SATURDAY SIX Presents: The 2023 TURKEY ADDENDUM – Examining ALL of This Year’s Easter Eggs

In last year’s 2022 Turkeys Addendum, we covered the history of the Turkeys Header drawing by artist Brian Cooper and how they have evolved over the years. Generally speaking, a few months before November the SAT SIX Fun Squad and myself would start to brainstorm what the drawing should be and who should be in it. Knowing that the 10th Anniversary of the Turkeys was this year, I had an idea of what the drawing would be immediately after finishing last year’s article. Because the Turkeys Header has become home to a collection of people, we should pay homage to one of the most iconic art representations of that very thing…The Beatles album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I use various levels of detail when it comes to drawing layouts when working with other artists. Some get pretty detailed sketches, but Brian Cooper and I are at the point now where I can do the quickest – almost incomprehensible – scribblings and he knows exactly what I’m talking about. Below is the version of the 2023 Turkeys Header that I sent Brian.

I know it may seem like a collection of randomness, but I wanted this drawing to not just pay tribute to the historic Beatles album cover, but I also wanted to tell mini-stories within the artwork as well. We’ll get to those stories later in this very article.

The good news is that Brian didn’t immediately block me when he saw the sketch. Then he started sending updates of his process.

I was already impressed by the sketches Brian was sending, but when I received the first line art below, my mind was officially blown.

The fully realized drawing was something better than I could have ever imagined. In my mind when conceiving the idea, I thought Brian would just be able to save time and only draw the heads of most people in the drawing, similar to how most characters were on the Beatles album cover. NAY NAY. Brian took the time to make sure everyone was completely drawn. What an amazing piece of work!

Brian stuffed the drawing with so many wonderful details, and we’re going to go over all of them now, starting off at the bottom of the drawing with…

THE OSPREY WHO TOOK ON THE UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT. This story is covered in this year’s edition of the Turkeys.

 

Now we’ll start at the first row, from left to right. First up is the FOUNTAIN which sits outside the Lime Garage at Disney Springs.

The fountain is cracked because on Oct 6, 2022, a piece fell off the fountain.

Toy Story’s BUZZ LIGHTYEAR and WOODY are standing at the broken piece of the fountain, with Woody holding a roll of Scotch tape. This is referencing the header drawing from the 2019 Theme Park Turkeys of Year, also drawn by Brian Cooper.

Dipping his water bottle into the broken fountain is our TIKTOK WATER GUY from the 2021 Theme Park Turkeys of the Year.

Next to the TikTok Water Guy is a person sweating profusely. This person is extremely nervous. Why? Because they heard that drinking tap water can turn you gay. This next level bonkers statement was made by a member of the board hand picked by the Florida Governor to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District. So we needed a person associated with the board to be this character in the drawing. I had to go with a guy who looks like he would only be on a board because he was hand picked by someone in order to cause chaos. Mission Accomplished.

Next up we have official Blooloop influencer SHELBY HONEA and her fellow Universal Creative Team Member GREG HALL. Both have been involved with some incredible projects at Universal Orlando, but are often associated with the VelociCoaster (one of the best pound-for-pound overall coasters ever made in my opinion.)

Shelby and Greg are giggling at VAL THE VELOCIRAPTOR.

 

On April 19, 2014 Val the Velociraptor made her in-park debut at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and – to me – is the personification of a Theme Park Turkey. We talk about Val in this year’s Turkey Awards.

At Val the Velociraptor’s feet is a FIGMENT POPCORN BUCKET. Back in January of 2022, this cute little popcorn bucket took the theme park community by storm!

Standing next to Val are DAVID along with DEREK and BACINI.

These characters are all from the David and Derek series I do at TouringPlans. It is essentially a “Goofus & Gallant” for the theme park world and this is what I like to do the most of anything that I do. Here’s the problem though…. I hate my art. HATE IT. Here’s an example of MY ARTWORK on a David and Derek that takes a look at Disney’s Dog Friendly Hotels.

I absolutely can’t stand the limitations of my art, and decided to give up doing the David and Derek series forever…until artist Brian Cooper graciously agreed to help me with the art. Brian has even agreed to go back and fix all my crappy drawings in the Dog Friendly Hotel article. Here’s how that strip is looking now…

At David’s feet is his DOG from the David and Derek series.

David’s dog is, as of yet, unnamed, but was first drawn by artist Savanah Hamilton.  You’ve seen how well I draw dogs in the art a couple panels above.

Derek and Bacini are standing behind a BIG PINK DONUT from Springfield USA. Once Springfield USA took off in Universal Studios Florida, we started to see a new era of next level bonkers donuts in Florida. Now you can get some unbelievable options at Voodoo Doughnut in Universal Citywalk or Everglazed at Disney Springs.

 

Standing next to Derek and Bacini is TouringPlans’ own LEN TESTA as his alter ego HANK LONELY. We wrote about the adventures of Hank Lonely onboard the Galactic Starcruiser in this year’s Turkeys.

 

Next to Hank is artist BRIAN COOPER himself.

At Brian’s feet is the BILL COSBY BUST from Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Why? Well, there was a bust in bottom of the Beatles album cover, and what would be a better replacement than a bust that Disney had to remove in the middle of the night because of you-know what.

Standing to the right of Brian Cooper is Disney CEO BOB IGER. Bob is angrily pointing to his Magic Band and this is referencing the article THE MESSY BUSINESS OF REINVENTING HAPPINESS. The article describes how – instead of theme park attractions, Disney bet big on infrastructure & technology like MyMagic+ and MagicBands.

The board broke into applause, and the meeting came to its close. The directors were chatting and readying to leave when Iger, aware of the challenges still ahead for MyMagic+, regained the attention of the small room. He looked directly at [Tom} Staggs. “This better work,” he said, bluntly and sternly. “This better work.”

The theater was quiet, the elation gone. Iger repeated, “This better work.”

Remember that story above for when we refer back to it later in the article…

 

Next to Bob Iger is a nervous TOM STAGGS, sweating profusely while looking at Iger because, well, you know.

At Bob Iger’s feet is Universal’s EARL THE SQUIRREL.

To the right of Tom Staggs is former Universal Orlando President BILL DAVIS. Bill is holding a churro in reference to the opening of the VelociCoaster back in 2021, when he became a meme for doing the same thing.

Next to Bill Davis is former Disney CEO BOB CHAPEK.

 

You may remember Bob Chapek as one of the villains in Disney’s Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom trading card game.

The drawing of Bob Chapek has him wearing his FOCUS GROUP APPROVED BEARD.

Bob Chapek is crying while holding a pink slip, referencing his unceremonious firing last year. This story was covered in the 2022 Theme Park Turkey Of the Year Awards.

Next to Bob Chapek is one of THE MOST FASCINATING PEOPLE EVER SEEN AT A THEME PARK. It’s hard to imagine anything will ever top 2020 when it comes to theme park clothing, and  – as the kids say – that year came in hot when this mind blowing shirt was seen on a guest early in January. Look at this shirt below. Take it all in. Don’t try to figure it out, it’s impossible. Just bask in the wonder of it all. A shirt like this makes you realize there is still beauty left in this world. The “Lightening” typo? Cherry on top of a unicorn sundae.

Our mysterious guest is staring at the former PENIS WALL at the Morocco Pavilion in EPCOT’s World Showcase.

This particular wall had been popular with guests for years, with many taking photos with it in the background.

When Disney took control of the Pavilion after the country of Morocco declined to renew their sponsorship, they replaced the infamous wall with this door to nowhere.

Our mysterious guest is staring at the Penis Wall in a way that is intended to reference one of my favorite parts of any Marvel TV show. This took place in the second season of Daredevil and it featured the villain Kingpin staring at a piece of art.

 

In front of the Penis Wall is a FALLEN CARDBOARD CABALLERO.

You may remember that back in 2021, Disney replaced the Three Caballero audio-animatronics with cardboard cut-outs (if not, well then you should read the 2021 Theme Park Turkey of the Year Awards!)

We will snake our way up the drawing and check out these two people to the left of the Penis Wall, the Permit Princess ALICIA STELLA. With Alicia is PizzeRizzo’s own RIZZO THE RAT. Alicia is the unofficial Brand Ambassador for PizzeRizzo, and even wrote a SATURDAY SIX Hills To Die On article defending it.

Peeking out behind Alicia is her co-host of the Orlando Parkstop Podcast, IAN KAUFFMAN.

What else is Alicia well known for? Her love for Pandora: The World of Avatar…

That’s why next to her you see a NA’VI FROM PANDORA holding a giant shovel from the ground breaking for the land.

On January 10, 2014, when Disney broke ground on Pandora: The World of Avatar, it invited many of the company’s big wigs to take part in a next level bonkers photo op. Holding giant 10 foot blue shovels were Disney’s own George Kalogridis, Meg Crofton, Tom Staggs, Bruce Vaughn, and Joe Rhode along with Avatar producer Jon Landau. A blue Na’vi was then photoshopped into the picture. At the time, many in the company and in the Disney community, believed that Tom Staggs was the heir apparent to Bob Iger, and would be replacing him as the head of The Disney Company when Iger retired.

In April of 2015, FastCompany.com produced the story we referred to earlier titled The Messy Business of Reinventing Happiness. In this article it described how Disney had invested a Billion dollars into MyMagic+ as a way to completely change the infrastructure of Walt Disney World.

Meg Crofton, then President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, retired in June of 2015. In January of 2016, Imagineer Bruce Vaughn resigned from Disney. Later that year in April, Tom Staggs unexpectedly handed in his resignation. A story many inside the company were trying to sell was that Staggs didn’t have the trust of key members of Disney’s board. One of these board members allegedly upset by Staggs was former Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, the largest shareholder of Disney stock.

When Pandora: The World of Avatar opened in 2017, we were all blown away by the incredible landscaping and the amazing Flight of Passage attraction. However, it was in Sat’uli Canteen restaurant where quite possibly the most amazing thing in the entire land resides. If you look on the walls you will find the very picture that was taken in 2014, except now Meg Crofton, Tom Staggs and Bruce Vaughn have been photoshopped OUT and replaced by different people (Jon Landau was also photoshopped into appearing as his character in the land, Marshall Lamm.)

Continuing left we have artist SONDERQUEST. Sondy’s inclusion in this photo was the no-brainer of all no-brainers. Not only am I absolutely in love with his art, but he has contributed so much to the SATURDAY SIX and the Turkeys themselves.

 

To the left of SonderQuest is former Disney Imagineer JOE ROHDE and his trademark earrings. I personally think Joe Rohde was one of the single greatest people to ever work in the theme park industry and we were all lucky to have him for the time that we did. He currently works for Virgin Galactic.

Joe Rhode is laughing with Disney Blogging Icon JIM HILL.

Aside from being a fan of Jim’s work for years (both his written work and his podcast with Len Testa: The Disney Dish), Jim and I are both from New Hampshire.

Interestingly enough, in 2022 I did a fundraiser with the proceeds going to Chef Jose Andres World Central Kitchen. I reached out to several people in the community to see if they could donate anything to the fundraiser, and Jim Hill offered to send a bottle of New Hampshire maple syrup (which, of course, is the BEST maple syrup.) He asked if I wanted the bottle autographed and I said, sure, that’d be great. But Jim also added an inscription…

We ended up raising over $3,000 for World Central Kitchen, but it may take another $3K to get Jim to let us know WHAT THE HECK IS THAT INSCRIPTION “SWEET DREAMS” SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!!

Anyhoo, the center of our drawing has BILL and TED, from Universal’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure is my ALL TIME favorite show in any theme park.

To the left of Bill & Ted, and slightly past the head of Val the Velociraptor, is ADAM HOSTETLER and STERLING DENHAM, two of my favorite artists in the theme park community.

Sterling is one of the artists we’ve been blessed to work with doing an ARTIST SPOTLIGHT feature.

To the left of Skipper Hoss is CHEF STEVEN JAYSON. Chef Jayson is holding a mug of BUTTERBEER because it is his creation.

Let’s head above Chef Jayson where we see a bunch of Clowns. I wanted to highlight clowns in the theme parks because we have had some really cool stuff involving them over the years. First up is a member of the GIGGLE GANG, who appeared in Storybook Circus in Disney’s Magic Kingdom around 2012.

Next up is KRUSTY THE CLOWN from Springfield USA. Krusty is meant to be looking at the Giggle Gang clown thinking, “man, even I put in more effort than this guy.”

Krusty the Clown is one of my all-time favorite characters on any television show.

To the right of Krusty is a KILLER KLOWN FROM OUTER SPACE.

The Killer Klowns from Outer Space have made several appearances at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, and I also really enjoy their movie.

Last up is Halloween Horror Nights Icon JACK THE CLOWN.

Working our way UP from the Giggle Gang, we have members of the SATURDAY SIX Fun Squad, including TouringPlans’ own JOSEPH MATT and PARKSCOPE NICK.

I’m bouncing ideas off Joe and Nick pretty much every day, and I’ve often said my most important role in life is to be the person making sure you, Dear Reader, are protected from all their bad ideas.

To the right of Nick is SAT SIX Editor-in-Chief MEGAN STUMP.

Meg has been an invaluable asset to the team over the years, and is a runDisney fanatic.

To Meg’s right is HUNTER “ELVEY” UNDERWOOD. I’ve been calling Elvey my ‘protege’ for years, but he has surpassed me long ago in almost all areas, but especially behind a camera.

You may notice that behind this Fun Squad Fab Four is the famous MYTHOS BANNER.

For those who do not know, this was a banner that had been hung outside the restaurant Mythos in Islands of Adventure for YEARS.

Interestingly enough, when Universal refurbished the banner, they put the old one up for sale at the former Prop Shop in Universal Studios Florida. The buyer? Hunter Underwood, who now proudly displays the banner at home.

To the right of Hunter Underwood is Digital Maestro SCOTT WALKER. Scott’s work over the years on the SATURDAY SIX has always blown me away. One of my favorite films of all time is the movie Armageddon. A quote that I use all the time is one said by the character played by Bruce Willis in the movie, “You said you wanted me because I’m the best. Well, I’m only the best because I work with the best.”

Scott is the best digital artist I have ever seen and his work constantly blows me away.

To the right of Scott Walker is PENELOPE TOOTHSOME of Universal’s Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

People always ask me what my favorite restaurants is at Universal, and while that depends on the situation, the restaurant I’ve been to the most is Toothsome. It’s where I take visiting friends and family who haven’t been to Universal before because the restaurant is so unique. That said, Toothsome has had its fair share of issues over the years…

To the right of Penelope Toothsome THE GUY WHO RANTED ABOUT WEARING A MASK AND MISQUOTED PIXAR’S A BUG’S LIFE and the DISNEY CAST MEMBER HANDING HIM A TRESPASS NOTICE. This Cast Member is a general homage to all the front line Disney Cast Members who are the real heroes, putting up with complete whack-a-doodles and entitled guests every single day.

You can read about his story in this year’s Turkeys.

Next up we have OLLIE from this year’s Jollywood Nights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Ollie was billed as “the first original character in a Disney park since Figment.” That is one of the most ridiculous statements ever made.

To the right of Ollie is a collection of theme park photographers. These guys are some of the best in the business, and we’ll start off with BRANDON GLOVER.

Brandon has been my “ride or die” since Day One here at TouringPlans. You couldn’t ask to be friends with a better person in life.

To Brandon’s right we have TOM BRICKER.

Tom’s work on Disney Tourist Blog and elsewhere speaks for itself. He’s a first ballot Hall of Famer for both the theme park blogging AND photography.

Next to Tom we have JOSH easyWDW.

Unfortunately Josh passed away in 2021, but you can read our tribute article to him by CLICKING HERE.

There will never be another like Josh, and he is truly missed in the community.

The silhouette you see behind Josh’s head is for the POLERCOASTER. This was a project that was announced to be coming to International Drive, close to the Universal Orlando Resort. I had a very healthy debate at the time with supporters of the project, with my case being: THIS THING IS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.

In the end, the PolerCoaster didn’t come to Orlando (or anywhere for that matter,) and the entire Skyplex complex that was supposed to be attached to it was also never built. This led to my Derek Doodle “Soarin’ Over Skyplex,” which was auctioned off for charity.

To Josh’s right is photographer MICHAEL CARELLI.

Carelli’s work with a camera is second to none, and I’m so happy to have worked with him on THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO PANDORA: THE WORLD OF AVATAR. He is a Jurassic Park superfan, and his cosplay of Owen Grady from the Jurassic World movie got him to be an official guest at the VelociCoaster grand opening.

Next to Carelli we have Captain Cruiseline SCOTT SANDERS.

Scott runs the world famous Disney Cruise Line Blog, and the entire Sanders family have helped out This Fine Blog Series a million times over the years. Can’t thank them enough.

Next to Scott Sanders and peeking above the Morocco Penis Wall is the BURNING HEAD OF MALEFICENT.

This actually could reference multiple Maleficents who have caught on fire at WDW and Disneyland, but it’s specifically referencing to the Festival of Fantasy float that caught on fire back  in 2018.

Rising up behind Maleficent is Krakatau from Universal’s VOLCANO BAY.

Volcano Bay is hands down my favorite park in all of Florida.

To the left of Krakatau is KITETAILS BALLOON crashing to the ground.

One of our annual traditions at the Turkeys since 2020 is a drawing of @bioreconstruct’s HELICOPTER. This of course is paying tribute to the greatest blogger-in-the-sky that has ever existed, or will ever exist: @bioreconstruct.

 

Bio’s copter is always pulling a banner, which is referencing the weirdoes who do this above Walt Disney World and the Universal Orlando Resort. The banner is the logo for DISFLIX.

For those who don’t know, DISFLIX was a short lived attempt by a group of theme park bloggers and vloggers to monetize their content behind a paywall. Reaction to their announcement didn’t go well (to say the least,) and DISFLIX ended before it actually started. We did get this incredible announcement from them which blamed everything on “social media, being what it is.”

To the left of Bio’s copter is the famous EPOCT ROAD SIGNAGE.

We cover the story of this incredible sign in this year’s Turkeys.

Finally we have our last item, THE GUY WHO CLIMBED THE MEXICO PAVILION.

We cover this incredible story in this year’s Turkeys.

HUGE Thanks to artist BRIAN COOPER for his tireless and incredible work on this year’s Turkeys drawing. I don’t how he always seems to accomplish the impossible, and I’m so grateful that we can immortalize so many people in the community.

Also a GIGANTIC thank you to @bioreconstruct for taking the time to separate all the elements from the drawing! How he fit this in with doing multiple flights across Orlando is beyond my imagination.