When Did Summer Vacation Disappear at Walt Disney World? Plus The Surprising History of the Sword...

Описание: This week on Disney Dish, Jim Hill and Len Testa dig into a deceptively simple question with big implications for trip planning: when exactly did “summer vacation” stop being peak season at Walt Disney World? Using years of hotel pricing data as a proxy for crowd demand, Len walks through what the numbers say - and the results may surprise longtime fans. Then Jim takes listeners on a deep historical tour of one of the parks’ most quietly beloved traditions, the Sword in the Stone ceremony, tracing its evolution across Disney parks worldwide.



NEWS

• Why Disney hotel pricing data suggests summer is no longer peak season at Walt Disney World

• A breakdown of how demand has shifted from summer to fall travel, especially October

• Updates on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishments and new cave effects

• Casting and timing details for the upcoming Bluey experience at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

• Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge timeline expansion, adding characters from across all Star Wars eras



FEATURE

• The full history of the Sword in the Stone ceremony, from Disneyland in 1983 to parks around the globe

• Why Imagineers were obsessed with The Sword in the Stone long before the ceremony debuted

• How budget cuts slowly transformed a full-scale show into today’s simpler experience

• The true story of the guest who actually pulled the sword completely out of the stone



For this episode’s full show notes, click here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/...) .



HOSTS

• Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia (  / jimhillmedia  ) | X: @JimHillMedia (  / jimhillmedia  ) | Website: JimHillMedia.com (https://JimHillMedia.com)

• Len Testa - IG: @len.testa | Website: TouringPlans.com (https://touringplans.com)



FOLLOW

• Facebook: JimHillMediaNews (  / jimhillmedianews  )

• Instagram: JimHillMedia (  / jimhillmedia  )

• TikTok: JimHillMedia (  / jimhillmedia  )



SUPPORT

Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia (  / jimhillmedia  ) .



PRODUCTION CREDITS

Edited by Dave Grey

Produced by Eric Hersey - Strong Minded Agency (https://strongmindedagency.com)



SPONSOR

This episode of Disney Dish is sponsored by UnlockedMagic.com, powered by our friends at DVC Rental Store. Save $50 or more per person on select multi-day Walt Disney World tickets and take the stress out of planning your next vacation. Visit UnlockedMagic.com (https://unlockedmagic.com/?utm_source...) for details.



If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. (https://www.jimhillmedia.com/sponsor/)





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