Browse by Tags

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...

It's one of the hard realities of the theme park business. You may have this absolutely killer concept for a new attraction in your head. But when you factor in the size of the budget that you've been handed coupled with the amount of time that you have left to actually construct this ride, sometimes...

Did you need a distraction from all of the sad news coming out of Boston tonight? I know that I do. Which is why -- rather than watch that footage of the explosion at the marathon's line yet again -- I picked up a copy of Doug Lipp 's terrific tome, " Disney U: How Disney University develops...

Figment's Friend sent me a rather anxious e-mail last week. This JHM reader wanted to share a bit of news coming out of WDW's Magic Kingdom which had really upset him: Did you see what happened to that portrait of Tony Baxter which was hung in the new interactive queue of Big Thunder Mountain...

The Internet is really a wondrous place. Especially if you're a young person who's considering a career in animation. If you've ever considered becoming a character designer someday, you can always swing by Tom Bancroft 's Character Mentor Studio or Stephen Silver's blog and then...

Paul G writes in to ask: Why on earth are so many Disney fan websites so negative? There are a good number of them that I don't even look at anymore because they spend so much time complaining about every last little thing. They are so negative! (thank you Jim for being one of the few who, while...

Kristin T. sent me an e-mail earlier this week offering her thoughts about Disney Parks ' new Limited Time Magic promotion. To be specific ... ... I can't help but think that this money could be better spent in other ways. Wouldn't it have made more sense in the long run if the Imagineers...

Francis T. sent me this e-mail yesterday: I know that you mostly write about Disney. But my eight year old has recently discovered the Dreamworks animation movies and is now completely obsessed with Shrek . We're headed to Orlando next month. So I was wondering if you had any recommendations about...

Over the past week or so, I've gotten a number of e-mails from JHM readers about this year's Attractions Expo . People wanting to know more about what it was like to wander the floor of the Orange County Convention Center after the International Association of Amusement Park & Attractions...

Earlier this month when I was down at Universal Studios Florida for the " Transformers The Ride - 3D " press event, a longtime Universal cast member pulled me aside and suggested that -- as part of that trip -- I make an effort to swing by that theme park's International Food & Film...

They say that a man's home is his castle. Well, tonight, my castle is under siege. The wind field associated with Hurricane Sandy has already made its way up to New Hampshire, sending wind gusts of 50 - 55 MPH whistling through the trees. Which means that Nancy and I have already experienced a number...

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...

Chris B. wrote in on September 10th to say Hi Mr. Hill, Great website and so appreciate how you share your Disney knowledge. With the opening of the New Fantasyland Disney has installed a statue for Beauty and the Beast's Gaston. Disney villains have typically only been out and about for the Halloween...

Last Monday afternoon, I was at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum and overheard a pretty funny exchange between two of the docents who'd been assigned to work the " D23 presents Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives " exhibit. Photo by Alice Hill It seems that one of these...

I know, I know. A lot of you have been patiently waiting to hear about who won JHM's most recent trivia contest. And I apologize for the delay. But I have been traveling a lot over the past month or so. And between covering the opening of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, "Brave"...

Mark Hickson writes: Thanks Jim for the great article. I have shared it with my readers via facebook. Please stay on top of the NextGen story for all of us! Mahalo, Mark Hickson Will do. In fact, let me share something that a certain Godfather fan pass was nice enough to pass along to me. Which is the...

Greetings from the woods of Northern Georgia. Nancy and I are still down in this neck-of-the-woods. Her Dad's funeral was on Monday, so we're still in the process of dealing with a lot of family obligations. And given that my laptop went belly-up on Super Bowl Sunday ... Well, filing new stories...

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...