Jim Hill is one of the great Disnephiles and Disney bloggers of the planet. Among other things, he gives a regular tour of Disneyland to people who pay him to show them around and tell them the inside story of the park (there are tons of tour operators who show people around Disney parks — often escorting large groups from other countries). This weekend, Disney security stopped and threatened to arrest Jim for giving his tour.
I'm serious, folks. 20 minutes into my 2 o'clock tour, I was suddenly interrupted by two officials from the park's security staff. They quietly pulled me aside and said that they'd had complaints about my tour. That they'd heard that I was saying negative things about their theme park. More importantly, that my JHM tour was somehow undercutting Disneyland Guest Relations' ability to sell its own tours of the theme park.
Needless to say, I was somewhat surprised by this reaction. As were the 10 or so people who were taking my 2 o'clock tour and watching all of this unfold from 5 feet away. I mean, yes, the JHM Disneyland tour does contain a few juicy stories. Which is why Chuck Oberleitner once called it "The 'E' True Hollywood version of Disneyland's history." But is that really reason enough to shut the tour down?
(Thanks, Tavie!)
