Browse by Tags

• 1950
• 1960s
• 1967
• 1971
• 1974
• 1976
• 2008
• 2009
• April
• Atlantic
• attraction
• boat ride
• bookings
• buccaneer
• buccaneers
• buzzard
• carousel
• Cars 2: World Grand Prix
• cast member
• cast members
• Central Florida
• December
• Disney
• Disney Parks & Resorts
• Disney World
• Disney's Contemporary Resort
• Disney's Hollywood Studios
• Disney's Polynesian Resort
• DTD
• economic downturn
• enclosure
• Epcot
• Executive Chef
• Fantasmic
• FastPass
• February
• Festival of the Lion King
• finale
• finalist
• finalists
• fireworks
• fireworks display
• fireworks extravaganza
• Florida's First Polar Bear Club Plunge
• Food & Beverage
• Food Service
• fundraiser
• fundraising event
• Future Attraction
• Future Attractions
• Garden Grill
• Gaylord Palms
• Gaylord Palms Resort
• Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center
• gingerbread
• gingerbread carousel
• goldfish
• guaranteed reservation
• guest
• guests
• hair
• high profile project
• High School Musical 2: School's Out!
• Hispaniola
• holiday sale
• holidays
• Hollywood Boulevard
• honeymoon
• honeymoon cottage
• honeymoon cottages
• hopefuls
• hot cocoa
• hotel
• hotels
• ice sculptures
• ICE!
• Imagineer
• Imagineering
• Imagineers
• ineligible
• initial screening
• interactive
• interactive entertainment
• interactive gaming
• Jeff Lange
• JeffLangeDVD
• ocean
• Orlando
• Seven Seas Lagoon
• show
• theme park
• theme park guest
• tourist
• Walt Disney World
• Walt Disney World Resort
• WDI
• WDW
• WDW executives
• WDW Food Services
• Why For

• What gloom & doom? It's still "Happy Poly Days" over at Disney's Polynesian Resort

  Tired of all the bad news coming out of Orlando these days? Jim Hill uses Jeff Lange's photographs as an excuse to write about WDW's most popular hotel Read More... Posted Friday, December 05, 2008 12:00 AM | 5 Comments Filed under: Disney, resorts, Downtown Disney, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Seven Seas Lagoon, Central Florida, WDW, Jeff Lange, 1971, hotel, resort, tourists, 2008, Disney World, The Walt Disney World Resort, October, guest, guests, tourist , hotels, Lake Buena Vista , occupancy rate , January, pool, JeffLangeDVD, gingerbread , occupancy rates, retail entertainment complex, ocean, dog, Walt Disney World Resort, wave machine, Santa Paws, DTD, dogs, Disney's Beach Club Resort, carousel, gingerbread carousel, merry go round, merry-go-round

• "When You Wish Upon a Wishbone" and other Turkey-related tales

  In honor of Thanksgiving, Jim Hill offers up a brief selection of tips that will hopefully help make the long holiday weekend far more enjoyable for you, your friends and your family Read More... Posted Thursday, November 27, 2008 12:00 AM | 2 Comments Filed under: Disney, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Disney Store, coffee, Central Florida, WDW, 2008, The Walt Disney World Resort, Thanksgiving, New England, fundraiser, December , January, WDW Food Services, Black Friday, Thanksgiving sale, ocean, turkeys, Walt Disney World Resort, Thanksgiving Day, turkey, Lenny DeGeorge, Executive Chef, roast turkey, Cars 2: World Grand Prix, holidays, tryptophan, holiday sale, Orlando area, Polar Bear Club, Polar Bear Club Plunge, Florida's First Polar Bear Club Plunge, New Englanders, seasonal fundraiser, Atlantic, Gaylord Palms, Gaylord Palms Resort, Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, ICE!, bathing suit, ice sculptures, swimwear, fundraising event, hot cocoa, certificate, official member, Speedo, webcam, seasonal exhibition, waiver, waiver of liability, Chef, cocoa, midnight

• WDW officials knew that '09 was going to be a real challenge

  Jim Hill talks about the cost containment procedures that Mouse House managers put in place over the past nine months, as they prepared for the current economic downturn Read More... Posted Friday, October 10, 2008 12:00 AM | 8 Comments Filed under: Disney, Walt Disney World, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, The Magic Kingdom, character dining, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Disney Parks & Resorts, WDW, promotional campaign, 2008, 2009, Disney World, The Walt Disney World Resort, September, Pleasure Island, Rock n Roll Beach Club, reservations , February , WDW officials , Liberty Tree Tavern , January, WDW executives, PI, What Will You Celebrate, Wall Street, economic downturn, Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, bookings, Fantasmic, Garden Grill

• Just how spectacular was WDW's Bicentennial spectacular?

  In this week's Why For column, Jim Hill looks back to July of 1976. To be specific, all of the advance preparation that WDW officials put into that resort's Bicentennial fireworks display Read More... Posted Friday, July 18, 2008 12:00 AM | 6 Comments Filed under: Disney, theme park, Why For, parade, fireworks, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Epcot, promotion, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Disney's Contemporary Resort, World Showcase, World Showcase Lagoon, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Seven Seas Lagoon, WDW, cast members, Jeff Lange, cast member, hotel, 1974, Crowne Plaza, 1976, theme park guest, Disney World, The Walt Disney World Resort, show, staging, WDWCelebrations , fireworks extravaganza , parades, fireworks display, water , lagoon show, water pageant, lagoon , sound check, soft opening, January, audience, water skiing, JeffLangeDVD, visually stunning

• Monday Mouse Watch : Inside "The American Idol Experience"

  Jim Hill shares what he's heard about this new DHS attraction. In particular how WDW Guests will make their way through the "American Idol" audition process Read More... Posted Monday, June 23, 2008 12:00 AM | 25 Comments Filed under: Disney, theme park, attraction, Walt Disney World, Disney's Hollywood Studios, FastPass, Disney Parks & Resorts, WDI, WDW, Operations, theme park guest, 2009, The Walt Disney World Resort, TV show, show, backstage, theme park attraction, WDW guests, December , tourist , high profile project, capacity , once-in-a-lifetime , Festival of the Lion King, performers, Kinks, January, singing, The American Idol Experience, DHS, Disney Guests, interactive entertainment , American Idol , closed-door sessions , Superstar Television, Doug Live ! , crowd-pleaser, onstage, audition, auditions, audition process , recording booth , solo, video screen , initial screening , pre-recorded instrumental track, a cappella, pre-recorded music, live instruments, perform live , talent pool , finalists, preliminary shows , finale, goldfish, judges, Actors' Equity, Simon Cowell, finalist, Dream Ticket , guaranteed reservation, regional audition , Club Penguin, jump the line, hopefuls, round of auditions, age limit , ineligible, Disney Legal , Peter Barsocchini, production company , operational issues, behind-the-scenes , vocal coach , hair , make-up , make the cut , Ops staff , simulcast, Jumbotron, Hollywood Boulevard, High School Musical 2: School's Out! , pep rally , Block Party Bash, working the bugs out , talent-free singer , WDW executives

• Will pirates soon be returning to Treasure ... er ... Discovery Island?

  In this week's Why For, Jim Hill talks about the history of Treasure / Discovery Island. More importantly, how WDW Entertainment and Food & Beverage are allegedly thinking of using the "Pirates of the Caribbean" characters to help get this place re-opened Read More... Posted Friday, June 06, 2008 12:00 AM | 14 Comments Filed under: Disney, Why For, Imagineering, ABC, Johnny Depp, WED, Walt Disney World, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Tom Sawyer Island, Lost, The Walt Disney Company, Disney's Polynesian Resort, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Bay Lake, WDW Entertainment, WDI, WDW, Imagineer, cast members, cast member, Leota Toombs, 1974, 1998, 1976, 2008, Disney World, The Walt Disney World Resort, marshmallows, Food Service, Blackbeard's Ghost , 1967, Peter Ustinov , Captain Jack Sparrow, Food & Beverage , Imagineers, April , rum , Pirates of the Caribbean films, 1960s, Disney officials , Pirates of the Caribbean franchise , January, interactive, Capt. Jack Sparrow, Raz Island, boat ride , treasure hunt , marshmallow, marshmallow roast , Treasure Island, Discovery Island, wilderness preserve , Blackbeard's Island , wizards of WED , 1950, Robert Louis Stevenson , Ben Gunn's Cave, Future Attraction, Future Attractions , The Blockhouse , Long John Silver, buccaneer, buccaneers, Spy Glass Hill , Wreck of the Hispaniola, Hispaniola, bird sanctuary , skeleton, aviary, enclosure, buzzard, buzzards , vulture, vultures, treasure map , operational hours , Yo-Ho-Ho , dough-dough-dough, snack bar, honeymoon, honeymoon cottage, honeymoon cottages , interactive gaming , Myst, pirate-themed adventure , O-Pin House, WDW Food Services, corporate groups, rum drinks , Johnny Depp lookalike