News

• Disney has announced dates for Flower & Garden, which will take place from March 1 through July 5, 2023.
• Character Greeting Re-openings:

• Pete’s Silly Sideshow has re-opened at the Magic Kingdom

• Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Minnie

• Meet Ariel at Her Grotto re-opened yesterday, Jan 22, 2023
• Enchanted Tales with Belle re-opens on February 19, 2023

• Speaking of openings, TRON’s AP previews will begin March 4, 2023.

• Cast Member previews start on February 6 and run through March 3.
• My guess is we’ll see a Media Preview for TRON around February 27 or 28, which will allow Disney to showcase both TRON and Flower & Garden at the same time.

• Over at Disneyland, we’ve heard that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will use a virtual queue and Lightning Lane when it opens later this week (January 27).  
• Also in Disneyland, the French Market will close on February 17 and be re-imagined as Tiana’s Palace, which will open later in 2023.  Will still be themed to New Orleans.  Won’t be character dining.
  
• Christina was in Morocco last week and saw Imagineers with blueprints walking around Morocco again.

Surveys

Our friend Jim Martin sent in a Universal Orlando survey with a question I’ve never seen:

And our friend Tim sends in a Disney survey where the sequence of questions might reveal what Disney’s thinking:

And

When combined with this question:

I think Disney’s trying to figure out how many dedicated fans they’ve priced out.

From James, another Universal Orlando survey:

I recently got a Universal Orlando survey regarding a strategy for controlling attendance at Epic Universe. There were several questions about my opinions on Disney's park reservation system, but the method that was suggested for Universal was to require visitors to hold multi-day tickets (with some days spent in UO or IOA) in order to gain entrance to Epic Universe. Several questions were on how that would affect trip planning or my desire to go, but no questions on other possible methods. Maybe some of your listeners also got this survey and can recall more about it.

Dianna sent in another Universal survey that asked, among other things, for you to describe fans of certain celebrities, movie franchises, and places.  (And lots of people sent in similar surveys, including Andy, Naton, Michael, David, Steven, Matt, Andrew, and many, many more.)

People/places/things that were mentioned in this survey include: Mickey Mouse, Stranger Things, Disney Parks & Resorts, Ryan Reynolds, and others.

Finally, Ryan sent in an ESPN survey that asked which days of the week the NFL should play its “Wild Card Weekend” games.  As many of you know, the NFL had a Monday Night game this week for the playoffs, which it had not done prior to 2022.  

And I think, Jim, this has to do with what Disney’s willing to pay for broadcast rights for these games.  I think in the near future, for example, Disney has to decide how much ESPN is willing to pay for things like NBA and college football broadcast rights.  And these are enormously expensive - I think Amazon’s paying $1B/year for just one Thursday Night Football game per week.  And ESPN viewership is on a downward slope, so Disney’s trying to figure out what kind if viewership it might get, if ESPN (or ABC) carried a MNF playoff game, I think.

Listener Questions

From Kerry:

Hello Jim and Len!

Our family sadly cannot join you on the star cruiser but our trip will be in the same timeframe as yours which leads me to this question.

This is our first trip during spring break and we thought with the increased attendance at the parks it might be a good idea to explore the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we are staying. I looked up activities online and it seems a few years ago there were a ton of things to enjoy there but based on what I am seeing many of these are not currently available.

Could you give me an idea on whether some of the savanna experiences and tours would be coming back, and what activities you might know of as alternatives?

Love the show thanks for the entertainment and information!

Len says: It’s probably not posted online because the events will vary with things like occupancy and, you know, weather, but you’ll find a ton of things to do around the resort:

Even during the pandemic they were offering things to do almost every hour:

From Holly:

Re: the survey question from Disney asking guests to estimate the total they spent on their trip - I think you and Jim forgot that, believe it or not, there are still people in the world who pay for things with cash. And don’t forget gift cards! When I go to Disney, I pay for almost all my food and merch with cash or gift cards that are not linked to MDE, meaning Disney would have no way of tracking that spending.

Just had to send you a note because I was yelling at the podcast as you guys puzzled over why Disney doesn’t already know exactly how much everyone spends

From Andrew:

Listening to Christina’s story about tipping at Aulani and it’s absolutely true about refusing tips 3 times.

I worked at the world of Disney at Disney Springs and the coordinator would have me be a door greeter. I love doing this position because a DJ plays most nights on the stage in front of the story and I was notorious for wearing Mickey ears and shaking what my momma gave me in front of my ECV scooter. During Christmas, as I was busting a move, a man came up and put $60 in my hand. He ran off before I could refuse it. I told my manager who was actually dumbfounded that I actually willingly reported the cash. The managers huddled together and let me use that $60 to buy toys for our Toys for Tot drive from the store. Super neat experience.

The Original Tour Guide

I’ve been studying Disney history for a living for over 30 years, yet I continue to discover so many things I never knew or things that make me realize that something I’d thought for years was dead wrong. In some cases, those are things that fly in the face of what even the Company believes.

Take, for instance, Disneyland’s first tour guides. According to Official Disney Company History, the park launched its Tour Guide program in the fall of 1958, when the park was 26 months old. Seven cast members from various divisions were reassigned to staff the new operation.

Starting on September 17, 1958, guests could purchase a three-hour guided tour of the park for $3.25 per person, which included a strip of five tickets. Following their guide, guests would begin with a trip down Main Street on the double-decker Omnibus, head left to the Jungle Cruise, then circle the park clockwise, sampling one attraction in each land. Tours would end in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, where the host or hostess would give each attendee a ticket to ride another attraction on their own and a Disneyland Souvenir Guide (a 25-cent value!).

For years, I believed that was the day Disneyland gave its first tours and that those seven staffers were the park’s first tour guides. I believed that until earlier this year, when I met Bob D’Arcy. As the park’s 1955 employee directory confirms, Bob truly was Disneyland’s first tour guide—although at the time he was referred to as a “host” or “Guest Relations assistant.” He started giving tours in the spring of 1955, escorting VIP’s through the construction site, often in Walt’s Jeep. Once the park opened, Bob became the park’s first—and for several months only—guide. Working out of the Police Station in Town Square, he accompanied dignitaries, celebrities and Disney Studio representatives who required special access or privacy, as well as large groups that needed a little help keeping their parties organized. Unlike those “first tours” introduced 26 months later, Bob’s services weren’t advertised, nor were they designed for regular park visitors.

As Disneyland’s first Guest Relations Assistant, Bob D’Arcy helped oversee special groups, such as during a high school band competition in 1956, as well as give tours of the park to VIP’s. Bob is second from left.

Back in 1955, Bob was a young 20-something right out of the Army, so he had his share of un-Disneylike adventures during his tenure, most notably a barn-burning after-hours party in Walt’s apartment over the Fire Station that started when a colleague broke into the Boss’s liquor cabinet.

D’Arcy left the park in the fall of 1956 to pursue a musical career and eventually detoured into television and film. His gigs included standing in for George Burns in The Sunshine Boys and regularly doubling for Bob Denver in Gilligan’s Island. (In one memorable episode, he also received featured billing as a robot who joins the castaways on the island.)

Coincidentally, D’Arcy wrapped up his 30-year show business career with the company he started with, on a Disney picture—appearing as both a short order cook and Adolph Hitler in The Rocketeer (1991).

After Disneyland, D’Arcy pursued a career in music, TV and film, culminating with a memorable role in Disney’s The Rocketeer (1991).

Bob has so many wonderful tales, he’s done us all a favor by putting them together in a just-released book, A Walk in the Park: Reflections from Disneyland’s First Host. The book is all about his Disneyland days; it’s part wild memoirs and part love story, detailing his romance with The Golden Horseshoe Revue’s original Slue Foot Sue, Judy Marsh. Judy’s daughter even wrote a lovely foreword for the book.

D’Arcy’s romance with Golden Horseshoe Revue’s first Slue Foot Sue, Judy Marsh, is at the heart of his Disneyland adventure.

In addition, the book includes 70 photos, many of them taken personally by Bob of Disney under construction, during his early-morning rounds of the park in Walt’s Jeep.

And if you’d like to hear some of his tales first-hand, Bob will make his first-ever appearance at the MiceChat anniversary breakfast Feb. 10. Come meet a true Disneyland icon, have him sign your book, and hear more stories and see more photos even beyond those shared in his book. I’ll be first in line!

Wild Africa Trek in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom

The Wild Africa Trek is a three-hour tour of the Safi River Valley — an area of Animal Kingdom park that is typically unseen by guests.

This guided tour offers amazing (and close!) views of many of the animals that call Animal Kingdom home. Giraffes, rhinos, hippos, and crocodiles may all make an appearance on the tour, which combines walking and riding in a safari vehicle, including the crossing of an open bridge.

Enjoy tastes of Africa in an array of small plates from a beautiful vantage point on the savanna after your trek. Though menu items may vary, they may include:

• Chicken curry salad
• Sun-dried tomato hummus and mini pita
• Marinated tandoori shrimp
• Smoked salmon roulade with dill
• Air-dried beef and prosciutto
• Fresh fruit marinated in mint and ginger
• A photographer comes along for the tour to capture the moments, and all tour guests receive access to the photos.

Location

Check-in takes place at the Curiosity Animal Tours kiosk just outside of the entrance to Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Inclusions

A three-hour guided tour, with full access to tour photos and a small meal at the end of the tour.

Time

Tours are offered multiple times daily, typically beginning at 8AM through 12:30PM. To see all times offered for your preferred date, visit the Disney World Wild Africa Trek page.

Price

$199.00 – $249.00 (prices vary by date — visit the Disney World Wild Africa Trek page and Check Availability to find the exact price of your tour of interest.)