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The Disney Dish with Jim Hill Show Notes - Released 4/10/2023                This episode is sponsored by Rocket Money and Better Sleep

OPENING

Normal Open: Welcome back to another edition of the Disney Dish podcast with Jim Hill. It’s me, Len Testa, and this is our show for the week of Shmursday, April 10, 2023.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

On the show today: News! And yes, the whole Reedy Creek thing. Then in our main segment, Jim and I talk about what it was like to be on the Galactic Starcruiser last week.

JIM INTRO

Let’s get started by bringing in the man who asks why there’s an antonym for antonym, but no synonym for synonym. It’s Mr. Jim Hill.   Jim, how’s it going?

SUBSCRIBER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

iTunes:  Thanks to new subscribers Jenn Wylie, Hubert Yamada, Andrew Six, and Mark Andrada, and long-time subscribers Jay Feely, John Brock, David Irish, and Wayne C.  Jim, these are the entrepreneurs buying up the Harmonious barges as scrap metal to make their own Las Vegas-style water-based nighttime show over at Disney Springs.  The show will feature water screens, fireworks, and Disney music, plus an epic pirate battle every night between the barges, the floating cars at BOATHOUSE, and the volcano at Rainforest Cafe.  Look for this show - working title “Melodious” to debut this fall. True story.

NEWS

The Disney Dish News is brought to you by Storybook Destinations, trusted travel partner of Disney Dish. For a worry-free travel experience every time, book online at storybook destinations dot com.

                 

News

  • Disney announces the return of Annual Passes!
  • April 13 for DVC members
  • April 20 for the general public
  • Jim, this is a sign that attendance is down at Walt Disney World.  I’ve heard insiders say that the number of visitors is down about 25%.  This is a strong indication of that.  So hopefully that’ll help things bounce back.
  • Two Walt Disney World restaurants will be added to the Michelin dining guide for Florida when that new edition is launched May 11.  Earlier this week Michelin said Toledo - Tapas, Steaks & Seafood, and Victoria & Albert’s will be on the list, but they didn’t say what kind of rating they’d get.
  • Everyone knows Michelin for their ‘star’ ratings - really good restaurants get 1, 2, or 3 stars.  Very prestigious.  There’s one restaurant on Walt Disney Property with a Michelin star, and that’s the Capa steakhouse at The Four Seasons.
  • There are two other levels of recognition for the Michelin guide:
  • Bib Gourmand - which means ‘good cooking and good value’
  • None in WDW right now
  • Just getting listed in the Michelin guide is a first step for a lot of these places:
  • Ravello at the Four Seasons
  • California Grill
  • Citricos
  • The Polite Pig
  • Morimoto Asia
  • Jim, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say:
  • Victoria & Albert’s gets two stars
  • Toledo gets a Bib Gourmand
  • I’m a little surprised about Toledo, because I think Jaleo is better in every respect, and it’s less expensive.
  • Also, if Citricos and V&A both make the list for 2023, then two restaurants managed by WDW Castmember Israel Perez in the past year will be recognized by Michelin.  I’ve said for years that Israel by himself is worth 3-4 points in a dining survey.  Jim, I don’t know what Disney’s paying this guy, but I’ll bet that number is going up.
  • Genie+ set new records for pricing this week ($35) and still managed to sell out in record time.
  • I think we’ll see $45 Genie+ soon enough, and $50 might be in the realm of possibility.
  • Likewise, TRON officially opened, and its virtual queue sold out in seconds, and its $20/person Individual Lightning Lane sold out before 9 a.m.

  • Reedy Creek Improvement District Saga continues
  • Bob Iger said this week that Disney will invest $17B in WDW in the next 10 years
  • I was asked by news orgs to comment on this. My first question was “What was the investment over the past 10 years, for comparison?”
  • Disney doesn’t break down domestic parks by DLR/WDW/DCL, but here’s the last 10 years:
  • What’d we get with that?
  • Lands
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the second half of New Fantasyland
  • Pandora
  • Toy Story Land
  • Galaxy’s Edge
  • Rides
  • Frozen Ever After
  • Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
  • Hotels
  • Riviera Resort
  • Gran Destino Tower
  • Grand Floridian Villas
  • Poly Villas
  • Wilderness Lodge Copper Creek
  • Galactic Starcruiser
  • And so how much is $17B over the next 10 years?  Well, for one thing you have to adjust for inflation.  Let’s assume that inflation is going to average 4% over the next 10 years.  $17B over 10 years would have the spending power of $14B today, because of inflation:
  • So with inflation and with how expensive Imagineering is for everything, we should expect about the same, maybe a little less, over the next 10 years:
  • 3 new lands with 6 new rides
  • A couple of major ride re-do’s
  • Tiana’s is already built into the schedule, so 2 more
  • Four hotel conversions/re-do’s/expansions, maybe 1 completely new.
  • And Jim, all of this was in response to news that came out last week, when the new members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board found out that they had “lost control over everything other than to maintain the roads and maintain the infrastructure."
  • But first, every show should begin with a round of self-congratulations. Thanks to National Public Radio, who mentioned on last Saturday’s All Things Considered show, when talking about this whole thing, that the Disney Dish podcast was the only member of the public to go to the first of these meetings back in January.
  • Apparently, back on February 8, the old Reedy Creek Improvement District Board entered into a long-term contract with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for the following:
  • Use and operation of the Disney Springs parking garages (Exhibit B)
  • Labor agreements (Exhibit C)
  • A set of Restrictive Covenants that vest virtually all of the new building approvals process with Disney instead of with the District (Exhibit D)
  • A license agreement for other utilities, power systems, and the like (Exhibit E)
  • And the comprehensive Land Plan and Land Development things we talked about on an earlier show (Exhibit F)
  • Let me point out that members of the public who attended this meeting included:
  • 4 reporters from WESH
  • 4 from WKMG
  • 2 from the Orlando Sentiel
  • 1 from WFTV
  • 1 from Telemundo
  • 1 from Orlando Business Journal
  • 1 member of the public
  • However, Jim, nobody from the governor’s office, nor any future board member showed up for this meeting.
  • Let me also point out that these agreements are contracts, not laws or regulations. And because the legislature didn’t want state taxpayers to inherit Disney’s $1B in bond debt, the legislation that dissolved the old RCID said that any contracts or obligations in place with RCID would be inherited by the new board.  This contract is part of that inheritance.
  • That means the new board can’t pass new resolutions to void this agreement, because one party to a contract can’t change the contract unilaterally.
  • It changes the nature of most of these disputes into contract law, which is very well established and specifically protected by Article I, Section 10 of the US Constitution, also known as the Commerce Clause.  It says that states can’t pass laws impairing the obligation of contracts
  • Courts are VERY VERY reluctant to invalidate contracts, even ones that are one-sided.  Essentially, the state (or new board) would have to show:
  • The contract asks RCID to do something illegal
  • Disney forced RCID, under duress, to agree to the contract
  • The contract terms are so one sided that they “shock the conscience”
  • RCID didn’t get a chance to negotiate the contract
  • RCID was mentally unfit to enter into the contract
  • The Development Agreement:
  • Mandates that RCID and its successors will provide the support necessary for Disney to do the work in its 10-year development plan.
  • That is, the new board can’t stop anything in it
  • Commits the RCID and its successors to specific capital improvement projects
  • Commits RCID to getting Disney’s approval for any new work it does
  • This basically inverts the old approval process.
  • RCID’s work has to meet the quality, architectural features, design, and general aesthetic appearance of what’s in place now.  
  • RCID can’t use the Disney name, characters, or anything related to the parks, for promotional material
  • The agreement lasts for 21 years after the death of the last living descendent of King Charles III, or if Disney doesn’t own any property within 10 miles of RCID
  • THE SEVERABILITY CLAUSE:

            
  • Exhibit C (Prohibited Uses)
  • Housing
  • Entertainment venues
  • Anything over 4 stories tall

  • RCID can’t pass new rules to limit the work that’s in the long-term plan:

  • Road Work
  • Jim, I don’t think this is getting much attention. But let me point out that this agreement contains two MASSIVE road-building projects, and I can’t figure out what they’re for.



  • The state’s response:
  • One of the new board members, Ron Peri, said this:
    “This essentially makes Disney the government,” Ron Peri, said at a Feb. 27 meeting, when the meaning of the declaration first appeared to be understood. “This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure.”
  • My first question: What, beyond roads and infrastructure, did you think the board was supposed to do?
  • The governor said that, among other things, the new agreement was illegal because of “the lack of consideration, the delegation of legislative authority to a private corporation, and the restriction of the board’s ability to make legislative decisions”
  • But there is consideration. Remember, the district is named the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Disney’s committing to a decades-long master plan to spend tens of billions of dollars to increase tourism and tourism revenue in the district.  That’s what the district gets - more tourists and tourist money.  In return, Disney gets to ensure that the development that happens in the district, compliments the  investments Disney’s already made. It’s pretty clear what both sides are getting.
  • Likewise, Universal Orlando sits in the Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency special district. SeaWorld sits in a special district.  
  • The Wilton  Drive Improvement District (Broward County), whose charter is to improve Wilson Drive, has 7 board members. Six of them are land or business owners in the district.  
  • I’ve read (and searched) the agreement multiple times, and don’t see anything that delegates legislative authority to Disney, or restricts the ability of the board to make legislative decisions.  Further, Florida law specifically encourages this sort of agreement:
  • Florida Statute 163.3171 subpart (4) says:
    (4) Local governments may enter into agreements with each other and with a landowner, developer, or governmental agency as may be necessary or desirable to effectuate the provisions and purposes of ss. 163.3177(6)(h), 163.3245, and 163.3248. It is the Legislature’s intent that joint agreements entered into under the authority of this section be liberally, broadly, and flexibly construed to facilitate intergovernmental cooperation between cities and counties and to encourage planning in advance of jurisdictional changes.

Surveys

Listener Questions

Patents:

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We’re going to take a quick commercial break.  When we return, Jim tells us about the history of “Let’s Make a Deal” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” at Walt Disney World. We’ll be right back.

MAIN TOPIC

Let’s Make a Deal / Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” feature piece

22 years ago today (April 10, 2001), a fleet of armored cars rolled through the streets of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. And no, they weren’t hauling away all of those $35 Lightning Lane fees that WDW visitors had been charged during Easter Week (That’s surge pricing gone crazy). But – rather – those armored cars were delivering Regis Philbin & Mickey Mouse to the site of that theme park’s newest attraction, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!”

This was the Imagineers attempting to capitalize on a worldwide phenomenon. This hugely popular television game show had originally been launched just three years earlier in the UK. By 1999, ABC had acquired the US broadcast rights to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” In mid-August of that year, as sort of a trial balloon, that broadcast network did a two week-long run of this game show in primetime with Philbin (Who – as that time – was co-host of Buena Vista Television’s syndicated daytime talk show, “Live with Regis & Kelly”) as host.

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” scored so high in the ratings that ABC brought it to primetime just three months later. And this game show did so well ratings-wise during the crucial November 1999 Sweeps period, that – starting in 2000 – this Disney-owned television network began airing episodes of “Millionaire” sometimes three, four and even five nights a week. Where as many as 28 million viewers would then tune in to prompt say Regis say “Is that your final answer?”

And given that this is The Walt Disney Company were talking about here (which – when it has a hit on television [Think Davy Crockett, Zorro, even Baby Grogu on “The Mandalorian”] – immediately looks for other ways to cash in on this phenomenon. Strike while the iron is hot. Haul in all those Benjamins before this fad inevitably fads), the question almost immediately came up: What can we do with “Millionaire” at the Disney Parks? Is there any way we can turn this hit game show into something that the Guests can do at – say – Disney’s Hollywood Studios and/or Disney California Adventure.

And the Imagineers said “Sure. We’ll just do what we did with ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ at the Studios back in 1990.”

Do you remember the “Let’s Make a Deal” attraction that used to be presented several times daily in Soundstage One at what was then called Disney-MGM Studios theme park back in the early 1990s? This was back when Walt Disney World’s third gate was supposed to be a working studio. A place where Guests could then see actual movies & TV shows being made as they walked through those sound-proof, glassed-corridors. Which had been built into those three soundstages that Florida tourists got to visit whenever they took Disney-MGM’s backstage tour.

This theme park opened in May of 1989. And almost immediately, Disney found that it was far harder to persuade film & television professionals to fly on down to Florida and then shoot their movies & TV shows on site at the Disney-MGM theme park than they thought it would be. And given that the Disney Channel couldn’t really afford to film its entire broadcast line-up in Orlando (Over the years, only a handful of that cable channel’s series – “MMC – The New Mickey Mouse Club,” “Adventures in Wonderland,” and “Storytime with Belle” – were actually shot at Disney-MGM) … As 1989 gave way to 1990, the executives who were in charge of Disney World’s third theme park really began to scramble. Looking for some movie or TV show that was willing to be produced inside of Disney’s brand-new, very-expensive-to-build soundstages in Central Florida.

Mind you, by now, the syndicated version of “Wheel of Fortune” – hosted by Pat Sajak & Vanna White (FYI: Those two have been working together on this TV game show since 1981. Sajak [Who – starting with the 2023 – 2024 season of “Wheel of Fortune” – has been the host of this game show for 41 years. Vanna, on the other hand, has been turning letters on this program since 1975. That’s 46 years if you can believe it] …

Anyway, “Wheel of Fortune” had – the year previous – shot 10 episodes onsite at Disney-MGM. And that TV game show already had plans to return to Orlando in 1990 and shoot another set of shows. Guests seemed to have really enjoyed getting the chance to sit in on a taping of “Wheel of Fortune.” Which is what then made Disney-MGM officials think: “Okay. Let’s see if there’s another TV game show that might then be willing to be produced in our Florida soundstages.”

And – as it turns out – there was: “Let’s Make a Deal.” This classic TV game show had originally debuted on NBC back in December of 1963 as part of that network’s weekday morning line-up. After 5 years on the Peacock network, “Let’s Make a Deal” suddenly jumped to ABC in 1968. Where it then ran as part of the Alphabet network’s weekday morning line-up for another 8 years.

Hosted by Monty Hall (who served as master of ceremonies on 4500 half-hour-long episodes of this TV game show back in the 1960s & 1970s), “Let’s Make a Deal” had been so popular with TV viewers / had such strong brand recognition that – by 1989 – there had already been two attempts to revive the program. One in 1981 and a second attempt in 1984.

By January of 1990, a third attempt to revive “Let’s Make a Deal.” Only this time around, Monty Hall wasn’t going to be in front of the camera. He was only going to be a producer of this TV game show.

“I’m looking for new fields to conquer,” Hall said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times at the time. “I am committed to finding just the right new host for the show.”

Disney learned about this revival of “Let’s Make a Deal” that was in the works and quickly approached Hall & Co. By February of 1990, a deal had been struck. This TV game show would begin shooting in Florida in June of that same year and typically shoot two shows a day several times a week.

Which brings us to what Disney-MGM would do on those days when this 1990 revival of “Let’s Make a Deal” wasn’t shooting. Which was that it would load Guests into Soundstage One anyway (sometimes five and six times a day) and do a pretend taping of “Let’s Make a Deal.” Guests would be pulled out of line outside of the soundstage and then taken into the soundstage ahead of this pretend taping. Where – just like game participants did during production of the original version of “Let’s Make a Deal” game show back in the 1960s & 1970s – Guests would be encouraged to dress in zany outfits. Only these zany outfits would then be pulled from Disney World’s Wardrobe Department. Which had over 15,000 costume pieces right there onsite at Disney-MGM (You used to be able to see a lot of these costumes on display when you took Disney-MGM’s tram tour).

Disney spared no expense on this project. They built an elaborate two level set for this “Let’s Make a Deal” revival inside of Soundstage One. They also installed seating for 800 Guests inside of that soundstage (So that 1600 people could then see a taping of this game show on those days when “Let’s Make a Deal” was actually taping. Shooting two episodes back-to-back. And also because upwards of 4000 Guests could then get in on a faux taping of “Let’s Make a Deal” on those days when production of this TV game show was dark and Disney-MGM was just pretending to shoot an episode of “Let’s Make Deal’).

It was a great idea on paper. The new version of “Let’s Make a Deal” began shooting at Disney-MGM in June 4, 1990. These episodes actually began airing on NBC some 5 weeks later on July 9th of that same year. And that’s when the trouble started. Monty Hall had selected as host of this “Let’s Make a Deal” revival a young guy called Bob Hilton. Who was handsome & affable but just not up the task of handling a TV game show. Especially one that had a live audience of 800 people.

In hindsight, Disney’s desire to turn this “Let’s Make a Deal” revival into an actual attraction at Disney-MGM tanked the TV show. The original version of this television series on NBC & ABC in the 1960s & 1970s had an audience of only 200 people tops. It also had a simple, single level set of just … Well, Door Number One, Door Number Two and Door Number Three. Plus whatever was in the box that Jay was bringing down the aisle.

Whereas the version of the “Let’s Make a Deal” set than was built on Soundstage One had two levels. Plus the Disney characters regularly took part in the tapings of this TV game show. Bob Hilton – as a TV newbie – just couldn’t compete. He was swamped by his surroundings.

Quickly realizing that Hilton was in over his head, Monty Hall (who – let’s remember – was one of the producers of this “Let’s Make a Deal” revival) saw that the ratings for this TV game show were tanking and made a tough decision. Which was to fire Bob Hilton and then step in as the new host of this “Let’s Make a Deal” revival.

It didn’t help. By January of 1991 (just six months after this show had first debuted), NBC had pulled this “Let’s Make a Deal” revival off of its weekly daytime morning line-up and then replaced with a reality show which featured footage from trials around the country. Which left Disney with a dark soundstage and a really expensive set that now needed to be torn down & hauled away.

Back now to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” (which first opened to the theme parking-going public on April 7, 2001), the Imagineers definitely took the hard lessons they learned from that “Let’s Make a Deal” revival and then applied those when it came to turning this hit ABC primetime series into a theme park attraction.

First of all, WDI made sure that what they were building inside of Soundstage Two & Three was virtually identical to what people had seen when they were watching “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” at home. The set, the lighting cues, the sound effects, the musical strings were all replicated to the best of the Imagineers’ abilities.

The one thing that was different was … Well, the Guests taking part in “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” weren’t playing for money. But – rather – points.

And for each question they got right, the Guests were then awarded a certain number of points (and a collectible pin that then acknowledged that this person then acknowledged that they got to that particular level while taking part in “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!”). And if this Guest then made it through the first few levels, they then:

  • At the 1,000-point level, they then earned a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” baseball cap.
  • At the 32,000-point level, they earned a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” polo shirt.

(In the early days of this attraction, contestants were also awarded a copy of the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" CD-ROM game after they correctly answered the 32,000-point question).

  • At the 1,000,000-point level, they were then awarded an “I’m a Million Point Winner” black leather jacket. These Guests were also gifted a trip to New York City to see a taping of the real “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” TV show.

FYI: The folks at Disney-MGM sometimes changed this up. And – instead of that trip to NYC to attend a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” taping – they’d then gift these Guests a three night trip aboard the Disney Cruise Line.

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” was popular enough with Disney-MGM visitors that a second version of this attraction was then fast-tracked for Disney California Adventure Park. A brand-new building – Soundstage 17 – was hurried thrown together in that Hollywood Studios Backlot section of that theme park over the Summer of 2001. With the West Coast version of this TV game show opening on September 14th of that same year. Just three days after 911.

Wait. It gets worse. By this point, ABC had effectively killed the golden goose. The “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” TV show was airing so often on the Alphabet Network now that audiences had started to lose interest in this. And by late June of 2002, ABC execs had pulled “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” off of that network’s primetime schedule entirely.

Mind you, there was still the syndicated version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (which was hosted by Meredith Viera rather than Regis Philbin). Which would begin airing on television stations around the country in September of 2002. But “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” was no longer the white-hot phenomenon that it once was. And the drooping attendance levels at the East & West Coast versions of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It!" reflected that.

By August 20, 2004, Disney California Adventure threw in the towel. They shuttered their version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” on that day. And since that time, Soundstage 17 has been a variety of things. Among them “Olaf’s Snow Fest” and – more recently – it’s been the “Super Store featuring Avengers Campus.” Meaning that Soundstage 17 is the place you go to buy MCU stuff when the lines are too long inside of the Avengers Campus.

In Florida, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It” hung on two years longer. It eventually shuttered on August 19, 2006 so that Soundstages Two & Three could then become home to “Toy Story Mania.” Which opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios some 21 months later on May 31, 2008.

Fun Little Fact about “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” The TV version of this game show had a “Phone a Friend” option. The theme park version of this game show had a “Phone a Complete Stranger.” Which meant that a Cast Member standing outside of this soundstage would then attempt to recruit someone who just happened to be walking by this attraction at the moment this phone rang to come attempt to answer that question.

Me personally, my favorite version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” was staged during “Star Wars Weekends” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This was when “Phone a Complete Stranger” was replaced by “Ask the Jedi Council.”

Any winners listening in today? If so, do you still have your “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It!” baseball hat, polo shirt or leather jacket?

WRAP-UP

That’s going to do it for the show today.  You can help support our show and JimHillMedia by subscribing over at DisneyDish.Bandcamp.Com, where you’ll find exclusive shows never before heard on iTunes.   Jim and I just recorded two exclusive shows in Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood, with Jim Shull.  Until recently, Jim Shull was Executive Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering, so you can imagine what it was like for Jim and I to walk through a park with Jim Shull.  So if you want to hear me say “Jim, what were you thinking here?” for two hours, subscribe over at DisneyDish.Bandcamp.com.

ON NEXT WEEK’S SHOW: 

NOTE: You can find more of Jim at JimHillMedia.com, and more of me at TouringPlans.com.

PRODUCER CREDIT

iTunes Show: We’re produced fabulously by Aaron Adams, who’ll be guest-singing on “Seasons” with the group Rain, Light, Fade, as part of the Soundgarden/Chris Cornell Tribute Show, this coming April 29, 2023 at the High Dive, on North 36th Street, in beautiful, downtown, Seattle, Washington.

CLOSING

While Aaron’s doing that, please go on to iTunes and rate our show and tell us what you’d like to hear next.

For Jim, this is Len, we’ll see you on the next show.

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