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So what was the very best part of the original D23 EXPO ? To be honest, that depended on what aspect of the Walt Disney Company most excites you. For fans of Disney's live-action movies, it would be hard to top that moment from the Studio Showcase when the wreckage of a sailing ship slowly rotated...

Deerborn Duck wrote in to ask me about Walt Disney World's real estate development arm: What you tell me about the Buena Vista Land Company? That name keeps coming up in regards to that Flamingo Crossing complex which Disney is supposed to be building out along Western Way near the State Road 429...

It's kind of the quintessential Disney theme park joke. The brain-dead WDW visitor who walks up to the Cast Member in the Magic Kingdom and then asks "What time is the 3 o'clock parade?" Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Well, starting on July 18 th , this will...

There's this story which dates back to the Fall of 1984. About how Michael Eisner - right after he'd been installed as the new head of Walt Disney Productions - brought his son, Breck along when Eisner did his very first walk-through of WED. And based on this then-14-year-old boy's enthusiastic...

Look. I know. Hanukkah ended on the 9th. And Christmas and Kwanzaa are just around the corner. So the last thing that you probably want to hear about at this point is another holiday. But given that a lot of you like spending New Year's Eve at Walt Disney World but don't necessarily enjoy the...

As you walk through Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom these days and encounter all of those construction fences for the Fantasyland expansion project it's kind of hard to imagine what this part of the theme park will look like in just a few years. But me? I can't help but look at the attractions...

There have been lots of looky-loos lately over that Fantasyland Forest construction fence. Which has resulted in an equally large number of theories floating around online about what's currently going on with this $300 million project. Take - for example - all that soil that's been piled up towards...

Okay. I know. The news coming out of Orlando these days all seems to be about a certain boy wizard (As well it should be. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter really is spectacular. The next time you’re in O-Town, you should definitely make a point of swinging by Islands of Adventure and checking this...

Whether it’s with relatively big projects (EX: That $300-million-plus expansion of Fantasyland that’s currently underway at the Magic Kingdom) or with somewhat smaller changes (EX: The Imagineers pulling “Bo Peep’s Baaa-loon Pop” out of DHS’s Toy Story Mania! attraction so that they could then replace...

By now, you’ve no doubt seen those online videos that made many a theme park fan go gaga. Where a few lucky Guests – as they were making a stop at Mickey’s House at Disneyland earlier this week – suddenly found themselves face-to-face with a NextGen walkaround character. A Mickey Mouse who not only addressed...

It was kind of interesting hearing the reaction yesterday when Meg Crofton , president of The Walt Disney World Resort , revealed that the “ Main Street Electrical Parade ” would be returning to the Magic Kingdom this summer. When Ms. Crofton initially made this announcement at WDW’s “What’s New, What...

Did you hear about the play test that WDI ran at The Magic Kingdom last month? Where the Imagineers used Guests who were waiting in line for a character meet-n-greet right outside of Pooh’s Playful Spot to try out a new entertainment-based queuing system? Though the Imagineers are being pretty close...

D23 is still a few weeks out from its really-for-real birthday (Just for the record, The Walt Disney Company launched its Official Community for Disney Fans back on March 10, 2009). But given that D23 just revealed that it will be holding first anniversary parties at Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom...

First, let’s start with the news that everyone has been waiting to hear: Florida’s freak cold snap appears to be over. After this past weekend, where the temperatures got so low that a few spots in Central Florida had scattered snow flurries, we’ll be back in the 60’s later today and the mid-to-high...

Denny P. dropped me a line on Saturday to ask: Did you see Jason Garcia’s story in the Sentinel yesterday about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter ? As a Disney fan, this sounds like complete hype to me. But what do you think? Is this Islands of Adventure addition really going to be a game changer for...

With just hours to spare ‘til 2009 gives way to 2010, I thought that it might be interesting to review the year from the Orlando Fun Tickets point-of-view. 2009 got off to a pretty fast start with tens of thousands of runners pouring into the area January 8 – 11th to take part in the Walt Disney World...

As you walk around Walt Disney World this time of year, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by all the seasonal sights, sounds and colors. Unless you happen to be David R. Hartmann. As Art Director for Walt Disney Entertainment Design, Hartmann actually has the opposite problem. Whenever he walks around...

I don’t know how many of you got to see Jason Garcia ’s great story about the Space Mountain redo at WDW ’s Magic Kingdom (It was featured on the Orlando Sentinel ’s new Daily Disney blog . Which is well worth adding to your Favorites list, by the way). Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved Anywho …...

It always looks so easy in those Disney films. Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother just waves her magic wand and a pumpkin immediately becomes this beautiful coach. But when it comes to removing the hundreds of jack-o-lanterns that are used to decorate the Magic Kingdom for “Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween...

Boys and girls of every age, Wouldn’t you like to see something strange … Like – say – Zero flying over Sleeping Beauty Castle . Photo by Paul Hiffmeyer. Copyright 2009 Disney. All Rights Reserved Or – better yet -- a 20-foot tall magical orb that rises 45 feet in the air behind the Castle. Which then...