A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Forgotten WDW Holiday Traditions
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
FORGOTTEN DISNEY WORLD HOLIDAY TRADITIONS
By Jim Korkis
At one time, Walt Disney had several holiday traditions that were unique to the Florida resort, including the Jolly Holidays Dinner Show and The Glory and the Pageantry of Christmas show.
Despite their huge popularity with WDW guests, they disappeared before the turn of the current century and were not replaced with any similar option.
“Those Jolly, Jolly, Jolly Holidays! Those Holly, Holly, Holly Jolly Days! All the decorations! Many celebrations! Many happy faces! Cozy fireplaces! Let the bells ring out now! Everyone sing out now!”
The Jolly Holidays Dinner Show at Disney’s Contemporary Resort was performed from 1992 through the 1998 Christmas season when it was discontinued. The Fantasia Ballroom in the resort’s convention center was converted into an immersive theater-in-the-round setting with more than a hundred talented performers in a musical extravaganza. Besides the raised main stage, there were several smaller stages on the outer perimeter of the tables.
Performers spilled out into the audience, as well. The show took place at “Holiday Village” where the patriarch of the town known simply as “Papa” (and looking a bit like a grey-bearded Sebastian Cabot with a deep gravely voice) recalled his memories of the holidays.
Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Chip ’n’ Dale cavorted with perky singers and dancers. The Country Bears dropped by to play a tune before they went back out into the snow to play. There was even a short version of the Nutcracker Suite featuring the hippos and ostriches from Fantasia. Some scenes seemed to be borrowed from other shows including the tap dancing horses for the sleigh ride, the marching toy soldiers and Santa Goofy making an appearance.
In addition, guests enjoyed an all-you-can-eat feast of fresh-cooked turkey, honey-baked ham and other holiday treats. It was a hugely popular show, often completely sold out even at a premium price, although significant changes were made in its final year that did not please everyone.
For more than fifteen years in the 1980s and 1990s, the Disney Village Marketplace (now known as Disney Springs) ushered in the season with another holiday gem, a performance of The Glory and the Pageantry of Christmas.
It was literally a traditional “living nativity scene” enactment that was originally performed at the open air pavilion known as the Captain’s Tower (now Pin Traders) but soon moved to the larger venue of the Waterfront Dock Stage. The shopping area nearby was decorated to suggest a recreation of the little town of Bethlehem.
It was such a popular and dignified show that guests did not mind standing in line for hours for a chance to see it. “The Christmas Story”, narrated by Kevin Miles (whose deep baritone voice could also be heard in venues like Epcot’s Voices of Liberty and Magic Kingdom’s Dapper Dans) and interspersed with Christmas songs, was amazingly simple.
Mary and Joseph approach the manger and she reveals a child wrapped in swaddling clothes. The shepherds appear. The angels appear, rising up from behind the manger. There was a total cast of 36 performers.
The narration told how the shopkeepers of the village brought gifts including cheese from the dairyman and breads from the baker. Sadly, one little orphan child had no gift to bring. To the strains of the song “Little Drummer Boy,” a small child walks up to the manger and encouraged by Mary, plays his drum.
There was no official announcement of the reason for the show’s cancellation although many suspected that it was Disney’s attempt to remove any specific religious connotation surrounding the holiday, but there were rumors that it had grown so popular that large audiences caused logistical challenges. There were also grumblings that the show was not substantially increasing sales at the nearby shops.
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Thanks, Jim. And come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.
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