Are Disney Villains Losing Their Edge? And What’s Behind the Olaf Outrage (Ep. 7)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Tv & Film

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Eric and Lauren break down a massive week in the Disney Parks community, from the emotional final launch of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith to swirling speculation about Magic Kingdom’s Villains Land. They also react to Joe Rohde’s surprise book announcement and the passionate fan debate over Olaf taking over Animation Academy at Hollywood Studios. HIGHLIGHTS Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith officially closed on March 2, drawing multi-hour waits as fans packed Disney’s Hollywood Studios to say goodbye to the 1999 launch coaster. Fresh reporting suggests major creative shifts for Villains Land, including a possible Emperor’s New Groove coaster, a Maleficent boat ride E-ticket, and an Ursula-inspired flat ride. Fans are divided over whether Villains Land should lean dark and intimidating or embrace a more whimsical, family-friendly tone. Joe Rohde announces a new book, Floating Mountains: The Art of Imagining the Impossible, sparking renewed conversation about the most influential Imagineers of the modern era. A new Olaf-hosted Animation Academy experience will use pre-recorded instruction from Disney Animation artists, prompting debate over the loss of live instructor interaction. For this episode’s full show notes, ⁠click here⁠. HOSTS Eric Hersey – X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@erichersey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@erichersey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Lauren Hersey – X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@laurenhersey2⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lauren_hersey_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW – DIS & HERS Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DisAndHers.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@disandhers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@disandhers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dis and Hers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dis & Hers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW – JIM HILL MEDIA Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠JimHillMediaNews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠JimHillMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠JimHillMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/JimHillMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited & Produced by Eric Hersey – ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Strong Minded Agency⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reach out today.⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Diz and Hers, the show about what's happening in the Disney community from his, hers, and your perspective.
0:15.0	I'm Eric.
0:16.0	And I'm Lauren.
0:18.0	In this week's episode of Diz and Hers, we debate whether the closing of
0:22.4	Rock and Roller Coaster is even wilder than the dinosaur shut down, break down the new villains'
0:28.3	land developments, making the project stronger, or could it signal trouble? And ask whether
0:34.9	Joe Rody has become the most popular Disney Imagineer in 2026 and get into why some fans are genuinely angry about OLAF taking over the Animation Academy at Hollywood Studios.
0:50.5	All right, so let's go from 57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, and let's talk a rock and roller coaster.
0:58.8	Well, I think as everyone should know right now, the rock and roller coaster is no more.
1:03.4	It is shut down.
1:04.7	As of March 2nd, the coaster is no longer in operation.
1:08.8	So on March 1st, we saw plenty of people kind of hanging out
1:13.0	down in the rock and roll a coaster courtyard area. And it wrapped, geez, all the way around,
1:19.8	all the way up to the Hollywood Tower Terror. Did you see some of these lines? Yeah, absolutely. I saw
1:25.7	the people that are like, oh, Hollywood Studios, I could walk right into the park. And then like right there on that main drag, that's where the line started and wrapped all the way around to rock and roller coaster, which is significant. But if you missed the closing of rock and roller coaster, have no fear. It's not going far.
1:48.6	It's just being reimagined as the rock and roller coaster starring the Muppets instead of Aerosmith.
1:56.2	And we're hearing rumblings of summer of this year.
2:01.4	Oh, yeah.
2:02.0	And we had some friends down there, I think, on the streets.
2:04.6	We've been fortunate and lucky enough to actually know a little bit more about the rock and roller coaster than I think the next guy.
2:10.7	I think I've produced an entire hour-long Patreon version of the making of the rock and roller coaster with Jim Schull, who is
2:18.3	kind of the gentleman that created this. And I think he was down there this weekend. Yeah, he was
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jim Hill Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.