Disney’s First Coffee Deal Was a Disaster (Ep. 582)

Len Testa and Jim Hill return with a caffeinated mix of Disney news, listener questions, and one deeply researched (and slightly petty) rant about guitar accuracy. They also explore the mystery of Walt’s unfinished apartment bathroom and debate just how early is too early for Halloween. Then Jim brings the main event: the story of how Maxwell House coffee landed on Main Street, missed its big debut, and ultimately got shown the door - paving the way for a quieter, smarter coffee strategy at Disneyland.

NEWS

• Preview dates announced for Soarin’ and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring the Muppets, with guests likely riding by mid-May
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run may finally make the engineer role matter (yes, really)
• Bluey’s Animal Kingdom appearance may skip meet-and-greets entirely, possibly to avoid crowd-control chaos
• Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party now starts August 7, because apparently summer needed pumpkins
• EPCOT Food & Wine Festival returns in late August, continuing Disney’s “why wait for fall?” strategy

FEATURE

• The original deal that brought Maxwell House Coffee to Disneyland - complete with big promises and bigger expectations
• Why the Main Street coffee house wasn’t ready for opening day (and stayed that way for months)
• The rain-soaked grand opening that didn’t help Disney’s relationship with its coffee sponsor
• How Hills Brothers stepped in, kept the New Orleans theming, and quietly made the concept work
• The evolution of the location from sponsored coffee house to struggling restaurant to retail space

For this episode’s full show notes,⁠ click here.⁠

HOSTS• Jim Hill - IG: ⁠@JimHillMedia⁠ | X: ⁠@JimHillMedia⁠ | Website: ⁠JimHillMedia.com⁠• Len Testa - IG: ⁠@len.testa⁠ | Website: ⁠touringplans.com⁠

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PRODUCTION CREDITSEdited by Dave GreyProduced by Eric Hersey - ⁠Strong Minded Agency⁠

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