Who is Jim Hill (Disney Historian)?

[TLSnell1981]

, Jim's constant disparaging of what DID get made by Disney and the constant (true) reminders of how cheap and corporate-minded the company's become and is still becoming-- well, it had the opposite effect of what I was hoping these podcasts would do for me.

I have NEVER listened to one of Jim's podcast, but I must say...he's spot on, regarding the current regime. ITA

 

[Syzygy]

As the original poster, I would invite all to re-read the question … Who is Jim Hill? (The question had nothing to do with his predictions, reliability, or speaking habits … or all this negativity towards someone who’s not even here to defend himself).

Please keep this Disney chat board as an extension of The Happiest/Magical Place On Earth … not The Most Negative Place On Earth.

Everyone seemed to miss the only question that was asked. As it seems only one responder knows Jim personally, all other responses are of no interest. If you cannot answer the only question that was asked, please keep negativity or off-topic banter to yourself.

So again, knowing such vast amounts and specificity of company history and meetings, is he a Disney Historian or employee? Who is Jim Hill?

NB … at the risk of sounding like everyone’s parent/guardian, please remember: If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, Don't Say Anything At All … and Treat others the way you want to be treated.

 

[Syzygy]

Thank you, Robo, for helping to highlight to avoid negativity in this chat. It is all about the original question … Who is Jim Hill?

 

[Syzygy]

Did he work for Disney?

The only ‘biography’ I can find online is this statement: “illustrious and infamous Disney rabble-rouser and rumor-monger who knows a little something about the company’s Dark Side”. I have found no source material about his background (only podcasts).

Is he a Disney Historian or previous employee?

 

[Too Far From Home]

I have seen no one who has posted more accurate information about future Disney projects than Jim. No one - anywhere on the web - and that includes Disney itself.

The best you get from the Dis regulars is, "These is no way to know for sure". Seriously? How about taking a chance and actually saying something? Jim does that. Because he does that, he is wrong sometimes - but I'd rather listen to someone who is telling me what he thinks based on what he is hearing from insiders than someone who refuses to put a stake in the ground.

Lots of jealousy of Jim on the Dis, IMO.

 

[chartle]

.

.

Was there some sort of text in these two posts or are you writing in some sort of invisible "ink".

O I see two white periods.

 

[KittyKitty]

I keep remembering when he was so sure DisneyQuest was going to close in 2008. That was my turning point.

Now when he states something I'm "I'll believe it when I see it".

 

[chartle]

I keep remembering when he was so sure DisneyQuest was going to close in 2008. That was my turning point.

Now when he states something I'm "I'll believe it when I see it".

So he's the one that started that rumor! I actually believed him.

 

[SaraJayne]

As the original poster, I would invite all to re-read the question … Who is Jim Hill? (The question had nothing to do with his predictions, reliability, or speaking habits … or all this negativity towards someone who’s not even here to defend himself).

Please keep this Disney chat board as an extension of The Happiest/Magical Place On Earth … not The Most Negative Place On Earth.

Everyone seemed to miss the only question that was asked. As it seems only one responder knows Jim personally, all other responses are of no interest. If you cannot answer the only question that was asked, please keep negativity or off-topic banter to yourself.

So again, knowing such vast amounts and specificity of company history and meetings, is he a Disney Historian or employee? Who is Jim Hill?

NB … at the risk of sounding like everyone’s parent/guardian, please remember: If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, Don't Say Anything At All … and Treat others the way you want to be treated.

You must be new here.

 

[doris1976]

Entertainment, so take it with a grain of salt, sort to speak.

 

[kaligal]

As the original poster, I would invite all to re-read the question … Who is Jim Hill? (The question had nothing to do with his predictions, reliability, or speaking habits … or all this negativity towards someone who’s not even here to defend himself).

Please keep this Disney chat board as an extension of The Happiest/Magical Place On Earth … not The Most Negative Place On Earth.

Everyone seemed to miss the only question that was asked. As it seems only one responder knows Jim personally, all other responses are of no interest. If you cannot answer the only question that was asked, please keep negativity or off-topic banter to yourself.

So again, knowing such vast amounts and specificity of company history and meetings, is he a Disney Historian or employee? Who is Jim Hill?

NB … at the risk of sounding like everyone’s parent/guardian, please remember: If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, Don't Say Anything At All … and Treat others the way you want to be treated.

 

[Dorisk3]

I've wondered the very same thing. I put zero stock into his predictions -- not because I think he's making them up, just because, hey, plans change -- but I do find the historical stuff really interesting. It's tough to verify much of what he says even about the past, but I'm not sure why someone would bother to lie about such things. You'll find, however, that there are a number of people on these boards that take a pretty dim view of what he has to say.

I will say this, as I said in an earlier post on this topic, I wish someone would get the guy a thesaurus. Just about everything out of his mouth is sprinkled liberally with the following:

• "Literally"
• "Again"
• "The interesting thing is/The thing you have to understand is"
• [insert exasperated sigh]
• "you know"

So true! There are times I had to stop listening to his podcast with Len Testa for the same reason.

 

[Virtucomp]

I've listened to some of the podcasts that Jim has produced. I'm always looking for more information about WDW and chatter about what's going on in the parks.

I think the one thing I don't care for in Jim's predictions is that he does not present the information as if he heard this the other day or someone slipped him some information. He states the information as if he was in the planning meeting and he is the authority on the subject.

I would feel like he was more belivable if he indicated "from what I was told" or "The last I heard on that was..."

 

[bytheblood]

Be careful about buying in to everything he says. I have read stuff he said that his "in" at Disney told him that never came to fruition. This is everything from closures, new attractions, menu changes to something as simple as refurbs.

Like others on the Dis, I have a close relation that works for Disney Corporate and he does tell me things, but even still, he doesn't know everything. I ask him about things and he has to sometimes ask around...and it may take a week before he has real details. Other times, he will flat out tell me that he cannot divulge any information and not to ask about it. (example, I have been asking him for months about the new MK restaurant menu and he said his information is minimal and I

 

[Syzygy]

I was simply inquiring about Jim’s background. It seems that only one responder on the Dis actually knows Jim personally.

“lentesta” – thank you for your first-hand insights. I look forward to talking with you on the next Live Show.

“Too Far From Home” – you seem correct, lots of jealousy of Jim on the Dis. I feel sorry for people who choose to be negative.

 

[SDSorority]

I was simply inquiring about Jim’s background. It seems that only one responder on the Dis actually knows Jim personally.

“lentesta” – thank you for your first-hand insights. I look forward to talking with you on the next Live Show.

“Too Far From Home” – you seem correct, lots of jealousy of Jim on the Dis. I feel sorry for people who choose to be negative.

 

[jrtoastyman]

As the original poster, I would invite all to re-read the question … Who is Jim Hill?

I think you may have unwittingly hit upon the reason that there are a number of posts like this on this board. Jim provides a LOT of great information and provides it confidently and authoritatively. When I first starting listening to his podcasts, I was agog, wondering where he was getting all of this info. It seemed like, as another poster mentioned, he was sitting in the room when these decisions were made.

Was he a former Disney exec? Imagineer? I did a little bit of digging on Google and found, well, not a heck of a lot, and I suspect many others have found the same thing. Soooo, you have this guy with an absolute avalanche of fascinating anecdotes, but very little indication that he would be in a position to have it. There's a disconnect there that some folks have a hard time getting over, but it is easy to see why there might be some skepticism and curiosity about who he is and how he knows all of this stuff.

For me, I've always just sort of assumed that he had a number of friends that worked in various capacities in Disney that have fed him info over the years. Of course, in a company that large, there is very little in the way of perfect information, and I doubt there are very few people at Disney that know the big picture, and what of the current projects are aspirational as opposed to operational until they break ground. He could hear and report that something is coming down the pike, and both he and his source could believe it in good faith, but that doesn't mean it's absolutely going to happen, even if the beginning stages are actually underway. I suspect that the amount of things in development at WDW far exceeds the number of projects that actually make it into the parks.

For what it's worth, I certainly wasn't trying to be mean spirited with my observation of some common phrases he uses. I bet if you were to listen to me talk for a few hours, you could pick up some of mine. Heck, I could probably point them out to you myself.

 

[RalphinSC]

I have seen no one who has posted more accurate information about future Disney projects than Jim. No one - anywhere on the web - and that includes Disney itself.

The best you get from the Dis regulars is, "These is no way to know for sure". Seriously? How about taking a chance and actually saying something? Jim does that. Because he does that, he is wrong sometimes - but I'd rather listen to someone who is telling me what he thinks based on what he is hearing from insiders than someone who refuses to put a stake in the ground.

Lots of jealousy of Jim on the Dis, IMO.

There are some other guys who have very good info on the web. Perhaps not as many that are heavily active on these boards, but on others perhaps.

I think Jim Hill has some good info but like other's have said, plans change sometimes so I take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[WDSearcher]

I was simply inquiring about Jim’s background. It seems that only one responder on the Dis actually knows Jim personally.

Well ... only one responder who happened to have seen your question.

You could always just e-mail Jim and ask him. It's not like he's unwilling to respond to fans. I mean, as nice as lentesta has been, all he's really told you is his personal impression of Jim and the opinion that Jim appears to be well-sourced. He hasn't provided any response to your original question and you don't have any more information on Jim now than you had when you started.

If you really want an answer, why not just go straight to the source? You have a much higher chance of getting the information you want, and you won't have to be annoyed with the rest of us for wandering off topic or being negative.

 

[Cyrano]

Moving to TP community.