Night of Joy is moving. And I am sure the Magic Kingdom couldn't be happier. We have all heard stories about how horrific Night of Joy is and I am sure many people exaggerate. This year I attended, curious to see if the stories were true. While I cannot say all the stories are true, I was shocked at the behavior of many of the guests. Some guests were some of the nicest people you could meet, while others were not. It was a dangerous combination of unsupervised teenagers and folks that will do ANYTHING to get in to a full concert venue. While I know many attend with noble intentions, the rowdyness far overshadows. I know that the Orlando Sentinel Theme Park Rangers had a good experience, and you can if you go in with low expectations, but I saw people jumping out of attractions, yelling at cast members, and guests in tears.
I hope going to the Disney's Hollywood Studios starts a new leaf for the event. The park has more concert venues such as the Light, Motors, Action stadium, the Sorcerer Hat stage, and even reopening the Backlot stage. This will hopefully satisfy the demand to attend the concerts. In addition, the rides at the studios are not the kind your going to jump out of, (but if you are, you get what you deserve). I hope this new arrangment works out better for both the guests and the resort. I am glad that Disney was able to try and address the issues that needed to be addressed while still continuing the tradition for a 26th year. Sounds like a win-win,
Quick Takes:
Studio Entertainment: Hannah Montana and High School Musical still are leaving their mark on the Billboard charts, I recently saw High School Musical: The Ice Tour and I am looking forward to seeing Hannah Montana in concert. It has been a long time since Disney was a force in the recording industry(if they ever have been). It is funny to think that the Board of Directors wanted to shut the division down not to long ago. Plain White T's, a Hollywood Records group also had a summer hit with Hey There Delilah which was number one at the end of July, even though they don't have a Disney connection, though they did appear on ABC Family's "Greek".
Media Networks: The season premiere of Monday Night Football scored well for ESPN. In fact the 2 games ranked as the number 2 and 3 cable telecasts of 2007, behind Disney's High School Musical. Over 11 million people watched ESPN's Monday Night Football coverage which puts it ahead of what the broadcast networks aired opposite the telecast. I wonder if they ever thought about airing it on ABC since it is doing so well on ESPN :)
Consumer Products: On Sunday, September 16, 2007, 315 Disney Cast Members will swim, bike and run their way to raising money for Children's Hospital Los Angeles in the annual Nautica Malibu Triathlon in Malibu, California. You can support Disney cast members including CFO Tom Staggs and Chairman of Disney Consumer Products by visiting this site, Its great to see cast members making a difference in their community.
Video of the Day: As we get closer to the ABC fall season, check out this preview of Samantha Who? A new comedy on ABC. The show features Jean Smart who you might know from Desigining Women or 24, but Disney fans will recognize her voice as Dr. Possible, Kim's mom on Kim Possible.