Here Come the Muppets 1990

The Disney-MGM Studios was my favorite park when I was on the WDW College Program back in the Summer of 1990. The place was barely a year old. From the Animation Tour (my favorite), to the Backlot Tour, to the Monster Sound Stage, to the Great Movie Ride, to the various live shows...everything was awesome at the park.


Jim Henson's Muppets were already beginning to have a presence in the park with the ongoing construction and production of Muppet*Vision 3D. However, Disney wanted to make sure guests were already aware of the Muppets in their new park. So, to accomplish this, a live action show featuring the Muppets premiered on May 25, 1990. Appropriately titled Here Come the Muppets, guests got a glimpse for the first time of Jim Henson's Muppets in a Disney theme park. Sadly and unexpectedly, Jim Henson passed away in May of that summer right as we were all arriving at WDW.


The entry in the Disney-MGM guide maps at the time describe Here Come the Muppets as:

This live, mini-Broadway musical stars Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal and a host of your favoriteMupets. Rolf entertains in the pre-show area.

It was hoped that this show would not only introduce the Muppets to the Disney parks, but, that it would keep guests pacified until Muppet*Vision 3D premiered at the park. Finally, it did premiere a year later on May 16, 1991. But, oddly enough, Here Come the Muppets continued to play for a few more months until its final perforance on September 2, 1991. The location later made its premiere as The Voyage of the Little Mermaid on January 7, 1992.

Now, I vaguely remember this show except for the pictures I have. What I do remember about it is probably from the videos I have watched on YouTube. So, who of you remember this live action show?

Earning Your Disney Degree

As mentioned in one of my first posts, I was on the Walt Disney World College Program in the Summer of 1990. As part of the WDWCP, student cast members had the opportunity to earn either a Mousters of Business Applications or a Ducktorate Degree. Each degree required you attend the 10 Disney seminars and achieve an average rating at your work experience. To get the Ducktorate, you had to also do a team project and presentation. At the end of the program, you received your degree signed by both Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Take a look at the page from our College Program handbook which gives a more detailed description for earning your Mousters or Ducktorate.


The above image is a scan of my Ducktorate Degree. This scan doesn't do the certificate justice. The border and mouse ears are all in gold. The paper is the same quality paper as a college diploma. And, yes, I proudly list my Duckorate on my resume. Of course, it always strikes up a conversation with recruiters too.

Disney Management Communications from February 1990

As I was looking through my WDW College Program items this afternoon, I came across an interesting item we were given during one of our Traditions or Seminars classes. To tell you the truth, I can't recall which. I was on the WDWCP Summer 1990 class, so, a lot of those memories from then have run together. Anyway, this handout we were given was a photocopy of FYI--Corporate News for Disney Management from February 1990. It outlined the new attractions, shows, restaurants, and other happenings taking place in what was coined the "Disney Decade". I vaguely remember talking about a couple of these items in our classes. But, as I read this document this afternoon, it was really interesting to look back and see which of these came to fruition and which ones ended up being discarded or potentially shelved for a future date. Now that the D23 Expo has transpired, it looks like maybe a couple of these might be coming on line, albeit, a decade delayed.

Some of these items I have read about as rumors or "deleted" attractions, but, I've never seen anything in official Disney correspondence to corroborate some of these attractions. Some of the notables that jump out are the Soviet and Swiss pavillions at Epcot's World Showcase. How cool would that have been. The Soviet pavillion was actually one of the attractions I specially recall being mentioned in Seminars class. One item that immediately jumped out at me was a new 3-D movie by George Lucas. I wonder what that was going to be? I see that the fourth theme park, which became Animal Kingdom, is mentioned. Also, a Circle-Vision 360 film combined with Audio-Animatronics depicting Western Civilization was to be placed in the Magic Kingdom. Wonder what that was about?

Staying with the Magic Kingdom, Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue was to be a new show in Tomorrowland. A variety show with Audio-Animatronics. Hm, not too sure about that one. Others we have seen materialize such as Alien Encounter, which didn't last too long, and Splash Mountain. Heading over to the resorts, we see that the Wilderness Lodge was a huge hit. But, what was this Buffalo Junction Resort or this Kingdom Suite Hotel supposed to be? A "haunted" hotel is mentioned as well. Is that the Tower of Terror, another attraction we heard about on the WDWCP. I don't know.

Anyway, take a few minutes to look over this document. It is pretty interesting to look back at what might have been, what transpired, and what still may be.

A WDWCP Offer

In early March 1990, the Walt Disney World College Program came to Texas A&M University. A couple hundred students turned out that night to listen to a WDW cast member named Rick Neely pitch working on the college program. We watched a short presentation and then listened to several students from previous semesters talk about their experiences on the WDW College Program. It was very interesting and everyone was very excited.

I remember how up front the recruiters were when asked questions. "If you expect to make money, then the WDWCP is not for you", was the response one of the questions. They were recruting for three different semesters--summer, fall, and spring. They must have been hurting for people in the fall and spring semesters because they talked about how competitive the summer session was. I remember the figure they gave. They said that you had about a one in ten chance of getting onto the summer program. Obviously, the summer is when most students want to work. They told us they would hire about 1,100 college students from around the country for the summer semester, along with about 1,000 international students. Well, I thought, "what the heck, I'll give it a shot". I really didn't think I had a chance. But, after the presentation was over, I went ahead and signed up for an interview the next day.

I went back to my apartment, filled out the application, and read some interviewing tips I had received in one of my college courses. I could barely sleep that night. I was so nervous going into that interview the next morning. I remember thinking that everything was stacked against me. It was my first interview ever! And, it was with Disney! And, to top it off, not only was I the first interview of the day, but, I was the first interview at Texas A&M on this visit. TERRIFIC!

Well, the interviewer was an attractive young lady who was about seven months pregnant. She had a welcoming smile and was very friendly. Unfortunately, I cannot recall her name. And, to tell ya the truth, I can't remember a single question she asked me that day. Of course, I couldn't remember anything she asked me as soon as I walked out of the interview either. Anyway, I do remember that I just tried to relax, be friendly, and, to borrow a cliche, be myself. The interview was very short. It couldn't have been longer than five minutes. When I left the interview, my roommates asked me how it went. I said something to the effect of, "ok, but not great". And, of course, they wanted to know what questions I was asked. But, like I said, I couldn't remember anything specific said in the interview. Ok, that isn't true. I do remember her asking if I had a preference of where I'd like to work. I put down Foods Host since I thought that would offer me the best opportunity. Anyway, not a great interview, first interview of the day, oh well, so much for that.

Now, fast forward a few weeks to the beginning of April. I was going to school at Texas A&M University. I remember this day fairly well. I was a little upset with myself because I had just done poorly on a test. I was walking back to the campus bus stop going over the test questions in my head. When I got to the bus stop, I ran into my two roommates who were waiting there for me with an excited look on their faces. They both started talking real fast, but, all I heard them say was "Disney" and handing me an envelope. I said something to the effect of, "oh great, a rejection letter". Their synchronized response was, "SCOTT, IT IS TOO THICK TO BE A REJECTION LETTER, WE THINK YOU GOT AN OFFER"!!!


My eyes lit up and my heart started racing. They had a point! Without thinking about the collectibility of the envelope, I tore it open as fast as I could. I GOT AN OFFER!!! I was so ecstatic. I could not believe I got an offer. How did that happen? I didn't think my interview went especially well. But, aparently I made an impression on the recruiter. My roommates were so excited for me since the semester had been relatively rough on me from a personal standpoint. They went on to class and I took the bus back to our apartment.


Now, this was before cell phones, email, Facebook, instant messaging, and the Internet, well, at least as we know the Internet today. So, I ran inside and started dialing my parents. I thought my mom was going to cry; she was so excited for me. I think she must have made several dozen calls after we hung up. She told me she called everyone from her co-workers, to our friends, to all our relatives.

Anyway, this 24 hour span was the beginning of what ended up altering my future.