Okay. Quick show of hands. Who here watched the “Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade” on ABC last Thursday morning?
(God, look who I’m asking. You’re a Disney dweeb, right? So of course you watched this program …)
Well, I — like you — sat and watched this year’s special. And just marveled at this Frankenstein-like production.
“Why ‘Frankenstein-like’?” you ask. Well, that sequence that featured the Brady Bunch wandering around Disney-MGM? That was actually shot back in October during Disney World’s annual press event. And that bumper where Susanne Lucci and several other actors from “All My Children” (also while standing around in the Disney-MGM Studio theme park) wished the viewing audience “… a very Merry Christmas”? That was shot back in early November during this year’s Super Soap Weekend.
George Lopez’s play-by-play of Disneyland’s Christmas parade? That was actually shot back on Saturday, November 15th. One of my JHM tour groups and I actually got to watch Lopez and a large film crew shoot a portion of that special while I was taking them through the theme park that morning.
Yet all these celebrities were saying “Hello” to Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. Talking with the two “Live with Regis and Kelly” co-hosts as if they were all down there at Disney World at the exact same time. Ah, the magic of television. Sequences that were shot months apart, all artfully stitched together so that nary a seam does show.
Mind you, it was the stuff that was shot in the Magic Kingdom where the most artful stitching was done. You see, Ms. Ripa hadn’t actually been able to make it down to Walt Disney World for the first day or two of filming. Why for? Because she accidentally got snowed in in NYC on Friday, December 5th. So Kelly wasn’t actually able to make it down to Orlando ’til Sunday, December 7th. When 90% of this year’s “Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade” special was already in the can.
But not to worry. The folks at Lightship Productions (I.E. the television production company that actually put together this year’s parade special) just set up their cameras again. They had Regis and Kelly sit in their festively decorated broadcast booth in the foreground while they rolled a small number of parade floats through the background. They then shot a scene which had Phlibin and Ripa stood with the crowds along Main Street U.S.A. And Presto Changeo! It looked like Regis and Kelly had been on hand for the entire shoot.
(How do I know so much about the above story? Because — just like what happened back in Disneyland on November 15th — I was actually in the Magic Kingdom hosting a JHM tour [which was being offered as an exclusive to the nice folks at Mousefest 2003] on Sunday, December 7th when they were shooting all of that additional Kelly footage. I remember poor Jim Korkis, struggling to make himself heard in Town Square as various floats came rolling through and Ms. Ripa’s exteremly amplified voice rang out through the park. That may sound kind of annoying, but it was a really great time.)
Anyway … enough about the logistics of putting ABC’s “Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade” special together. Now let’s talk about the show itself. Or — as I like to call it — that two-hour-long commercial for Walt Disney World’s “Magical Gatherings” program … Oh, yeah. And the Christmas parade too.
Seriously, could the Walt Disney Company have crammed any more references to this new WDW program into the show? During the first hour alone, it was mentioned — in a veiled sort of way — by Michael Eisner himself:
“Join us as we continue the celebration of families and gatherings on the most joyous day of the year.”
Kelly Ripa then mentioned the program as part of her introductory remarks for the parade:
“What a beautiful place to celebrate the joy of Christmas and that special magic that happens when you get together with your friends and your family. It’s something called ‘Magical Gatherings’ and you’ll be hearing more about it throughout the show.”
Did you ever? Regis repeatedly talked about WDW’s “Magical Gatherings” program:
“Hey, welcome back everyone to the Christmas Day parade at the Magic Kingdom. Thanks for joining our Magical Gathering of friends and family.”
“Here’s a perfect song for our Magical Gathering this morning. Jump 5 singing ‘Welcome to Our Family’ from ‘Brother Bear.'”
The program was also mentioned by this anonymous family as a filmed insert leading out of commercial:
“Hi! We’re here from all over the United States. Chicago! Nebraska! Birmingham! And we’re happy to be having a Magical Gathering here at the Magic Kingdom with our great grandmother, Alita. Merry Christmas!”
And — if that wasn’t bad enough — parade viewers were then treated to a 5-minute-long sequence that hyped WDW’s “Magical Gatherings” program. This part of the show started off with the current Miss America, Ericka Dunlap, and her family gathered at WDW’s recently-opened Pop Century Resort Hotel. As she smiled for the cameras, Ms. Dunlap said:
“I’m lucky enough to spend time with my family at the Walt Disney World Resort. We’re having what’s known as a ‘Magical Gathering.’ It’s a great new way to bring friends and family together at Walt Disney World.”
Ericka then introduced a sequence which supposedly showed this typical family — the O’Sheas, a family of 15 from New Bedford, MA — who were having a “Magical Gathering” at Walt Disney World. As this warm-and-fuzzy filmed interlude got underway, parade viewers were told that this was the first tike that the family had all been together on vacation. The O’Sheas were then shown — all dressed in matching “Magical Gatherings” t-shirts — walking hand-in-hand through the Magic Kingdom.
Which was all well and good. Except that — every so often — there’d be these close-ups of various O’Shea family members reading what had to be carefully scripted remarks. I mean, can you imagine any of your relatives turning toward a camera and spontaneously saying:
“A ‘Magical Gathering’ is a group of family and friends who join together to experience Walt Disney World … just being together. Creating a special moment in time. There’s no better place to do this than here.”
If you can believe it, the “Magical Gatherings” promotional push got even heavier as this sequence went on. Parade viewers got to watch as one of the O’Sheas supposedly used the Internet to download the “Magical Gatherings” planner. As one of the other aunts went on and on about how using the Disney website …
“… made things so much easier. They’d keep you up-to-date on arrangements. Where we’re going to have dinner. Where we’re going to have breakfast.”
The “Magical Gatherings” promotional portion of last Thursday’s “Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade” broadcast closed out with the O’Shea family having not one, but two “Magical Gatherings” experiences. First, the family had a group photo — taken by an official WDW photographer — taken while standing on the lawn in front of Cinderella’s Castle. Next, the O’Sheas experienced the “Magical Gatherings” fireworks voyage. Where the family was taken out onto Seven Seas Lagoon and shown enjoying “Wishes” as the Magic Kingdom’s new fireworks extravaganza was seen exploding over that theme park.
And — just to make sure that parade viewers got the message — as the sequence drew to a close, one of the O’Shea women — in a voiceover — was heard to say:
“When we’re coming here, we’re just making memories.”
Which — given that this comment managed to plug both the Walt Disney Company as well as Kodak’s old promotional slogan — must have made the Mouse’s promotional staff happy.
Then — just in case the television viewing audience didn’t get the point of the whole O’Shea family “Magical Gatherings” sequence — the camera now cut back to Ericka Dunlap and her family standing in front of the Pop Century Resort Hotel. Where Ericka said:
“And that’s just one example of friends and family from around the world who are having a ‘Magical Gatherings’ vacation at Walt Disney World. Something that everyone can do year ’round. Not just at Christmastime.”
And then — just to hammer the all-too-obvious point home — they then cut away to commercial. And what’s the first ad to air after the O’Sheas “Magical Gatherings” sequence? The “Circle of Life” version of WDW’s “Magical Gatherings” commercial.
Now no one has ever accused the Mouse of being subtle. But all this occurred just during the first hour of this year’s “Walt Disney World Christmas Day Program” TV special. The second hour of this show had even more ham-handed mentions of WDW’s “Magical Gatherings” program, with poor Robin Roberts from ABC News wandering down Main Street U.S.A. and supposedly spontaneously encountering yet another group of friends and family who were also having a “Magical Gathering.”
It was all just too much hype. Particularly for a program that’s already having more than its share of problems.
“What’s that you say, Jim?” you query. “Disney World’s ‘Magical Gatherings’ program is already having some problems?” Yep. Here, let me share an e-mail that I recently received from a veteran WDW hotel staffer. Who wrote to me to vent some of his frustrations about Disney World’s “Magical Gatherings” program:
“The real problem, Jim, is that the Walt Disney World Vacations people are actively promoting this ‘Magical Gatherings’ program, promising people all of these amazing experiences. But they started promoting the program before the people in Resorts could actually figure out how to make ‘Magical Gatherings’ work.
I mean, they’re telling people that we’re going to be able to arrange all of these adjoining hotel rooms for large families at the various Disney World resorts. Jim, we haven’t ever been able to do this. Not even for press events, when we knew months in advance that we had to block out large numbers of adjoining hotel rooms for celebrities and the media. And now they’re expecting us to be able to do this on a daily basis. Impossible.
The same problem applies to the resort’s restaurants. They’re telling guests that we’re going to be able to carve out these huge holes in each evening’s seating arrangements so that these large families can dine together. This means that we’re constantly having to turn away smaller groups of diners — who are actually ready to eat immediately — so that we can hold space for these large groups. Which — typically — never show up on time.
It’s just been a nightmare so far, Jim. We’ve really been struggling to deliver on all of the ‘Magical Moments’ that these guests have been promised as part of their ‘Magical Gatherings” vacation. For — when these people don’t get everything that the folks at Walt Disney World Vacations promised them — they come down to the front desk in the lobby and just scream at us about how much money they’re paying for this once-in-a-lifetime vacation with their extended family.
As a result, the front line people at Walt Disney World are getting a lot of abuse, Jim. All because Disney’s promotional department rushed to get all of those ‘Magical Gatherings’ TV commercials and print ads out there. Long before WDW’s resort staff had a chance to figure out how they were actually going to pull this program off. Seriously, Jim. On the specs for the WDW’s ‘Magical Gatherings’ program that was circulated around property, the last line of the document actually read: ‘I hope that we can pull this off.’
Resorts staffers are grumbling that ‘Magical Gatherings’ is just yet another ill-conceived effort by Walt Disney Company management to fill up all of those empty hotel rooms on property. Which is why they pushed this program through at warp speed, with little thought at to how the cast members in the field were actually going to deliver on all the ‘Magic’ that the Mouse’s promotional staff had promised the guests.
Don’t worry, Jim. Eventually, I’m sure that we’ll work all the kinks out. But I can’t help but think about how much easier this ‘Magical Gatherings’ thing would have been if they had just talked with us first. Rather than going to WDW’s promotional staff and dreaming up a new ad campaign for the resort, THEN — after the fact — trying to figure out how to actually make ‘Magical Gatherings’ work.”
So there you have it, folks. In spite of all the hype and promotion, the resort staff at Walt Disney World are struggling mightily to try and deliver all of the magic that the Mouse’s promotional staff says that you’re going to get when you, your family and friends sign up for a “Magical Gatherings” vacation.
Which is why I suggest that — if you’re really interested in having a “Magical Gathering” — that you hold off on having that “Gathering” ’til the middle of next year. Til the folks in WDW resort operations finally figure out how to make good on all the magic that WDW’s promotional staff promised.
Your thoughts?