First, Thomas M. writes in to ask:
Jim:
I was always a huge fan of the Jolly Holidays dinner show at the Contemporary Resort at WDW and was very upset when they stopped having it several years ago. My family and I went every year and there was always a gigantic crowd. I know that much of it was lifted form the castle forecourt shows at MVMCP but always enjoyed the meal and up close, surround stage feel of the show. Why was it stopped and do you think it will ever return?
Thomas M.
Dear Thomas:
Yes, I remember the old "Jolly Holidays" show at the Contemporary with much fondness as well. My family and I attended a live performance of this elaborate Christmas stage show back in 1992. We — along with the hundreds of other WDW visitors — crammed into the cavernous convention center that night. Seated at a large round dining table, we dined on turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce as Disney characters and dozens of live performers danced and sang on the three stages set up around the hall.
But — three years later — Michelle, Alice and I attended an even more memorable performance of WDW's "Jolly Holidays" show. You see, this was a dress rehearsal for the extravaganza. Something that was only supposed to be open to Disney cast members. But luckily, a friend who worked at the resort snuck the three of us into the convention center that evening.
Now imagine this immense stage presentation being performed for only a handful of people. And — since my 1-year old daughter was the only child attending this particular performance … Well, let's just say that Alice got an awful lot of attention that night.
As an extra added bonus, a cast member who was working at that year's show slipped me a copy of the "Jolly Holidays" soundtrack. Which is kind of unusual, given that this recording only features the pre-recorded portions of the program. Still, it's a holiday favorite here at the Stadler / Hill house. And — each year, when December rolls around — I toss the "Jolly Holidays" tape into our cassette player and relive some very fond Disney-related Christmas memories.
So — given that this show was often sold out months in advance — one has to wonder: Why did the Mouse pull the plug on the Contemporary's "Jolly Holidays" show back in 1998? The story that I've heard is twofold:
1) Disney eventually felt that it just wasn't making enough profit off of the Contemporary's "Jolly Holidays" show. Sure, with tickets selling at $62 per person, this staged-twice-a-day Christmas extravaganza obviously raked in a lot of loot. But — what with the cost involved in setting up the seasonal show as well as the salaries that had to be paid out to the performers, the resort's wait staff as well as the "JH" tech crew — "Jolly Holidays" blew through a lot of money as well.
Eventually, Disney managers went over their books and determined that it would probably be more cost effective if the Contemporary Resort just cancelled its annual production of "Jolly Holidays" and rented out its enormous convention center to various groups throughout the month of December. Which would — in theory — put the hotel in a pure profit situation for that month, rather than weighing what "Jolly Holidays" took in versus what it cost to actually mount and run that show.
2) But another consideration was that there was considerable overlap between the Contemporary's "Jolly Holidays" show and the Magic Kingdom's "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party." As in there were music numbers performed in both of these seasonal extravaganza that were identical. And — since many WDW visitors would buy tickets to attend both "JH" and "MVMCP" — invariably in January, WDW Guest Relations office would be inundated with letters from angry Disney World guests saying "Hey, I paid twice to see virtually the same show. What gives?"
This meant that WDW Guest Relations office wound up giving out an awful lot of comp tickets to the Contemporary's "Top of the World" dinner show in an effort to make these disgruntled guests happy with the Mouse once more. That hotel's management eventually got tired of giving away dinners at its most exclusive restaurant … Which definitely became a factor in Disney World's decision to eventually shut down its "Jolly Holidays" show.
Of course, the real irony here is — about the same time that the Contemporary decided to shut down its "Jolly Holidays" seasonal show — the operations staff at WDW's Magic Kingdom decided to overhaul all of the entertainment offered at "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party." They put in a brand new stage show in front of the castle as well as making significant changes to all of the other entertainments offered in the park.
The end result? There would have then been virtually no overlap between the Contemporary's "Jolly Holidays" show and the Magic Kingdom's "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party" … If the hotel had actually decided to keep that seasonal show up and running. Which is kind of sad, don't you think?
Next, Jason R. writes in to ask:
Hey Jim,
Love the site, keep up the good work.
Here's something I've often wondered but have never found a clear answer on.
What's the story behind the Swan and Dolphin hotels. Why are they not near Downtown Disney, but in the middle of the resort? I know they are not owned by Disney, so I'm wondering why the special treatment?
Again keep up the excellent work and I'm looking forward to more stories on the Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong resorts in the future.
Thanks
Jason R.
To understand why the Dolphin and the Swan got built where they did, Jason, you have to understand that — prior to Michael Eisner's arrival at the Walt Disney Company — Disney's then-chairman Ray Watson had cut a deal with Tischman Realty and Construction, the folks who built the bulk of Epcot Center. In return for helping to get WDW's second theme park open on time, Tischman was given the sole right to develop new hotels on WDW property.
Then — of course — Michael and Co. came on board. And among the very first deals that Eisner cuts is an agreement with Marriot to added 20,000 hotel rooms to the Florida property. The guys who run Tischman hear about this and go ballistic. They filed a $1.5 billion lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company, claiming breach of contract.
Eventually — on the advice of the corporation's attorneys — the Walt Disney Company backs out of its arrangement with Marriott and agrees to honor Watson's previous deal with Tischman. Which will allow the New York-based construction company to built two huge new hotels as well as a convention center whenever they'd like at Walt Disney World.
That "wherever they'd like" part of the deal would eventually come back and bite Disney in the ass. For Tischman decided that they wanted their hotel and convention center complex to be built at the very center of the Central Florida property. As close as possible to the recently-opened Epcot Center and the soon-to-be-built Disney-MGM Studio Theme Park.
At the very last minute, Michael Eisner threw in a condition that he hoped might make this deal a bit more advantageous for the Walt Disney Company. Which was that Tischman's hotels had to be designed by a top name architect like Michael Graves. Tischman agreed, which is how Graves eventually won the commission to design the Dolphin and the Swan.
Now — even back when the Dolphin and the Swan were in model form — the Imagineers were warning Michael that WDW guests were going to be able to see the hotels from inside World Showcase. But Eisner wouldn't listen.
Of course, the day finally came when Michael was touring Epcot Center and noticed those two huge buildings looming on the horizon. "Can't something be done about that?" Disney's CEO supposed asked one Imagineer who was there. "Can't you guys build a berm … or something like that?"
Now no one had that guts to tell Eisner that it would be impossible to build a berm that would be high enough to blot out the Dolphin and the Swan (Or the more derisive name that Epcot employees use to describe these hotels, the Tuna and the Turkey). Though Craig McNair Wilson, one of Imagineering's wittier vets, did come up with a fairly amusing solution to the whole problem:
"To make the Dolphin and the Swan blend in with World Showcase, all that Disney has to do is put a giant version of each country's national animal on top of each of the international pavilions. So the American Adventure would have this huge eagle draped over it, the U.K. a proud lion perched on top of its pavilion, China … a panda. France? I don't know. A frog?"
Kind of a funny solution, don't you think? Too bad that the Imagineers didn't actually go forward with Craig's idea.
And finally, Chris A. writes in to ask:
Jim —
My family just took our 20-month old on his first trip to Disney World (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom). We requested a trip-planning DVD from the Disney web page, and one thing that struck me was its consistent use of the term "Disney Studios", in spoken copy and on-screen graphics, as the name of the third theme park. Not "Disney-MGM Studios". In fact, in the few places on the DVD where there are shots of the front gate, the "MGM" has actually been digitally removed, as seen in the attached screenshot:
We didn't go to that park, and all the signage and information we saw elsewhere in WDW continued to use the term "Disney-MGM Studios", so I'm just wondering if something is up. After all, these "studios" no longer produce anything on-site, do they?
— Chris A.
Chris A. –
Okay — just like with my Dolphin and the Swan story above — before you understand what's really going on here, you need to know a little Disney Company history. You see, back n April of 1985, Michael Eisner announced that he intended to build a new $300 million Hollywood-themed theme park as part of his expansion plans for the Disney World Resort. The only problem was … Disney's catalogue of movies was kind of the thin side. Very heavy on animation and family friendly stuff, but very light when it came to the motion picture's main genres: Horror, Drama, Musicals, Westerns, Action- Adventure, Thrillers, etc. Which didn't really give the Imagineers enough material to work with if they were going to build a theme park that would adequately pay tribute to Tinsel Town's legacy.
So Disney's legal department went snooping around to see if they could perhaps license a few cinematic properties which might help beef up this new theme park's assortment of attractions. Co-incidentally — at this very same time — MGM/UA was in desperate need of a cash infusion.
Which is why the Mouse was able to strike this extraordinary deal with the executives at MGM/UA. For a starting licensing fee of just $100,000 a year (which — over a 20 year period — would eventually grow to a $1,000,000-a-year licensing fee), Disney got the right to use hundreds of that studio's films and characters in the creation of their new theme park. Not to mention the use of the MGM name as well as the company's trademark roaring lion.
Of course, when Kirk Kerkorian — the colorful billionaire who actually owned MGM/UA — heard about what his executives had done, he did a lot of roaring himself. Kirk actually ordered his attorneys to sue the Walt Disney Company in an effort to break this deal.
Unfortunately for him, Kerkorian's lawsuit got thrown out in 1992. The judge then ordered that MGM/UA must honor the terms of its contract with the Mouse to the letter, which meant that the Walt Disney Company had the right to use the "MGM" name in association with its Central Florida theme park through June of 2005.
So — what you're seeing now, Chris — what with the "MGM" name actually being digitally erased out of WDW's tripping planning videos as well as the DVD's narrator calling this theme park "Disney Studios" is just the Mouse preparing for that theme park's upcoming transition period. Rather than having this big jarring change come in June of 2005, with the "MGM" name suddenly being stricken from everything in Orlando, Disney's opted to go with a more gradual approach. Which is to slowly introduce the "Disney Studios" name to the public, with the hope that this will make the coming transition easier.
Of course, given that nearly everyone I know — when they're using verbal shorthand to describe this WDW theme park — just calls Disney-MGM Studio Theme Park MGM … I would imagine that this name, like it or not, is going to hang on for many years yet to come.
And speaking of hanging on … I'm hoping that JimHillMedia.com will be able to hang on for many years yet to come. But — in the months ahead — we're looking to make pretty significant changes here. A bold new look. A more reliable server. Maybe even get some new features in place that will allow JHM to start displaying more photos, etc.
Of course, in order to do this, the site's gonna need better cash flow…. Soooo — as much as it pains me to do so — it's time to pass the hat again, folks. So — if I ask nice — can I please get you members of the JimHillMedia.com family (arguably the nicest bunch of people to ever wander around the Web) to toss a few coins in our Amazon.com contributions box?
That way, I don't have to concern myself with the site's financial problems. I can just concentrate on what you folks want. Which for me to crank out even more stories about what's really going on inside the Mouse House.
Speaking of which, be sure and come back Monday when we've got a great new series debuting at the site. Which will cover the many and varied ways that the Walt Disney Company can possibly turn around the situation that it currently find itself in.
That's it for today. Have a great weekend, okay?