News

• Disney’s announced AP previews for TRON. Signup is going on … as we’re recording this, Jim, and most of you should be out of the Disney website hold queue by the time the show comes out on Monday.

• I have friends who’ve been on hold since 9 a.m., with a prompt that says “Your wait is over an hour”. And jim, let me just say, any time estimate that includes the range of “61 minutes to the eventual heat death of the universe” is probably not a great user experience.  But good luck to all of you who are on hold.
  

• The big news, Jim, is that the Florida Legislature has passed a bill reforming the Reedy Creek Improvement District

• New name is Central Florida Tourism Oversight District
• Governor gets to appoint board of directors
• Persons who’ve worked in the theme park industry in the past 3 years are ineligible for the board
• The border of RCID is changed, presumably to include new residents who the governor wants on the board.  And that’s interesting because to describe the land that’s now in and who’s out of the district took 79 of the bill’s 191 pages.

• I believe that the entire original RCID bill in 1967 was just 92 pages, Jim.
• Anytime you see something like this, you have to wonder why.  And I suspect, Jim, but I haven’t figured it out yet, but I think that some of the borders in the new bill might be down to the level of individual homes.  I’ll see if I can find more about that.

• And so … why was there no opposition from Disney on this?

• I’m 99.99% sure there was a ton of private-room-in-a-restaurant talking about this.
• I don’t know exactly where these conversations happened. But Jim, the next time you’re in Tallahassee, if you’re in the mood for Italian, Il Lusso does a 16-ounce, bone-in veal parm that’s just amazing. Totally recommend it.
• Disney’s thoughts:

• It’s very hard to fight both the governor and legislature, even if you think you’re right, because any law that gets in the way of what the governor wants, will just be changed.
• Court fights are lengthy and unpredictable
• Disney’s already losing some of the “Over 50” demographic, who have a lot of disposable income, because of this.
• Do they want to be in the news for the next X years?
• Also, I’ve heard now that landowners don’t get to vote on board members, it removes one barrier to Disney opening up residential development inside Walt Disney World. So they may have looked at that as a potential benefit.

Surveys

A friend of the show who’ll remain nameless has shared a brand new Universal survey that asks for your opinion on park reservation systems

Initial questions:

• When was your most recent trip to Universal?
• (Reminder of Disney’s reservation system) Before this survey, were you aware of Disney’s park reservation system?

Jim, I think this question is to figure out the impact of the “Surprise!” factor Disney’s park reservation system had on people who didn’t know about it beforehand.

• Did you use the Disney park reservation system?
• Did you, or someone else in your party, the one primarily responsible for making the park reservations?

• They want to make sure they’re talking to the victim here

• Did you make all of your park reservations at the same time Y/N?
• Did you make your park reservations on the same day you bought your tickets, or on a different day?

Great question:

Because this tells Universal how many people are willing to work around park reservations and still go to the parks.

Another great question:

So the first question there is “Does the park reservation system make you commit earlier (so we’d know earlier that you’re coming).  And if you did, did you spend more or less?

Great question:

If you answer “all the parks were available”, then you can combine that with the “how far in advance did you plan” answers to see whether the hoops Disney made guests jump through, were necessary, and how guests felt about that.

Again, there’s a ‘Jump through a hoop” aspect to some of this.

Great question:

OOOHHH:

OOOHHH:

Next question is “Why do you feel this way?”

And

I’ve never seen this question before, but good for Universal for asking it:

Wow:

And

This is like asking “Do you like that Universal is so awesome?”

AND

And

Then a free-form text question about why you feel that way.  And then demographic info.

So Jim, why is Universal so interested in park reservation systems?

• Universal’s definitely getting some guests alienated by Disney (that’s more revenue)
• Disney’s definitely getting labor savings from park reservations (that’s cost savings)
• The question for Universal is “which number is bigger?” Because Wall Street will look at increased revenue and decreased costs differently, if it’s one or the other.
• Also, Uni knows there’s going to be more people trying to get in to Epic Universe when it opens, than will fit into Epic Universe.  

• We know UOR hotel guests will get in
• Then multi-day ticket holders
• So if there’s any space left, how do you fairly allocate that to one-day guests?
• Keep in mind that you can’t just walk from EU to another park, if you get turned away.

Listener Questions

A question from Blake:

My company is holding their next semi-annual meeting at the Gaylord Palms Orlando.  This got me thinking about transportation to the parks and then  transportation *within* the parks.

Which Disney resort do you think has the best overall transportation options to ALL the parks. So in other words it wouldn't be a resort that's super convenient to just one park and then a hassle to get to the others.  This would be the one resort that has 'pretty OK' options to everything, nothing super great and nothing super terrible.

Len: Some resorts are just completely out:

• Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kidani
• Old Key West
• Saratoga Springs and the Treehouses
• Fort Wilderness Campgrounds, and probably Wilderness Lodge, Boulder Ridge, Copper Creek
• All-Stars (because Pop/AoA have the Skyliner, so they’d win)
• NOT the Grand Floridian, for reasons we’ll discuss
• Not Coronado or Gran Destino, or Port Orleans FQ or Riverside

A couple of obvious options:

• The Skyliner Resorts

• Riviera
• Caribbean Beach
• Pop Century
• Art of Animation

But I think it’s one of these four:

• The Contemporary: walk to MK, monorail to EPCOT in just one stop
• The Poly: Walk to MK, walk to EPCOT monorail
• The EPCOT resorts

• Probably Beach Club or BoardWalk, for shortest walks to a park/skyliner

Walt Disney Likeness Feature Story

You have to assume that the folks at D23 didn’t anticipate what the reaction to the unveiling of that Walt Disney hologram – the one that will help introduce museum visitors to “Disney100: The Exhibition” (That traveling exhibit which opened at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on Friday, February 18th would be).

Based on the initial feedback online, a handful of Disney fans liked this virtual Walt. The rest … Well, the reaction went from the fairly polite “That’s concerning” or “That’s disturbing,” to the more extreme “Kill it with fire.”

Me personally, I think the problem here is that this virtual Walt isn’t modeled after the young Walt Disney from the newsreels of the 1930s or the kindly old Uncle Walt that most people know from television in the mid-1960s. They split the difference here and opted to go with Walt circa 1954. Guy still in his mid-1950s.

Reference footage that used for this hologram was reportedly pulled from Walt’s intros to the original “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” TV show. Which aired on ABC from October of 1954 to August of 1961 (Just so you know: The name of this show was changed to “Walt Disney Presents” at the start of the 1958 -1959 season).

This is why so many people are now saying “That doesn’t look like any Walt that I know.” They pulled reference from a series of Walt-hosted shows that most Disney fans haven’t ever seen. Or haven’t seen in years (These episodes used to air as part of the late night “Vault Disney” programming block on the Disney Channel).

Also worth noting here: Those introductory scenes for “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” and “Walt Disney Presents” were all shot in black & white. So to then colorize a virtual Walt that’s based on footage from this era is also something that is throwing off fans.

Just so you know: Walt did make gestures like that on camera and his hair – once upon a time – was that thick &  high. But only in black & white footage for intros to a TV show that’s seldom seen these days. That’s why so many people are now saying “That doesn’t look like any Walt that I remember.”

Replicating Walt – whether for things in the Parks or in films or TV shows – has always been controversial. Especially back in the days when Walt’s widow and/or his two daughters were still alive.

Walt’s likeness & its use first really became an issue back in December 16, 1952. Which is when Walt formed Walt Disney, Inc. formed. That company grew out of the Walt Disney Miniature Railroad Company (a firm that Walt founded in 1950 and literally ran out of his backyard. Tools & custom equipment to safely operate miniature steam trains).

You have to remember that this was back when Roy hadn’t been all that enthusiastic about the Disneyland project. Which is why Walt was forced to spend his own money on the initial development of his family fun park, rather than using any corporate funds.

And because of this (that Walt Disney himself had provided the seed money for the initial development of the Disneyland theme park out in Anaheim), Walt Disney, Inc. originally claimed ownership of several Disneyland attractions, among them the Disneyland & Santa Fe Railroad, the Mark Twain Steamboat, the Alweg Monorail and the short-lived Viewliner Train of Tomorrow.

Important to remember that – back in the day that Disneyland used to used ticket books (which meant that each ride could then claim that it had earned a certain amount of money each day that theme park was open based on the number of A,B,C, D & E Tickets that had been collected at that attraction’s entrance) – this meant that Disneyland’s railroad, steamboat & monorail all earned money that then went straight into Walt’s pocket. Which didn’t make Roy happy (We’ll get to that in a moment).

The other thing that Walt Disney, Inc. owned was the rights to Walt’s name & likeness. Every time Walt’s face or signature appeared on a souvenir guidebook or a park map, Walt Disney, Inc. collected a fee.

This was Walt thinking forward. Wanted to provide for the time when he was no longer alive. Wanted to insure that his family always had some sort of income coming in. Thinking was: Walt Disney the man will eventually be gone. But Walt Disney (the Company) will live on. And the Company’s continued use of Walt’s name and his likeness would continue to benefit … Well, Lillian, Diane, Sharon and their heirs.

Walt’s brother Roy O Disney understood what Walt was trying to do here (collecting a fee for his name & likeness). But Roy O Disney – as Chairman of the Board of Walt Disney Productions -- objected to WDI (NOT Walt Disney Imagineering, but Walt Disney, Inc) on behalf of the company’s stockholders. At Roy O’s insistence, Walt changed name of his personally owned company to WED Enterprises in 1953. WED Enterprises then went on to develop Disneyland.

As Disneyland became an enormous success, this issue – that Walt personally owned (and profited directly from) the arm of his Studio that developed rides, shows & attractions for Disneyland (not to mentioning forcing the Company to pay him for the use of the Walt Disney name & likeness) – became a real bone of contention between the Disney brothers. Reportedly fought about this issue over Christmas 1959. Consequently, Walt & Roy didn’t speak directly to one another for the next 18 months. Issue resolved in June of 1961.

Took ‘til February of 1965 to complete sale of WED Enterprises to Walt Disney Productions. Remaining elements – ownership of the Disneyland train, monorail as well as the rights to Walt’s name & likeness – shifted over to another smaller company, Retlaw Enterprises.

NOTE: Roy not happy that these items still personally owned by Walt. But Walt insisted that – as part of this negotiation – he be allowed to keep control of something. Leave something in place that would continue to generate revenue for he & his family.

December 15, 1966 – Walt Disney dies.

How now to properly honor the memory of the Company’s co-founder. Disney World becomes Walt Disney World. Call for something physical at Disneyland Park. Started small.

June 15, 1970 – “Walt Disney: A Legacy for the Future” opened in Disneyland, featuring a display of Walt Disney’s awards and other memorabilia from his offices at the Studios in Burbank. It took the former space of the Wurlitzer Music Hall shop along Main Street, U.S.A.

December 20, 1971 – Walt’s brother, Roy O. Disney dies. During his lifetime, Roy insisted that the Company honor the agreement that he & his brother hammered out in 1965. Giving the rights to Walt;s likeness & name – along with the moneys produced by Disneyland’s railroad, steamboat & monorail – going straight to the Walt Disney family.

April 8, 1973 – “The Walt Disney Story” opens at Disneyland Park. Replaces “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.”

April 15, 1973 – East Coast version of “The Walt Disney Story” opens.

Worth noting here: Lillian Disney Truyens (Walt’s widow remarried in September of 1969. Southern California real estate developer John Truyens) gave the official Disney Archives (which was barely three years old at this time. It was officially founded back in June of 1970) permission to display certain awards & items that had been personally presented to her late husband. That fact will be important later.

Also worth nothing here: Walt Disney – as it would turn out – was not nearly as beloved as you might think, especially out in Southern California in the early 1970s.

February 12, 1975 – After Disneyland had received hundreds of complaints from Orange County conservatives (who were very, very vocal when it came to their displeasure that Honest Abe had been displaced by Uncle Walt), the West Coast version of “The Walt Disney Story” was closed for a four month-long retooling.

June 12, 1975 – “The Walt Disney Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” opens. Lobby of Main Street Opera House now celebrated Walt’s life & his career. Show in 500 seat theatre once again shined a spotlight on the 16th President of the United States.

SIDE NOTE: Disneyland’s version of “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” was not especially long lived when this all went down. Original version of this Audio Animatronic attraction opened at the 1964 – 1965 New York World’s Fair in the State of Illinois pavilion on April 22, 1964.

The Disneyland version of “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” some 15 months later opened on July 18, 1965.

New York World’s Fair ended its two-year run on October 17, 1965. That version of Lincoln was shipped back to Glendale. And – as I understand it – was retooled & repurposed. Part of this AA figure were eventually used in “The Hall of Presidents,” which opened at WDW’s Magic Kingdom in Florida on October 1, 1971.

So when the Main Street Opera house switched over from presenting “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” to “The Walt Disney Story” in early April of 1973, that Disneyland attraction was barely 8 years old at that time.

Even so, Orange County conservatives insisted that this tribute to Honest Abe be restored to its full glory.

FYI: Same thing happened in August of 1990. This was back when the Imagineers planned to shut down “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” at Disneyland so that the Main Street Opera House could then become home to the West Coast version of “Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3D.”

Once again, Southern California’s conservatives rose up en masse. They flooded the Walt Disney Company with angry phone calls & letters, insisting that it was a grave insult to the United States’ 16th president to have Honest Abe be displaced by Kermit the Frog.

And once again, in the wake of all this bad publicity, Disney bowed to the will of Orange County conservatives and kept “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” in place in the Main Street Opera House.

Irony here is … The Main Street Opera House is one of the most under-utilized spaces in all of Disneyland. Less than one in a hundred Disneyland Guests attend “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”  these days whenever they visit that theme park. Which – given that the entrance to this now nearly-58-year-old attraction is less than 200 feet away from Disneyland’s entrance … This tells you what a failure “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” is on the West Coast.

And yet the Disneyland Resort still doesn’t dare close the thing out of fear of what Orange County conservatives will do.

Back to the Walt’s name & likeness story now …

January 28, 1982 – Walt Disney Productions finally acquires Retlaw. Disney family agrees to turn over the rights to use Walt’s name & likeness – as well as ownership of numerous rail-based attractions at the Parks – for a straight stock swap. Walt’s family is then awarded 818,461 shares of WDP stock. Cash equivalent of $42.6 million in 1982 dollars.

Understanding at this point is – should the Company do anything that involves Walt’s name & likeness – the family will be consulted. Given that Ron Miller (Lillian’s son-in-law) was named President of Walt Disney Productions (Ron reportedly played a key role in the Retlaw acquisition negotiation) there were no worries (at that time, anyway) that the family’s wishes wouldn’t be respected.

September 8, 1984 – Ron Miller forced out as President & Chief Executive of Walt Disney Productions. Board of Directors asked for his resignation.

September 9, 1984 – Lillian Disney Truyens (Walt’s widow remarried in 1969. To a Southern California real estate developer, John Truyens. He passed away in 1981) arrives unannounced at Disneyland. She is furious with the way that her son-in-law has been treated by Walt Disney Productions’ management. Consequently Lillian is pulling the items that she personally lent to the Archives to be displayed Anaheim’s “Walt Disney Story” exhibit. She is also taking items out of the apartment above the firehouse.

Spikey period begins between the Disney family and the Disney corporation. Which will definitely influence how Walt’s likeness is used in the Parks and on film.

We’ll finish up this story next week on the “Disney Dish.”