I'm not a frequent visitor to Jim Hill's site so I will not deify or discredit what he does. What I do read on his site, I take with the same grain of salt I would if any other Huge Fan Of All Things Disney & I started shooting the bull.
I would like to point out my opinions based on some of the things I've read in this thread.
1: There IS a difference between "media" and "news." Media is essentially content for our eyes &/or ears. "News" is supposed to be based on fact. If anyone is going to Jim's site for news, then perhaps you will be disappointed, but only if Jim Hill ever promised his site AS a site for news. If he has, my apologies, but I don't recall the site ever being touted as a news site. Sure, he's published news, but that doesn't make his site a news site. I could tell you what happened in my hometown yesterday on a blog, but it doesn't make me a news site. Jim's site is much more well-known than other sites that focus on one particular passion, and when sites get popular, people expect them to be more reputable than someone whose site of similar content only gets a dozen visitors a week. JMH is, in my opinion, the aintitcoolnews.com website for theme parks. Sometimes I learn something, but mostly, it's for shooting the bull, playing "what if," and "wouldn't it be cool if..." games.
2: Disneyland IS private property, true, and if Jim Hill was saying negative things about Disney on their property, Disney would have a right to be upset. But I think it's foolish for ANY of us to lambast Hill on the "negative" content if we haven't, ourselves, taken the tour. Or read a transcript. Or heard the CD, which might wind up being quite snazzy.
If high school rumors have taught me anything, it's that you don't get angry for what someone said unless/until it can proven that they said it. So anyone rejoicing that his negative tour was shut down, unless you've taken the tour, you really are not in a position to judge the content any more than *I'M* in a position to judge that same content. I'm not endorsing the content of the tour, I'm saying I can't comment on what I haven't heard or can't confirm.
3: Selective enforcement on the types of tour groups visiting Disneyland or WDW is up to the Corporation's discretion, I'm sure. But I would think Disney would be more upset over the other tour groups, because they would be providing similar content to their own tours. The Jim Hill tour was probably a combination of his opinion, stories based on fact, and told with none of the "magic" you'd expect from an official Disney tour. Which might also be the reason the women were so upset. They were expecting a story on a Man's Dream Come True. Instead, they got stories on What Might've Been and opinions on What Should Be. That, and no backstage access or free lunch. When you're expecting "Star Wars" and you get "Special Effects and Their Practical Use in Todays Movies-A Filmed Lecture for USC Students," you're not gonna enjoy the film no matter what's being told or described. Basically, Jim was probably providing a tour option filled with nothing you'd get in any other tour, which in my opinion is far less detrimental to the park's bottom line than any other unofficial tour group regurgitating the same facts & stories but without the backstage access & free lunch, and costing less. I don't know what the cost of the Disneyland tour is, but if someone offered me the same info for 50% less and it fit into my schedule, I might take advantage of it. And I'd bet a shiny nickel that if any of us who consider ourselves Disney experts were offered money for our knowledge and opinions, we'd take it. Heck, we get to go to a Disney park AND get paid for it? What's the downside?
4: Timing or controversy aside, I think a companion CD could be a great idea, considering the info was worth listening to in the first place. If Jim really wanted to be a standup guy, I'd suggest that instead of a CD, he do the napster thing. Charge just a few dollars to cover the cost of recording his shpiel, then set it up on his site for people to download into an MP3 player. Once his cost is recouped, (and if the download ever really caught on), he could use further proceeds to give trips to needy or sick children, and it wouldn't look like he's trying to cash in on Disney's legacy, but genuinely trying to pass on the history and lore of the park he professes to love. This would also give him the opportunity to update it as todays news (or rumor) becomes tomorrow's history (or legend).
Now everybody be nice to each other or I'm turning this car around and we're not going anywhere.
