
• 12/10 – 12/12: Josh Gad (NEW)
• 12/13 – 12/14: Gloria Estefan (NEW)
• 12/15 – 12/18: Neil Patrick Harris L&O
• 12/19 – 12/20: Mariska Hargitay (NEW)  L&O
• 12/21 – 12/23: Cal Ripken Jr.
• 12/24 – 12/26: Marie Osmond
• 12/27 – 12/28: Courtney Vance L&O
• 12/29 – 12/30: Angela Bassett
• Jim, I did some IMDB digging, and half of these narrators have been on the TV series Law & Order. And so to the producers of Law & Order, I implore you to make a Christmas episode with the stars here who’ve not yet appeared.
  

• We could have an entire category of news titled “Why Wasn’t This Announced at D23’, like Deadpool 3, but here’s one for theme parks: Disney announced this week that Disney’s DuckTales World Showcase Adventure  will debut at EPCOT in 2022.
  

• Originally announced in December 2019
• The project was presumed to be cancelled
  
• 
  Thanks to our friend Patrick for sending in that tweet.
  

• AND EPCOT’s figment character is apparently getting a script:
  
  Disney Dragon Character Figment Getting Feature Treatment From Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit & Point Grey

Surveys

From our friend Jennifer:

And

Listener Questions

From Susan Albert:

Brand new subscriber here. Long time listener and I have attended one of your NYC shows. I loved this episode.

My son was in the College Program during all three hurricanes. For Charlie he was sent from AK where he worked to help out at Pop Century. He spent the night sleeping on a food court bench. For Frances he was on the Ride Out Team at AK lodge. He got paid for 36 hours and was put up in the hotel. For Jean he wasn't assigned so he had to spend the hurricane in his apartment but he helped with clean up at AK. It was probably his most memorable time there. I called to see if he had listened to the pod yet and told him what it was about. We talked about it and it is still so clear in his mind. He can’t wait to listen.”

From Janet Sala:

Weeks ago I made the sucker purchase of MagicBand+ for our upcoming trips.

I was concerned that there were no directions on what to do enclosed in the box. I went to MyDisneyExperience and managed to figure it out. Today, I was recycling the boxes and noticed a couple of QR codes. I immediately felt guilty—certainly this was the link to online instructions.  So, I tried them out.

The first QR code on the MagicBand+ box sent me to “Sent me to Speed Queen Washer/Dryer parts:”

The second QR code sent me to a link at the NIH for “cattle genetics”, and a Phillips LED Light:

Disney Patents

Jim, we noticed that some kind of camera contraption was recently mounted on the ride vehicles over at Dinosaur in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  This patent might be related:

How WDW’s proposed “Sleeping Beauty” ride became a “Peter Pan Flight” clone

Feature Piece

“Peter Pan Flight” officially opened on October 3, 1971. Two days after the Magic Kingdom first opened to the public.

Based on the three Fantasyland dark rides that initially debuted at Disneyland when Walt’s family fun park first opened in Anaheim back in July of 1955.

Each of these Fantasyland dark rides had its own unique flavor / offered a unique Guest experience.

“Peter Pan’s Flight” was the pretty one. You first flew out the window of the Darlings nursery aboard a tiny pirate galleon. You then soared above the busy nighttime streets of London before charting a course for the Second Star on the Right. After that, you did a fly-over of Neverland before then making for Skull Rock. You then watched Captain Hook sneaking up on Peter Pan as poor Tiger Lily almost got drowned by the rising tide. Next you passed the Indian Village before you then headed straight for the Jolly Roger.

On deck there, you spied Wendy, John & Michael as well as the Lost Boys. High up in the rigging, Peter Pan is dueling with Captain Hook, trying to hold this Disney Villain at bay with a dirk while Hook is wielding a cutlass.

Things somehow work themselves out. Because – the next thing we know – Tink is dosing the Jolly Roger with pixie dust and Peter is flying the Darlings back to London. As a comic coda to this dark ride, we see Captain Hook almost getting eaten by that always somewhere-near-by croc as Smee rows to his rescue.

Again, this was supposed to be the pretty dark ride. While the “Snow White Adventure” was supposed to be the scary one (In-house, this Fantasyland attraction was often called – by Cast Members, anyway – “Snow White and the Seven Witches.” For the number of times that that character popped up / jumped out to frighten Guests over the course of this ride) and “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” was supposed to be the thrilling / funny one.

These three dark rides – however – were originally not supposed to be part of Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. The thinking at Imagineering – back in the mid-1960s, anyway – was that they didn’t want to repeat themselves in Florida. WED wanted to give Guests (especially those who’d previously sampled the Company’s offerings out in Anaheim at the original Disneyland Park) an entirely new setting of offerings if they then traveled to Florida and visited the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

And you can still see the bones of this idea if you look at the Magic Kingdom’s original line-up of rides, shows & attractions:

• In Florida, the submarine voyage wasn’t in Tomorrowland. It was in Fantasyland and themed around the Studio’s 1954 Academy Award-winning release, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”
  
• This theme park didn’t have a “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show (which was presented down on Main Street, U.S.A. in that theme park’s Opera House). But – rather – it had a “Hall of Presidents,” a far more elaborate affair featuring animatronic versions of all of our Nation’s commanders-in-chief (Not just Honest Abe all by his lonesome). And this show was in a brand-new land built just at this theme park: Liberty Square.
  
• And let’s not forget that – if all had gone according to plan – Florida’s Magic Kingdom wouldn’t have had a “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction at all. It was supposed to have had a “Western Expedition” ride, a “Pirates” – like experience that would have then been housed inside of a giant table-top mountain structure that was to have been called “Thunder Mesa.”

You saw the very same thing if you looked elsewhere at the Magic Kingdom. The Imagineers made a deliberate effort not to repeat themselves.

• Disneyland Park had Sleeping Beauty Castle, keying off of the design of that 1959 Walt Disney Productions release. WDW’s Magic Kingdom has Cinderella Castle, which keyed off of the production design of that 1950 film.
  
• Main Street U.S.A. out in California was influenced by buildings found in Fort Collins, CO (childhood home to Harper Goff) and Marceline, MO (Childhood home of Walt Disney). Whereas Main Street, U.S.A. in Florida picks & chooses from a variety of cities on the East Coast. The train station – for example – was modeled after the one found in Saratoga Springs, NY.

And as for the Enchanted Tiki Room … In Orlando, this Adventureland attraction was given a brand-new pre-show (deliberately built under cover to keep Guests out of both the hot Florida sun and those soaking Central Florida rains) as well as a new name, the Sunshine Pavilion.

Speaking of which … Here’s a story from the “News from Walt Disney World” (an in-house newsletter that the Company created for the thousands of construction workers who were working on-site in Orlando to complete this destination resort in 1970 & 1971). This story was published back in June of 1971, some three months prior to the Magic Kingdom Park first opening to the public.

The piece I’ll be quoting from had a headline which read “Walt Disney World provides unique showcase for industry.” Here’s the section from that story that I wanted to share:

One of the first (organizations) to sign a contract to participate in Walt Disney World was the Florida Citrus Growers, who have a major attraction in the Magic Kingdom theme park in the Sunshine Pavilion. Similar to the “Enchanted Tiki Room” at Disneyland, it will present a musical luau starring the enchanted birds of the Sunshine State in a tropical serenade.

Editor’s note: Disney World PR team just couldn’t settle on a name that they liked for this Adventureland attraction. Posters for the show called it the “Tropical Serenade.” However, park maps indicated that – if Guests wanted to see the East Coast version of Disneyland’s “Enchanted Tiki Room” show – they should make their way to the Sunshine Pavilion.

And to further muddy the water here, all of the transplanted Californians who had flown out to Florida to help open the Walt Disney World Resort just – through sheer force of habit – ignored all of these other new names and kept calling this Magic Kingdom show “The Enchanted Tiki Room.” So no wonder that Guests were confused when it came to what they should call this Adventureland attraction.

Anyway … Back to that story from the June 1971 issue of “News from Walt Disney World” …

There will be a unique Sunshine Tree Terrace refreshment location in conjunction with the attraction. Florida citrus fruits and juices will be served throughout the Magic Kingdom.

It’s the photograph that accompanies this article that – I think – will most intrigue Disney Dish listeners. It’s the very first appearance of the Orange Bird.

I have to say that the very first version of the Orange Bird costume (the one that Cast Members would wear as they interacted with Guests in Adventureland Plaza. That space out in front of the Tropical Serenade and the Sunshine Tree Terrace which is now occupied by the “Magic Carpets of Aladdin” spinner ride) …

This early Orange Bird costume is pretty rough looking. It basically looks like the person inside is dressed in a pair of footy pajamas while they’ve got a giant orange globe jammed on their head. With oversized eyes and a beak attached to the front of this character’s head.

And the caption that goes along with this photo reads:

The Orange Bird is an example of joint marketing effort between Walt Disney World and industrial participants. The Orange Bird was created by WED Enterprises for the Florida Citrus Growers to use in promotional campaigns.

This part of the WDW story just fascinates me. Because the Florida Citrus Growers were the first through the door, the first organization to effectively raise its hands (right after Project Florida was first officially announced back in November of 1965), the Imagineers said “Okay. Because you were the first to offer to sponsor an attraction at Walt Disney World, we’re now going to create a character for you that – from this point forward – use in all of your print ads & TV commercials.” Because WED didn’t do this for any of the other corporations that got in line AFTER the Florida Citrus Growers and offered to sponsor an attraction at the Resort. These included:

• Borden
• Coca-Cola
• Eastern Air Lines
• Frito Lay
• GAF
• Gulf Oil
• Hallmark
• Kal Kan Foods
• Monsato
• Oscar Mayer
• Pepsi-Cola
• RCA
• Smuckers
• & Welchs

Have to admit that I’m also fascinated by the idea that Disney’s participant relations office was able to persuade Coca-Cola & Pepsi (two soft drink companies that were in direct competition) AND Smuckers & Welch’s (two food companies that were direct competition when it came to the production of jellies & jam) to all come in as sponsors of attractions at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.

Anyway … We started off today’s feature piece by talking about how the Imagineers wanted to the Magic Kingdom in Florida to have dark rides in its Fantasyland area that were supposed to be different than the ones built out in California at Disneyland.

So what did WED originally want to build in the Fantasyland section of Florida’s Magic Kingdom? These proposed attractions were supposed to fill the exact same slots (By that I mean: The pretty one, the scary one and the funny / thrilling one).

The pretty one was supposed to be the “Sleeping Beauty” ride. Keying off of Eyvide Erle’s original production design, Guests would have traveled through a stylized storybook environment, watched as Briar Rose danced with Prince Phillip in the forest, laughed as they visited the Woodcutter’s Cottage and looked on as the Good Fairies bungled their attempt at celebrating Princess Aurora’s 16th birthday and just missed the enormous snapping jaws of Maleficent-as-a-dragon.

The thrilling / funny ride was supposed to be built around that moment in Disney’s “Sword in the Stone” where Merlin & Mad Madam Mim face off in a wizard’s duel. As Guests traveled through this dark ride, they’d find themselves caught in the crossfire between Merlin & Mim as these sorcerers slung spells back and forth.

Which brings us to the end gag from “Wizards Duel” (That was the original name for this Fantasyland attraction). Borrowing a page from “The Haunted Mansion,” just before reaching this attraction’s unload area, our ride vehicle would have passed a bank of mirrors. And as Guests passed their mirrors, they’d have noticed that there were no longer humans in these cars. There were pigs, cows, walruses, elephants & rhinos.

Just before exiting the show building, an animatronic Merlin was supposed to have waved his wand at the Guests and said “Oops. Sorry about that. Let me fix that for you.” So that we’d all be human again once we returned to the off-load area.

As for the scary ride … It’s the loss of this attraction that still upsets many Disney animation fans. It was the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” ride. And Guests were to have traveled through this dark ride aboard enormous pumpkins that were to have spun and periodically been surprised by an appearance of the Headless Horseman atop her fearsome black steed.

What would have been cool about this particular Fantasyland attraction (which was to have been built approximately where “Peter Pan Flight” is located in the Magic Kingdom today) is that it would have expanded the overall footprint of Liberty Square. Pushed back the borders of this land at that theme park to top of the hill. Well past the entrance of Harbor House.

So why didn’t these three very different Fantasyland attractions get built? As the original projected costs of building the Walt Disney World Resort effectively doubled from the $100 million that was originally announced back in November of 1965 to $200 million in the Spring of 1967 … Roy O. Disney (Walt’s brother, who effectively took up the reins on Project Florida after Walt passed away in December of 1966) asked the Imagineers to do what they could to reduce the overall costs of building Project Florida. Because Walt Disney Productions was a publicly held company after all.

Following Roy’s orders, the Imagineers scrapped their plans for designing & then building three brand-new dark rides for Florida’s version of Fantasyland. Opting instead to revert to the tried & true “Peter Pan Flight,” “Snow White’s Scary Adventure” & “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” from Disneyland Park in California.

The irony here is … Because the Imagineers just couldn’t help themselves (they have to plus everything during their design & development process), they wound up designing all new versions of these three Disneyland rides. Which is why – in the end – the cost of building the Walt Disney World Resort went from $200 million to $400 million.

In the end, it might have actually been cheaper to just stick with those three new dark rides for the Fantasyland section of WDW’s Magic Kingdom.