Would I just always be sort of an external marketing arm for the Disney Company and regardless of how I felt about something always be positive? I had no idea at that time that the Disney Company monitored blogs and what the “influencers” at that time were saying about various things.

The first time I got confirmation that the Disney Company monitored Disney bloggers was on an elevator ride in the Contemporary. I was at Walt Disney World as a member of the media for a resort promotion and I happened to be in an elevator with several Magic Kingdom managers.

One of them noticed my name tag and introduced himself. I believe he managed a group of cast members in The Magic Kingdom, I want to say those who worked in Fantasyland, but I don’t recall exactly if that was his jurisdiction.

Anyway, he told me that he read my blogs and newsletters and encouraged his direct reports to read them too. I was a bit nervous when I heard that. From day one I envisioned my prime audience as Disney fans and vacation goers and my objective was to provide guidance and insight to what was happening at Walt Disney World.

I had no idea whose eyes would be reading my words.

When I was told by this manager that he told his people to read my words I immediately thanked him but in the next breath I somehow muttered out, “I hope you feel my words are okay.” I knew that I was not always saying good things about the resort.

He chuckled and said that he respected my opinion and thanked me for being objective and respectable in my opinionated articles and for the way I wrote my reviews and for the suggestions to “right” whatever I felt was “wrong.”

Well, there was proof that those who write blogs and reviews and who record podcasts and YouTube videos are probably in some way also monitored today.

So why am I prefacing the major content of this article with this story? Well, I’ve been holding back for the last three years regarding my thoughts regarding Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. I have probably done the party close to a dozen times and have seen it evolve over the years and well…. just read on.

The $119-$229 Cookie

For those of you who may recall a podcast called “WDWTODAY” you may remember my partners in crime referred to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party as, at the time, the $79 cookie because that was the price back then.

Not anymore. Depending upon when you go your ticket will cost anywhere from $119 (mostly in August) to as high as $229 plus tax as you get into October. That is some cookie.

So, using that nugget as a jumping point I would like to dive into a bit of an opinion piece regarding Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

But before jumping in let me let you in on the inspiration for this littler opinion piece. I am puzzled because I keep reading on the one hand that these MNSSHP nights are sold out and on the other hand read posts and hear from folks that they have gone to this year’s party and have come out of the park disappointed.

So, let’s investigate this.

First and Foremost: Price

Well, I think that as much as I thought the $79 price tag way back when was high let me say that the price being charged nowadays is “stratospheric.”

I have no idea how much the operating cost is for running this event and I’m sure it is costly. I also would expect and want the resort to make a profit on this party, but I really think it’s interesting how the price of a ticket jumps over $100+ over the course of 2 1/2 months. Does it really cost more to operate the party in October than it does in August. I’m going to guess no. I have a solution.

• Let’s take the high and the low and settle in on one medium price. Let’s say $149.95. It’s still too high but until someone can tell me why it cost more to go to a party in October than August, I stay firm with this suggestion. There is no cookie worth $229 plus tax.

Hocus Pocus Bogus

One of the most enjoyable aspects of MNSSHP was always seeing not just your run of the mill Disney characters throughout the park but also those hard-to-find villains. The stage show known as “Villains Mix and Mingle” gave the guests an opportunity to watch and enjoy a traditional song and dance number on the castle stage populated by a slew of Disney villains.

But there is more.

After each show the villains would come down to meet and greet the guests in front of the castle. It was hugely popular. To this day I hear fans saying how much they miss that show.

I honestly think you could throw anything up on the castle stage and the guests would tolerate or celebrate it.

I’m sure there are fans of Hocus Pocus as there were for Villains Mix and Mingle.

I sometimes wonder what caused the change and why the decision was made to put on this show…. but I’m sure there are longtime guests who miss Villains Mix and Mingle. I have a solution:

• Infuse the park with villainous character in-between the Hocus Pocus performances. Have these Meet and Greet events especially around Fantasyland during the party.

Miscellaneous Entertainment

The Cadaver Dans are very funny and entertaining but there should be more entertainment during this party. I remember years ago a ghostly storyteller in Liberty Square who was very entertaining. For the price of the party perhaps something should be added. I have a solution.

• For years I have thought how entertaining it would be for guests on party nights to see LIVE couples dancing in the Haunted Mansion ballroom or a LIVE pirate trying to woo the dog into bringing him keys to his cell. Yes, infuse dome of the attractions with some performers.

Fireworks Thoughts

When you’re as old as dirt as yours truly and get to see things over the years you cannot help but find yourself always comparing things over the years. When it comes to the fireworks for MNSSHP I would expect that the very pricey ticket would bring with it an exceptional nighttime spectacular.

I believe on my last partake of the party which I think was either last year or the year before (the years are beginning to melt together) I noticed that the fireworks lasted somewhere around 15 minutes or a bit more.

We all know that Disney publicly states that their nighttime fireworks last an average of 18 minutes…at least for the non-party nights.

So, should you think the party fireworks should be somewhat special and maybe go for at least 20 minutes or so? Well, I have a solution:

• Create a bit of a story in which you can infuse projections onto the castle and make use of lasers and incorporate these elements with the pyro fireworks. If done correctly you could possibly stretch out the fireworks spectacular to perhaps 20-25 minutes. Don’t forget to do a 180-degree display in the sky. Better yet, have the first 10 minutes of the show be displayed with only drones above the castle and eventually see them leave as projection mapping goes onto the castle and eventually fireworks.

Boo To You Parade

For me the crown jewel of MNSSHP is the Boo to You Parade. I recall one year it was replaced by another parade and the inmates at the time were not happy. In 1995 and 1996 there was no special Halloween parade…at that time the regular parade, SpectroMagic ran on party nights. In 1997 we were treated to “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parade” and in 2003 as officially introduced as Mickey’s Boo To You Halloween Parade.

In 2004 and 2005 the parade underwent some changes, and it settled pretty much as to what we see today. The parade was extended, more floats and characters were added over the years.

For instance, in 2001 the parade finally got a Haunted Mansion section with the ballroom dancers and of course the hitchhiking ghosts.

Let’s not forget later in 2002 the popular addition of the gravediggers with their sparking shovels and of course the caretaker and his dog in 2004

Is the parade a candidate for improvement? Well, it is pretty good but if someone came up to me and asked me to improve the parade…. I have a solution.

• Eliminate the farm/hee haw portion of the parade…. I still don’t get it. I would replace that portion of the parade with the old Chernabog float from SpecroMagic.

Trick or Treat

Over the years I have noticed that the candy distribution efforts as well as the candy quality has greatly improved…perhaps why the cost of the party has gone up.

Anyway, I always feel that you should always give positive feedback to go along with any not so positive feedback and Disney gets an A for how they distribute the candy.

I love seeing the eyes of children as they watch cast member grab huge handfuls of candy and toss them into these young trick or treater’s bags.

Bravo.

Mike: Is it Worth Going to MNSSHP?

Heh, heh.

Well, it’s like this, if you ate a young family who loves dressing up for Halloween and love Disney and have never gone to MNSSHP then by all means I think it’s worth going…once…and in August.

I still think it’s an overpriced event and honestly would love to see it be even lower than I had suggested earlier in this post…. maybe $99-$125 is a more reasonable price to charge guests.

Of course, I’m reminded of the “Field of Dreams” theory…remember “If you build it, they will come!”

Well, as long as people keep paying the price will go up.

But I’m wondering these days as to for instance, how many party goers in 2026 will be coming back next year.

Something to think about.

See you next time.

A few of my fellow substance authors have sent me notes asking where I get my ideas for substack content. That was a hard question to answer because it depends upon what area your substack focuses on. For me there are obviously cyclical things that prompt me to dwell on certain content but for the most part content comes from pieces of information and news that pops up every day.

Such is the case with this and the next Substack I am currently putting together.

There has been a lot of news on Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party lately and I thought I would strike while the iron is hot so to speak….you will understand why fairly soon.

I thought it would be interesting to start off talking about the history of this event…things like when it started….how it evolved…additions and subtractions and all that jazz. It is always a treat to look at how certain Disney events come about and change over the years…so here goes…the History of Walt Disney World’s Mickey’s Not So scary Halloween Party.

🎃 1995 — When It All Began

The first party was held at Magic Kingdom on October 31, 1995 and that was it…one night only. The price was only $16.95 per person. That is not a typo.

The objective was to host a family-friendly Halloween where parents and children could enjoy dressing up, trick-or-treating and Halloween entertainment together.

You might say this was a test and its success resulted in Disney bringing it back the next year.

👻 1996–1999 Expansion

The two years of success convinced the party planners that it was time to expand. In 1997 the party was expanded to two nights and featured a special Halloween parade. In 1999 it had grown to three nights.

You could say by 1999 the party started becoming an annual Disney tradition rather than a one-night experiment.

🍬 A Seasonal Event

By 2001, MNSSHP was being held over five nights and started to introduce components that would become the party’s trademarks such as:

• Trick-or-treating throughout Magic Kingdom

• Disney characters in Halloween costumes

• Special Halloween entertainment

• Exclusive merchandise and food

• Halloween decorations

• A dedicated Halloween parade

• Special fireworks

Disney already had somewhat of a model in Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. so MNSSHP became that party’s Halloween counterpart.

🎃 2005 — The big Jump

By 2005, Disney decided to take a leap of faith and expanded the party to a whopping 15 nights. So in a matter of ten years this event had gone from just a single night on Halloween to 15 nights of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

That leap of faith yielded successful returns and over the following years, Disney kept adding more party dates and increasing the amount of exclusive entertainment.

🦇 2010s — The Maturation of MNSSHP

It was during the 2010s that this event began to settle in on how we see it today. One of the most significant draws of the event surfaced in the form of Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade. But there was more.

Obviously Disney decided to invest into this event and beyond the parade added elaborate character costumes and Halloween entertainment.

In 2013 Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular debuts replacing Villains Mix and Mingle. The Sanderson Sisters become one of the defining features of the modern party.

By the late 2010s, the event had become enormously popular and was being held on dozens of nights rather than just a handful.

The parade incorporates Disney characters, villains and the Haunted Mansion’s famous ghosts.

For the 2019 season, Walt Disney World introduced a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Pass, which got a guest into Mickey’s-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom Park for up to 35 nights.

For $299 per adult (plus tax) or $284 (plus tax) for children a guest good get their fill of MNSSHP but funny thing, this pass was not valid for admission on Oct. 31, 2019.

💰 We Have to Talk Money

Speaking of money are you curious about how the price has gone up over the years? So was I so I dug and I dug and I dug. Here is what I found for the price climb.

• 1995: $16.95 which is not bad at all.

• 2019: Between $79–$135 depending on the night.

• 2025-2026: $119–$229 again depending on the date of the party.

That’s about 13.5 times the original nominal price.

$16.95 in 1995 is roughly $35–$37 in 2026 dollars after inflation. So Disney’s top ticket today is still roughly six times the inflation-adjusted original price.

And Disney uses date-based pricing now. Halloween night is by far the most expensive.

😷 2020 — COVID Interrupts

Disney cancelled Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in 2020 because of the pandemic and related operational restrictions.

In 2021, Disney introduced a smaller replacement event called Disney After Hours Boo Bash.

It wasn’t exactly MNSSHP, and fans noticed the difference.

🎃 2022 — The Party Returns

The party finally returned to Magic Kingdom on August 13, 2022 along with:

• Mickey’s Boo-to-You Parade

• Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular

• Halloween fireworks

• Trick-or-treating

• Character meet-and-greets

• Costumes for guests

• Halloween overlays and decorations

👻 2023–2026 — MNSSHP om Steroid

By 2023, the party had reached 28 nights, running from August into November. By 2025, Disney was holding it on 38 nights, from August 15 through October 31. In 2026 we have August 7 to October 31 again for 38 nights (if I counted right).

🧙 MNSSHP Key Selling Points

As the party evolved so did the advertising and marketing efforts and among the following party highlights that were featured in the marketing campaign were:

🎃 Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade

A huge part of this party. It features Mickey and Minnie in Halloween costumes, Disney villains, ghosts and other Halloween characters. The Haunted Mansion segment—with the Hitchhiking Ghosts and the Bride—is particularly iconic. The parade currently runs twice each party night.

Of course let’s not forget the gravediggers and their scarring shovels.

🔥 Not-So-Spooky Spectacular

It is Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas who serves as the storyteller for the Halloween fireworks spectacular. This nighttime spectacular features projections on Cinderella Castle and fireworks featuring characters including Oogie Boogie, Ursula and the Queen of Hearts.

This fireworks display replaced Hallowishes and utilizes elaborate projection-mapping technology.

🧙 Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular

As mentioned earlier the castle stage show Villains Mix and Mingle was replaced by the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus who essentially became the stars of the party’s castle-stage entertainment. They recruit Disney villains for their Halloween spellcasting.

💀 The Cadaver Dans

These aren’t your father’s Dapper Dans. This is a spooky version of the Dapper Dans and they deliver Halloween-themed songs and jokes in the park.

🎃 Appropriately Named

Over the years since the inception of this party all the changes that occurred did nothing to change the personality of the event. That was the intention.

The three words Not So Scary hold true today…this is family entertainment.

You won’t find haunted-house-style horror, gore, and a genuinely frightening atmosphere.

This is Disney Halloween rnot a traditional horror Halloween.

You cannot argue with success…maybe this family-gtirndly atmosphere had a lot to do with the success of the event.

The idea is simple…put on a costume, eat candy, and have Halloween in Magic Kingdom. 🎃👻🏰

So there you have sort of an elevator talk around the history of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

I have more to say about this party…and you will see what I say when I see you next time.

Here are a few things I have learned from reading his autobiography Dream It Do It.

Recruited by Walt

Apparently, Marty was recruited by the Disney company (Walt himself) while he was still a student at UCLA. The Company recruited him in 1955 to create The Disneyland News. He started work for the Disney company one month before Disneyland opened and found himself working as a primary journalist alongside Walt during the first few years of Disneyland. Little did he know this initial assignment would mold his incredible Disney career.

Sklar’s Evolution

Marty Sklar’s talent for writing was much appreciated by Walt Disney. Walt would describe ideas to Sklar and Marty would “translate” those ideas into language that everyone could understand. Sklar evolved from being primarily a journalist to someone who found himself writing material for television, presentations, and films, as well as various publications. It was truly an education he never experienced at UCLA.

Sklar later described working with Walt as the ultimate “training by fire.”

As I have mentioned in part I, much of what came out of Walt’s mouth originated from Sklar’s typewriter. In fact, The Walt Disney Family Museum notes that he was sometimes called “the voice of Walt.”

1964: A Milestone in Disney History

I have always felt the 1964 New York World’s Fair to be a significant factor in the history of the Disney Company. Well, let me add to that. I think the fair was also just as much a significant factor in Marty Sklar’s career with Disney. Walt assigned Marty Sklar and his best imagineers to work on attractions for the fair.

Sklar has always mentioned that Walt’s objectives for the fair and afterwards were to eventually bring back the Disney attractions to Disneyland; illustrate how Disney attractions could be well received on the East Coast; and in conjunction with that last thought, plant the seed for an East Coast Disneyland like park…. called EPCOT.

Marty Sklar: EPCOT Architect

If you look at the EPCOT film Walt Disney made and then think about what EPCOT is today you think, “What happened?” Well, Marty Sklar happened.

Walt wanted EPCOT to be a city of the future and wanted Marty Sklar to present Walt’s objectives through various media. It was Sklar who wrote the script for the 24-minute film in which Walt explained his vision for the Florida project.

I often have wondered if Marty Sklar, maybe while he was doing this or perhaps afterward, understood the pressure of writing the words that Walt Disney himself was going to use to explain his last great dream to the world.

When Walt Disney died Marty Sklar was focused on telling the public how serious Walt was about creating a place (EPCOT) where industry could demonstrate new technologies and ideas that could subsequently be adapted by other cities.

Walt’s death in 1966, created a void which had to be filled with ideas on exactly how EPCOT would be built.

In stepped Marty Sklar who took on the responsibility of transforming Walt’s goal and enormously unfinished concept into something that could be built.

I think we could easily say that Marty Sklar was the father of “edutainment” which is the concept of using entertainment a vehicle by which people learn.

Sklar’s philosophy was that Disney could take subjects such as technology, communication, energy and international culture and make them entertaining.

That philosophy became fundamental to EPCOT’s original identity.

It’s time we recognize the most significant part of Marty Sklar’s career is his contribution to the development of EPCOT.

Mickey’s Ten Commandments

In Marty Sklar’s autobiography there is a chapter titled, Mickey’s Ten Commandments in which were key principles in leadership Sklar said he learned over the years working for Walt and the Disney Company.

These Ten Commandments have been described as the foundation blocks for Disney Imagineering philosophy. They are simple and straightforward.

• Know your audience which calls for identifying the prime audience for the attraction or show being created

• Wear your guests’ shoes that says to the imagineers to imagine experiencing your creation through the eyes of the guests

• Organize the flow of people and ideas which insists that logic and sequence be importantly remembered in storytelling

• Create a “weenie” (visual magnet) to help lead your guests through your park (More on the weenie later).

• Communicate with visual literacy speaks to nonverbal ways of communicating through color, shape, form, and texture

• Avoid overload - create turn-ons which is a cautionary point to watch out from providing your audience with TMI (too much information)

• Tell one story at a time subscribes to the philosophy that simple is better as it provides better clarity, logic, and consistency.

• Avoid contradictions - maintain identity is a pitfall that could lead to confusion for your audience

• For every ounce of treatment, provide a ton of trust which falls into that edutainment column where Walt always said it’s important to keep in mind that you can educate people (but don’t tell them that) with fun

• Keep it up (maintain it) which was a passionate reminder from Sklar to make sure all things in a theme park are always working and to avoid a poor maintenance approach

These are easy to understand but if you want to learn more, I suggest you read Sklar’s book as these principles were established over the course of decades with his experience at Disney.

Weenies and EPCOT

I just wanted to talk about “weenies” for those who may not know the story. After a long day at the park Walt would come home and draw his dog to him by offering him a hot dog or weenie. That concept was used in Disney parks to draw guests to various parts of the park.

Even today that philosophy still holds. In fact, during the initial development of EPCOT’s design, Marty Sklar had to step in and remind the imagineers of this commandment. Apparently, some of the original landscaping obscured various portions of the park and prevented guests from seeing those areas.

They eventually had to remove trees and bushes so guests could see their destinations.

The Only One?

Marty Sklar will be remembered for doing something that no other cast member has ever done in their lifetime and will never every be done again.

You see Sklar attended the grand openings of every Disney theme park in the world during his career, making him the only Disney Cast Member to have that distinction.

He saw Disney go from one park in California to a worldwide theme-park empire.

As a senior Imagineering executive, Sklar was involved in major international projects including Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.

His challenge wasn’t simply designing attractions—it was figuring out how to make Disney work for audiences with very different cultures while retaining Disney’s identity.

Innovator

One of Sklar’s great contributions was understanding that Disney parks should have their own identities. Tokyo shouldn’t simply be California transplanted to Japan. Paris shouldn’t simply be Florida in Europe.

The Disney formula could travel, but the storytelling had to respond to its location and audience. Marty Sklar was very respectful of cultures and kept that in mind with every Disney destination he had his hand in developing.

Preserving Walt Disney’s Vision

Lots of executives knew Walt’s history but Marty Sklar worked with Walt Disney. That established in him something extraordinarily valuable: an understanding not just of what Walt built, but why Walt built it.

Jim Cora, former Disneyland International chairman Jim Cora once said that Marty Sklar understood the “Disney way” because he had learned it directly from Walt Disney himself.

Truer words were never said.

Journalist, Imagineer, Teacher

While reading Sklar’s book I couldn’t help but notice his transitioning over the course of this career. By that I mean he evolved as he saw the need to evolve.

For instance, in his first few years he was certainly holding fort as the primary writer for Walt and the Disney company and then his skillset eventually nudged him towards the world of imagineering.

However, even though he one day was moved into an executive position he remained an imagineer. But he also became a mentor (or teacher) to the younger imagineers and was obviously expert in explaining to these pupils the principles he had learned from Walt Disney himself.

It can be said that Marty Sklar was the principal force in the transfer of the 1950s Disney culture to generations of Imagineers who never met Walt Disney.

Working for the Boss Forever

I think Marty Sklar’s career covers 53 years and although Walt Disney, Marty’s boss, paused away in 1966 to me it seems that Marty Sklar continued to work for Walt Disney.

His career spanned the entire transformation of Disney theme parks from Disneyland to Shanghai.

There are some Disney “scholars” who will say Marty Sklar deserves to be considered one of the five or six most important people in the history of Disney theme parks who wasn’t named Disney.

I agree.

Dream It! Do It!

I could easily create a Substack that just talks about Marty Sklar stories and would never run out of material.

Instead let me once more time recommend his book, Dream It! Do It! You will find it hard to put down.

I was thinking about doing a review of the book.

Wait! I just did. Maybe I should have asked him for a selfie!

See you next time.

Thanks. Nothing like saying that to a person and then watching them struggle to NOT turn around. Anyway, I did catch a glimpse of him as we left the restaurant.

It never dawned on me to ask for his autograph or a selfie…I’m not that person.

Wait!

Marty Sklar.

You know who he is don’t you?

Let me catch you up.

Disney Legend: Personified

First and foremost, Marty Sklar is a Disney Legend. You may not realize this but it’s more likely that over half of what you see, hear, and experience in a Disney theme park has Marty Sklar’s fingerprint on it.

Richard Sherman, he of the famous Sherman brothers, has been quoted to say, “Marty was the literary right-hand man of our mutual boss, Walt Disney.”

That is a pretty good tribute, but at the same time can be said to be an understatement as Sklar, from the time he joined the Disney Company to his passing in 2017, played a huge part in this company’s success.

There is so much to say about this man and so many stories that I could easily fill about a half dozen Substack articles. However, for us today my goal is to give sort of an “elevator” talk about this, well, imagineer extraordinaire, and give you to the best of my ability, a rundown of his career and note, in my opinion, his ten most significant accomplishments during his Disney Career.

Sklar Career Snapshot

I’m going to start off with a brief rundown of Marty Sklar’s career and to force myself to be brief, through a bulleted list…so here goes nothing.

• Marty Sklar attended the University of California in Los Angeles and served as editor of the Daily Bruin newspaper.

• In 1955 he created The Disneyland News, a month before Disneyland opened.

• After graduating from college in 1956 Sklar was hired by Disneyland full-time and given the responsibility for most of the park’s publicity and marketing materials.

• In 1961, Sklar moved to WED Enterprises (which we know today as Walt Disney Imagineering). One of his first assignments was to work on several attractions for the 1964 World’s Fair; one in particular, “It’s a Small World.”

• A professional writer by trade, Sklar pretty much wrote all literary matter for use in publications, television and special films. Much of what we see Walt Disney saying on film came from Sklar’s pen…or typewriter.

• Sklar’s Disney career was just starting because in 1974 he became vice president of concepts/planning and guided the creative development of EPCOT Center.

• later, he became Vice-President of Creative Development, Executive Vice-President and then for nine years served as President of Imagineering.

• In these positions Marty Sklar took on the responsibility for overseeing the design and construction of Tokyo Disneyland, the Disney-MGM Studios, Disneyland Paris, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney California Adventure Park, Tokyo Disney Sea, the Walt Disney Studios Park and Hong Kong Disneyland.

• In 2006 Marty Sklar became international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering. His duties included travelling around to art, design and architecture colleges, universities and other institutions around the world, offering seminars and attracting new talent to the company, as well as representing the company at future attractions and park openings.

• He left The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Imagineering on July 17, 2009, and was honored with a window on Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland on his final day.

Okay that was a hugely superficial rundown of this man’s 53 years with the Disney Company.

I’m going to now give you just ten significant contributions he made over those fifty years…even though here must have been 100,010 or more. Here goes.

Walt’s Right-hand Man

It is impossible to think of anyone else in the history of the Walt Disney Company who served so much as an advisor to Walt Disney than Marty Sklar. Sklar wrote a lot of what Walt said in speeches and on television. Pretty much almost ALL material delivered from Walt’s mouth came from Marty Sklar over the course of a decade.

Disneyland News Creator

As I mentioned at the outset Sklar, while a student at UCLA, was recruited to create
the Disneyland News which was sold to guests during Disneyland’s opening year. This led to his long career with the company.

Marty Sklar: Publicist

Besides writing for Walt Disney, Marty Sklar also was responsible for generating much of Disneyland’s publicity and marketing material. In fact, he helped establish how Disney communicated the new concept of a theme park to the public. He created Vacationland magazine which promoted Disneyland and more importantly, the idea of a Disney vacation experience.

Sponsorship Work

In my opinion one of the biggest contributions Marty Sklar made to the company was his work with major American corporations, developing sponsorship opportunities that helped finance and support new attractions and pavilions.

Mr. 1964 World’s Fair

If you know me then you know how highly I regard Disney’s involvement in the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Marty Sklar played a huge part in Disney’s involvement as he worked on the Disney-sponsored pavilions and shows created for the World’s Fair. Keep in mind that Disney’s involvement in the fair was key in testing new technology and storytelling that would in the future transform the Disney theme parks.

It’s a Sklar World

I think it is important to point out that Marty Solar’s primary responsibility at the New York World’s Fair was his work with the Imagineering team involved in developing the It’s a Small World attraction. Some 60+ years later this attraction is still beloved.

An Audio-Animatronic Ambassador

We all know the Enchanted Tiki Room as being the early vehicle for showcasing Audio-Animatronics technology and you guessed it. Marty Sklar donned his Imagineering hat and worked on the team that developed this attraction.

Hello Florida

Earlier I mentioned how Marty Sklar wrote much of the material used in the company’s dealings and especially for Walt’s speeches. I don’t think Marty Sklar is given enough credit for the work he did for his creating presentations and speeches used in the effort to gain support for Walt’s Florida project. For example, you know the famous EPCOT film where Walt describes EPCOT Center? You guessed it. That script was written by Marty Sklar and the purpose of that film was not just to inform the public of the company’s plans but to also showcase plans to government officials and other stakeholders.

Marty’s EPCOT

These are in no order but if they were this would be number one for me. In 1974, as vice president of Concepts and Planning, Marty Sklar led EPCOT’s creative development and was instrumental in bringing together creative, scientific, engineering and corporate resources to help turn Walt’s original idea into a functioning Disney project. He brought sponsorships to the EPCOT pavilions.
Sklar worked to enlist major American corporations to sponsor EPCOT pavilions. It would take a month of Sundays to go into detail how much work this involved.

An Extension of Walt Disney

May Disney historians look at Marty Sklar and recognize him as an extension of Walt Disney himself. Having worked closely with Walt Disney for a decade Sklar understood Walt’s standards and creative philosophy and those standards and philosophy were carried on by Sklar well after Walt’s passing. Preserving Walt’s original philosophy should not be forgotten.

These are just a handful of Marty Solar’s contributions to his half a century plus work with the Disney Company.

I’m not done…there’s more coming in Part II of Mr. Imagineer: Marty Sklar.

About ten years ago a tiny thought sprouted in my head making me ponder, “How would I ever know if my fondness for things Disney would start to wane?” Basically, I wondered if I had a “Disney Saturation Point” so to speak.

Would I notice it happening? Even more importantly would there be signs or “flags” which would tell me such?

The more and more I thought about it the more I convinced myself that this covers a wide spectrum, and I wanted to narrow it down.

First, I had to get a handle on this term “saturation point.” The term is defined as, “…the point at which something has reached its maximum capacity or practical limit, so adding more has little or no additional effect.”

Ah…. no. Not exactly what I was thinking.

To me it is more like not when a certain point reached a capacity or practical level but instead said point has come to a level of which something is not affecting you as it has in the past.

I guess what I am saying is that when you or I would hit that Disney saturation point it would mean we would find ourselves feeling differently about all things Disney…read that to mean not as much passion. I am talking about Disney movies, Disney parks, and especially Disney vacations.

For my purpose today I am going to focus on Disney vacations.

So, now having set the stage I’d like to offer some thoughts on this train of thought and perhaps suggest some “flags” that possibly suggest that the saturation point is slowly approaching.

But before I dive into my thoughts let’s throw a caveat in the mix and that caveat says that the following discussion points may not mean you are closing in on that saturation point but that you have adjusted your approach to a Disney vacation.

Having said that I feel, however, that I have planted a seed which will may you think about it as we go through each of the following “flags.”

Lowered Anticipation

Raise your hand if, like me, at some time in your life you have installed a Disney vacation time clock on your computer screen. You know. It’s a cute little application that reminds you of how many days before your next Disney vacation. Nowadays you can either slap a countdown clock on your computer screen or even purchase a special countdown clock to let you know how close you are getting to your trip.

And yes, you can even go to the App Store and download a countdown app for your phone.

For the record years ago, I used to have a countdown clock on my work and home computers, but I don’t anymore. Does that mean I have started my downward slope to saturation? Hardly.

This is one of those areas where it is hard to say whether dropping the use of a countdown app or clock means you don’t have that level of anticipation for your next trip.

I do think that putting an app on your phone or your computer or a physical clock on your desk or whatever is a good idea to get you through a tough day.

As far as whether dropping use of these countdown devices means you are a candidate for this saturation point? Well, not sure but it is food for thought.

Besides, do you need one when you always have your My Disney Experience?

Vacation Clothes Indifference

So, what is this? Well, many people like to have new or special clothes for vacations, especially Disney vacations. Let’s get a few Disney shirts, some new shorts (for summer vacations), clean socks and new sandals or comfy shoes to wear.

Sound familiar?

Remember that first Disney family vacation with the kids? About a month beforehand everyone would get new sneakers to break them in but not get them dirty.

Despite plenty of casual clothes everyone went shopping to get new duds to show Mickey, Minnie, and the gang.

Heck, maybe it was time for a special vacation backpack as well.

The point is that most every first-time guest to either Disneyland or Walt Disney World end up purchasing at least one or perhaps a few pieces of clothing for their vacation.

Is that a practice for EVERY Disney vacation?

Over the years does that practice sort of, uh, adjust downward? That is, has the need to add to your vacation wardrobe dwindle with each vacation and if so, does that represent a part of the formula leading to our saturation point?

Food for thought.

Let’s move on.

Present Trip: Next Trip Planning

I think it is safe to say that most Disney fans get to a certain point during their vacations, maybe one or two days from the vacation ending to thinking about that next trip. I know many times in the past I have.

Full disclosure, during my runDisney days of course I was thinking about the next race weekend but I’m talking about those fans who did not catch the runDisney bug as I (or some of you) had.

Think of your first visit to a Disney theme park. Think about the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the vacation. Over the course of your vacation, you may recall saying to yourself that you need to enjoy that attraction again; you need to try that Dole Whip again; you need to witness that nighttime spectacular (fireworks) again or eat in that restaurant again.

When those thoughts pop up, they lead to you planning your next vacation while still on your present vacation. It’s a natural thing to want to return to a place that makes you happy and forget your everyday troubles.

So, you begin to think about when you can return, for how long, where to stay, and what to do.

Now there are other factors which contribute to this thought process about your next trip. Usually during a Disney vacation. sometimes guests, for some reason or another, do not get to do a lot of things because of such things as crowds, cost, weather, refurbishments, and other factors that may have caused the vacation to fall just a bit short of expectations.

So, you say to yourself, “Next time!”

After that initial visit you go through a learning curve and begin to understand how to make your next trip work a little better, perhaps a little cheaper, and most of all a bit more efficient in you use of time.

Now you know what to do and when I say what to do, I mean you now know how to PLAN.

So.

What about the one time you are walking around Main Street, USA towards the end of a vacation and you find yourself not thinking about that next trip? Does that tell you something? This is a tough one because I think many who go each year or perhaps more than one time a year do not think about their next vacation because they don’t think about dates and where to stay and all that jazz.

My point here is that not planning your next trip may not necessarily be a flag that says you are on your way to a saturation point.

But then again it could be.

Attraction Tradition Apathy

This is a big one. Let’s call it “ATA.” I’m sure you’ve heard many people say something like, “Every time I go to Walt Disney World, I go to the Magic Kingdom first and my first attraction is Pirates of the Caribbean.” You may you have such a tradition. There are also folks who have told me that The Magic Kingdom is the first and last park they visit on each visit and with that tradition are certain attractions which they do first and certain attractions which they do last.

It’s a tradition.

I think this sort of a tradition holds for most who have been visiting Orlando since the 70s when the only Disney Park in town was The Magic Kingdom. However, for the later generations the options became endless.

I do think that there are certain tradition tiers and the one regarding first park and first attraction and all that is a level 1 tier tradition which may not be something near and dear to a lot of guests. still, it is a tradition.

Some other traditions may be watching The Magic Kingdom fireworks on your last night. Full disclosure, that was my tradition for my first six trips to Walt Disney World and as I left the park that night I would say under my breath, “Thanks Walt.”

I don’t do that anymore, but does that mean I am heading down that path to saturation city? I don’t think so. But that’s me.

I think over the years as new theme parks and attractions have surfaced it’s easy to think that traditions may change.

Changes in traditions do not indicate someone is heading towards saturation but I think once someone finds he or she no longer has any tradition associated with a Disney trip, well, that could be a flag.

A Lowering Queue Threshold

Let’s explore this more. This one may get you thinking.

Remember your first time visiting a Disney theme park and looking forward to experiencing a certain attraction? Think about it. Oh boy, I can hardly wait to go to The Haunted Mansion! I am so looking forward to riding Spaceship Earth. I wonder if I can handle The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

On that initial trip you probably did not have a queue threshold or a limit to how long you wanted to wait to go on that attraction. I think for most people on their initial trip they really don’t mind waiting long because……because…. because they may feel that would be their one and only trip to Disneyland or Walt Disney World.

However, if that same person found him or herself returning several times there may be something in their heads that say, “Heck, I’ll wait no more then maybe 30-45 minutes but it’s not worth waiting more than that.”

What?!?

To me that could be a flag. What was once something you would wait forever to experience is now seemingly not even on your radar if the wait is past a certain time.

Now, this could be a case of someone saying this during a busy time of year and who is planning to return at a slower time. Okay, that may not be as significant as we may have thought.

However, there is something to consider, and that would run across long lines all the time open that thought in one’s mind and a little voice saying, “It’s not worth it” be a flag?

My next point is very much related to this line of reasoning.

Lightning Lane Loathing

Some five years ago we were all introduced to a new concept that would help us deal with long lines at our favorite attractions at our favorite theme parks.

Introducing…. Lightning Lanes…the scourge of limited Disney vacation budgets.

So, you want to ride Guardians of the Galaxy or Rise of the Resistance or Tron or some other popular attraction? Well sure…. it’s just going to cost you a pretty penny, over and above what you paid to enter the park, and you are privileged to enter the Lightning Lane line which will offer you a “shorter” wait.

For those of us who thought FastPass was a commendable idea, the interaction of Lightning Lanes certainly did not enjoy the same welcome.

In fact, I have often thought that the surfacing of Lightning Lanes may have turned off many guests to the point that you end up even dividing the guests into three distinctive groups:

No Way Jose

This is the group that says they will never purchase a Lightning Lane. They are very budget conscious and would rather go in the standby line then cough up more money after it has cost so much money to do a Disney trip.

Half and Half

This is the group that does use Lightning Lanes but only for certain attractions. This group could be for the first timers, the once in a lifetime visitor and maybe for the guests or guests who opted for a five-day trip instead of a seven-day trip to save money for Lightning Lane purchases.

See Ya

This is the group which has the greatest possibility of a saturation point population. this is the group that has Disney fans but have struggled over the years as costs have risen and perhaps the emergence of Lightning Lanes has put the over the edge or has put them pas the saturation point. Does this mean they stop going on Disney vacations? Maybe, but more so perhaps their love of Disney has dropped considerable.

Food Failure

We all must admit that a big part of any Disney trip is an attraction that does not have a standby line or a Lightning Lane…I’m talking food.

There are exclusive dining and snacking experiences associated with any Disney trip and these experiences are part of the draw.

Full disclosure, in the past while planning for a Walt Disney World vacation I made it a point to have on my checklist certain things I wanted to consume. I’m talking, Dole Whip, lunch at Le Cellier, sushi at Splittsville, a No Way Jose at Beaches and Cream, and way back when a Monte Cristo sandwich at Colombia Harbor House.

One more…zebra domes at Boma.

It was next to impossible to enjoy all one’s favorite dining and snacking treats in one vacation, so we return to do those we did not do on the previous trip. We looked forward to visiting or favorite resort or theme park restaurant because of an appetizer, entree, or dessert exclusive to those establishments.

Some of you out there must have either a favorite breakfast place, maybe a character meal, special dinner location, perhaps a special drink, or treat that awaits you on every trip.

My #1 was always Dole Whip. It also coincided with the first park I would visit, Magic Kingdom, on every trip. I would make a beeline to Aloha Isle before going on any attraction. My vacation would not start until I tasted that pineapple delight.

I don’t necessarily need to anymore but that does not mean I won’t imbibe if I get the chance. I just do not go out of my way to insure I do it on every trip.

That is not a signal.

I bring this up because I want to make a point that there are many aspects of a Disney trip that has kept many of us coming back…atmosphere, suspension of disbelief, escape from the real world, even bringing back childhood memories.

Food too but it’s down on the list so not making a beeline to Aloha Isle for a Dole Whip or passing on making a reservation at Boma to have a zebra dome is not a major factor in determining if you have entered the path to saturation…at best it is a minor factor.

Cause to Worry?

In a word: No!

After some heavy thinking about this theory about a Disney saturation point, I have conclude that it does not exist for a majority of fans who have religiously taken Disney trips over the years.

Sure, rising costs may have contributed to many of us stepping back and adjusting our trips…fewer trips…shorter stays…fewer sit-down restaurants…few or no Lightning Lane purchases.

I think that there is a huge factor that I missed that I now understand that staves off saturation…that kind of cancels any chance of even going down that path.

It’s escapism and what we feel when we first turn up Main Street USA.

Sure, we may not go as frequently as before or if before but that doesn’t mean indifference has settled into our minds.

As much as we (especially me) constantly bicker about the cost of a Disney vacation there is something that keeps driving us back and it’s something that is hard to define.

But we know what it is, and you have all heard it before.

We go back because we “get it” and there are those who don’t.

If we continue to “get it” that nasty saturation point will never rear its ugly head.

See you next time.

However there is another “Fab Five” group that has not enjoyed the fame and acknowledgement and maybe it’s time we look at this group and learn about them.

I am talking about the women in Walt Disney’s life and how each of them influenced him in some way that manifested into a component or two that was a big part of his career and success.

Shall we?

Flora Call Disney (1868-1938)

Walt Disney’s mother, Flora, was born April 22, 1868, in Steuben, Ohio. She married Elias Disney when she was only 19 and together they produced five children. Some you know and some you don’t. The five children were Herbert, Raymond, Roy, Walt, and Ruth.

Not much has been written about Flora Disney but we do know that as a mother she was devoted to her children and did whatever she could to be involved in their lives.

I recall reading one Disney biography that touched upon Flora Disney’s death.

Both Walt and Roy Disney were close to their parents and as the Disney brothers found success in California they also found an opportunity to show this success to their parents. They bought a house in California and this house would be the new home for Elias and Flora.

Before they could move into the house however Walt addressed some issues that needed some attention. The biggest issue was a faulty heating system. Walt brought in a team to correct the problems with the heating system…or so he thought.

Unfortunately the repair fell far short of being successful and one night the heating system malfunctioned and filled the house with carbon-monoxide poising. As a result Flora Disney became ill and succumbed while her husband Elias barely survived.

Flora Disney died on November 26, 1938 at the age of 70.

News reports from that era indicated that after Walt returned from his mother’s funeral, he never mentioned her death publicly going forward. It has also been said that he blamed himself for her death.

From that time on Walt seems to have been influenced by that tragedy to the point where he operated every day as someone who was focused on being sure about something and to really be convinced that something was “right” before moving on. This work ethic was seen in his approach to his company.

Flora’s first name eventually appeared in Disney history in a very unexpected way.

Flora is the name of one of the three good fairies in Sleeping Beauty—Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. The name Flora had special significance to the Disney family because it was Walt’s mother’s name.

Flora Disney died a year after Snow White premiered.

Many Disney biographers have implied that Walt’s motherlessness, due to Flora’s death, explains why so many Disney protagonists have absent or deceased mothers. I’m not sure if that is true because many of these stories were based on older fairy tales and books that already had absent or dead parents.

Ruth Flora Disney Beecher (1903-1995)

Ruth Flora Disney Beecher was Walt Disney’s younger sister and only daughter of Elias and Flora Disney. She was born on December 6, 1903 in Chicago, Illinois and unlike her famous brothers, Ruth lived a quiet life.

Ruth was a private and reserved person and kept her Disney family connections private. She was close to the Disney family and was the family “librarian” as she kept extensive family memorabilia and diaries, which later provided valuable insight into the Disney family’s personal history.

Much of that material is now displayed at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri.

Ruth’s passion was music and specifically organ music and had an old theater organ in her home.

Philanthropy was a large part of Ruth’s life and would often help aspiring musicians financially, including people who wanted to become concert pianists. She often did this anonymously, without seeking recognition.

Once when Ruth was young she once became ill with measles and Walt entertained her by making drawings that appeared to move when the pages were flipped. You may be thinking the same as I am thinking that this may be an early glimpse of Walt experimenting with animation. However, this anecdote is somewhat flimsy so I’d treat it as a family-history story rather than definitive proof that this was Walt’s “first animation.”

Ruth has a small film credit: IMDb lists her in the animation department for the 1926 Disney short Alice’s Orphan.

Walt was very close to his sister and often wrote to her, especially on her birthday.

In one birthday letter, back in 1956, he told Ruth about his granddaughter Joanna and how much he and his wife, Lillian, enjoyed being grandparents.

In 1957, after returning from a long trip abroad, Walt told Ruth that he and Lillian had been homesick for their grandchildren. He then happily described the newest granddaughter, Tammy.

One of my favorite examples is a 1947 letter about his electric train.

In that letter Walt told Ruth he bought himself an electric train as a birthday/Christmas present. He also joked that, because she was a girl, she probably couldn’t understand how much he’d wanted one.

He set it up near his office so he could play with it during his spare moments.

There’s a very telling 1937 letter from Walt to Ruth about providing financial help for her new house and discussing plans for their parents’ golden wedding anniversary. This was evidence that Walt was personally involved in helping his sister financially.

The Marceline museum exists in large part because of Ruth who was the quiet sister who avoided her brothers’ celebrity but ended up preserving thousands of pieces of the family’s private history.

She died on April 7, 1995, at the age of 97.

Lillian Marie Bounds Disney (1899-1997)

Walt’s wife Lillian was born on February 15, 1899, in Spalding, Idaho. She grew up in Lapwai, on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Her father worked as a blacksmith and federal marshal. Lillian moved to Los Angeles in 1923 and worked at the Disney studio as an inker and painter of animation cels.

She later and became Walt’s secretary earning about $15 a week.

She and Walt married on July 13, 1925, in Lewiston, Idaho.

Here’s the story we all know.

When Walt lost control of his earlier character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, he developed a new character and wanted to call him “Mortimer Mouse.” Lillian thought the name was too formal and suggested “Mickey” instead.

The rest is Disney history

Lillian was private and stayed out of the spotlight. She has also beed described as being more conservative than Walt which gave balance to Walt’s sometimes extraordinarily ambitious ideas.

Walt died in 1966, but Lillian lived for another 31 years. She became more publicly involved in preserving and extending his legacy.

She supported CalArts, the California Institute of the Arts, and became a major patron of the arts and in 1987 she announced a $50 million gift toward the construction of what became Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, designed by Frank Gehry. The hall eventually opened in 2003.

Lillian passed away on December 16, 1997, at the ripe old age of 98.

Diane Disney Miller (1933–2013)

Diane Disney Miller was Walt and Lillian’s older and only biological daughter, born December 18, 1933.

She was very close to her father. Walt commissioned portraits of both Diane and Sharon by the famous illustrator Norman Rockwell.

In 1954 Diane married Ron Miller, who was a former professional football player who eventually became president and CEO of Walt Disney Productions serving from 1983 to 1984. They had seven children over their 60 years of marriage, making Diane the mother of a large Disney family.

Diane is known for preserving the real history of Walt Disney, and not the corporate mythology surrounding him. She co-founded the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco in 2009.

Her goal was to have the public learn more about her after as a person rather than the head of a large entertainment company.

Diane was also a big part in getting the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles completed.

Not many people knew that Diane was a very good pianist and loved classical music.She was a huge supported of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony.

She died on November 19, 2013 in Napa, California. at the age of 79. Apparently she died due to injuries she sustained in a fall.

Oh, one more fact about Diane and Ron. They developed the Silverado Vineyards in Napa Valley. Who knew?

Sharon Disney Lund (1936–1993)

Sharon was Walt and Lillian’s younger daughter. She was adopted by the couple as an infant in 1936.

Sharon was much less involved in documenting Walt’s personal history but did have a significant connection to the Disney business.

She became one of the founders of Retlaw Enterprises, the family company associated with Walt Disney’s personal assets and interests. In 1984, she was elected to the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company.

She died in 1993, at only 56 years old.

I think in all of this we see that Walt was quite the son, husband, and father and we can easily see how his life influenced his desire to make his company a family focused entertainment empire.

See you next time.

Well today is finally that day.

The two teams you know very well. In this corner is Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse and in the other corner is Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog.

If you are interested in my thoughts please sit back and read on.

Similarities

It was the similarities between these two teams which seeded my desire to write about them. For instance:

• Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928 and Jim Henson created Kermit the Frog in 1955. Both men will be forever linked to these two characters and we know that the characters they created are pretty much extensions of their personalities.

• Think of this, both Walt Disney and Jim Henson gave life to their characters by performing as them. Walt gave Mickey his voice and Henson gave Kermit his voice.

• Mickey became the signature symbol and representative for the Walt Disney Company as did Kermit for Jim Henson and Associates.

• Let’a look deeper. Both Mickey and Kermit come across as having optimistic and glass half full personalities. Also, they both basically take on leadership roles and another word pops into my mind….perseverance…which sort of goes with optimism.

• These two characters helped build the Disney (animation studios) and Henson (puppetry and television company) empires and without them who knows? They did it a bit differently as Mickey obviously made his legacy through cartoons, comics, merchandise, and theme parks while Kermit’s journey came through television, films, books, and live performances.

• What I see is so interesting is that both Mickey and Kermit appeal to not only children but also adults.

• Kermit and Mickey were not limited to just being popular domestically but evolved into international fame.

• The last interesting silimarity is that both Walt and Henson can both be described as visionaries or innovators who were constantly looking to advance their craft through technology.

Differences

Now that we’ve looked at the similarities it’s time to recognize the subtle differences between the two teams. Read on and see if you agree with me.

Both Mickey and Kermit took on the characteristics of their creators and these characteristics had some differences. For instance if you read about Walt Disney you would understand how he had a very optimistic, upbeat outlook on life as does his alter ego, Mickey Mouse.

Mickey often reflected Walt Disney’s upbeat, determined outlook, while Kermit reflected Jim Henson’s gentle, thoughtful, and quietly humorous personality.

Mickey and Kermit display slightly different leadership styles. When it comes to leadership style Mickey often appears to be a cheerleader with a rah rah approach and then we have Kermit who sort of shows a song but calm leadership style.

I have also noticed that whenever we see Mickey in a cartoon he is pretty much the central figure and everything revolves around him.

Kermit has more of an entourage around him which sort of puts him in a “straight man” role.

Of course a big difference too is that Mickey is basically a cartoon character while Kermit is a puppet.

There of course is the difference in legacies between these two teams as Walt Disney is known for his creative juices in animation, movies, and Jim Henson dealt with puppetry, television, and live character performance.

What is striking is that the two iconic characters which Disney and Henson created continue to thrive long after their creator’s death.

Who Gets More Love?

As I think about both Mickey Mouse and Kermit I have at times wondered which of these two characters is the more lovable persona.

At times I think it is Mickey, especially when I see children getting excited when they see him in the theme parks.

Then again, I see many adults leaning towards Kermit and notice that there is emotion when these adults hear a certain song associated with this lovable amphibian.

That could be the key that tips the scale. there is something about music that brings emotion to the surface.

I think that as a fan of both of these two characters I certainly recognize that it is especially hard for me to say that I prefer one over the other.

Having said that I would also say that Kermit may have a bit of an edge over Mickey for a good many people because an aforementioned reason. Music.

As much as I feel very strong about Mickey, especially when I come across the partners statue, there is something about music that makes a case for a connection between a creator and his creation.

So with that statement, let me submit something that just kind of makes me feel that Kermit edges out Mickey as far as just perhaps getting a bit more love than Mickey

And that certain something is here.

What do you think?

See you next time.

Author’s Note - From time to time I will post certain articles, like this one, on social media. All posts will be delivered to subscribers.

I remember the first day the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror conducted a soft opening. I was there and decided to give it a shot. On that day (July 22, 1994) the attraction was not quite complete. Oh sure the mechanical part of the attraction was in place but the exit from the elevator and the store was not quite 100%…still it was an interesting experience.

I remember cast members asking us how it was and we gave feedback. One cast member told us that during cast member previews he sat in the last row in the middle and decided to not secure the chain to hold him in place. He was sort of bragging about the “air-time” he experienced on the attraction. I know what you’re thinking. Darwin Award candidate.

Anyway, on that day the attraction featured a single drop which was more than enough for me.

Through the years I’ve heard many things about this attraction. The two major things I have heard was that when some Disney executives tested a prototype in Arizona that the prototype had these execs standing instead of sitting. One executive reportedly “soiled” himself on the attraction prompting the imagineers to adjust the attraction to a sitting venue for guests.

On another day I remember talking with one of the attraction cast members who during our conversation said he had an imagineering friend who mentioned all the safety features which were required to be installed on the attraction before it could go online.

There were some obvious ones such as air brakes and back up cables and other things…I think one interesting feature was that there is a huge mattress at the bottom of the elevator shafts. Are these true? Read on and I’ll tell you more about the safety features.

Over the years I have dug into the background of this attraction and have come across dibs and drabs of information. Recently I found out some interesting bits of information which convinced me I had enough interesting facts to warrant a Substack article. So without further ado, here is some stuff about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror that I hope you will find interesting.

Birth of An Attraction

A lot of people may not realize this but the early concept for this $140 million attraction was influenced by Mel Brooks. That’s true. Obviously Young Frankenstein was a big favorite of the imagineers. However that early concept was replaced with a Twilight Zone theme. I have always wondered just how many guests these days grew up in the Twilight Zone era…I would guess not many.

As with all well developed Disney attractions this one was given a backstory. As the story goes the Hollywood Tower Hotel was struck by lightning on the night of October 31, 1939. Is there significance to this date? Well, obviously Halloween night comes to mind. As for the year, that’s up for discussion. Some say that 1939 was chosen because it was a year in which Hollywood really thrived.

Here’s a fun fact, while going through the queue line and lobby and library and basically all areas of the attraction take notice of all the clocks. They are all frozen at 8:05. If you add the two number they equal 13. That number has always been associated with bad luck and oh by the way, the hotel does not have a 13th floor.

One of the Easter eggs I came across regarding this attraction involves the maintenance certificate in the queue line. This document states that the last inspection for the elevator was on October 31, 1939. AHA! The signature on this certificate is a person by the name of Cadwaller. For the big time Twilight Zone fans that name is quite recognizable. It is the name of a character in the Twilight Zone episode “Escape Clause” and get this….the character secretly plays the devil in the episode (queue the lightning/thunder).

Disney did not have expertise in elevator construction so the Otis Elevator Company was brought in to develop an elevator system that would drop (actually pull) elevators downward faster than gravity. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the Otis folks first heard this request.

Additional Easter Eggs

We all love Easter eggs and this attraction has some interesting ones.

• There is a table in the lobby and on that table is a pair of broken reading glasses which belonged to a character played by Burgess Meredith in the “Time Enough to Last” episode. It is one of my favorite episodes…check it out when you can. My old colleague Jack Spence from All-Ears captured these broken specs.

  

• Another prop from the television show is the Mystic Seer machine which appeared in the “Nick of Time” episode. This object is on a shelf.

  

• One of the most famous Twilight Zone episodes was entitled “To Serve Man” and there is a book cover that shows an alien from that episode.

  

• When you are in the library look for a camera slate that reads “Production 10-31-39” which is an obvious reference to the attraction’s backstory.

• There is a collection area near the exit and there is a dummy there. The dummy’s name is Caesar and yes it is a prop from yet another episode. The episode is entitled, “Ceasar and Me.”

  

• One of the images you see in the attraction is a giant thimble. Again, it is a prop that references a Twilight Zone episode. The episode is “The After Hours.”

• When you walk through the Boiler Room look for the gambling machine. You guessed it. This prop is another old prop from an episode entitled, “The Fever.”

  

These are all classic episodes from a very popular television show and if you get a chance please watch the aforementioned episodes to see why these props were chosen for this attraction.

Dropped or Pulled?

If you look at the attraction from Sunset Blvd. and see the doors open and then an elevator vanish it seems like it is dropping. However, when you actually experience the attraction you know right away that you are being pulled down. The system was designed to simulate an uncontrollable fall with some specially designed motors.

Obviously each elevator is a ride vehicle and each one is controlled by an Autonomous Guided Vehicle system. Each elevator/vehicle, during the course of the attraction journey, locks into as to what is best described as a metal cage. Each one of these cages contain lift cables.

Back in 1994 there was just a single drop. Eventually it was decided to incorporate a random drop sequence that is controlled by a computer system which determines the sequence of drops and rises so it will seem to the guests that no two experiences feel alike.

The major safety feature for the attraction is a set of magnetic brakes which are a part of a special linear induction system which is responsible for safely stopping the elevator at the bottom of the shaft.

Look at this Hotel

The imagineers, keeping in mind the backstory for the attraction, designed the building to look like something built in the 1930s. If you are into architecture you’d be interested to know that the building is best described as having a Pueblo Deco Style.

The building is 199 feet tall and by the way, if you are in EPCOT and are at the front of World Showcase Lagoon, you can stand in a certain spot and see the tower just beyond the Morocco pavilion. Both structures have the same color and blend together.

Have you ever noticed the large jagged crack on the front of the building? That crack represents the exact spot where lightning struck in 1939.

Sounds of the Attraction

When you first enter the attraction grounds you hear faint music and as you get closer to the building you recognize the music is basic jazz, originating in the 1930s.

An actor, Mark Silverman, portrays Rod Serling and guests meet him on a small television in the library. “Rod” tells us the story of the Hollywood Tower Hotel.

The imagineers installed hidden directional speakers inside the library with the objective of making it seem that the narration is echoing inside your head. Spooky.

Special Effects

We al know about the Pepper’s Ghost special effect in the Haunted Mansion. It is also used in this attraction. A giant mirror is used to reflect projections of the passengers, namely you, to make it seem that your elevator car is full of ghosts.

Of course one of the most memorable parts of the attraction is the star field at the top of the shaft. The imagineers give us the feeling that we are traveling through a sea of twinkling stars. These fiber-optic stars twinkle to disorient our sense of direction. Again, spooky.

The big moment of course is when the doors open and we are staring at the ground from some 157 feet in the air…and then WHOOSH! We “drop.”

A Good Time to Talk About Safety

Let’s talk about safety.

The attraction uses heavy-duty mechanical brake pads kept in place by giant, pre-loaded springs. There are also electromagnets which pull these pads off the cable drums to let the ride move. If the attraction loses power the magnets shut off and the springs clamp the brakes shut to stop the elevator.

“Hey Mike, what if the cables lose tension or fail?”

Good question. If that happens a mechanical speed-governing system trips a set of emergency friction brakes that slam out and lock directly onto the structural steel guide rails of the elevator shaft.

Each elevator is supported by not one but multiple, heavy-duty woven steel cables. However, any single one of which is strong enough to hold a fully loaded vehicle on its own.

As I said earlier, there are large shock-absorbing hydraulic buffers combined with a a self-sealing compressed air pocket to safely cushion the car if it drops.

Back in 1994 the attraction used shared lap-bars which were eventually replaced by individualized seatbelts. Each seat belt is hardwired to a computerized panel of indicator lights. If your seatbelt becomes unbuckled or fails to snap lock properly at any point in the ride cycle, the system automatically halts operation.

Smile, your on Twilight Zone Camera. There are monitors throughout the attraction and these monitors are designed to immediately cut power or communicate with guests over a PA system if a problem surfaces.

There is so much technology going on for this attraction. There are tachometers and tape encoders which constantly check each elevator’s position and speed. If velocity deviates from the programmed computer profile, more than 100 Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) instantly trigger a full system shutdown

There are a few more safety things to mention.

To prevent your basic Florida hurricane from toppling this structure the imagineers anchored the structure deep into the ground to counteract the “lever effect” caused by and high winds that would push against the tall, flat sides of the building.

The drop shafts were built using thick, heavily reinforced poured concrete to serve as backbone of the structure, absorbing the lateral (side-to-side) twisting forces of a major storm.

Remember I mentioned the Pueblo Deco architecture for the building? Well, this type architecture has stepped-back tiers designed to break up the flow of heavy winds. The entire exterior was built using high-impact, wind-resistant materials.

Guest Responsibilities

Let’s face it, besides Disney looking out for guests it’s important for guests to look out for themselves.

So keep in mind that there is a height requirement of 40 inches in order to ride this attraction.

Any guest under the age of seven must be accompanied by someone 14 years or older. I think I would change that to someone older than 14.

Of course there are posted health warnings such as don’t get into the queue and intend to ride this attraction if you have:

• High blood pressure

• Heart conditions

• Back, neck, or spinal problems

• Motion sickness or severe vertigo

Also, expectant mothers are advised to pass on this attraction. Do I really need to say why?

Due to the powerful linear induction motors and magnetic braking systems that generate localized electromagnetic fields within the attraction, guests with pacemakers or sensitive insulin pumps are advised to consult a doctor before riding.

Incidents, Events, and Evacuations

I was curious about the history of this attraction since it opened and after digging and digging I found some information I want to share.

I had a feeling that there would be something surfacing regarding a cell phone and sure enough it happened in 2023. A guest dropped a cell phone and it slipped out of the elevator. The phone was destroyed when it was run over by the elevator Sensors flagged the obstruction, triggering a full system shutdown that forced cast members to evacuate all riders through the backstage corridors. Secure your phone when you ride.

There are times when a guest will decide to test the attraction and when that has happened (like standing up slightly or pushing too hard against the restraint during a drop) tension sensors register an “out of bounds” force, thus instantly freezing the elevator mid-ride and then lowering it slowly into a safe unload area.

The attraction has four independent drop towers in a “split system” which allows for the complete shut down and evacuation of one side of the attraction for maintenance while keeping the other half running.

Miscellaneous Stuff

I’m always curious about numbers and I found out that this attraction theoretically has a maximum capacity of 1620 riders per hour when all the elevators are operating with the two drop systems. Again, this is theoretical. What is the true practice? I’m guessing a max of 1500 guests per hour.

Reportedly Disney’s Hollywood Studios enjoys an average daily attendance of close to 35,000 visitors a day which means that roughly somewhere around 45%-50% of all park guests stop experience the hotel during a 12-hour day.

So now you know all there is to know about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

Just like in the Haunted Mansion, the “residents” in The Hollywood Tower are waiting and are saying, “Hurry back!!!”

Oh and please check this out before you go on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

See you next time.

Mickey’s PhilharMagic

In the late 1990s guest surveys indicated that guests wanted to see more characters…not just in person but also in attractions. A decision was made to create a new 3-D film in Fantasyland. Storyboards were drawn and the attraction was designed to have Tinkerbell as the “attraction host.” When the storyboards were shown to Michael Eisner he suggested to replace the focus from Tink to Donald Duck. Eisner felt having Tinkerbell as the center of the attraction made the attraction a bit “…too sweet.” By replacing our favorite pixie with Donald who has been known to be somewhat jealous of Mickey Mouse, Eisner forced the imagineers to “adjust” the feel of the attraction and bring some conflict to the 3-D film. As a result many guests who experience Mickey’s PhilharMagic for the first time continue to come out and say, “Why isn’t that called ‘Donald’s PhilharMagic?’”

The Disney Car

Not everything that Michael Eisner touched was a “winner.” Eisner once thought that it would be a great marketing opportunity to create a “Disney Car” so he had the imagineers draw up a few designs to come up with a solid Disney branded car. Eisner was sure that the automotive industry would fall over each other to produce a line of Disney branded cars. Of course, being careful, this concept was shown to several focus groups-teenage girls, teenage boys, and parents.

The girls loved the car, the boys said they would not be caught dead in one, but the parents convinced Eisner it was not a good idea when one parent wrote, “You don’t want to read about someone being killed in a Disney car, do you?”

Case closed.

That Famous Super Bowl Quote

Michael Eisner and his wife Jane were hosting a dinner one evening and one of their guests had just come from a nonstop trip around the world. At the end of the story Jane Eisner asked, “That’s just an amazing story. Now what are you going to do?”

The reply she got was, “I’m going to Disneyland!”

Witnessing that interaction, later that night night Eisner, Marty Skar, and Tom Elrod, the marketing director for Florida, came up with a marketing promotion to ask the Super Bowl MVP the famous question which is still heard today with the answer, “I’m going to Walt Disney World!”

EPCOT Studios?

EPCOT opened in 1982, some two years before Eisner joined the Walt Disney Company. At one point the imagineers felt that Future World in EPCOT was missing a component and that component was show business. Thus an “Entertainment Pavilion” was on the drawing board. When the concept was ready to be shown to Michael Eisner and Frank Wells the imagineers were pretty excited.

Eisner and Wells suggested that such a pavilion be placed outside of EPCOT, making it somewhat of a half-day park. Then Universal Studios announced they were going to build a “Studios Park” in Central Florida and that changed everything.

Eisner and Wells immediately turned on the pressure to the imagineers to design a major entertainment park and to do it fast. They did as Disney’s MGM Studios theme park opened a full year ahead of Universal’s park.

There is more to this story but we’ll save that for a later Substack post.

Planting Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida is quite a story. Here are a few interesting facts about that park.

• The Disney landscaping group estimated that it would take a budget of $3 million to properly landscape this park. That was the figure they asked for. There is no definitive resource today that can tell us if that dollar figure was surpassed. But the next bullet may hint that there was n overrun.

• Many of the trees and landscape material was acquired in the Southeast area of the United States. In fact the Disney landscapers found an area in Georgia where there were farms of bamboo growth. These farms fell on hard times but Disney came to the rescue. Disney made an offer to purchase all the bamboo plants, or I should say all the bamboo plant root balls.

• Joe Rohde and his team made over a dozen trips and expeditions to Africa and Asia to capture and study those areas and the wildlife so that Disney’s Animal Kingdom would have authenticity for the areas it was to represent.

  

Rides Vs Attractions

A long time ago I tried to adopt the practice of using the term “attraction” instead of “ride” when describing an experience at a Disney theme park.

In 2006 Marty Sklar wrote a memo to Jay Rasulo who at the time was Chairman of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

In that memo Sklar made his argument as to why the term “attraction” was adopted instead of “rides” for guest experiences.

Sklar talked about the “Disney difference” and that using the term “attractions” would distinguish Disney parks from amusement parks such as Knott’s Farm or Six Flags.

Solar goes on to say that the word “ride” is “…inadequate to describe the adventure and experience of (for example) Expedition Everest and diminishes the design, imagineering and effort put in place for this guest experience.

He finishes off the memo by saying the following:

“Maybe a picture is worth a thousand words…but one word can often paint a picture that lowers expectations and diminishes the uniqueness of the attractions, and adventures we create.”

Well said.

See you next time.

While there has been a marginal decrease in overall head counts, specific factors continue to shape the current park environment:

• Revenue Over Volume: Disney has shifted its strategy to focus on per-capita spending (food, merchandise, and premium access) rather than sheer volume. As a result, the company remains highly profitable, with Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro reporting segment operating income growth.

• Missing International Tourism: CFO Hugh Johnston noted that without the headwinds affecting international travel, domestic park attendance would have actually grown.

• Perception of Crowds: Although head counts are lower than in record years like 2019, adjusted Lightning Lane capacities and ongoing ride refurbishments can still make wait times feel significant.

• Promotions: To counter the lull, Disney has increasingly relied on seasonal deals, regional ticket discounts (such as Florida or Georgia resident offers), and dining promotions.

Summer Observations

So far this summer the numbers seem to be underwhelming and in fact this should not be a shock because over the past several weeks and months we’ve been seeing promotions for park ticket discounts, room discounts, and restaurant discounts.

When there are relatively more of these discounts sprouting up than we have seen in the past it should be an indicator that not only is attendance down but obviously along with those poor numbers comes a poor revenue showing.

To Disney’s credit, they have been known to project far ahead regarding room projections and obviously park attendance through their park reservation system. However, I get the feeling that the park reservation system is no longer looked upon as primarily a tool to control the number of guests in a park but also as a way to show projections and if necessary to say, “Hey guys we need to put in some carrots to draw more guests!”

It’s interesting that usually day ticket guests do not have to make park reservations and the “good to go days” for Annual Passholders seem to be more plentiful these days. The “good to go days” allow AP holders to bypass the park reservation system for specific noted days within each month.

Through family, friends, and my own personal experience I’ve noticed the uncharacteristically low crowds this summer. In fact, during the week of July 4th when you would expect an explosion of guests swarming the parks, it was just the opposite.

Cause and Effect

Okay, all together now….why is there a downward trend in attendance? 1…2…3 COSTS!!! It’s always the case and when a company notices revenue being impacted what do they do? Well they have a choice. They can raise prices so fewer customers can make up for the revenue decline; or they can lower prices hoping this step would draw more volume to make up for the deficit; or maybe they can do some sort of a combo action and come up with some sort of marketing strategy that takes a little bit from each option.

Obviously the cost of a family vacation has been going up over the years and this year is no exception. Certain things beyond our control has made everything more expensive this year with the number one impact being on the cost of going from one point to the next. Flying to Orlando is more expensive and obviously driving to Florida is more expensive than it was a year ago. Then you take into consideration the price of tickets, room, food, etc. and gee, no wonder fewer folks are visiting Mickey this year.

Thus park attendance is down slightly but revenue is up slightly because the amount of money each guest appears to spend this year has increased enough from last year to offset the downward park attendance. Hence the title of this article.

We’ve seen some moves by the resort to draw folks…room discounts…park ticket discounts…restaurant discounts…yet the crowds have not been at the expected usual summer levels.

So what else could be done?

Ahem!

My Five Point Solution

For what it’s worth here are five thought as to what moves could be taken to bring back the crowds to the level usually seen during the summer months.

1. Use a BOGO Approach - Let’s say from June 1 to August 31 Disney says to families, “If you stay at a value or moderate during this time period then for every five nights or more you get another night free!” We know that every resort has “dark nights” so this would be a way of helping fill those dark nights and also keep the guests for another day. I think this could also work when it comes to purchasing park tickets…something like “Buy x amount of days and get the next day free!” This could spur enough of a volume hike to perhaps boost revenue without suffering a lot of cost on the part of Disney. This approach would focus primarily on the day guests and not Annual Passholders.

2. Kids Eat Free - We see this promotion outside of Disney so it must work. I would say the kids would have to be under 10 years of age and order from the kids’ menu of course. This would be for only sit-down restaurants. The objective here is to draw more guests back to the sit-down restaurants.

3. Courting the Best Customers - Who visits Walt Disney World more so than the Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members? Perhaps the locals (I’ll get to them later) but if you consider the AP and DVC folks as being your best customers why not do whatever you can to make them feel appreciated and that means offer them discounts which they cannot refuse? I am talking that both groups should be given an across the board straight 25% discount on food and merchandise year round. Sure the 10% which is often seen is nice but 25% is nicer. I don’t think AP and DVC member for the most part spend as much as everyone thinks but a 25% discount may change that. I’d like to see this year round but heck, even for just the summer would be nice.

4. Lightning Lane Love - When Lightning Lanes surfaced years ago I immediately said, “Money Grab” because let’s face it, this program was not put in place to offset Disney costs but to take advantage of impatient guests and get them to reach for their plastic. Well, not everyone can afford a day filled with Lightning Lanes so why not from time to time, offer somewhat of a discount on these beauties? I am saying that perhaps doing it in a win-win situation for the parks. So what I am suggestion is that on one day a week or more than one day a week, or maybe even EVERY DAY of the week give everyone who has a My Disney Experience account a chance to secure Lightning Lane Passes BEFORE NOON at a price of only $5 a pass. Imagine the impact every morning as more guests will be in the parks earlier and although they will be paying less for Lightning Lane passes until Noon they may be spending money in other areas. This has to be looked upon as a win-win situation.

5. Frequent Flyer/Rewards Program - I’m sure you’ve heard that term before so why not establish something of a frequent visitor or rewards program? Here’s a thought. For every night you stay at a WDW resort you receive “guest rewards points” on your My Disney Experience account. You receive three points for every night you stay at a value; five points for every night you stay at a moderate; and 10 points for every night you stay at a deluxe. So let’s say you accumulate 125 Disney reward points. You can redeem those points for merchandise, offset meal costs or even apply it to either tickets or your room. This kind of program will encourage more frequent visits and I consider it a win-win idea. I can see it now, a special rewards wallet for everyone’s MDE account. Of course those points are not put into your wallet until you complete your stay. Get it? It encourages you to plan your next stay.

Mutual Benefit

We all have to realize that it’s when things are mutually benefitting both the service provider and the consumer that there is a greater possibility of longterm success. In that spirit those five ideas posted seem to be something that both the Walt Disney World resort and its guests could easily say, “That works for me.” At the outset it looks like it favors the consumer but in the long run Disney may actually be the better recipients because volume wise it works for the resort. Will any of those things happen? Who knows. I think it will be interesting to see if anything in terms of a model for any of those ideas surfaces and let me go on record here and say that I give Walt Disney World full permission to use any of those ideas without providing me with any compensation. I hereby remove any claim of these ideas as being my exclusive intellectual property.

I know many of you are shaking your heads and saying, “Yo Mike, is that necessary?”

Yes because I feel so strongly that those five thought are so much of a win-win situation that I’d honestly like to see them at least go into some sort of test phase and by giving Disney authorization to do so may perhaps see something happen.

I know, I’m a dreamer.

See you next time.

Well Walt, your company’s theme park component has had its share of failures. But then again has anyone ever batted 1000%? Not yet.

Sometimes the Disney company has shown stubbornness before taking action to either remove or replace an attraction…perhaps feeling they need to give ample time to work out the kinks and appease the guests.

I would like to submit some Disney theme park failures (and successes) that have taken place over the years and volunteer some thoughts on why they have either failed or succeeded with guests.

Attraction/Ride Failure Criteria

Most Disney theme park attraction failures fall into one or several categories. Let’s explore:

• Technical unreliability - We should not find fault with someone who pushes the technology envelope and especially the Disney imagineers. In the early days of Walt Disney World’s Test Track attraction in EPCOT the attraction kept going down because, frankly, no matter how much the imagineers tested the attraction before bringing it online, it was not until the attraction really went into production mode that certain issues surfaced. One imagineer told me that what they didn't realize early on was that each car on attraction was essentially an attraction in itself and more attention was needed…not to mention the miscalculation regarding how often the tires needed to be replaced. If I recall correctly the imagineers also did not realize that wet weather would force the attraction to pause until the weather passed. The first month or so after this attraction opened it became clear as to how the attraction needed to be maintained to reduce down times. It’s never been publicly stated but it seems obvious that any modifications for this attraction would begin with the tires. Get this:

  • The tires are real, load-bearing tires driven by electric motors—they’re not just decorative.

  • The tires are reportedly rotated every two days.

  • The tires are reportedly replaced about once a week because of the extreme wear from the ride’s continuous operation and repeated high-speed acceleration, braking, and cornering.

  • Each vehicle reaches about 65 mph (105 km/h) on the outdoor loop.

  • The ride operates for many hours each day with vehicles cycling almost continuously.

  • Each vehicle has 22 wheels in total, although only four are visible as the “car tires”; the others are guide and support wheels for the ride system.

  • So as much as some could say Test Track was an early failure, it would be more accurate to say that the attraction and its imagineers were in a learning curve to figure out how to keep the attraction up and running every day.

• Poor replacement of a beloved classic - I have a few examples for this. Remember when Journey into Imagination was revamped and Figment was gone? Lots of uproars with that….and then another revamping and presto Figment returned…and so did guest approval. There are several examples of attraction replacements which have not gone well. The obvious example is Illuminations: Reflections of Earth and the failure of its successors. We could all write a book regarding Illuminations successors now couldn’t we? Some have expressed disappointment in Tiana’s Bayou Adventure which replaced Splash Mountain. The complaints center around lack of story. But wait, let’s not forget those replacements which have received applause such as the latest renditions of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Country Bear Jamboree. I would also like to submit another success and that is the recently updated Soarin’. Without given any spoilers let me just say that when you hear “Ready for takeoff!’ your eyes should be transfixed to the screen.These last three are definitely candidates for the success column. Props to the imagineers.

• Wrong tone for the park - The classic example here was Extraterrestrial Alien Encounter in The Magic Kingdom. I think the imagineers forgot for a moment that The Magic Kingdom, more than any of the Walt Disney World parks, was visited by the small fry portion of their guest universe. The intensity and drama of Alien Encounter was probably not the right deal for this park. I still maintain that Stitch’s Great Escape was also a bad choice. To this day I continue to scratch my head and say, “What were the imagineers thinking?” The attraction was technically impressive but too intense for Magic Kingdom’s family audience. I actually got to experiment this attraction on its first soft opening day and heard crying children and guest complaints. What was interesting about that soft opening was that there were cast members doing oral surveys as we exited the attraction. One cast member poised the question, “How did you like it?” I responded with, “That’s a leading question. Shouldn’t you have asked me if I liked it instead?” Wrong park, wrong audience. Alien Encounter and Stitch’s Great Escape can certainly make an appeal about being labeled a failure failure because the structure in which they were built kind of limits the type of attraction for which the building is suited. Remember Flight to the Moon? That was the original attraction in that building and so the infrastructure within that building limits the imagineers in terms of an attraction design. The building also is instrumental to the integrity of the Wedway People Mover A.K.A. the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. This kind of issue was also facing the imagineers when they were deciding on a new attraction within Spaceship Earth. There was some talk about a new attraction called Time Racers which would replace the original attraction but the issue was that the structure was very dependent upon the current track as it was very much important to the stabilization and integrity of the structure. In fact if you find some early construction photos you may Thus Time Racers had to be scratched. Instead today we have an “E” ticket ride going up and an A” ticket ride going down. Time to change the downslope boys.

• Budget cuts leading to cheap execution- Of course without any inside information regarding budgets and cost cutting it would be hard for any of us to guess which attractions and shows failed because of the lack of money being thrown at it, but let me submit some possible examples:

  • Pirates and Princess Party/Parade - This event tried to catch on for almost two years before being scrapped. It really never caught on and to this day I don’t know exactly what I would have done to turn this failure into a success. I did attend one of the parties and was, at best, underwhelmed. I think the theme was too “narrow” and just did not work throughout the park as do Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party events do. The party just didn’t do it for me and the parade had unforgettable music and floats. I have no definitive proof but I truly believe this failure was due to a low budget just as much as a narrow theme. Never heard or attended this event? Check it out in this YouTube Video of the parade.

  • Currently in the France Pavilion in EPCOT’s World Showcase there are two attractions. One could be called a failure while the other a rousing success. Maybe calling the Beauty and the Beast Sing-A-Long a failure is a bit much but it’s one of those “bridge” attractions which to me seems like a placeholder between two more creative attractions…so I’m good with calling it just a placeholder instead of a failure. Of course Remy's Ratatouille Adventure is another story. Any attraction which does a decent job of immersing the guests as does this attraction has to be labeled a success and be given a thumbs up.

• Aging badly due to tech or pop culture shifts - This may be a stretch for most people to understand so this is more of a warning signal to some attractions which need some changes. First let’s talk about those which HAVE avoided this problem or will soon.

  • In the Magic Kingdom Buzz Lightyear’s Space Rangers Spin received a technological upgrade and it was long overdue. In this case the technological upgrade enhanced the attraction even thought the attraction continued to be quite popular. Here is where we should give Disney props because even though this attraction had maintained a level of popularity the imagineers saw an opportunity to enhance the guest experience. Bravo.

  • In Disney’s Hollywood Studios The Little Mermaid: A Musical Adventure show has reopened with some advanced show technology. Not to say that this show would not continue to enjoy decent crowds had this upgrade not occurred but it certainly helps. Not bad for a movie released 37 years ago.

    

  • The Great Movie Ride was a big favorite but it certainly was dated. How many people, including young adults knew who Johnny Weissmuller was? Catch my drift? Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway to me may be one of the best attractions surfacing in the last ten years and if Walt was alive today I would say he would rank this attraction among his favorites. Put this one in the success column.

  • We have to address The Carousel of Progress. A few weeks back it closed for a major refurbishment. It’s pretty hush hush regarding exactly what the changes will be but I would hope that the imagineers will tread lightly here because it is one of those attractions in which Walt Disney himself had major input. I am holding my breath and I will tell you that I am NOT looking forward to the possibility of seeing the Walt Disney audio-animatronic figure slated to open the show…somehow it makes me feel he’s trying to sell me a pillow (hint). In the end I think this refurbishment will be either a big failure or a moderate success. Let’s hold our breath together.

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh seems to me to need some sort of technology boost as it just seems like it’s an attraction out of the 60s. Having said that I do recognize it can be an enjoyable attraction for young children and I am all for that. I think sometimes we need to focus on the children’s experience than the adult experience and this is one of those examples. Okay…forget I brought it up.

• One success that I would like to mention was the addition of the Hatbox Ghost in Haunted Mansion. It was a longtime coming but I like it although he’s kind of short.

  

Noted Failures

Here are some brief notes on what some experts feel are significant Disney failures.

• In Disneyland the Rocket Rods. This attraction lasted barely two years. It was built on the former Peoplemover track suffered from constant technical problems and damaged the infrastructure.

• Disney’s America was a proposed history-themed park in Virginia that was scrapped after public and political backlash. This was not a good idea from the beginning as we are talking about an area so sacred to a lot of people.

• Abu Dhabi Disneyland - Have you seen the news lately?

• Stargate Restaurant - The Stargate Restaurant was located in CommuniCore East, the large pavilion in the center of the original EPCOT Center’s Future World. In 1994, as CommuniCore was transformed into Innoventions, Stargate was completely rethemed and reopened as Electric Umbrella. The restaurant remained in that location until it closed in 2020 to make way for the redevelopment of EPCOT’s central spine. The surrounding area has since been extensively redeveloped into World Celebration, so the original CommuniCore East building and the restaurant no longer exist in their original form. You can make an argument as to whether both Stargate and Electric Umbrella were failures or not. I would hesitate to label them as such. I guess today they are replaced by Connections and the Connections Cafe which both seem to be popular and thriving.

• The Space 2020 restaurant near Mission Space. I have been there and it’s only my opinion but I think it needs some tweaking and I don’t have any data on this but I would love to know how many people, like myself would put this restaurant in the “one and done” category. Failure? Could be.

• Light Magic was a Disneyland nighttime parade meant to replace the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade. Technical problems and poor reception ended it quickly. It tried to replace a classic and didn’t measure up. the people from Coaster Connections have a very thorough YouTube Video that does a much better job than I can do here to tell you why this $20 million parade did not connect with the guests. I have often thought that if you looked up the word “failure” in a dictionary you would see a photo of Light Magic next to the word.

To Be Fair

Honestly, I’d rather see Disney try and fail rather than not try at all. We all learn from our failures and I do think that it is a learning experience that results in more successes later in life.

With that here just five of the biggest successes for the Disney theme parks in the last decade or so. Feel free to agree or disagree.

• Pandora – The World of Avatar (2017) dramatically raised the bar for themed lands. Full disclosure, as a Sci-Fi nerd I just did not get Avatar. It never did anything for me but I have to give the imagineers props for this themed land. Some people feel Avatar Flight of Passage, is one of the greatest theme park rides ever built. For me the land’s floating mountains, bioluminescent forests, and immersive storytelling changed expectations for modern theme park design.

• Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019 at both Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios and introduced massive attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, although I remain underwhelmed with Smugglers Run. I will admit that Galaxy’s Edge is one of the largest and most immersive themed lands Disney has ever built. The operative word here is “immersive.” Love walking around at night.

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is an attraction I have mentioned earlier here. It opened in 2020 and was the first ride ever starring Mickey Mouse. It introduced a new ride system combined with projection-mapped environments, allowing scenes to morph and transform around guests. I cannot get enough of this attraction.

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (another attraction I have mentioned earlier) opened at EPCOT in 2021, expanding the France pavilion. This attraction helped complete EPCOT’s transformation and added a family-friendly attraction to World Showcase.

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened in 2022 and I can hear the screaming, “Mike this should be at the top of this class!” and you are probably right. It is immensely popular and is among the top three favorite attractions in all of Walt Disney World. Yes I have experienced it and although I am not much of a roller coaster fan I will admit that this attraction is quite innovative and is enjoyed by lots of guests…a true success. By the way the combined cost for this attraction and Rise of the Resistance has been reported to be somewhere in the vicinity of $1.2 billion. That’s okay because we’re all paying for it with Lightning Lane purchases.

  

• The Disney Skyliner opened in 2019 and this gondola system dramatically improved transportation between EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and several Disney resorts. It’s become one of the most popular transportation options at Walt Disney World and it has to be deemed a success. I try to ride it at least once on every trip to WDW.

• Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets to me just from the start was easily a no-brainer for success. The attraction has always been popular when Aerosmith was the themed “stars” for the attraction and who doesn’t love the Muppets?

Holding My Breath

There are some additional changes coming around the corner and hopefully these will be met with open arms, laughs, and smiles by the guests. Let’s take a closer loo:

• Cars-themed Frontierland expansion. This is the largest active construction project at Magic Kingdom being built beyond Frontierland.

  • The land will feature:

    • An off-road rally attraction inspired by the Cars films.

    • A family-friendly second attraction.

    • Major site work behind Frontierland and changes to the Rivers of America area.

• Villains Land will be built at the back of Magic Kingdom. It will be beyond and behind Frontierland, in the area north of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and behind the Haunted Mansion. It will sit behind the new Cars-themed “Piston Peak” area. Villains Land will include two major attractions as well as dining and shopping.

  • Two major attractions

  • Dining

  • Shopping

  • An original story bringing together many Disney villains in a dark, gothic setting rather than recreating a single movie location.

• Monsters, Inc. Land Monstropolis will replace the former Muppets Courtyard area. This new land will include Monstropolis streetscape, restaurants and shops, character experiences, and Disney’s first suspended coaster, themed to the famous door vault from Monsters, Inc.

• In The Walt Disney Studios Disney built a new area themed around the history and artistry of Walt Disney Animation. Highlights include a reimagined Magic of Disney Animation experience, interactive exhibits, and behind-the-scenes storytelling focused on animation.

Phew

Yikes I didn't realize how much “stuff” I’d be talking about on this subject but needless to say you cannot fault Disney for constantly moving forward and trying new things. Sure there will be failures along the way but let’s not forget the successes.

I would like to close and say that without some of these failures we may not have had the successes and like Walt said, “Everyone needs a good failure in life.”

See you next time.

Maybe I’m wrong about this but let’s take a look at the legacy of the Iwerks family and how their involvement with the Walt Disney Company has in many ways made the company what it is today.

There are many fan tiers when it comes to the Disney company and this is addressed to that tier that is now asking, “Who? Iwerks?”

It’s amazing when you think that three generations of the Iwerks family have made significant contributions to Disney. Their work spans animation, filmmaking, visual effects, camera engineering, theme park technology, and documentary filmmaking. In my opinion they represent one of the most influential families in Disney history.

Let’s take a look.

Ub Iwerks (1901–1971)

During the Disney Company’s infancy Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (”Ub”) was Walt Disney’s closest creative collaborator. To this day Ub is still regarded as one of the greatest animation artists and technical innovators in film history.

Ub met Walt Disney in Kansas City in 1919. The two became friends and business partners long before Disney became famous.

Together they accomplished so much. Among those accomplishments were:

• Founding their first commercial art business

• Working at Laugh-O-Gram Studio

• Moving to Hollywood in 1923 to establish what became the Disney Studio

• Co-creating Mickey Mouse

In 1928 Disney lost the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and I think that was probably the best thing to ever happen to Walt Disney because it resulted in motivating Walt to come up with a new character and we know the rest of the story.

What most folks don’t know is that Ub Iwerks developed Mickey Mouse’s final visual design and animated virtually the entire first Mickey cartoon, Plane Crazy, by himself.

Iwerks also animated most of another cartoon The Gallopin’ Gaucho and single-handedly animated Steamboat Willie. Steamboat Willie was a groundbreaking synchronized-sound cartoon that launched Mickey to worldwide fame.

Well before the arrival of Mickey Mouse, Ub had been the instrumental in designing and animating Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Ub was known for introducing remarkable improvements in animation quality, such as smoother movement, expressive facial animation, believable timing and especially faster production techniques.

It was those faster production techniques that became legend as his drawing speed was exceptional. Many of his fellow animators have sworn that Ub Iwerks could produce hundreds of finished drawings in a single day.

In 1930 Ub left Disney in 1930 to start his own studio, where he created characters such as Flip the Frog. Although creatively interesting, the studio struggled commercially. He eventually returned to Disney in 1940, shifting from character animation to technical innovation.

During his second Disney career, Ub became head of Special Processes and Camera. During that stint he adapted Xerox technology so animators’ pencil drawings could be transferred directly onto cels, dramatically reducing production time beginning with films like One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

He also developed optical printers, improved traveling matte photography, advanced special-effects compositing, and created camera systems for Disney films.

Even those who may be somewhat familiar with Ub Iwerks may be unaware of his contribution to Disney theme parks. Over the years Iwerks can be described as an inventor…better yet…innovator and heck…imagineer.

He helped develop technology for Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Among those attractions for which he had a hand in developing included

• “It’s a small world”

• Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

• Circle-Vision 360

• The Hall of Presidents

• Attractions created for the 1964 New York World’s Fair

His contributions over many decades earned him several awards including:

• Two Academy Awards for technical achievements

• Posthumous Disney Legend status in 1989

• The Winsor McCay Award

• Visual Effects Society Hall of Fame recognition.

Yes, much can be said about Ub Iwerks contribution to the Disney legacy.

But there is more to say about the Iwerks family.

Don Iwerks (1929–2026)

Ub’s eldest son, Donald Warren (”Don”) Iwerks, spent approximately 35 years at Disney and became one of the company’s greatest engineering innovators. Don joined Disney in 1950 as a laboratory technician.

After serving in the Korean War, he returned and worked in:

• Camera engineering

• Machine shops

• Technical services

• Projection systems

• Manufacturing

• Research and development

He had his hand in contributing to several areas of the Disney company including:

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

• Improved special-effects cameras

• Large-format filmmaking

• Projection technology

• Ride-film systems

• Disney park technology

I would say that Don Iwerks was in many ways an extraordinary imagineer who brought his imagineering vision to Disney attractions.

He has been attributed to doing things like improving Circle-Vision 360 cameras, developing giant-screen projection, orchestrating synchronized ride-film systems, coming up with advanced concepts in advanced rear-projection theaters, bringing technical innovation which resulted in custom camera equipment and introducing imaging systems for EPCOT.

Notably, he helped create the massive rear-projection system used in The American Adventure pavilion.

After leaving Disney in 1986, Don co-founded Iwerks Entertainment, which developed:

• Giant-screen theaters

• Simulation rides

• 3D attractions

• Immersive cinema systems

Many amusement parks around the world today use Iwerks technology.

Like his father Don Iwerks also received many honors. Among those included:

• The Gordon E. Sawyer Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1997

• Disney Legend recognition in 2009.

Don Iwerks passed away last week on July 9, 2026, at age 96.

David Lee Iwerks

Ub’s younger son, David (”Dave”) Iwerks, also worked for Disney.

Compared with his father and brother, his career has been much less publicly documented.

Dave Iwerks spent many years employed by Disney working primarily in technical and production-related capacities rather than public creative roles.

Unlike his father and his brother there is relatively little published information detailing his individual projects.

Dave twerks preferred to stay away from the limelight and has become an accomplished portrait photographer.

Leslie Iwerks

Don’s daughter and Ub’s granddaughter, Leslie Iwerks, has not been a traditional Disney employee in the way her father and grandfather were. Instead, she has become one of the leading historians and documentary filmmakers chronicling Disney’s creative legacy.

Her Disney-related productions include:

• The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story (1999)

• The Imagineering Story (Disney+ documentary series)

• Disneyland Handcrafted

• Numerous documentaries about Disney Imagineering and the history of Disneyland.

Leslie Iwerks has helped preserve Disney history by interviewing Imagineers, animators, executives, and family members, providing an invaluable historical record of the company’s development.

Although she is not a Disney Legend (as of 2026), her work has become an important part of documenting Disney’s history.

All In the Family

The Iwerks family’s contributions span more than a century:

• Ub IwerksCo-created Mickey Mouse, pioneered animation techniques, invented film technologies, developed theme park systems

• Don IwerksEngineered cameras, projection systems, Circle-Vision, EPCOT technologies, immersive attractions

• David IwerksLongtime technical Disney employee

• Leslie IwerksPreserved Disney history through award-winning documentaries and books

Few families have influenced Disney in so many different disciplines. Ub helped create the artistic identity of the company, Don expanded its technical capabilities for films and theme parks, David contributed through decades of technical service, and Leslie has documented and preserved that legacy for future generations.

The next time you watch a Disney production or enjoy a Disney theme park attraction keep in mind that perhaps, just perhaps, there is a little bit of Iwerks in there.

See you next time.

On June 28, 2026, Walt Disney World started requiring guests boarding Disney Springs buses and Sassagoula boats to Disney Resort hotels to show proof that they have a legitimate reason to travel to that resort. Acceptable proof includes:

• An active Disney Resort hotel reservation.

• A dining reservation at that resort.

• An Enchanting Extras or other qualifying experience reservation at that resort. Guests with dining reservations may board up to two hours before their reservation time.

Why the change? Well unofficially one would easily guess the following reasons:

Eliminate the Disney Springs free-parking loophole. For years, some guests parked for free at Disney Springs, rode a bus to a resort, and then transferred to the monorail, Skyliner, boats, or park buses to reach the theme parks. That bypassed the transportation system as Disney intended.

Reserve transportation for guests who have business at the resorts. Resort guests and people with dining or activity reservations now have priority on buses and boats leaving Disney Springs.

Manage parking at Disney Springs. Disney Springs offers free parking for shopping, dining, and entertainment. If large numbers of people use it primarily as a park-and-ride lot, parking becomes less available for guests actually visiting Disney Springs. While Disney has not officially stated this is the reason, it is widely viewed as one of the objectives.

Improve Disney Transportation Operations. When you think of it, limiting the number of riders on the busses will reduce wait times and enable resort guests to get to their destinations much more efficiently.

Impact on Resort Hopping

If you are staying off Disney property this new policy will greatly impact your ability to resort hop. Right off the bat I am thinking that it will impact monorail resort hopping also this would be only if your journey was intended to start from Disney Springs. Obviously you can resort hop once you get inside the Magic Kingdom bubble after arriving at Disney’s Ticket and Transportation Center.

So although this new policy changes where you begin your resort-hopping day—it doesn’t eliminate resort hopping altogether. In fact, if you plan around it, you can still visit nearly every Disney Resort.

Here’s how:

Start from a theme park instead of Disney Springs

Disney has not placed the same restrictions on buses departing the four theme parks. You can still use the transportation hubs there to visit Disney resorts.

For example:

• Magic Kingdom

  • Resort Monorail to the Disney’s Contemporary Resort

  • Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

  • Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

  • Boats to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

• Hollywood Studios

  • Skyliner to Disney’s Riviera Resort

  • Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

  • Disney’s Pop Century Resort

  • Walk or take a boat to the Crescent Lake resorts:

    • Disney’s BoardWalk Inn

    • Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

    • Disney’s Beach Club Resort

Many experienced Disney visitors now consider Hollywood Studios the best “home base” for resort hopping because it offers buses, boats, walking paths, and the Skyliner all in one place.

Will we see restrictions coming to the Disney Skyliner in the future? Hmmm.

If you’re staying at a Disney Resort

Very little changes for you.

Disney has clarified that any Disney Resort guest can still board buses from Disney Springs after showing proof that they’re staying at a Disney hotel. Once you’re through the checkpoint, you may ride to any Disney resort—not just the one where you’re staying.

So if you’re staying at Pop Century and want dinner at Coronado Springs or to see the Christmas decorations at the Grand Floridian, you still can.

Make a dining reservation

This has become the easiest option for off-site guests. If you reserve dinner at:

• ‘Ohana

• California Grill

• Boma – Flavors of Africa

• Steakhouse 71

...you can show the reservation and board the appropriate resort bus up to two hours before your reservation.

Walk where you can

Some resorts are connected by walking paths:

• Magic Kingdom ↔ Contemporary

• EPCOT ↔ Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk

• Hollywood Studios ↔ BoardWalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club

• Disney Springs ↔ Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

Interestingly, the walking path between Disney Springs and Saratoga Springs remains open even though the bus and boat now require verification.

What’s Next?

So I am sure that this new policy has many guests thinking of further restrictions are coming down the line

Yes—there are growing signs that Disney may further limit casual resort hopping during the 2026 holiday season, but Disney has not officially announced a new resort-entry policy.

The speculation comes from wording in the official Disney Parks Blog’s 2026 holiday announcement. In the section about resort decorations, Disney wrote:

“...For guests staying at the resorts or for those with valid dining reservations, the Disney Resorts Collection offers a wide array of bright and merry holiday décor...”

That wording immediately caught the attention of Disney news sites because it differs from how Disney has traditionally promoted the holiday displays, which have long been enjoyed by anyone who could reach the resorts.

Why This Matters

The timing is significant.

Just days before the holiday announcement, Disney implemented its new Disney Springs transportation policy before boarding buses or boats to Disney resorts.

Because of that policy change, many observers believe the blog wording could be preparing guests for stricter access to the resort holiday displays, especially the famous Christmas trees and gingerbread exhibits.

As of today, Disney has not announced that resort lobbies will be closed to the general public during the holidays. One Disney-focused publication specifically noted that the blog language appears promotional rather than an official access policy and that Disney has not confirmed any additional restrictions.

One can assume it’s more likely Disney will continue tightening transportation access than physically preventing people from entering resort lobbies.

A likely scenario would be:

• Disney Resort guests: full access.

• Guests with dining reservations: access.

• Guests arriving from a theme park by monorail, Skyliner, boat, or walking: probably still allowed unless the resort reaches capacity.

• Guests trying to use Disney Springs transportation solely to tour holiday decorations: already restricted under the new transportation policy.

Disney has managed parking and transportation around the resorts during busy holiday periods for years, so expanding those operational controls would be a smaller step than posting security at every resort entrance.

What About Those Christmas Decoration Tours?

If your tradition is visiting the deluxe resorts to see the holiday decorations—such as:

• The Christmas tree at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge,

• The gingerbread carousel at Disney’s Beach Club,

• The decorations at Disney’s Contemporary Resort,

• Whatever they put in the Grand Floridian Lobby,

• or the displays at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge,

for now keep those plans in place and plan to start from a theme park (especially Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, or Hollywood Studios) rather than from Disney Springs, and keep in mind that Disney may implement crowd-management measures if the resorts become exceptionally busy.

If Disney does issue an official holiday resort-access policy later this summer or fall, it will have a significant impact on the best strategies for resort hopping during the Christmas season.

That’s what might happen next.

But be a boy/Girl Scout and be prepared.

See you next time.

EPCOT

• World Celebration - This is basically the park’s entrance which has seen some changes over the years. Within the last several years the Leave a Legacy tiles have been moved which I think has pleased most guests. The opening of CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza recently replaced the old Innoventions buildings, establishing a hub for festivals, dining, and character meet-and-greets. In these cases I think most guests are smiling.

• World Nature - Home to Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana which is an interactive trail that teaches guests about the water cycle. This area replaced remnants of the old Innoventions West. This seems to work for the guests.

  

• World Discovery - This area of the park features major thrill rides like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (located in the former Universe of Energy building) and Test Track, which replaced the original World of Motion pavilion. Both have been received well although I’m sure some guests miss those original attractions. I should also mention the changes in the Land Pavilion with Soarin’ replacing Kitchen Cabaret/Food Rocks. That was a home run.

• World Showcase - This area continues to celebrate global cultures but now includes pop culture and other additions, such as Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and La Crêperie de Paris. It seems World Showcase will always be looked at through a positive lens.

• Classic Pavilion Replacements: Other pavilion replacements include Horizons making way for Mission: Space; Maelstrom being replaced by Frozen Ever After; and The Living Seas updated with The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

• Of course further back there was the Spaceship Earth update which saw the downward trip turn to a video screen allowing guests to customize said screen for their future. Time to upgrade.

• The big change in EPCOT however was the exodus of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth which had been a fireworks staple for a long time. Unfortunately the very expensive HarmoniUS which replaced Illuminations had an issue with the visuals for the show which led to its demise. Now we have Luminous: The Symphony of US. What’s next?

• Horizons was demolished to make way for Mission: SPACE which was intended to eventually be a presence in Disney parks worldwide. That was until the attraction opened and the centrifuge showed its talent of giving guests a not so yummy tummy.

The Magic Kingdom

There is an assortment of changes to go through but let’s look at just a few.

• The Mickey Mouse Revue in Fantasyland was replaced by Magic Journeys but eventually was replaced by Mickey’s Philharmonic which is a favorite and helped heal the wound left by the exit of the Mickey Mouse Revue. Funny thing it’s almost as if you can say a magic wand was waved and the attraction went from 1970s technology to the present technology

• The Castle Swan boats were removed in but although guests were sad to see them go, the attraction itself was not engaging enough for a lot of guests. I think it was an “A” ticket ride back in the day.

• Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Snow White’s Adventures were two original attractions in Fantasyland. They were especially great attractions for the youngsters but eventually were sent packing and were replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction and Princess Fairytale Hall. Hmmm…jury is still out on these two.

• The Timekeeper was a 1992 Circle-Vision 360° film that was presented at three Disney parks around the world. It was the first Circle-Vision show that was arranged and filmed with an actual plot and not just visions of landscapes, and the first to utilize Audio-Animatronics. Now Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor is presiding in its place. Not a bad attraction but I hate being “that guy.”

• I almost forgot Stitch’s Great Escape which replaced ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter which replaced Mission to Mars which replaced Flight to the Moon. Strike one, two; three and four.

• Of course there were a lot of Splash Mountain fans who were not happy to see this loved attraction be replaced by Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. It’s essentially the same type of attraction with the exception of classic Disney storytelling.

  

• It goes without saying that the current changeover from the Rivers of America to Piston Peak National Park, a new frontier-themed area inspired by the wilderness seen in the Cars universe will be met with quite a bit of scrutiny. Rather than recreating Radiator Springs, Disney says this land will evoke America’s national parks with forests, mountains, waterfalls, geysers, and rugged landscapes. The two attractions to be infused into this area include an off-road adventure through rocky terrain, streams, hills, and wilderness and a Cars themed attraction. Suffice to say some cast member friends of mine who have worked the Rivers of America are holding their breath.

• Not present when the park opened but eventually surfacing was WEDway PeopleMover (now the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover). In. 1980 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad officially opened in Frontierland, anchoring the western side of the park. Hearing good things about this refurb.

• Between 2012-2014 one of the largest expansions in park history doubled the size of Fantasyland, introducing the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid, and Enchanted Tales with Belle. I think for the most part this was a very good idea.

• Recently we have seen the emergence of TRON Lightcycle / Run which opened in 2023, modernizing Tomorrowland. This may be the most popular attraction in the park.

Now for the “Old Friend” Part of All This

For many of my fellow Walt Disney World fans there are certain things that have changed over the decades that have been deemed necessary while others have be the unkindness cuts of all. I’ll be the first to admit that there are some areas that needed to be changed but at the same time I have often wondered if change could mean expansion rather than removal and replace.

If I had to make a list of my “old friends” in the Walt Disney World parks it would be obviously Illuminations and Sorcery in the Sky nighttime spectaculars for a start. Of course that also brings to mind the Osborne Lights during the holiday season.

In many cases I would think that those of us who have strong feelings about attractions which have been long gone comes with those feelings perhaps the first time we brought our families to Walt Disney World and experiencing those attractions with our children.

I often wonder if Walt Disney felt that some of those attractions for which he had a strong thumbprint on were somewhat his children as well. Attractions such as Pirates, or It’s a Small World, or The Enchanted Tiki Room, or the Carousel of Progress have been looked upon as “sacred” because of Walt’s involvement with their creation.

Perhaps that had something to do with that issue of replacing Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln in Disneyland.

Well, another piece of Walt Disney is about to be vanquished and that is the Carrousel of Progress. I know, I know…it needs to be updated, it is obsolete, it is boring. I’ve heard it all.

Over the next year this attraction, which in many ways is the forefather of audioanimatronics, will be upgraded to a new set of dioramas. Sure that last scene has been needed replacement but maybe that’s the ONLY scene that needs replacement.

This is just my opinion but wasn’t one of Walt’s and General Electric’s objectives in designing this attraction for the 1964 World’s Fair was to show the audience how technology evolved over the years? I am not sure exactly how the NEW Carousel of Progress will depict progress when it reopens so I will sort of reserve judgement until then.

I do know that the Walt “Pillow Guy” Disney animatronic will greet us for the new rendition of this attraction. But it won’t be the same.

If you happen to be in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom over the next few days you may want to stop by the Carousel of Progress. You see…its days are numbered and this time next week it will be gone to make way for its successor.

Take time…visit the Magic Kingdom…stroll into TomorrowLand and say goodbye to an old friend for me.

By the way….the answer as which Backstreet Boy worked as a guide for the Backlot tour is…Kevin Richardson.

See you next time.

The interesting part of his dedication that reads, “Disneyland is your land.” has always struck me as being interesting and prophetic as well. Over the years as 1955 became 1965, 1975, 1985 and beyond an interesting phenomenon took place. The Disney fans of Southern California actually began to believe Walt Disney’s statement and believed Disneyland as their land.

This was never shown so strongly as in the summer of 1990. But let’s start from the beginning.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

As part of the 10th anniversary celebration (”Tencennial”) of Disneyland park, the first Disneyland version of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln opened on July 18, 1965, in the Opera House on Main Street, U.S.A.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln closed on January 1, 1973, as there were plans for a new attraction to be called The Walt Disney Story devoted entirely to Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Story opened on April 8, 1973.

The Walt Disney Story received public criticism. At the time, Orange County, California (where Disneyland is located) was a heavily Republican-leaning county, and local residents were upset with the removal of the Lincoln show, as Lincoln was a Republican. The Walt Disney Story attraction closed on February 12, 1975 (Lincoln’s birthday) and reopened on June 12, 1975, as The Walt Disney Story Featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

The attraction underwent a significant refurbishment in 1984.

But let’s fast forward to the summer of 1990.

That summer Disneyland employees were informed that The Walt Disney Story Featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln would be closing in August and rumors circulated that the Lincoln show would be replaced by a west coast edition of the Muppet*Vision 3D attraction, which was opening at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios) the following May.

As with the closure in 1973, a significant amount of public outcry saved the attraction. The Los Angeles Times quoted Disneyland spokesperson Paul Goldman who said, “If you’d asked a few days ago I’d have said that being a 25-year-old attraction, its popularity has passed. But there seems to be a lot of sentiment for Lincoln.”

Muppet*Vision 3D eventually found a home on the west coast as an opening day attraction at Disney California Adventure Park in February 2001. This version of the attraction closed in 2014.

So the gist of this story centers around how Disney fans in Southern California found themselves connected to the Disneyland theme park. During the first 20 years of its existence the park was seemingly “adopted” by its visitors and any changes that were rumored to be made would be met with possible outcry if these changes would impact those loved areas of the park.

Some thoughts around this centered on the fact that by the 1970s Disneyland was now on its second generation of fans or I should say adult fans. Those fans who were children in the 50s were now young adults and possibly young parents and they felt very strongly about their park.

Unlike Walt Disney World, Disneyland had established something of a foundational heritage with its Southern California fan base and with that came a bonding mechanism with the park.

This would mean that any significant change to Disneyland would be met with scrutiny from that fan base.

For those who have never visited Disneyland you should know that when you first experience Main Street, USA you get a sense that you are walking back in time when life was much more simple than we are faced with today.

I sometimes thought the controversy that came with the 1990 events with A Moment with Mr. Lincoln would see similar type occurrences in Florida. Over the years and especially more recently we have seen some changes at Walt Disney World.

Some were met with approval while others fell short.

Here’s a few of those changes.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

• Asia (1999) - The park’s first major expansion brought the highly popular, high-speed coaster Expedition Everest in 2006, along with the Kali River Rapids water ride. Everest was well anticipated and well received.

• Pandora – The World of Avatar (2017): Based on James Cameron’s films, this massively immersive land transformed the park’s evening appeal. It added two state-of-the-art attractions: Avatar Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey. To be honest I think this advancement of the park has been met with mixed feelings because guests seem high on Flight of Passage but meh on Na’vi River Journey

• DinoLand U.S.A.

• Primeval Whirl - This spinning wild-mouse coaster closed permanently in 2020. It never really caught on.

• DINOSAUR -The park’s classic, high-thrill dark ride (formerly Countdown to Extinction) enjoyed a mediocre amount of success.

• The Boneyard & Chester and Hester’s: - This group of carnival-style games and play areas in Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama and The Boneyard have been entirely cleared to make way for the 2027 Tropical Americas expansion. To this day I never understood why these games were ever….oh I know why. Goodbye.

• Tree of Life Shows - The original It’s Tough to Be a Bug 4D show closed to make way for a brand-new Zootopia show. Depending upon who you talk to the popularity of the new show may or may not be equal to that of the original show.

  

• Theater in the Wild: - This venue has rotated through high-energy shows, transitioning from Tarzan Rocks! and Finding Nemo: The Musical to the updated Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond! Personally I liked both shows.

• Extended Hours & Nighttime - The park added evening hours with illuminated Pandora experiences, as well as the Rivers of Light nighttime spectacular, evolving the park from a strict “close-at-dusk” schedule into an after-dark destination.

• Tropical Americas (Opening 2027) - The park is replacing DinoLand U.S.A. with the new Pueblo Esperanza land. This 11-acre space will feature an Encanto-themed ride-through attraction and an Indiana Jones adventure.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

When this park opened on May 1, 1989, it was marketed as a working production studio where guests could watch real movies and TV shows being filmed….well….not today.

• Studio Backlot Tour - Attractions focused heavily on the magic of moviemaking, stunts, and animation. The Studio Backlot Tour took guests through costume departments, prop warehouses, and the famous Catastrophe Canyon. Do you know which Backstreet Boy served as a tour guide for this attraction?

• Earful Tower and Fantasia Sorcerer’s Hat - The Earful (water) Tower was the park’s original icon until in 2001 when the Fantasia Sorcerer Hat was erected in front of the Chinese Theater. The hat was removed in 2015.

• Sunset Boulevard - In 1994 Sunset Boulevard opened and brought with it shops, quick-service countersTheater of the Stars and the Twilight Zone of Terror attraction. Another home run for this park.

• Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge - This attraction opened in 2019. Encompassing 14 acres, this addition completely replaced the old Streets of America, allowing guests to explore the remote planet of Batuu and pilot the Millennium Falcon. However, this meant the end to the holiday season’s annual Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. There are many guests who are still wincing at this change. One point that should be made regarding the birth of Galaxy’s Edge…this expansion of that area of the park removed the park’s ability to continue to provide what I would call a Disney level venue for a nighttime spectacular. Those guests who may remember Sorcery in the Sky and later the Star Wars themed fireworks were left hanging when Galaxy’s Edge was built. This is an indicator of how small the park’s footprint is and speaks to potential problems if and when expansion rears its head again.

• Toy Story Land: -This is another home run as it caters to the fans of arguably Disney/Pixar’s most successful movie franchise.

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway - In 2020, the The Great Movie Ride closed to make way for the first-ever Mickey Mouse-themed dark ride, and it was met with huge success. Many guests today feel Walt would have loved this attraction.

• Animation Courtyard Redesign - Disney completely re-themed the Animation Courtyard with the objective to focus towards the younger guest with updated Disney Jr. shows and highly interactive character headquarters.

• Monstropolis - The removal of Muppet*Vision 3-D to make way for a Monsters, Inc. land was a very painful thing for a lot of Muppet fans. It remains to be seen how this area will be received when completed.

• Speaking of the Muppets they took over the Aerosmith’s theming of Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster.

We still have EPCOT and The Magic Kingdom to discuss.

Next time.

Back in the good old days I remember getting out my calculator and figuring out how much it cost per hour to spend a day in a Walt Disney World theme park.

That was somewhat fun but today I was thinking about Lightning Lanes and how they measure up to each other.

So what I did was sit back and decide what would be interesting to me if I was reading and not writing this particular article.

I would want to know which Lightning Lane purchases have the greatest values and which Lightning Lane purchases have the lowest values.

The best way to figure this out and present it was to first get a solid handle on the average Single Pass Lightning Lane cost for every Walt Disney World attraction that offers the Lightning Lane option. I’ll leave the multi-pass option for another day.

Secondly, I needed to do some research to understand what the average experience time is for each Walt Disney World attraction that offers a Lightning Lane.

Knowing the average Single Pass Lightning Lane cost of as well as the length of time for each attraction gave me the results I needed.

So this is what I found.

Magic Kingdom’s Best and Worst Lightning Lane Values

Okay, based on my research here are the top and bottom Lightning Lane values found in each of the parks. Based on the average 2025-2026 LL pricing I came up with these results. For each attraction I am including length of time, Lightning Lane cost, and the Lightning Lane cost per minute. One caveat, the Lightning Lane cost I am using will probably not match exactly what you may see on the day you read this article and that my listed price may very well be slightly higher. However, for our purpose a few dollars here and there does not impact the final ratings.

Magic Kingdom’s Best Lightning Lane Values

• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure - 11 minutes / $2.50 / $.23/minute

• It’s a Small World - 10.5 minutes / $2.50 / $.24/minute

• PeopleMover - 10 minutes / $2.50 / $.25/minute

• Pirates of the Caribbean - 8 minutes / $2.50 / $.29/minute

• Jungle Cruise - 8 minutes / $2.50 / $.31

Magic Kingdom’s Worst Lightning Lane Values

• TRON - 2 minutes / $15.00 / $7.50/minute

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - 2.8 minutes / $15.00 / $5.36/minute

• Barnstormer - 1.1 minutes / $2.50 / $2.27/minute

• Dumbo/Magic Carpets/Mad Tea Party (tie) - 1.5 minutes / $2.50 / $1.67/minute

EPCOT’s Best Lightning Lane Values

• Space Ship Earth/Turtle Talk with Crush (tie) - 15 minutes / $2.50 / $.17/minute

• Living with the Land - 13.8 minutes / $2.50 / $.18/minute

• Journey Into Imagination - 11 minutes / $2.50 / $.23/minute

• Mission: Space - 5.6 minutes / $2.50 / $.45/minute

EPCOT’s Worst Lightning Lane Values

• Guardians of the Galaxy - 3.3 minutes / $22.00 / $6.67/minute

• Test Track/The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends (tie) - 4 minutes / $2.50 / $.63/minute

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure - 4.7 minutes / $2.50 / $.53/minute

• Frozen Ever After/Soarin’ Around the World (tie)- 5 minutes / $2.50 / $.50/minute

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Best Lightning Lane Values

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway - 9 minutes / $2.50 / $.28/minute

• Toy Story Midway Mania - 7.5 minutes / $2.50 / $.33/minute

• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - 7 minutes / $2.50 / $.36/minute

• Smuggler’s Run/Star Tours (tie) - 5 minutes / $2.50 / $.50/minute

Disney’s Hollywood Studios Worst Lightning Lane Values

• Muppets Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster - 1.4 minutes/ $2.50 / $1.79/minute

• Alien Swirling Saucers - 1.5 minutes / $2.50 / $1.67/minute

• Rise of the Resistance - 18 minutes / $25.00 / $1.39/minute

• Slinky Dog Dash - 2 minutes / $2.50 / $1.25/minute

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Best Lightning Lane Values

• Kilimanjaro Safaris - 20 minutes / $2.50 / $.13/minute

• Na’vi River Journey - 5 minutes / $2.50 / $.50/minute

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Worst Lightning Lane Values

• Avatar: Flight of Passage - 5 minutes / $19.00 / $3.80/minute

• Expedition Everest - 2.8 minutes / $2.50 / $.89/minute

Overall Five and Worst Lightning Lane Values in Walt Disney World

Here are the best and worst Lightning Lane values in all of Walt Disney World. They are listed by park, then attraction, then time, then cost, then cost per minute.

Best Lightning Lane Values in WDW

1. Animal Kingdom - Kilimanjaro Safaris - 20 minutes / $2.50 / $.13/minute

2. Tie

   1. EPCOT - Spaceship Earth - 15 minutes / $2.50 / $.17/minute

   2. EPCOT - Turtle Talk with Crush - 15 minutes / $2.50 / $.17/minute

3. EPCOT - Living With the Land - 13.8 minutes / $2.50 / $.18/minute

4. Tie

   1. Magic Kingdom - Tiana’s Bayou Adventure - 11 minutes / $2.50 / $.23/minute

   2. EPCOT - Journey Into Imagination - 11 minutes / $2.50 / $.23/minute

Worst Lightning Lane Values in WDW

1. Magic Kingdom - Iron - 2 minutes / $15.00 /$7.50/minute

2. EPCOT - Guardians of the Galaxy - 3.3 minutes / $22.00 / $6.67/minute

3. Magic Kingdom - Seven dwarfs Mine Train - 2.8 minutes /$15.00 /$5.36/minute

4. Animal Kingdom - Avatar: Flight of Passage - 5 minutes / $19.00 / $3.80/minute

5. Magic Kingdom - Barnstormer - 1.1 minutes / $2.50 / $2.27/minute

Surprises and non-Surprises

Were you surprised? I certainly was.

I was surprised to see Tiana’s Bayou Adventure as one of the best values but it makes sense because of the length of the attraction. I was also a bit surprised to see Barnstormer as one of the more expensive LL values but again the length of the attraction is the key.

I was not surprised to see TRON, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as the most expensive Lightning Lane values.

So if you are wondering how to get the best Lightning Lane “BANG” per minute you have come to the right place.

Well there you have it.

See you next time.

Well, I am about to see the latest edition of this franchise, Toy Story 5, and am looking forward to seeing where this journey leads.

I thought the journey would have ended with Toy Story 4. Silly me. Of course there was another chapter to tell and of course money to be made.

So I thought it would be interesting to jot down a “preview” or some thoughts about the movie BEFORE I see it and then do a review afterwards.

So to that end let’s start.

Preview

Okay I know a bit about what I am about to see. The tech generation has thrown the toys into a situation they had never accounted for. It seems that Bonnie has received a new toy, a smart pad called “Lilypad” and it apparently takes all of Bonnie’s time, much to the chagrin of her toys namely Jessie and the rest of the gang. So there’s what I’ve got with as far as info on the film.

So what am I going to look for?

Well, let’s chew on a few things:

• I am curious to see if Bonnie gradually migrates from her “old school” playing with toys to her new tech toy, or if she just completely turns to this new gadget right away and leaves her old toys behind. I would expect the latter…we’ll see.

  

• I wonder how Bonnie’s toys will react to Bonnie’s behavior. Will they not understand what’s going on? Will they be mad or hurt? How will each of the toys react to Bonnie’s ignorance of them and what thoughts will surface as a result?

• Is there one or two real sensitive or emotional scenes from the movie which will be remembered as a signature scene from the film? And what message or messages will be sent via this scene or scenes? Curious minds want to know.

• I will be looking for any clues to see if the film’s creators will be subliminally putting forth their opinions on things like artificial intelligence. Will we be given a warning? Will we be told to embrace it? I’ll be paying strict attention to that.

• In regards to that last bullet, I am curious as to Lillypad’s personality. Is it just your basic Siri or Alexa personality? Doe she adapt or learn and if so how and what influences any changes?

  

• Will I be able to spot the Pizza Planet truck?

• Finally, and this is an expectation, I would guess that at one point in the story there will be a cumbaya moment in which there will be acceptance of Lilypad and everyone learns to live together. What will trigger that moment….if it ever surfaces?

Review

Well I have seen the movie and now for some thoughts.

My first thought is who is this guy (it’s not me but obviously this guy was so engaged in the movie he forgot to eat his popcorn).

On with the review.

• As much as I enjoyed the movie I would have to say that this film did not have the best storyline for the franchise. Don’t get me wrong, it is a decent storyline. It’s hard to put yourself in the writers’ shoes having to come up with a storyline that equals or surpasses that of Toy Story 3 or Toy Story 4. It takes a while for the various subplots to mesh but when they do the film picks up traction.

• The characterization of Lilypad was well done and the gradual transition of this character speaks to the “learning” aspect of artificial intelligence devices we are surrounded with today. Watch the film closely to see little nuances telling you of her transition and please join me in wondering if this character will join the group in any further Toy Story films.

• The humor throughout the movie is topnotch and for the most part is the best assortment of humorous scenes for the franchise. I would expect that this is because it is the fourth sequel and there is a history with the audience which the audience recognizes. Inside jokes work with knowledgeable audiences.

• I don’t think it would be a spoiler to mention that in this film Jessie s the lead character or toy I guess and I personally think it was one of the best aspects of this movie. It made sense to have her take the lead as this movie in my mind would not have come across as well if either Woody or Buzz had been made the lead. You’ll understand more when you see the film.

  

• As in previous Toy Story films there is a signature moment in which the filmmakers reach out to our heartstrings. It was interesting how we are led up to this moment…totally unexpected….but is it really a tearjerker? Oh well…that’s another tidbit I would like you to remember when you see the film.

• I think that most of the audience, especially myself, came away with what I think Andrew Stanton wanted us to understand what the message of the film was trying to get across. As much as I would like to dive deeper into this thought I feel that it is somewhat treading into “spoiler territory” so I’ll leave that up to you.

• More than any of the other previous Toy Story films this one showcases the human characters quite a bit and it was necessary to do so because of the storyline. But it also reenforces the notion that humans are the catalysts for the toys and their (the toys’) experience.

• Finally, and I pretty much find myself saying this every time I see a newly released Pixar film…how do they make the animation even better? How many times do you say to yourself, “Wow this looks so real!!” Pay attention to a scene involving a school bus…is that a real school bus?

Easter Eggs

As we all know the fun of watching a Pixar film is the search for specially planted Easter eggs. Toy Story 5 is no exception as there are plenty of references to certain films or characters from Disney’s past. Of course the #1 Easter egg is the placement of the Pizza Planet truck which shows up in every Toy Story film. If you’re wondering, yes, the truck makes a cameo in this film but I won’t spoil it for you and tell you where it is but here is a hint…don’t blink.

Oh and is there a Toy Story 6 in our future? Well…let’s just say that it’s possible that we may or may not be given a clue at the end of this film regarding yet another future Toy Story film. The clue appears when….yikes I almost jotted down a spoiler. I need to be careful.

Oh yeah…one more thing….

See you next time.

But it would be unfair to just complain about exorbitant prices and such and NOT mention those WDW vacation components actually worth the money.

So today I am going to pay this debt of owing Walt Disney World some props on what I think ARE those components actually worth the cost.

These are in no particular order as these are coming to mind as I type.

Drawn to Life

This is one of those experiences where you don’t know what you don’t know until you take the plunge and give it a shot. It basically comes down to whether or not you have seen Cirque du Solei in person or not. The Cirque du Solei presentation at Disney Springs is one of those experiences that I feel is worth the price of admission. If you want to wow your children then the next time you are lucky enough to spend a week or so at Walt Disney World, you may want to think about taking in Drawn to Life. I guarantee that, if you do as you exit the theater your kids will not stop talking about what they have seen and don’t you want your children to have that feeling? It’s priceless.

Dessert Parties

This may not have been one of those things you would have expected me to talk about but hear me out. How many times have you looked forward to watching the nighttime fireworks at Magic Kingdom but struggled to figure out not just where to station yourself so you can see the fireworks but also just when to plant yourself at your “station?” If that wasn’t enough, now that you have projection mapping going on at the castle it’s no longer watching the sky above the castle but the castle front itself that you need to keep in mind.

Let me ask you this. Have you ever had to deal with a dad putting his child on his shoulders right in front of you? How about your own children too short to see the castle?

I for one am no longer a fan of setting up somewhere on Main Street USA from anytime from 45 to 60 minutes before showtime to watch 15-17 minutes of fireworks.

Recently I have made the decision that if I really want to enjoy the show then perhaps considering spending money for a dessert party may be worth it…not for the desserts but for the convenience of watching the nighttime spectacular without having to set up shop an hour beforehand and dealing with the crowd and being able to see the castle front during the show.

The answer is a dessert party. Magic Kingdom offers several options for dessert parties but the one I would recommend is the post fireworks party. This option allows you to watch the fireworks from in front of the Plaza Restaurant in a specially roped off area guarded by fearless cast members. You can saunter over there 15 minutes before the first shell is fired, enjoy the show, then saunter over to the Tomorrowland Terrace for some late night refreshments…and here is the important part…while the throng makes its way to the busses, ferry, and most im[ortantly, the monorail.

Think of the difference if you can spend an hour or so sitting down, having a treat or two while a majority of the guests leave the park.

If you have children who can deal with a late night at The Magic Kingdom you may want to consider a dessert party.

I know the cost is a consideration but maybe as a family or group or couple you can discuss whether or not to fork over some vacation dollars for Lightning Lanes throughout the day or perhaps save those funds for a dessert party to finish out the day without being elbow to elbow with other guests and enjoying refreshments.

Of course filling your children with sugar sometime after 9:00 PM may offer a problem of getting them to sleep but look at it this way…they will have enough sugar in them to get them back to your hotel room. If your itinerary for your trip has you spending only one night at Magic Kingdom you may want to think about it.

Staying on the Property

The debate regarding the pros and cons of staying on the property will go on forever. Many would argue it’s definitely worth it while others will say it is a waste of money. I think there are valid points for each side of the argument. For our purpose today my discussion will focus on the benefits of staying on the property in terms of the value you get from spending a bit more money…and in fact staying on the property can save you money and much more.

There are several considerations you should look at when deciding whether or not to stay on the property. I understand that staying off the property usually means you can find a lower cost for a hotel room and in many cases guests will say, “I can stay for a few more days if I grab a hotel off the property but if I stay on the property I would have to reduce the number of days and nights for my trip.”

That’s fair for sure.

Let’s look at a few things. For me during my first several visits to Walt Disney World I stayed both off and on the property and I noticed a few things that have stuck with me as follows:

• I realized how important time was for me when on vacation and especially a WDW vacation. Staying off the property required more transportation time going to and from any of the theme parks and if I had to rely on a shuttle I had to go by the shuttle’s schedule…not mine. Also, staying off the property usually meant I would probably spend the entire day at WDW instead of breaking it up and going back and forth two times during the day. Staying on the property reduces the amount of time to get the day started and offers flexibility to come and go to any of the parks without sacrificing a lot of time.

• Let’s talk about WDW transportation. There are so many options these days and things have improved drastically with the addition of the Disney Skyliner. Not only does staying on the property eliminate the issue mentioned earlier regarding shuttle schedule but Disney Transportation within the resort offers guests options to go from one point to the next point. In the past I used to advise folks using WDW transportation to give themselves at least an hour of time to do so…not anymore. I would say that travel time has been reduced…busses seem to be moving more frequently making their routes and you have boats and monorail and the aforementioned Disney Skyliner at your convenience. The only things I would add to this is that knowing how your itinerary would be at your vacation would dictate where on the property you should stay.

• I guess I could have included this little tidbit in the last butllet but if you are off the property and have a rental car (which you would not need staying on the property) then you’ll be paying $35 a day (or $50 for preferred parking) when going to a theme park. Here comes the time issue again…you then slowly are shown where to park, then walk the long line to the end of your row, making sure you know where you parked as there are usually a million cars in the parking lots, and then wait for the tram. Hopefully can get on the tram and then be delivered to the park entrance…of course with the exception of Magic Kingdom where you arrive at the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC). WDW busses get you much closer to park entrances so it’s not just money but time that you are saving.

• Property guests can get into the parks 30 minutes before the public and that is good stuff for early birds. There are also extra hour perks that are offered from time to time to (deluxe property) property guests. Sure there are thousands of rooms on the property but let’s understand that not all guests will get up for rope drop and not all guests will get up for rope drop AND go to the same park you are going to. Those 30 minutes could save you not just time but actually save you from the thought of buying a Lightning Lane or two. That leads me to the next bullet.

• I’m not a fan of Lightning Lanes but I do think that the perk for property guests of being able to purchase Lightning Lane passes seven days from their resort stay beginning at 7:00 AM Eastern time is something to consider when deciding whether or not to stay on the property. For those who do use LLs this gives them a chance to lock in their LLs early on and maybe get those LL times earlier in the day instead of let’s say 7 :30 PM.

• In keeping with the “advance” theme from the previous bullet let’s also keep in mind that staying on the property offers guests the opportunity to make dining reservations 60 days ahead of your stay. Sometimes those hard to get reservations are impossible to get a few weeks from your stay but 60 days from your stay gives you a chance at sitting down at that special restaurant.

• One perk that goes by the wayside for a lot to guests is the package delivery services. So you’d like to buy this replica of Cinderella castle but don’t want to lug it through the park? Then have it delivered to you room. One caveat here is that you need to keep in mind that you really need to do this prior to two days from your checkout date.

Other thoughts

I do think that to break up the hectic theme park crowds and such it is worth it to consider a tour or two to give you a different look at WDW. Now here is where, however, you need to be selective….especially if you want to protect the “magic” of WDW in your eyes.

Here are the tours which I think are worth the money…some I have done and some I am planning to do:

• Behind the Seeds - This is a walking tour of the areas in the Land Pavilion in EPCOT. It has always been one of the highest rated tours in all of WDW and I believe it is the least expensive. You can visit the greenhouses, fish farm, and labs.

• Wildlife African Trek - If you’re a big animal person then you may enjoy this exclusive experience in the Animal Kingdom park

• Savor the Savannah - This is for the fans of animals and food….it is a special private safari that includes African-inspired food and beverages.

• Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour - This is pretty much the big showcase tour for WDW. It may take away from the magic for you but you will see some interesting things.

Other…erh Final Thoughts

I know! I know. You’re thinking that all that have mentioned requires some investment but truly when you take everything into consideration with a special emphasis on how you value your time, well, you can make a case for the value here.

I realize staying on the property brings with it a higher cost but if you make the most of the perks/benefits of doing so you may come to the conclusion that perhaps, just perhaps, you are spending a bit more but getting so much in return. Remember, we’re not talking Grand Floridian here. This year there seems to be some very good rates offered for the value and moderate resorts…they are worth a look…especially for those of you reading this who have NEVER stayed on property.

Earlier this week I was speaking with someone who had purchased an Annual Pass in April. Her last three visits to WDW involved staying in an AIRBNB. Having purchased the AP she began looking at an alternative way to stay and later this week is trying Pop Century. She’s looking at the same components I have mentioned in this post…saving time, using WDW transportation, getting into the park early, etc. Did I mention she used her AP to get a discount on the room? I doubt after this stay she will never stay off the property agin.

One more thing.

Many guests look at the cost of a WDW vacation and rightly so…it can cost a pretty penny. So the goal is to get the most out of that pretty penny. It remains important to understand and get the best out of your vacation dollar. It also is important to understand and look for balance during your vacation and to recognize what experiences or options result in priceless experiences for you and your family.

It comes down to not just spending money for a trip but how you spend it.

Think of it this way. Every dollar spent for a Walt Disney World vacation should be treated as an “investment” and as such you want something of value in return.

Just plopping your credit down is not the way to do it. Thinking before you plop is the better and more rewarding way to reach for that magical experience.

So do some thinking and look into those components of a WDW vacation that perhaps gives you more value than you thought and perhaps DO save you money and time.

See you next time.

Margaret Kerry, the actress and dancer who served as the live-action reference model for Tinker Bell in Disney’s 1953 Peter Pan, has passed away at the age of 97.

She died yesterday on June 11, 2026, in Wilmington, North Carolina, surrounded by her children.

Her performance helped animators bring one of Disney’s most iconic characters to life—capturing the movement, personality, and attitude that helped make Tinker Bell unforgettable.

Beyond Disney, she appeared in classic television shows including The Lone Ranger, Perry Mason, and The Andy Griffith Show, along with roles in films like The Ransom of Red Chief and The Invisible Monster.

Gone… but forever part of the magic.

Rest in Peace.