Welcome to the Disneyville Podcast, episode 52.
SPEAKER_02Where we talk about the Disney Parks, Disney Cruise, and all the magic in between. We have an exciting episode. This is our Christmas episode.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it is. Insert jingle bell sound here. Right. And if you notice, we are wearing our holiday merch.
SPEAKER_02Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. Beep, beep, beep, beep. Mine, okay, I'm wearing my favorite one. So, first of all, if you want to even just take a peep at our holiday merch or our peak. You know, I think I meant peak. If you want to take a proper peek at the uh merch that we have to offer, uh, you can go to welcome to disneville.com slash shop or you can just Google Disneyville Podcast merch, you'll find it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But anyway, um, we have not only our holiday stuff, which we'll describe in a second, but also just our standard classic logo stuff. So if you are a Disneyville lover or you know another Disneyville lover, this would make a great gift idea. And it does support the show. So we appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and if you're just listening, Jessica says Citizen of Disneyville. It's got some hollyberry.
SPEAKER_02Listen, this one is my favorite. It looks like it could be a sign in a Disney park.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02This is truly my favorite one we're offering.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then this is my favorite. So it says Disneyville, but it's got the lights on it. It all this reminds me of Toy Story.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it's the string colored lights.
SPEAKER_00It's so good.
SPEAKER_02Another great one we have, we can pop um on screen if you're watching, is our like blue and white one with snowflakes. That one, I was wearing that hoodie literally this morning uh while working out. It's I really like that, and I really like the hoodie too. So, okay.
SPEAKER_00Well, you have piqued my interest.
SPEAKER_02See what I did there? No, I think you meant peeped my interest.
SPEAKER_00I you have peeped my interest. All right. So if you don't know, in and amongst this time of year, we are also doing Vlogmas, which is where we do tons and tons of vlogs at the same time. So this will be going long.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, we're basically vlogging all month long in December.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So those will be on my channel, which is Tyler Braun. You can search Tyler Braun, Tyler Travels TV. I don't even know what it is anymore.
SPEAKER_03Just look for his goofy face, you'll find it. You'll find it.
SPEAKER_00So if you want even more of us, you'll find that as well. We do all different kinds of stuff from just holiday stuff. We do baking, we just sit and talk at the camera just like this for a lot.
SPEAKER_02Honestly, we do. We usually end each vlog with like a solid 10 minutes of just sitting and chatting with you guys. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Just not as much about Disney, although sometimes about Disney.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, that certainly comes up. But anyway, yeah, you can get if you need more of us, I don't know. That is where you can find us in December.
SPEAKER_00But like you said, this is our holiday episode, and you did some research this morning, and I'm excited to hear about it. I haven't even looked at your notes yet.
SPEAKER_02So we sure haven't. So you're in for quite a quite a treat to teach your teacher Jesse's here. Teacher Jesse, this this itched that's no scratch that itch of like lesson planning.
SPEAKER_00Not that I miss lesson planning, but you can scratch an itch, and you can scratch an itch.
SPEAKER_02It sounded like you cursed.
SPEAKER_00Right? Can you can you can do you like I'm Oh you can you can itch an itch and you wouldn't say, oh, I I have a scratch, because that'd be like an action. You don't itch a scratch.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think itch is the noun, scratch is the verb, and nobody cares. I say it all and I don't care. I don't fall anywhere.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna itch it.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna scratch it. I've got to scratch that it's gonna itch that scratch.
SPEAKER_00Not gonna itch that scratch though. That would hurt. Anywho.
SPEAKER_02Well, so today.
SPEAKER_00See you later.
SPEAKER_02Well, nice knowing you.
We are talking about the history of Christmas in the Disney parks, specifically at Disney World, I will say. There were things when I was starting to plan this episode that I had in my mind, but I have to say this kind of veered off course a little bit in a good way. I learned some things, I was reminded of some things, and I also saw some really cool retro video that um I'm hopeful that we can insert in the video version. We'll have to talk to our editors, we'll see. So if you're listening and you're wanting to see some of the things we're talking about, definitely pop over to our YouTube later and kind of scrub through and see if you can find some of the footage we share. So why don't we start at the very beginning?
SPEAKER_00Sounds like a good place to start. Like if you don't say something
like that.
SPEAKER_02Um so obviously we know Disney World opened in 1971. And we will actually talk a we'll dip a little bit into some things in Disneyland because they a lot of precursors were there, but we're really focusing on Disney World today. So when it opened in 1971, you know, it opened in October. And so Christmas was two months later. Yeah, it was a pretty quick turnaround to do anything holiday related, but they did.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02They have, and there is video on YouTube again, we'll insert these clips. They had a huge Christmas tree. Generally, I think exactly where we see the Christmas tree today, at the end of Main Street when you're first coming into the park. But in the video, you can see it was a snowy, kind of flocked Christmas tree. And it had giant, giant ornaments on it, which even today, they're giant ornaments, the size has to match, you know. Imagine a regular size ornament on that tree would look so sweet.
SPEAKER_01Ridiculous, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, but they had a lot of bells too. Do they have bells today? I'm trying to think.
SPEAKER_00I feel like some of them, yeah. Yeah, but maybe they're all themed, and I feel like some of them have bells on them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but I feel like bells in the video I saw, there were a lot of bells around. Like, but one thing that I thought was really pretty they had in these early years that they don't do in Disney World is they had Garland running across Main Street, like all the way down, crossing the street back and forth with like wreaths in the middle.
SPEAKER_00I feel like they do that somewhere, but I can't place where do they do that in Hollywood Studios? Because I I when you showed me.
SPEAKER_02It does seem familiar, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That was the one thing you showed me earlier today. And when I saw that, I was like, Yeah, they don't do that on Main Street, I don't feel like, but they do that.
SPEAKER_02I think it's Hollywood Studios. Maybe, maybe even like silver. I've never I gotta look it up now. I now I need to know.
SPEAKER_00But I love the idea that when they were doing all this construction, they've got a million things going on. They're trying to open Magic Kingdom on this specific date.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00They're already thinking through, like, well, we gotta have a Christmas tree.
SPEAKER_02We're gonna need a Christmas tree in a few months.
SPEAKER_00Like they they they had the wherewithal to know they're gonna need that.
SPEAKER_02Okay, it's this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that it is the str it's strung across.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's strung across with like a little bit of garland. It is some like silver tinsel garland, which is absolutely I feel like I have some photos of that.
SPEAKER_00That's cute.
SPEAKER_02You probably do, but I just think it looks so festive when you're looking down Main Street. I wonder why they decided to stop doing that in Magic Kingdom eventually. I'm sure there was a reason. I wonder what it was.
SPEAKER_00I bet it well, I got to thinking about it. I wonder if it's the parade floats. They're too tall.
SPEAKER_02Well, interesting you should say that. We're gonna be talking about early parades, and maybe they didn't have it by then. I'm I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Or maybe they weren't that tall.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that could be. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00That that was my only thought.
SPEAKER_02And at night, by the way, it lit up. So it was still because that was my other wondering was like, well, what does this look like at night? But it it lit up, it looked really nice. Here to me is maybe the craziest thing. We are still an opening year, okay? They brought the candlelight processional opening year. It was at the Magic Kingdom, of course, because Epcot was not around for like
about another decade. They had it the first year. I'm like, that's amazing. Now, if you didn't know, Candlelight Processional was already popular in Disneyland. And there's even videos of Walt himself at one of the candlelight. And again, it was smaller scale, et cetera. Of course, things have just gotten bigger over the years.
SPEAKER_00I think there's a picture of Walt and like Dick Van Dyke is right by him at a candlelight processional in Disney Parks.
SPEAKER_02That might be the picture I'm thinking of in that one book we love.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Which, by the way, future episode very coming very soon.
SPEAKER_00Best Disney Parks books.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's coming up. Get excited.
SPEAKER_03We're very excited.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say, didn't they do, I feel like I've seen pictures of the candlelight processional in front of the castle. Didn't they do it basically like in front of the castle, or did I make that up?
SPEAKER_02You might be right. Um, and I the pictures I've seen, however, have were in front of like the train station.
SPEAKER_00Oh, maybe, okay.
SPEAKER_02And it they had like the living Christmas tree of like people as the training. Yeah, that's what I'm getting.
SPEAKER_00The the the the people, but for some reason.
SPEAKER_02But I I know I feel like there was also versions, so there's probably been different versions. Listen, there was a lot of research to this show, so I there's a limit to my knowledge. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I had to stop at some point because I'm like, I could spend 10 hours doing this. So you might be wondering, okay, in opening year, they certainly didn't put anything up at the resorts. They did.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_02It was like simple things, um, maybe like a tree here or there, but they actually did do festive decor at the resorts. And apparently, people, even at the time, felt like everything felt very festive, like it did feel again. I'm just amazed that it was like two months later that they changing. You'd think you'd get a pass the first year, you know.
SPEAKER_00Just you know what did they do with the Grand Floridian?
SPEAKER_02Well, we're gonna talk more about the Grand Floridian here in a little bit. What?
SPEAKER_00That was a test. You failed, it was not there.
SPEAKER_02Well, I was gonna say I don't think they had anything there opening, but that makes sense because it was not there. It's okay because we'll we'll talk about it.
SPEAKER_00No, it's funny because I that's one it feels like it should be an opening day hotel. Yeah, it does.
SPEAKER_02But it anyway, it yeah, it's all right that was a that was a good test. So I was kind of searching, okay, 1974, 1975, 1976, trying to see like over the years, was it pretty much the same? It really was. 1975, I was able to find a video. It looks exactly the same from 1971. They probably just kind of set it and forget it, you know, for each year.
SPEAKER_00Had enough going on.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. Um, but they did in those early days start a Christmas parade. It had those marching soldiers that undoubtedly they
look a little different, but they look pretty similar. So I thought it was kind of cool that that really, when you see those today, it is hearkening back to when they opened and when they started first doing the Christmas practice. So I thought that was really cool. Let's fast forward to 1982. Generally, things Christmasy. I'm sure they built a little bit over the years, but it generally stayed about the same. In 1982, what opened?
SPEAKER_00Epcot.
SPEAKER_02Correct. So a year after it opened, I have to imagine that Disney was thinking, how can we advertise for Epcot more than what we've already done? And so eight 1983, the next year, kind of became this big pivotal year where a lot happened in the Christmas realm. So the very first Walt Disney World Christmas Parade, which at the time was named the Very Merry Christmas Parade, um aired in 1983 on, of course, ABC.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, it was hosted by Joan London and Mike Douglas. Do you know either of them? I don't know either. I was even watching it. They have the parade, of course, I know the name Joan London, but Mike Douglas. They looked ever so slightly familiar. My guess is, and some of you guys are probably screaming, you know exactly there. My guess is they were like, you know, news anchor type. They definitely gave that vibe of like they were used to hosting things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know what I mean? But what killed me about this parade is it was, of course, televised. It was very much a classic parade. It felt like you were watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, not in that there were giant balloons, yeah, but in that the two hosts were seated at a table with like the castle in the background, whatever, or decor, I don't even remember. And then, you know, then it cuts to them talking over the procession going down. So it read very much like what we're used to with like the Macy's parade. Whereas now their Christmas televised parade is 10% parade and 90% everything else.
SPEAKER_00And it's it's just a one giant commercial and they just do yeah, it's like come on, the Disney cruise. Yeah, it's a big commercial, which you know, it is what it is, but it's also, yeah, just a bunch of like performances and a tiny little bit of a parade.
SPEAKER_02And it's very magical. Oh, yeah. A lot of a lot of commercial breaks. You know, it's funny you mention a lot of ads because as I was watching this original Christmas parade from 1983, there was an ad right away that the hosts were reading, you know, thanks to Days In, you know, blah, blah, blah. Which that made me giggle. And it was also Eastern Airline, which I don't even, I think it's a defunct airline now. Um, but the biggest ad in it was them showing off Epcot.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So they were showing, oh, you know, they were showing people in each cut from each country in each country's pavilion and all of that. Because at the time, you have to imagine people didn't really know a lot about Epcot. The internet wasn't around like it is, you know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, you would have to see it.
SPEAKER_02You had to have seen it on TV or hear it on the radio, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Or have been there in the first year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I thought that was, I mean, it made sense that they did it. And my guess is it worked because they kept televising. And now, of course, they continue to advertise for anything Disney in the things, which they're allowed to do. It's, you know. But I just thought it was interesting. So kind of scrubbing through the parade, it was all, you know, princesses, uh, Pinocchio, Snow White, Jungle Book. They had Casey Jr. coming down the track.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's fun.
SPEAKER_02With Dumbo. And then at the very end, of course, Santa Claus himself.
SPEAKER_00Now, how how far removed? Were we still pretty creepy at this point?
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_00We had okay, we had gone past creepy characters.
SPEAKER_02We were past the creepy characters. I have to say, if this were HD quality, I would have believed that it wasn't that long ago.
SPEAKER_01Really? Okay, cool.
SPEAKER_02I was pretty surprised by how kind of normal it looked like compared to today. It didn't look that odd. You know, you see, you know what we're talking about, right? Like the creepy characters from like the 50s when it opened. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00Those great characters. That's the stuff of nightmares, right?
SPEAKER_02It is nightmare fodder for sure. And what another funny thing was Mickey's Christmas carol came out that same year. And so I kept wondering, like, why is Mickey dressed as Bob Cratchit? And like Minnie, they were all in very Dickin, Dickensian, Dicken Dickinsian garb. And at one point, when they went to Epcot, they had a whole Christmas caroling group dressed in that same kind of That's so fun. I was like, and then I realized, oh, I looked it up. That's the year it came out. I'm like, well, that again, another advertisement. But it's it was really darling, and I kind of wish you'd see Mickey and Minnie in that like often, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's such a classic. It totally fits. Yeah. We that's one we kind of throw on it at least once a year. Oh, yeah. And it's it's it holds.
SPEAKER_02Usually in like April or May.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. That's yeah. Oh, that makes me sad that we don't see that more often. We get it, yeah, bring that costume back.
SPEAKER_02I know it was really cute. So, same year, the debut of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, 1983. They must have just decided we are taking all this money and allocating it for the holidays. All of this, so yeah, the Disney parade, um, the Very Merry Christmas party, all of that. Now, they only had it for one day, December 16th, 1983. If I if my research is correct, one day, it was the first time they did a hard-ticketed event that you had to pay for separately.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I'm sure it was kind of a test to see like welcome. Do people like it? You know?
SPEAKER_00Well, and they're probably thinking, like, you know, if these people are paying to get into the park to be there that day, like, how is this gonna go over if we're then also charging people a second price for the same day to do something else? You know, now we're so used to it. But like, if you think if you're like, this is the first time we're ever doing this, we're charging people twice. Like, people aren't gonna do this, are they? For the same day. Like, that's that's a pretty novel, crazy thing when you think about it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it still sucks today. Yeah, but you know what? Guess what? It clearly worked, and people clearly bought them because it it they just kept adding on days and adding on, you know.
SPEAKER_00And it always sells out. And it always sells crazy if it doesn't work.
SPEAKER_02That's
it. Um, so the parade they had, it was kind of like a precursor to the parade we have today. It was very Christmassy and stuff, but obviously today it's absolutely fantastic. The Christmas parade is amazing. But it was cool. The original parade, they did the like little treats and hot cocoa. And then some of the older videos I found. I don't know if this was like the original one from 1983, but in those earlier days, they were showing like the gingerbread cookies you could see them making in the background and like putting icing, and I'm like, oh, cool. Kind of made me sad though to think about today. And it's like they're already packaged, so here you go, kid. And they're still so fun. I mean, it's those parades, the parties, they are really, really magical. But it was just kind of like, oh man, like they were icing them on site, and it was just cute. I'm like, oh um, but yeah, they did the hot cocoa and the cookies for free or included, I should say. So I thought that was cool that that tradition carried out.
SPEAKER_00You didn't have to find a price, did you?
SPEAKER_02Oh, I bet that's a Google search away.
SPEAKER_00I would love to know how much it was in 1983.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I did find it. Okay. Thank you, WDW magazine coming through. Okay. So in 2023, this is just for an article from that year. Okay, the event ticket was between 169 and 199. Okay. In 1983, so 40 years prior, the first one, the event was $13.95 per adult and $9.95 per child. You can't pay $9.95 and get a hot cocoa and cookies in today's day and age, let alone.
SPEAKER_00Adjusted for inflation. Of course. It was probably, but it was still probably $30. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03Maybe even $50 or $60. Like you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00The adjustment would be, but it's yeah. Anyway, okay, moving right along. Um, also, I see you so you put on your s it snowed on Main Street by 2000.
SPEAKER_02So it's interesting. I could not find an exact year. I saw a video that I I think said was from 2000 and it was like an advertisement for it, and it showed snow. But then other things were saying 2004. So it doesn't really matter. But it it was, you know, 17 years after it premiered at least that they started doing the snow on Main Street. And that is a pretty big deal. I mean, people, I think it was my sister who was like, oh my gosh, we want to go to the party, blah, blah, blah. And she was asking me about it. And one of the first things she mentioned was, and the fact that it like they do the snow on Main Street. I'm like, that is it is really cool. Yeah. It makes it, it really elevates it, I have to say. So so in the early 90s, that's when they started adding more dates. Some of the things I found would show, like, okay, the party runs from November 26th through December 21st. And that's a lot more akin to what we see today. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um, I feel like it starts a little earlier in November.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I feel like every year people go. I feel like every year it adds earlier and earlier.
SPEAKER_02Well, if at some point it encroaches upon the Halloween stuff. So yeah, it definitely is early in the year.
SPEAKER_00It's a pretty quick turnaround now from Halloween to Christmas party, that's for sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So now we're getting into more like closer to what most of us, like us and you guys probably included, have actually experienced. So 1994, they moved the candlelight processional to Epcot. So as we said, originally it was in Magic Kingdom, and that it started to get larger and larger. Um, it's got the full choir, the full orchestra, and it had a lot of that as well at Magic Kingdom. They, of course, have celebrity narrators, which of course is still going on. It's so cool. We're gonna see it this season.
SPEAKER_03I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_00Who we we saw um Jody Benson do it, but didn't we see Neopatrick Hayes? That's what I thought.
SPEAKER_02I think we saw him, and I feel like we've seen one other. And get the beauty of that is you don't need a separate ticket to it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02What a lovely thing that you don't chew, even put that in the universe.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But it's so nice that you can be walking by and be like, oh, what's going on? And you can just catch a little bit of it. You don't have to sit and watch, catch a little bit, get the vibes, see this celebrity. It's so cool. Yeah, I just love it.
SPEAKER_00And depending, I mean, we've we have done it where we've walked in and like, you know, I think we've waited a little bit and just done it.
SPEAKER_02And then I think one time we did do the dining package where you get like a special seating area, which that was also very nice.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_02I think we might be doing that this time because it's been a few years since we've seen it, and we were kind of like, we want to sit and see it and you know do it with the girls.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that'll be fun.
SPEAKER_02Now enters what I cannot wait to talk
about, and I know you're excited to talk about too. In 1995, so this is a year after they've added the candlelight processional at Epcot, the Osborne family spectacle of lights comes to Hollywood Studios. I knew some of this backstory, I did not know all of it.
SPEAKER_00Can I tell you what I think I remember? And then you tell me how wrong I am.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. I would love to.
SPEAKER_00I haven't I haven't looked at this yet. So what I remember the story being was that there was a family called the Osborne family that was from I don't remember where, and they had all these lights. Arkansas, I can give you that one. Okay, they had all these lights on their property, and they used to host this event every year, and then at some point they stopped doing it and they donated all these lights to Disney, and then Disney started doing this at Hollywood Studios every year, and I remember there was two or three times that you and I went. Maybe it was just one. No, we've gone a couple times. Okay, I thought so. And we went and saw it. I mean, every square inch of the streets of America was covered in lights. It was insane.
SPEAKER_02It was insane.
SPEAKER_00I swear I had footage of it at some point, but I have gone through our footage. You can't find it.
SPEAKER_02I don't have a it would have been on an old, old, old phone or
camera, or oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00It must have been on an old phone that I don't have anymore that I never backed up. And I'm so sad. But yeah, I I remember it was unbelievable. And we would stand, everybody would stand in the middle of the street and like they would do a countdown, and then it would turn on. And I mean, you would, it was just insane.
SPEAKER_02You didn't know where to look. It was incredible.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So that's what I remember.
SPEAKER_02Is any of that spot on, spot on. But the reason it moved to Disney is wild. Okay. I can't believe we neither of us ever knew this. And maybe we did at some point, we just forgot. Okay. So it started in 1995 because basically, exactly as you said, the family had these lights they just kept adding to every year. You know, it started out humbly and normal, like just putting Christmas lights on your house, and they just kept adding to it. And it just got crazy about it. I love it. Well, of course, people started to notice they're in Arkansas and would come drive by and see it. And that happens today. I mean, you think about cool houses near you. Well, the display grew bigger every year with statements from what um was like the Arkansas Power and Light Company. Uh, they claimed that the display's usage of power exceeded the amount of energy used in a year to power a single home in Arkansas just during the month of December.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Yeah. Were they? I'm assuming they weren't, I mean, LED lights didn't exist. So I mean they had to have it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they probably were just like legit whatever regular lights. So at one point, apparently, they caused a power outage for their neighborhood. So then they ended up the the company, the power and light company, assigned them a transformer of their own just for this. So like it got bigger and bigger. So by 1993, two years before it appeared in Disney, the lights display lit for 35 days during their Christmas season. So then, you know, it was up for that long, over a month, from sunset to about midnight every day. Six neighbors filed a lawsuit saying traffic congestion made trips to the corner store take two hours, and they feared emergency vehicles couldn't get down the street. Osborne responded by adding three million more lights. Wow.
SPEAKER_00Gosh, this is wild. That's high drama. That's just like the most spiteful thing they possibly could have done.
SPEAKER_02They responded by the wording of this too. This is directly from an article, okay, that I'm reading. The, and by the way, all of our sources will be down in the description box if anyone's needing, I don't know, more info. But um, Osborne responded by adding three more lights. That is the funniest wording they could have done. So the county court ordered an injunction against the display, limiting it to 15 days instead of the 35, and saying that it could only be lit from 7 to 10:30 instead of like sunset to midnight. So really cutting it in half in both ways.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So Osborne appealed first to the Arkansas Supreme Court and lost, then in 1994 to the US Supreme Court and lost. The Supreme Court ordered it just be shut down.
SPEAKER_00Well hold okay. Also, no, no, no, no, no. Never mind. I was gonna say I was thinking, I thought Bill Clinton might have been the governor of Arkansas at that time, but he might have been actually president. He would have been president by that point. Because I was gonna say, was he involved in this in this scandal? Oh, that is interesting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the connection between him being from there.
SPEAKER_00No, so that's that is absolutely insane.
SPEAKER_02So 1995, that was when Supreme Court shut it down, and that is the year Disney basically reached out and said, yo, you all got these lights. And apparently there were a lot of like other um, I don't know if it was municipalities, estates, whatever, that were like, hey, we'll we'll do it. Because they're thinking, oh my gosh, it's a huge tourist draw. And it's, I mean, already done. I don't know what they were putting it up on their house.
SPEAKER_00Was it like a farmhouse? Was it like a drive-thru thing? Was it like, how did they fit all these lights? I mean, were they on their house? I gotta, I gotta know more. I mean, knowing how I mean how many lights they had in Disney, there's I mean, it's just insane that that would be on a single residential house.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I think this is it. We'll pop this picture up on the screen. Um, yeah, because you can see the road next to it. So I think it was like on their house, and then they had land. So I think they were just putting things up on the land.
SPEAKER_00Well, and what I remember, and it kind of looks like it in this too. What I remember is that a lot of those lights were on nets.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00And so they would basically drape them.
SPEAKER_02In fact, I think I would say most of them were, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But they would drape them on the buildings, and that's how they, you know, they're not wrapping every single thing. So like they would just put them on the on the buildings.
SPEAKER_02Here's the thing the saddest part is that 20 years later, 1995, 2015, is when they shut it down, which gosh, that sounds so recent.
SPEAKER_00Also, you have to imagine in that amount of time that Disney had to replace all those lights. Certainly. Also, did they pay Osborne, the Osborne family, for those lights?
SPEAKER_02Were they just giving them like maybe it was a little have Z?
SPEAKER_00Like how either way. I mean, and if if if that I don't know, that's just fascinating. I have so many questions. Like, why didn't Disney just buy their own lights?
SPEAKER_02Did they just say we'll just do it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And yeah, no, no, I'm I'm curious.
SPEAKER_00If they if they wanted to do that, we could have done probably an entire deep dive episode just on this, maybe in a future, even though my guess is that it was a donation, and that's why they called it the Osborne family spectacle of lights.
SPEAKER_02Like that was and then they could kind of adjust how they wanted. Disney could, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because if they had to pay for it, Disney would just be like, well, we'll just buy our own lights, right? Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
SPEAKER_02I know, I miss it. So, one thing I was kind of wondering is this had to have been inspiration for when they started using projector technology. I think this might have been inspiration for them to project onto the buildings on Main Street. Because if you think about the way that it was set up, you were walking down. By the way, this was on the streets of America, which of course is now no longer there. It's where Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is generally. And so you were walking down the street and you could just move about how you wanted and look up at these different scenes and angels floating above you, but it was all, like you said, draped on the building. So, like this had to have inspired them to be like, you know, if we're projecting on the castle, we could also project on Main Street and people could enjoy it from all over. Yeah, maybe the same way they enjoyed the Osborne spectacle of lights.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it could be. At least that's yeah, the forethought of it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So that opened in '95, the very next year, another pivotal year for Epcot. That is when two of the festivals premiered in Epcot. One of them being, of course, their what was called the holidays around the world, which they still have today. Obviously, it's changed over the years, but even then it was storytellers from in the different countries telling the story of how the holidays are celebrated in that home country.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I love that. I really want to dig into and enjoy that this year. I feel like it's been a while since, well, and I know there were a few obviously off years.
SPEAKER_03Um Pair Noel.
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh. But the, and this was kind of hand in hand with the candlelight processional that had just joined there like two years prior. So adding this in, it really kind of created this whole very holiday feeling in Epcot with both the candlelight processional and the festivals around. Um, but it also in that year, just fun little side note, is when they premiered the Food and Wine Festival. So 96. It was a big year. I wonder a lot of money they must have spent to kind of put into that.
SPEAKER_00I wonder if like maybe attendance was starting to wane. Yeah, and so they were thinking, how can we bring locals in more often? And that was kind of a way to bring locals in, like by doing festivals, by doing things that are slightly different.
SPEAKER_02I bet if they did, I'm assuming they did yearly annual passes then. I bet the sales for that went up.
That would that yeah. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Like people guess, but yeah, no, it makes sense. And I mean, think about it, it's probably a big reason why they still do it today.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Who were we just talking to that just said that they they live like oh, it was somebody random. We were at we were at a show and we were just got to be talking to somebody in the lobby.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And they live like 10 minutes away from Disney World. And they're like, oh yeah, we'll just hop over to Epcot for dinner. I'm like, oh, that's so cool.
SPEAKER_02Well, and they were like, it's our second home and in Disney. I'm like, oh my. I'm like, we have a second home in Disney, it's just called whatever hotel room we booked.
SPEAKER_00All right, so 1999.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Tyler, the Grand Floridian finally joins the chat.
SPEAKER_00All right, okay.
SPEAKER_02The gingerbread house premiered in 1999.
SPEAKER_00Very cool.
SPEAKER_02And I didn't realize that when they first built it, even then, they were like, we want to be able to walk into it, like use it as a shop or whatever. And so even today, it's big enough. Like they'll sell like little treats out of it, whatever.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So cute. Did the chimney do the little smoke thing? Oh, I don't know. Doesn't it have a little smoke that comes out of it?
SPEAKER_02I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I think it's just like steam or something, but it looks like it's making me hungry for gingerbread, I can tell you that.
SPEAKER_02I don't think they're doing it this year. I don't know if it's because they were doing that construction in the lobby, but just in the Grand Floridine, I don't think 2025. I don't think they're having it this year. And my guess is it's just for the one year. Maybe, yeah. I hadn't heard that. Yeah. I tried to find a picture of the original gingerbread house. I could not find it anywhere. Um, now there's a chance it's on one of some of those like archival sites. Probably. I could do a little digging because I I really would like to see what it looked like then. But I mean, I don't think I really realized the scale. I don't think I've ever appreciated the gingerbread houses because now not only. Grand Flirty and they have it at the Yacht and Beach Club and a couple others. That it really is baked
gingerbread. I think I thought, yeah, they're just like plastering. No, it really is gingerbread and they bake it fresh for every single year they build it. That's insane. It's insane. It's an insane feat that they are doing every year. So we need to appreciate it more.
SPEAKER_00Sometimes I just shake my head at Disney and I'm like, this is insane. The fact that they would do that, like the fact that any, like if you were to go to any just cool hotel in your hometown and they were to do something like that, like it would draw people in just that one thing. Just that one singular thing. Like if there was a cool restaurant and they did that, you'd be like, oh, we gotta go to that restaurant. It'd be it would become like a yearly tradition for your family. But that's just one itty bitty teeny little thing that they do among a million other things.
SPEAKER_02At the during the holidays. I know it's amazing. It is truly amazing.
SPEAKER_00This makes me sick. Okay. In a good way, though, right? Yeah, in a good way.
SPEAKER_02Um, so then 2003 Holiday Wishes Fireworks. So it's like their holiday fireworks during the Christmas party. Yeah. It that premiered then. And of course, that's had different iterations over the years. But in 2007 is when they did the castle like icicle lights, they call oh, the castle dream lights. Do you know which ones we're talking about? Looks like a beautiful snowy icicle, like all over the castle.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, the last year they did that 2019. Again, it wasn't that long ago.
SPEAKER_00From what I heard, they can't do them anymore because of the once they painted and they did the new thing, they added the ribbons on the front or something like that, which they have since removed.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think it was just for the youth, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But supposedly it had something to do with that, and now they can't put them up anymore, which I think is nonsense. But it also I've heard that it has to do with the way they do their nighttime shows, the projection mapping on the thing. I I don't know. I've heard like five different excuses. Either way, they haven't done it in a very long time, which is a shame because it was so pretty gorgeous.
SPEAKER_02So, in the research I did, it sounds like basically once they started doing projection mapping, they were like, Yeah, we're not going back to that. Are you kidding me? And because they were all
on nets and it, you know, they had to pay the labor of getting them on, keeping them up to date when they could just project whatever they want. But I can't do it. So basically, I know I think it was a cost-saving thing. Once they basically said we're going full in on projections, that was never gonna come back.
SPEAKER_00So I just missed it. It is it genuinely is real. Everything is screens and projections and this, that, and but just.
SPEAKER_02I want something real. Give me something real.
SPEAKER_00Something I can touch and feel, smell, like I we taste. I feel like everything is, you know, with touch screens and stuff like that. Just give me a button. Give me a button. I do like my light, give me a button.
SPEAKER_02And less likely to break if it's a touch screen, you know. Give me a real, I want a real button.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, anyway. Good.
SPEAKER_02Even our phones, they took the button on the bottom. Okay. 2013 Jingle Cruise premiered. And originally, as far as I could see, it was kind of just like just some cute Christmas decor on the boats and in the thing, but then it became like, okay, now let's actually have it throughout the ride and do like a storyline and holiday themed jokes, which is absolutely the way it is today. And it's just fun. One interesting tidbit I learned is that they had the jingle cruise as well in Disneyland and then they stopped. And now it is a Magic Kingdom exclusive. I don't know if I got the year. No, I didn't get the year that they stopped doing it there. I know, I don't know why, but I kind of like when they do exclusive things in certain parks. Because then, like, if you go to Disneyland, they do the nightmare before Christmas overlay. Well, that's fun because we can't see that in Disney World. So when you go there, it feels special. So I think they were wanting that same thing.
SPEAKER_00I like when they have, yeah, like you said, something that's parked, either either coast, something that's exclusive to that park. I like that too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because if everything matches, it's like, well, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, why even go all the way across the country for that? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and then we can kind of quickly go through some of these more recent things. 2016, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam at Hollywood Studios premiered. So this was a projection and fireworks show that you you might remember that was based on the movie Prep and Landing, which is so funny because this morning I was looking through like Christmas stuff on Disney Plus, and they have multiple prep and landing movies now. And I'm like, are these even popular? Like, so I thought it was so interesting that they had really sent it on.
SPEAKER_00It's funny. I was just reading that. I I don't think I'd ever really heard of it until like two days ago. Yeah, and now it's like maybe it's bigger than we think. Must be.
SPEAKER_02Or Disney's really pushing it. Like, come on, guys, watch prep and land.
SPEAKER_00If you had asked me, I mean, I did if you had done this two days ago, I wouldn't have known what this was. And how funny that we just happened to watch this a couple days ago. And I think I we only watched the first like five minutes of this.
SPEAKER_02Oh, like you and the girls. Okay. I'm like, what? But here's something interesting. When they added Jollywood nights, which we'll talk about in a second, they have this uh jingle bell jingle band back just for those nights. Oh, really? So you get to see, and I don't know if they adjusted it or not, but yeah, I thought that was kind of cool. I'm like, okay. Yeah. Um, so 2019, okay, again, think about how recent this is. Animal Kingdom finally gets like some legitimate holiday stuff. Yeah. And I think they'd had like little decor things here and there. But this is when they basically did all of it. They the large Christmas tree at the front entrance. They have those festive flotillas that they added over the past few years. Oh, yeah. Tree of Life holiday awakenings, Merry Menagerie. I did not remember this, and I I think they still do it. A
winter-inspired celebration there, like in the main area, Discovery Island, with large puppet animals like foxes, reindeer, and polar bears.
SPEAKER_00I feel like I remember that. Aren't they like kind of all like a whitish hue and stuff like that? I do remember that. I feel like I remember seeing that.
SPEAKER_02Pandora light displays like over in Pandora. And then here's something that will be happening for the very last time this year. A Santa meet and greet at Restaurant Saurus. They've apparently been doing that the past few years. I have never heard of this in my life. No, I hadn't either. So I saw some pictures and video. It looks adorable. But of course, Restaurantsaurus will soon be no longer. And so this is the last time. So if you're gonna be there in the next few weeks, check it out. Let us know how it is. Yeah. And then lastly, 2023, Jollywood Nights. It's a ticketed event at Hollywood Studios, very expensive, kind of like the adult. Again, kids are welcome, but it's definitely a little bit more adult environment, adult-centered. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00We did it, we did it the first year.
SPEAKER_02And we brought the kids.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was fine. I didn't love it.
SPEAKER_02It was I have read that the first year there were just so many kinks they have figured out, and I've heard it is so much better. Yeah. So yeah, that's kind of the generalized history of. And there's so much, guys. I didn't know. She did a great job of that.
SPEAKER_00That's a very, very, very nice breakdown year to year of the history of the holidays there. Very good job. Thank you. So we asked everyone what if you had like a favorite holiday memory in the Disney parks or something that you just absolutely love. Maybe it's something that is no longer there, maybe it's something they still do. Like, what are your favorite things to do that are holiday themed in the parks? And you guys came through. So we're gonna go ahead and read some of these here. And if you guys ever want to get involved in the conversation, Disneyville podcast on Instagram, Facebook, all over the place, baby. All the things. So Catherine Marie 0808 said gingerbread houses at the Grand Floridian, the tree hunt at Disney Springs, and the cookie stroll at Epcot.
SPEAKER_02Ooh, we never done the cookie stroll at Epcot. We have got a list of things to
do next time.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02So interjecting about the the tree stroll? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I had to look it up because I think it was gone for a while. It is back this year. Maybe they had it last year, but for sure 2025 it is back. It is free. There are a couple pickup locations. You get like your little map and stickers, and you it's it's just like the ones you have to pay for in the parks when they do like the pumpkin ones where you're looking for going. But this one is free, which in 2025 is rare. So it's free, and you get a free little ornament at the end if you find all of the Christmas trees that says, like, you know, Christmas tree stroll 2025.
SPEAKER_00I'm like, That's amazing. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02So it's through December 30th. So if you're gonna be in the parks or Disney Springs, I should say, anytime before then.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, we gotta, I want to see what have you seen what the ornament looks like?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Is it nice?
SPEAKER_02I mean, it's a it's a cute little free. Nice, cool. I think it's cool.
SPEAKER_00All right. Bay 01 said snow on Main Street during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Like you're saying, there's something like people that don't even like know Disney World all that well know about the snow on Main Street. Isn't that funny? It is just a like people know it's a it's a magical, it is it is yeah, that is magical, mystical. M. Vasquez said, it isn't Disney, it isn't Christmas in Disney if you don't buy a hot chocolate with whipped cream.
SPEAKER_02Oh man, you guys are getting me hungry. I'm still thinking about gingerbread right now.
SPEAKER_00Also, where do we think the best hot chocolate is in Disney World? I don't I don't have an answer for that. I'm just wondering if people have an idea. I feel like there's got to be one place that maybe has better. I don't know. Yeah, let us know. If you have an idea, let me know. Like, I'm I'd be curious if there's like I feel like my instinct would be like I would just go to the Starbucks.
SPEAKER_02I'm like, well, I mean, that's good.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, I was like right, right?
SPEAKER_02I would assume because like certainly during the party, they've got it everywhere. Okay, but like during a regular degular day at the park, where would you get hot cocoa?
SPEAKER_00Right? Let us know. Yeah, I mean, Starbucks is the easy answer, but I'm sure there's like a place that sells really.
SPEAKER_02Joffreys, do they have a lot of people?
SPEAKER_00Or like like uh, what's the one place in Animal Kingdom that we went to have the really good churros? Oh, Nomad Lounge. Nomad Lounge. I feel like a place like that. Like there's gotta be a place like they had good hot cocoa that would just be like a a little known fact, they have amazing hot chocolate.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So let us know. Where do you get hot cocoa?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Kyle Lupka said drinking at Tower of Terror at the Tip Top Club and listening to music, what a vibe. I had to look this up. So the Tip Top Club, first of all, is like an actual, I think a fictional like club in the Twilight Zone or in the Tower of Terror, you know what I mean, like sphere. But they recreate it, and I think it's just outside. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong. I think it's like outside of the Tower of Terror during Jollywood nights. So there's like a band and you're dancing and stuff. So it again, that looks super fun.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I think maybe in the next year or two, try and hit that pony up and maybe go to Jollywood nights again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that'll be good. And I think, yeah, well, we're different story for a different day. But yeah, I think we we treat we give that a second chance.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Steph Vampola said, not in the parks, but love going to all the deluxe resorts and seeing the decor. That I think again, that
totally free. Just taking the monorail, taking buses, taking boats, just going around, just I mean, wilderness lodge is so pretty this time of year. The big tree there and the garland and everything, they do such a pretty job.
SPEAKER_02The Animal Kingdom Lodge, I feel like if I'm remembering, it has beautiful Grand Floridian, it is so gorgeous. And it's so highly themed to the resort, too. That you're right, right. Oh, by the way, just fun little addition. Contemporary had a tree like around around 1971 or something.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay, an old one. Okay.
SPEAKER_02And it and I think they had the same one for quite a few years, and it was this green tinsel, and the whole tree, it was like tiered, and it was just green tinsel. It was a total weird vibe, but it was it worked. And in a place like the Contemporary in 1971, that it worked. I don't know. It was bizarre.
SPEAKER_00Okay. I would be very curious. Did you find you found a picture? Oh, yeah, yeah. Katie Mazer TV said the candlelight processional in Epcot. There's a bunch of people brought that up, but I mean it is. And there's it's the I mean, it's a full symphony and a full choir and a celebrity narrator.
SPEAKER_02And it's telling the Christmas story, like, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00All right, I'm good. We're gonna hop across the coast here really
fast. We have three Disneyland ones here really fast. Okay. So Alyssa Beretta said it's a small world lighting up at Disneyland. I bet that's gorgeous. That facade, I bet is really pretty. Carla's of the Lord. I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_02Carla Sophia.
SPEAKER_00Carla's Carla Sophia Lord. Carla, okay.
SPEAKER_02I'll do the usernames. You do the best.
SPEAKER_00Carly Carla Sophia Lord. Um said uh the lights in Radiator Springs in uh DCA.
SPEAKER_01Oh.
SPEAKER_00And then Katie Benda said Haunted Mansion holiday at Disneyland.
SPEAKER_03La la la la la. Oh yeah, that is such a vibe, too.
SPEAKER_00Oh, this is interesting. So Taylor Yoruy said, MK is beautiful, but jazzy Christmas music on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood Studios is also so, so good.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, yes. I feel like Hollywood Studios at Christmas, again, it's that like tinsilly silver screen holiday that is it, it's its own vibe, but I love it too. So I'm totally with you on that. Bella Straub said, I think maybe people are saying this, but the Dreamlights on the castle. I miss it so much. So much. It was so pretty.
SPEAKER_01It really was.
SPEAKER_02Also, they did do like there was a small period of time where I think it was near the end of the Dreamlights years, that Elsa would like be the one that lights it up. Like, oh my gosh, our girls would have lost their minds.
SPEAKER_00Kaylee Carmel said, I have dreams about the hot chocolate martini in France.
SPEAKER_03I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00Excuse me.
SPEAKER_02Excuse me?
SPEAKER_00That sounds insane.
SPEAKER_02Hot chocolate martini. Wow.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02It's warm then, right?
SPEAKER_00I would assume so.
SPEAKER_02If you think about it, like an espresso martini, a hot chocolate martini would be even better. Right? Listen, can I get a hot cocoa with espresso in it, martini? I want all of it.
SPEAKER_00Um, Merclair Redhair said the toy soldiers in the parade. Like you were talking about. The fact that they're so old, I had no idea that they they date back so much. Olivia Rizzo said, New Year's Eve in Epcot. It's a literal rave.
SPEAKER_02That I believe. I'm trying to think if we've ever been an Epcot on New Year's Eve. I don't think so. I think I'd be too scared. Not like anything's gonna happen, but just like it's just too much. It's too much.
SPEAKER_00I'm trying to think. I know I've done New Year's Eve there a few times. I know, I know I was in Disney Springs in when you were younger. Like what else have we done on New Year's Eve?
SPEAKER_02I feel like we have been there over New Year's Eve before, but I don't I don't remember what we did though. I don't either. It would have been a long time ago.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, a couple people talked about the the Christmas tree stroll in Disney Springs, and some people even said that they didn't think it exists anymore. It's still there.
SPEAKER_02I know.
SPEAKER_00KU fan 1990 said the Grinch Universal is a dream of mine. Oh my gosh. That I would love to see that.
SPEAKER_02I don't think we've ever been to Universal at Christmas time.
SPEAKER_00I don't think so. No, I would love to see that. Dude, that Jim Carrey Grinch. I hope that's what this person at Universal is trying to emulate. So good.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, you were literally watching some of that this morning.
SPEAKER_00It holds up, man.
SPEAKER_02It is just scary though. I will say for like young, young kids parts of it, I'm like, oh.
SPEAKER_00I was like eight to ten or ish-ish when it came out. I was the perfect age. And man, I that movie when it came out. I watched it so much. Oh man. That's cute.
SPEAKER_02So I hope you enjoyed our little special holiday episode of the podcast. I think this is our very first holiday episode we've ever done.
SPEAKER_00I think so. Yeah, that was fun. Yeah. You did a lot of, you did a you did a great job doing that research. I know, I know I've said it, but you did a good job. I really am I'm I'm impressed.
SPEAKER_02Hey, I'll take the adulation.
SPEAKER_00Um I was up there trying to edit Vlogmas the episode and she's up there up there researching away. So good job.
SPEAKER_02It's so fun. Well, this is something I love to do. I would do this for fun in my free time, regardless of whether we were recording it or not. Um, these are the rabbit holes we would go down no matter what. I just get to also share it with you guys. So another shout out for our merch. If you guys are wanting this as a Christmas gift for yourself, for someone else, or into the new year, you know, you can order whatever.
SPEAKER_00Um Yeah, and if you are interested in seeing those Vlogmases, I think this is going up Wednesday, Thursday, something this week. So by that point, maybe even Friday, one one or two of those episodes will be out. And then again, they're coming out all month long.
SPEAKER_02So actually, I think by the time you're hearing or seeing this, we'll probably have like three episodes out.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, so they'll they'll have definitely already started, and then they're coming out all the way through Christmas. So if you're interested, we will uh put a link for that playlist below as well. Anything else?
SPEAKER_02I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. All right, well, we will see you guys on the next one.
SPEAKER_02It was fun hanging out with you. Bye bye, guys.