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Forget about "Grim Grinning Ghosts." Get ready for "Prim, we-don't-mean-to-offend-anyone Ghosts." That's the word coming out of Glendale these days. Reportedly in response to guest complaints about goofy but ghoulish lines like "Drag your wretched bodies to the dead center of the room," the Imagineers...

Last month, theme park fans the world over rejoiced at the news that the Walt Disney Company would be spending more than a billion dollars to redo DCA . With a large chunk of this cash being committed toward the retheming of the entrance portion of this troubled theme park . Which will soon be turned...

It's been a little over a week and I'm still trying to deal with reality. Sometimes, reality is hard to take. Although much has already been said and written , I feel there is still a little more to say about the loss of Disney Imagineer Bruce Gordon . It's difficult to believe that only two weeks ago...

It has not been a fun week for Disneyana fans who enjoy putting on the feed bag. First came word out of Anaheim that because some portly passengers have been causing "The Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed" (i.e. Disneyland 's " it's a small world " attraction) to regularly run aground, the Imagineers...

Bruce Gordon was this great big bear of a guy. Ask anyone who was ever in a meeting with Bruce when he was fighting for an idea that he believed in. They'll tell you that this man was tenacious. Whether it was getting Disneyland's first flume ride built and/or preventing that theme park's "Submarine...

Last week, Lauren S. sent me this e-mail: Dear Jim, At the beginning of September, I had a wonderful vacation, dining for free at the Pop Century Resort . However, something threw me - whatever happened to the plans for the other half of the property. Years ago, I remember reading through travel guides...

Given that the Disney theme parks are now home to a plethora of peaks (i.e. The Matterhorn , Space Mountain , Big Thunder Mountain , Splash Mountain , Mt. Mayday , Summit Plummit , Grizzly Peak , Mt. Prometheus and Forbidden Mountain ), it may seem somewhat bizarre to hear that there was actually a time...

Are you familiar with the old adage that "Good things come to those who wait"? Well, Disneyana fans have been waiting a long time for " Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park ." And a lot of folks are now wondering why it's taking so long for this Disney Editions...

Mike P. wrote in yesterday to say: I loved last week's "Why For " about all the pavilions and attractions that were planned for Epcot and Disney World but ultimately never built. But what about Disneyland ? Do you have any information about rides, shows and attractions that were proposed for the Disney...

Okay. Let's start your Monday morning off with a funny little Disney-related story from the September issue of " Star Wars Insider " magazine. Which alludes to a particularly bizarre moment during the production of " Episode IV - A New Hope ." It seems that -- with the hope that they might be able to...

First up, Michael R. writes in to ask: I was wondering if there was any specific reason why there has not been a release of the " Disney-MGM Studios " version of (the " Imagineering Field Guide ") series? They've released books for the other three parks and I understand now they're working on the CA...

Earlier this week, Jill T. wrote in to say: According to today's Los Angeles Times , the Walt Disney Company and SunCal have failed to reach a compromise on that big housing project. So now we're back to Disney pushing the Anaheim City Council to get this zoning issue put on the November ballot. What...

If you've been reading JHM for a while now, you already know that I'm a very big fan of Didier Ghez 's "Walt's People" books . So -- that said -- is it really all that big a surprise that I enjoyed reading " Volume 5 " of this ongoing series. Mind you, at 443 pages in length, this paperback is the heftiest...

Mindy T. writes in to say: I'm a big Beyoncé fan. So last week's story about how Disney was after her to star in the movie version of "Aida" really excited me. Is there any other new on this project? Dear Mindy T. Talk between Ms. Knowles and the Mouse are continuing. And though Beyoncé has yet to officially...

What can you say about the "Imagineering Field Guide" series? It started out strong with the " Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World " guide back in 2005 and then got better last year with the " Epcot at Walt Disney World " guide. And now? " The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt...

As you might expect, I got an awful lot of e-mail yesterday concerning that "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" project that Universal Studios just announced. That $500 million re-theming of the "Lost Continent" section of Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park . First up, Kurt G. wrote in to say...

Having gone for the gold with its " Pirates of the Caribbean " trilogy, is the Mouse now getting ready to go for the silver ? As in "Hi-yo, Silver ! " It certainly sounded that way late last week. As the Web (Keying off of a story that had originally been posted on Collider back on May 24th) was suddenly...

There is an old Zen Koan that goes something like this: If a Tree Falls in the Forest, and No One is Around to Hear It, Does It Make a Sound ? Last week, Walt Disney Imagineering experienced the corporate equivalent of that tree falling in the forest. In that last Tuesday, there was this extreme makeover...

By now, you've probably heard about that article that ran in yesterday's News-Leader . You know, the one where this Springfield, MO. -based newspaper talked about the rumor that's been racing around Newton County this past month. Which has the Walt Disney Company getting ready to build a $1.1 billion...

By now, you've probably heard that Nikki Finke has confirmed what I wrote back back on February 5th (Though -- to be fair here -- I guess I should acknowledge that it was actually Arthur Levine of About.com & Lance Hart of Screamscape who first reported this story). That Universal Studios has in...