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When "Star Tours" originally opened at Disneyland Park back in January of 1987, one of the things that most excited theme park fans about this motion-based simulator is that its ride film could supposedly easily be changed out. Which meant that - once the cabin of the StarSpeeder 3000 had been...

For the better part of a year now, theme park fans have been closely watching as all sorts of steel has been rising up in the northwestern corner of Disneyland Park . Photo by Jim Hill Mind you, it's common knowledge that this construction was being done for Star Wars Land, which is supposed to open...

Can you believe it? This November (November 19th, to be precise) marks the 20th anniversary of the release of " Toy Story ." Copyright Disney / Pixar. All rights reserved D23 -- the Official Disney Fan Club -- wanted to do something special to commemorate this occasion. So they arranged for...

Given that Anna & Elsa moved from their super-popular Epcot meet-n-greet over to the Magic Kingdom 's Princess Fairytale Hall back on Easter Sunday 2014 ... I thought that, just ahead of Easter 2015, it might now be time to give JHM readers the " Frozen " forecast. Give you an update...

25 years ago when "The Little Mermaid" first arrived in theaters, The Walt Disney Company really wasn't ready to capitalize on how successful that hand-drawn animated feature would become. And I mean REALLY not ready. If you dropped by your local Disney Store during the 1989 holiday season...

With apologies to Mel Brooks , while it may be good to be the king, it's great to be the princess. Particularly if you're " Sofia the First ," Disney's little girl princess. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Take -- for example -- "Princesses to the Rescue...

Given that we're right in the middle of an early cold spell up here in New Hampshire, I'm thinking that now would be a good time to bring up how the folks who run Disney's Hollywood Studios ' aren't quite ready to "Let (It) Go" of that theme park's " Frozen Summer...

You've no doubt already heard about all of the box office records that " Frozen " has broken over the past eight months (With the most recent one being the 16 weeks that this Walt Disney Animation Studios production spent as the No. 1 film in Japan. "Frozen" sold over $240 million...

All day long, I've been getting e-mails from JHM readers about "Frozen Summer Fun: Live at Disney's Hollywood Studios," which kicks off on July 5th and then runs straight through September 1st. What people most seem to want to know is this really Disney's response to The Wizarding...

SuperGrover22 wrote in yesterday with a Why For question: Copyright Ballantine Books. All rights reserved I just finished reading your review of Brian Jay Jones ' " Jim Henson: The Biography ." Can you please explain why Michael Eisner seemed so eager to get his hands on the Sesame Street...

It's been a busy couple of days, Disney news-wise. With all sorts of official announcements being made and weird rumors bubbling up. So as a special Columbus Day treat, I thought that it might be fun to dig down into this pile and then offer some additional information about some of the stories that...

By now, you've no doubt heard about what happened at Disney's Hollywood Studios this past Friday night. How a New Year's Eve-sized crowd turned out for this " Limited Time Magic " event. Which led to some pretty interesting challenges for the very unlucky WDW cast members who were...

Never mind March coming in like a lion. This month is really more a mouse, given all of the Disney-related events that are going to be happening all over the country in the coming week. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Like what? Well, for starters, today through Monday, March 11th...

So how is Limited Time Magic being received by visitors to Walt Disney World ? Well, if the long lines in Town Square yesterday afternoon are any indication, this special series of entertainment events & experiences are being embraced in a big way by WDW Guests. People stood in the hot sun at Magic...

First up, Brandon S. writes in to say: Hi Jim, I love listening to the Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish podcasts with you and Len Testa . Even when you guys are touring the resorts and not just the Theme Parks its really cool to here all the stories about how things came to be. One question I always...

So when exactly did Bob Iger let George Lucas now that he was interested in acquiring Lucasfilm Ltd. ? It wasn't " ... a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." But -- rather -- last May in Orlando, when both Iger & Lucas were at Disney's Hollywood Studios to take part in an elaborate...

The moon was shining bright this past Saturday night ... Photo by Jim Hill ... as more than 10,000 runners lined up at the toll plaza for Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park ... Photo by Jim Hill ... eager to take part in the inaugural run of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler race. Mind...

Brian K. dropped me a line on September 3rd to say: Hey Jim! I can't get enough of your site and I literally feel like I "grew up" reading your insight into the parks and attractions, so thanks! I feel like I already know the answer to this, but do you think we might ever see a major investment...

Do you remember how -- back in the Summer of 2000, just after " Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire " was published stateside -- some people began grumbling about the direction J.K. Rowling had taken with her best-selling series of books? Among the complaints that you typically heard back then...

It's official. Teen crime fighter Kim Possible is being replaced by a platypus. In a recent interview with Travel Weekly editor-in-chief Arnie Weissmann, Chairman of Disney Parks & Resorts Tom Staggs was asked about the rumors which have been circulating lately about Disney's Kim Possible...