You're tuned to the good stuff
Debbie Downer: Disney World
The setup
The premise
Here’s the bit.
The McKusick family from Ohio gathers for a reunion breakfast at a Disney World character restaurant, served by an upbeat waiter. Each time a relative gets excited about the menu, the rides or a hug from Pluto, Debbie Downer answers with a bleak fact, from mad cow disease and the Siegfried & Roy tiger attack to theme-park terrorism and her own infertility, and every remark lands with a sad trombone sting and a close-up of her face. As the jokes pile up, Rachel Dratch and nearly everyone at the table break character with laughter, until her sister storms off and the rest of the family abandons Debbie at the table.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 7
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Ever since they found mad cow disease in the U.S., I'm not taking any chances.
It's the number one killer of domestic cats.
I'll meet you at my favorite ride. The Hall of Presidents.
Behind the scenes
The people who made it.

Rachel Dratch
Writer

Paula Pell
Writer

Beth McCarthy-Miller
Director
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
This was Debbie Downer's first appearance. Rachel Dratch and Paula Pell wrote it, originally setting it in an office before moving it to Disney World. The sketch was ranked No. 99 on TV Land and TV Guide's list of the 100 most unexpected TV moments, largely because the cast broke character throughout.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:10
Billiam
Good morning. Welcome to the Mickey's Breakfast Jamboree. My name is Billiam, and I'll be serving you today. You guys here on a special occasion?
- 00:18
Dad
Well, we're here on that new Magical Gatherings family package. Got the whole Matusik clan down from Ohio. Right, guys? Say hi.
- 00:26
Hi!
- 00:27
Billiam
Well, great. Let me tell you Mickey's specials today. We've got steak and eggs served with some home fries and Mickey waffles.
- 00:34
Dad
Woo! I love me some steak and eggs.
- 00:37
Debbie Downer
Ever since they found mad cow disease in the U.S., I'm not taking any chances. It can live in your body for years before it ravages your brain.
- 00:50
Enjoying your day, everything's going your way, then along comes Debbie Downer. Always there to tell you about a new disease, a car accident or killer bees. You beg her to spare you, Debbie please, but you can't stop Debbie Downer.
- 01:08
Dad
Well, we did it, gang. We pulled it off. A family reunion at Disney.
- 01:13
Brother 1
I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to ride that haunted elevator thingy. It drops you straight down.
- 01:20
Sister 1
This is my dream come true. I mean, I'm totally serious. Tigger hugged me at the door, and I thought I was going to cry.
- 01:26
Debbie Downer
I guess Roy isn't doing as well as they first thought.
- 01:31
Brother 2
What? Who's Roy?
- 01:34
Debbie Downer
Roy of Siegfried and Roy. He was attacked by his own tiger and suffered devastating injuries.
- 01:43
Brother 2
So, So, uh... Hey, who wants to go on Space Mountain with me?
- 01:54
Me!
- 01:55
Dad
I wanna see the country bear jamboree!
- 01:59
Michelle
I wanna go to every country in Epcot and greet them in their own native language. Hola, konnichiwa, hi!
- 02:05
Debbie Downer
Did you guys hear about that train explosion in North Korea? The media is so sensitive, they're so secretive, that they may never know how many people perished.
- 02:36
Billiam
Who's ready for Mickey Waffles?
- 02:39
I
- 02:42
Sister 1
Oh my god, I just made eye contact with Pluto. And he's coming over here. Pluto! I'm hugging Pluto. I'm at Disney World and I'm hugging Pluto. Somebody take a picture.
- 02:54
Brother 2
I wanna be in it.
- 02:55
Michelle
I wanna be in it.
- 02:57
Debbie Downer
Well, you guys, Disney World really is fun. It makes me feel like a kid again. I mean, the time before my two-year stint at Children's.
- 03:11
Debbie Downer
Hey. Hey, Pluto. Hi. Boy, it must be fun to work here, although the biggest drawback to working in a theme park is that you must live under constant fear of deadly terrorist attacks.
- 03:28
Sister 1
Pluto, wait. Where are you going?
- 03:31
Debbie Downer
Bonnie's probably in the early stages of heat stroke.
- 03:52
Debbie Downer
Speaking of...
- 03:54
Thank you. Thank you. Thank
- 04:04
Debbie Downer
Speaking of heat, if Greenhouse effect keeps up, we'll all be living underwater. By Out of the way, by By the way, it's official. I I can't have children.
- 04:41
Sister 1
Ruining you know what debbie you are totally ruining my trip to Texas. You can't say a word during It's a Small World when you talked about low birth weight, or during the fireworks when you went about about feline AIDS.
- 05:10
Debbie Downer
It's the number one killer of domestic cats.
- 05:13
Dad
This so after will hit the park gust. Up the sunscreen.
- 05:28
Debbie Downer
I had a mole looked at recently and the doctor told me that due to the extent of its irregular borders, I'm flirting with a melanoma.
- 05:43
Debbie Downer
You guys go ahead. I'll meet you at my favorite ride. The Hall of Presidents.
- 05:57
Debbie Downer
They never did catch that anthrax guy.
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
More from across the archive.












