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Greetings from the Holiday Inn Fairborn. Photo by Jim Hill I'm here in Fairborn, Ohio for Dayton Disneyana . Which is this terrific weekend-long event that's hosted by the "Plane Crazy" chapter of the Disneyana Fan Club. This year's event is particularly exciting, given that Mike...

When Universal Studios Florida first opened its doors in June of 1990, the way they wowed theme park goers was with an animatronic E.T. Who -- thanks to the 5800 names this mechanical alien had in his data base -- could greet most people by name. Not to mention that 39 foot-tall animatronic King Kong...

I want you to take a close look at the photo below. These are three young men in their late teens / early twenties. Do you notice anything different about them? Photo by Jim Hill Each of them is carrying a wand box. When I snapped this photo of these guys on Sunday, February 1st, they were hurrying through...

With everyone else looking forward to tomorrow's grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley , it might seem kind of strange that Tom Williams -- the Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts -- is using this exact same moment to look backwards. "But you have...

So how do you know Jim Dale ? To be honest, it kind of depends on which decade you grew up in. If you were in the UK back in the 1950s, maybe you were lucky enough to catch Dale's stage debut where -- at the tender age of 17 & a 1/2 -- he became the youngest professional comic to work the English...

Let's cut to the chase here: " Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts " (i.e. the feature attraction for Diagon Alley , that new Harry Potter-themed land which will be opening at Universal Studios Florida later this summer) isn't just a thrill ride. It's really " Harry...

By now, you've probably already heard that Universal Studios Hollywood 's version of " Despicable Me Minion Mayhem " opened on Friday. Copyright 2014 Universal Studios. All rights reserved And as you might expect, there was the usual hoopla ... Gru is joined onstage by Miranda Cosgrove...

At this point, people who come to the Universal Orlando Resort kind of expect to encounter some Harry Potter-related lines. Yesterday afternoon, the line to get into the Harry Potter Expo actually started down by Universal Studios' Classic Monsters Cafe ... But yesterday, the Guests weren't lining...

Ever since The Wizarding World of Harry Potter first opened at Universal's Islands of Adventure back in June of 2010, thousands of people have entered Hogsmeade and -- after spotting that stationary version of the Hogwarts Express (which was parked at the entrance of this theme park land as a photo...

Between that basilisk in the basement, those pesky mountain trolls who wander in through open doors, not to mention the occasional dragon which slips its chain and then starts ripping up the roof of this famed castle, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has obviously previously had some problems...

Just yesterday, Universal Orlando served up its five-millionth glass of Butterbeer. Which is quite an achievement. Given that -- prior to the June 2010 opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure -- this beverage only existed between the pages of J.K. Rowling...

"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...

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...

January used to be the start of the slow season at the stateside Disney Parks. How so? So slow that - immediately after New Year's Day -- Disneyland Park wouldn't even open on Mondays & Tuesdays. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Which -- as far as the maintenance crew...

Upstage: (verb) To divert attention or praise from; force out of the spotlight This wasn't how The Walt Disney Company envisioned 2012 starting out. After weeks of broadly hinting that the Mouse had something big in the works for Leap Year, Disney's PR department thought that Twitter & Facebook...

It's time to say "Good-bye" to " ... the mistake on the lake." Copyright Universal Orlando. All rights reserved That's what the skippers who worked on "Jaws" used to affectionately call this Universal Studios Florida attraction. Which will be closing later today...

All over the US today, there are muddled Muggles wandering about. Devoted Harry Potter fans who just couldn't wait to see " Deathly Hallows - Part 2 ." Which is why - rather than opting to catch the very first show of this new Warners Bros. Pictures release on Friday morning - they decided...

The conventional wisdom in Hollywood these days is that " Winnie the Pooh " is going to have a tough time of it this summer. Given that this Walt Disney Animation Studios production is being released to theaters on July 15 th , the exact same day that " Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...

It is the film that - when Andrew Mooney of Disney Consumer Products revealed that this project was in the works back in June of 2009 at the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas - made a lot of people go "Huh?" By that I mean: A hand-drawn, feature-length Winnie the Pooh . Which was something...

All around the world tonight, as children lay nestled, all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums dance in their heads ... Out in the living room, their parents will be quietly cursing as they attempt to assemble some overly complicated Christmas gift. If it's any consolation, while that...