When Luggage Flies & Presidents Fume: Disney’s New Travel Perks and the Nixon Moment at the Contemporary (Ep. 558)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Tv & Film

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jim Hill and Len Testa unpack Disney’s expanding multimodal transportation plans, field listener questions on “Dwarfgate” and the state of restaurant seating, and dig into the remarkable story of how Richard Nixon ended up declaring “I am not a crook” at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort. NEWS Disney expands its airport luggage transfer program to include Southwest Airlines arrivals, bringing back a little bit of that old Magical Express magic. A deeper look at Disney’s FY2025 earnings reveals what that surprising 4% Q4 attendance dip likely means. Updates on the Polynesian Tower’s Wailulu Bar & Grill and the return of the Garden View Lounge afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian. After 35 years, the rights to Roger Rabbit revert to creator Gary K. Wolf—sequels may be on the horizon. Universal explores a new 4–5 mile transportation system linking Epic Universe, CityWalk, and I-Drive. Listener questions on Dwarfgate, Tablegate, and how early to line up for key attractions. A look at why Disney still asks detailed spending questions on surveys—even when they already know many of the answers. FEATURE The full story of why President Richard Nixon’s “I am not a crook” press conference happened at the Contemporary Resort, and how that moment shaped Disney’s early public image. Full show notes available here: Show Notes Hosts Jim Hill — X/Twitter: @JimHillMedia | Instagram: @JimHillMedia | Website: jimhillmedia.com Len Testa — BlueSky: @lentesta.bsky.social | Instagram: @len.testa | Website: touringplans.com Patreon Enjoying the show? Support the Disney Dish and get exclusive bonus content at:https://www.patreon.com/jimhillmedia/ Follow Us Facebook: @JimHillMediaNews YouTube: @jimhillmedia TikTok: @jimhillmedia Producer Credits Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey — Strong Minded Agency Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Unlocked Magic, from the team at DVC Rental Store—where you can save 10% on regular and special-event Disney tickets, including Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand.
0:12.4	Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:17.4	From startups to scaleups, online, in person, and on the go. Shopify is made for
0:22.8	entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:30.0	Welcome back to another edition of the Disney Dish podcast with Jim Hill. It's me,
0:34.4	Lentesta, and this is our show for the week of Schmerzday, November 17th,
0:38.1	2025, on the show today. In news, multimodal transportation, in listener questions, Dwarfgate,
0:47.0	and Tablegate. Then in our main segment, Jim reminds us how Richard Nixon ended up saying,
0:51.6	I am not a crook at Disney's contemporary resort.
0:54.9	Let's get started by bringing in the man, tired of hearing complaints about the cost of Thanksgiving dinner,
0:59.5	like $30 turkeys and $10 slices of pie.
1:02.4	Look, the prices were posted on his front door before you came in the house, so that's on you.
1:07.2	Please welcome, Mr. Jim Hill. Jim is going.
1:09.0	It is going well, you know. well then yes this is that time of
1:13.6	year where with those of us who work in the kitchen get a little testy um that said though it is
1:19.5	worth noting you mentioned the 30 dollar turkey if we go all the way back to 1621 to the first
1:26.2	thanksgiving the menu included venison wildfowl which by the way 1621 to the first Thanksgiving.
1:34.3	The menu included venison, wildfowl, which, by the way, not turkey, rather duck and goose.
1:39.9	And then the part I love is they had lobster because they were right down by the water.
1:42.8	But the pilgrims hated lobster.
1:48.2	They actually, if you were an indentured servant, they made you eat lobster because it was thought of as a lesser food.
	...

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.