Okay. The first field test of xPass / FASTPASS+ officially wrapped yesterday. And while Disney correlates all of that data which they collected from those 4200 individuals, groups and families who agreed to take part in this pilot program at the Magic Kingdom , the Company's already reaching out -- via e-mail -- to those Disney's Magical Express passengers who were recruited at Orlando International Airport to take part in this two week-long trial run, asking them questions like ... Did you...

With "Marvel's The Avengers" having sold a billion dollars worth of tickets worldwide after just 19 days in theaters, the ripple effect that this Joss Whedon film is causing will be felt for years yet to come. Children will grow up dreaming of robot suits and flying aircraft carriers, some will undoubtedly be the next generation of visual effects artists, engineers and programmers. Toys, cartoons and action figures will all get a boost this summer and holiday season. Parents and kids...

So why exactly did so many reporters & photographers make a special trip out to Anaheim last Thursday? Was it because some star was making a special appearance at Disneyland Park ? Photo by Noe Valladolid Well, not a star per se. But -- rather seamstress to the stars, Disney Legend Alice Davis . Who spent much of the 1960s creating colorful costumes for the Audio-Animatronic figures found in " Flight to the Moon ," " Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress " and -- of course...

There certainly seem to be a lot of Spider-Man fans who read JHM. Because this site just got bombarded with entries for last week's trivia contest , with all sort of folks competing for that Disney XD goody bag full of "Ultimate Spider-Man" swag. Copyright Marvel Studios. All rights reserved Sadly, this time around, there could one winner. So the lucky JHM reader -- who was randomly selected from all of the entrants who correctly answered all four of these Disney spider-related questions...

Did you love Epic Mickey , Guilty Party or Disney Sing It ? Would you like a chance to play some of Disney Interactive 's games early, before they're released to the general public? Would you like to help keep Disney Interactive's games bug-free and fun to play? There's a little-known way to do so, if you fit the testing parameters. Simply go to disneyplaytesting.com and fill in your information (If you're ages 3-17, your pet grown-up has to do it for you). Copyright Disney Enterprises...

Earlier this week (Monday, to be exact), Bond from Upstate dropped a line to ask: Hi Jim, Long time fan... just wondering with "The Avengers" making a kajillion dollars and receiving near universal love, is Disney ready to go all in with a high profile Marvel area? With Universal Hollywood getting Potter in 2016 and Shanghai opening in 2015, it seems like the window is getting tight to get full leverage. Any word from your inside sources? Copyright Marvel Entertainment / Paramount Pictures...

The old adage is "April Showers bring May Flowers." Image courtesy of S/R Laboratories. All rights reserved Well, Nancy and I are down in Orlando right now. And this year, April Showers seems to be bringing May Downpours. Which suggests that June might be a really good time to go shopping for a snorkel. Image courtesy of S/R Laboratories. All rights reserved Anyway ... For now, we're both safe & warm & inside. And to kill time while we're waiting for the rain to stop, I'm...

When you're someone like Lora Wallace (i.e. the show director of Universal Studios Florida 's new Superstar Parade ) , and you've spent weeks in the pre-dawn darkness teaching your young, energetic cast the proper way to move through that theme park ... It's kind of ironic that the light at the end of your tunnel turns out to be the sun. Photo by Nancy Stadler "Yeah, the rehearsal phase -- when it comes to the launch of a new parade -- can be pretty brutal," Wallace admitted...

Greetings, trivia contest enthusiasts! Clearly JHM readers enjoy a competition. Why For? Because we saw a significant jump in the number of people who decided to participate in last week's Pirates-themed trivia contest, which took its inspiration from that popular Disney Junior series, " Jake and the Never Land Pirates ." Anyway ... The correct answers to last week's JHM trivia contest were: Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved 1) What was the name of the first...

Elizabeth Jane Cochran didn't exactly make headlines when she was born in Western Pennsylvania 148 years ago this Saturday. But all of that would change when -- at just 16 years of age -- Ms. Cochran took up the pen name Nellie Bly and thus became America's first female investigative reporter. Nellie tackled the sort of stories that few men would dare to do. Like spending 10 days undercover in a New York City lunatic asylum so that she could then reveal how poorly the patients there were...

So we're two days into WDW 's first real field test for the Resort's new xPass / FASTPASS+ system . And the results so far look rather promising. Perhaps the biggest news so far is that we've discovered one of the ways that Disney is recruiting Guests to take part in this two-week-long field test. And that's through randomly selecting people at Orlando International Airport as they head downstairs to check-in for Disney's Magical Express Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc....

Can it really be three years since Manta -- Central Florida's first-ever flying coaster -- initially came on the scene at SeaWorld Orlando? Copyright SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. All rights reserved Yep. To be exact, this Bolliger & Mabillard-designed roller coaster officially opened to the public on May 22, 2009. And ever since then, millions of thrill seekers have made special trips to this zoological theme park just so they could then experience what it was like to dive, twist and...

"Harry Potter vets lend their voices to Aardman Animations' 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' " It's kind of a weird way for a relationship to start. This great big Irishman falling for a wee small man made out of clay and his silent, long-suffering dog. But to hear Brendan Gleeson tell the tale, that's exactly how he wound up working with Aardman Animations on their latest feature-length production, The Pirates! Band of Misfits . "Have you seen the Wallace and Gromit...

Japan is filled with with millions of Disney enthusiasts and they have been a buzz these past few months. Both the Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea Parks have changed the themes to their shows and parades for the seasons, some of the floats are returning favorites. The parks are exploring a unique mix of Japanese and Western-themed holidays. For example last year the park combined the Christian Easter celebration with the Asian Lunar New Year , which happened to fall on the year of the rabbit...

Newsies , The Breakout New American Musical, Nominated for Eight Tony® Awards Including Best Musical Peter and the Starcatcher , Co-Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, Scores Big With Nine Nominations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Tuesday, May 1, 2012): Newsies , the breakout new American musical, today received eight Tony® Award nominations including Best Musical. Additionally, Newsies was recognized with nominations for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Jeremy Jordan), Best...

"You're serious? You really want to do this?" That's what Chris Prynoski remembers saying to Mouse House executives when they had their very first conversations with Chris about he and his Robin Red Breast, Inc. team possibly producing a brand-new animated series for Disney XD . Copyright Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All rights reserved Why the trepidation on Prynoski's part? Because Chris and his crew are probably best known for that Adult Swim favorite...

You have undoubtedly already heard all of the news coming out of last week's big blogger event at Walt Disney World . With all sorts of Web-based tastemakers getting treated to construction site tours of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland expansion area as well as Disney's Art of Animation Resort . Not to mention getting interviews with the key creatives on the Agent P's World Showcase Adventure , the reimagined Test Track as well as the Splitsville project. Photo by Matt Stroshane....

This Saturday, it's Lucky No. 7 for the Wynn. Seven years ago on April 28, 2005, this $2.7 billion dollar mega-resort opened at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue. And the town has never really been the same. Copyright Wynn Resort Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved Of course, there are some old timers who still miss the Desert Inn, that hotel & casino which previously occupied this spot along the Strip. But when you consider the state-of-the-art facility Steve Wynn built in...

Today's the day that the 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival officially gets underway. And given that -- for the past four years now -- this annual event has been a lot of animation fans' radar thanks to those "Evenings of Disney Rarities" screenings that Oscar-nominated producer Don Hahn and Disney Creative Director Dave Bossert have hosted ... Well, I thought that I'd reach out to Dave and see if another one of these genuinely fun evenings of film is in the works for this year's...

My apologies to those of you who entered last week's contest for those two copies of "Jim Henson's Designs & Doodles: A Muppet Sketchbook" and have since been patiently waiting to learn who won. But what with Friday's not-all-that-surprising announcement that Rich Ross would be exiting Walt Disney Studios effective immediately ... Well, I had to put last week's Why For column on hold while I went off and chased that story . And rather than make you all wait 'til...

Visitors to the Disney websites have probably noticed that the "Games" button is listed prominently next to "Stars and Characters." No longer considered a passing trend online gaming is a billion dollar industry that has caught the eye of Disney. The company has done well targeting younger gamers and families through the Club Penguin online community but has found it a little harder to find a game that caters to the larger gaming public. Previous efforts to tie in characters and...

For the past three days, the story that's been dominating entertainment news is Rich Ross' removal as Chairman of Walt Disney Studios . Now most of these articles seem to lay the blame for Ross' exit on " John Carter " 's box office . And while it's true that this Andrew Stanton film did play a role in Rich being shown the door last week, that movie's lackluster ticket sales weren't quite as big a factor in this decision as you might think. Why For? Because Walt...

Arrrrgh you looking for something fun to do this Friday afternoon? Then why not head on over to +Sony at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. Where you can join in on a Google+ Hangout session, where Peter Lord -- the co-founder and creative director of Aardman Studio -- will be talking about @Sony Pictures' upcoming film " The Pirates! Band of Misfits ." Copyright Sony Pictures Animation, Inc. All rights reserved Now what's particularly cool about this Hangout event is that Lord (who is "Pirates...

Disney Interactive Media Group and game designer, master storyteller and huge Disney geek Warren Spector announced the sequel to last year's Wii game " Disney Epic Mickey ," with some changes that fans will love - or hate. The problems with the camera that plagued Epic Mickey will be a thing of the past, and Oswald will be a playable, speaking character. Traditionalists may argue that since Oswald never had a voice in his Disney shorts, he shouldn't talk now. However, the majority...

There are those who talk about the big planetary alignment that's supposed to occur at the end of 2012 and what that then means for the fate of mankind. But me? I'd prefer to talk about the planetary alignment that just happened this past weekend at Carnegie Hall . Seriously. Someone must have moved heaven and earth prior to Saturday's "Jim Henson's Musical World" concert . Because there onstage right alongside the New York Pops were ALL of the Muppets. To explain: Ever...