The Hall of Presidents at WDW's Magic Kingdom is renown for a lot of reasons: Its earnest, respectful and almost painfully balanced look back at our nation's history. Not to mention being a technological marvel that - thanks to the magic of Audio Animatronics - manages to create the illusion that all of this country's Commander-in-Chiefs have somehow gathered together onstage at one point in time. Where they then all interact with one another with great dignity & restraint. But you...

Is the world really ready for Lauren Graham to go from being a "Gilmore Girl" to a "Gilmore Ghoul?" Well, we'll have an answer to that question later this year when "Vampirina" premieres on Disney Channel , Disney Junior and the new Disney NOW app . This new animated series (which is based on " Vampirina Ballerina ," that popular children's book series from Disney Publishing) chronicles the adventures of a young vampire girl who struggles to fit in...

So if you had wanted to see the Original Mouseketeers in person back in their heyday (1955 - 1958), what were your chances if you lived outside of Southern California? Slim & none. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved And why was that exactly? To be blunt, "The Mickey Mouse Club" didn't shoot in front of a live audience. More to the point, Cubby & Co. were just too busy rehearsing & then shooting this TV show to make all that many personal appearances when...

" Cars 3 " got off to a solid start this past weekend, racking up over $53 million in ticket sales during its first three days in domestic release. Copyright Disney Pixar. All rights reserved And given that this Brian Fee film currently has a 66% freshness rating over at Rotten Tomatoes (which is a significant step up from the 39% freshness rating that " Cars 2 " received back in 2011. More to the point, it's within spitting distance of the 74% freshness rating that the original...

In a summer that's already jammed packed with reboots (i.e., Paramount's already beached movie version of "Baywatch," Universal Pictures' rapidly unraveling "Mummy," as well as Sony's still-eagerly-anticipated "Spider-Man: Homecoming"), how can Disney XD make its "DuckTales" reboot stand out from the crowd? By staging a programming event. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Mind you, given that the Disney Channel already had...

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 & Patty Peraza are here. For those of you who don't know: Mike is an award-winning designer with over 35 years of experience creating magic for the Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Television...

Some people travel halfway 'around the planet so that they can then experience the excitement of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona . If you're more of a Slow Living enthusiast (as I am), then perhaps you should amble to Brattleboro, VT . Where - over the first weekend in June - you can then join a herd of cow enthusiasts at the annual Strolling of the Heifers . Now in its 16 th year, this three-day long event typically gets underway on Friday night in June with a combination block party...

As Walt Disney World gets ready to show off its latest addition - " Pandora - The World of Avatar ," that new 12-acre "land" at Disney's Animal Kingdom (which opens to the public on May 27th) - to the world press, those close to the Mouse House also want to clear up some confusion surrounding one of this Resort's oldest attractions. And that's The Hall of Presidents . This patriot pageant (which has been entertaining visitors to the Magic Kingdom since that theme park...

It's sometimes been said that a person can't see the forest for the trees. Or the forest THROUGH the trees. But as Larry Giles - Busch Gardens' vice president of Engineering - looked out on the lush forest that still makes up much of the 383-acre site where this theme park was built back in the mid-1970s, Larry knew what he wanted to see traveling through those trees. And that was Williamsburg's very first-ever wooden roller coaster. Mind you, given that Busch Gardens Williamsburg...

According to the folks at Phrase Finder , when one is said to be " ... putting on the dog, " that then means that they are " ... dressing stylishly and flashily." Copyright King Features Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved Well, Betty Boop certainly got to put on the dog earlier this year. Thanks to those two new dresses that Zac Posen designed for this classic cartoon character. Each of which were colored " Betty Boop Red ," that bold new hue Pantone just created to...

The original version of Star Tours (which - because the initial iteration of this thrill ride opened at Disneyland Park back on January 9, 1987 - is celebrating its 30 th anniversary this year) was many things: Copyright Disney / Lucasfilm. All rights reserved A ground-breaking theme park attraction. A skillful mix of immersive storytelling & (for that time, anyway) cutting-edge technology. Such a densely-packed piece of entertainment that - no matter how many times you'd previously boarded...

This past weekend, thousands of " Cars " fans made their way to Sylvester Baxter Riverfront Park in Somerville, MA. Eager to get a peek at Pixar Animation Studios ' upcoming release as the "Road to the Races" tour made its one & only pit stop in the New England area. And it wasn't just getting the chance to have their picture taken with a life-size look-alike of Lighting McQueen that brought out the crowds to Assembly Row. People also wanted to check the two new characters...

As Eden Espinosa recalls, it was early 2015 when Disney Television Animation initially reached out. Asking this Broadway star if she'd be interested in voicing a character for a new series that the Mouse was maybe going to produce. A show that - at that time, anyway - had a deliberately vague title: "Project T." "So they sent me the audition material," this 39 year-old performer recalled during a recent phone interview. "And as I read the breakdown on the character they...

The creative legacies of Mary Blair & Bill Peet extend far beyond the time that these two spent at the Mouse House. And that is largely because – in addition to all the classic animated films & shorts that these Disney Legends contributed to – Mary & Bill also worked on children’s books. In Blair’s case … After Mary left Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1953 following the completion of production of “ Peter Pan ,” Simon & Shuster put her...

Visit any retailer this week and you'll discover the remnants of Easter. Half-priced Peeps and the like. But holidays that are already in the rear mirror don't interest Russ Knibbs. As the Vice President of Food & Beverage at Knott's Berry Farm , he's always more concerned with occasions that are still months away. Take - for example - how America's first theme park plans on celebrating Christmas in 2017. "We're already talking about Knott's Merry Farm , which...

Ask baby boomers about Certs and their immediate response will be (thanks to having watched 'way too much television commercials in their youth) that " ... it's two (click) two (click) two mints in one." So why mention this breath mint (No, it's a candy mint) at the very start of an article about " Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon " ? Because this recent addition to Universal Studios Florida is kind of the Certs of attractions. In that it's not just...

It's that moment in " Moana " where most audience members go from passively viewing this motion picture to being swept up in the magic & the wonder of this Walt Disney Animation Studios production. Which sequence am I talking about? It's right after the toddler version of this film's title character saves a baby sea turtle from some scavenging sea birds. Whereupon the ocean (who's a living, sentient being in this Ron Clements / John Musker movie) decides to reward Baby...

"Where do you get your ideas?" That's a question that folks who work in the Entertainment industry often get asked. In the case of " Andi Mack ," Terri Minsky traces the inspiration for this new Disney Channel series back to an article she once read about a certain Academy Award-winner. (L to R) "Andi Mack" creator Terri Minsky with Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who plays the title character in this new Disney Channel series. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights...

Given that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade - thanks to its perpetual coating of ice & snow - already sort of looks like a Christmas card ... Copyright Universal Orlando Resort. All rights reserved ... is it any wonder that visitors to Universal's Islands of Adventure have (ever since Hogsmeade threw open its doors to Muggles back in June of 2010) been longing to visit this immersive environment during the holiday season? Because - as any fan of J.K. Rowling's books and...

There's always a "How'd they do that?" moment in a Disney stage production . In "Beauty and the Beast," it was when the performer playing the Beast first began spinning like a propeller and then transformed into a handsome prince right in front of the audience. For "Mary Poppins," it was when that musical's practically perfect title character first flew out over the orchestra section and then - umbrella & carpet bag in hand -- ascended towards the New...

Trust the process. Kelly Asbury doesn't remember who exactly it was that first shared this mantra of feature animation production with him ("It might have been my dear departed friend, the great Joe Ranft ," Asbury stated during a recent phone interview). But given all of the Academy Award-winning films that he's had a hand in developing over the past 30+ years (i.e., " The Little Mermaid ," " Beauty & the Beast ," " Toy Story ," " Shrek "...

Though Andreas Deja may not be working for Walt Disney Animation Studios right now, don't make the mistake of thinking that this master animator is retired. "That's why I react funny when people ask me 'So how's retired life treating you?,'" Andrea revealed during a recent phone interview. "I'm like 'Are you kidding me?' These days, I'm actually busier than I was during my last few years at Disney. I'm not sitting at home watching 'Lucy'...

Ever since that "It's Coming Home" ad first began airing on television earlier this year ... ... Disney fans have been flocking to the Happiest Place on Earth to check out the Main Street Electrical Parade . Which returned to Disneyland Park back on January 20 th to begin a limited-time engagement. In fact, so many people have poured into this theme park, eager to once again experience this " ... spectacular-festival-pageant-of-nighttime-magic-and-imagination-in-thousands-of-sparking...

WonderCon has wandered around quite a bit over the past few years. For nearly a quarter-of-a-century (1987 – 2011, to be exact), this annual event – which was originally called the Wonderful World of Comics Convention – was presented in and around the Bay Area. But as WonderCon grew in popularity, it also eventually outgrew its original home at the Oakland Convention Center . Which is why – in 2003 – it moved across the Bay to the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Come...

Times certainly have changed in Toontown. 20 years ago, this was a particularly competitive & cutthroat corner of Hollywood. Take - for example - the extraordinary lengths that Disney went to back in November of 1997 in order to maintain its dominance in feature animation. To deliberately undermine the November 21 st release of "Anastasia" (which was Fox Animation Studios' first foray into features), the Mouse launched a multi-pronged attack. The first thing Disney did was to send...