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Picture this: It's late June of 1995. And the folks in charge of Disney-MGM Studios are racking their brains, trying to come up with some sort of signature holiday event for that theme park. "The Magic Kingdom had Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Epcot had its Candlelight Processional...

Earlier this Fall, Disneyana fans could be heard all around the Web griping about the Company's plans for Walt Disney World 's 40 th anniversary. Or lack thereof. "I don't get it," (or words to that effect) was the constant refrain that you saw online. "Why isn't Disney...

TikiTerry writes in to say: I've really been enjoying all of these Disney World history stories that you've been sharing with JHM readers lately. So I was wondering if you could maybe talk about the Polynesian Resort 's wave machine. How long did it work? Where was it located? Why did Disney...

Twas the week before Thanksgiving and all through the house, Would-be Scrooges were starting to grouse. "What's with these ads that are on my TV Hyping Christmas crud that I'm s'posed to see? Am I really the only one here who remembers That this holiday isn't 'til the 25 th of...

Fluffy-Not-Fat sent me a new Why For question earlier this week, saying: As a longtime fan, it's great that you've begun writing theme park history stories again. Those stories were always my favorite part of your site. So now that I've kissed your butt a little, I was wondering if you'd...

And how was your weekend? Nancy and mine was going great there for a while. On Saturday, we were getting ready to celebrate her ... er ... 29 th - yeah, that's it - 29 th birthday when a freak October Nor'Easter came through and dropped two feet of snow on us. We did okay through most of Saturday...

It's once again Food & Wine time at the Walt Disney World Resort . Photo by Angela Ragno Now in its 16 th year, Epcot 's International Food & Wine Festival is in full swing. For the next five weeks, foodies will eagerly be eating their way around World Showcase, sampling cuisine from...

Since The Walt Disney Resort has long been associated with fairy tales, I'd like to borrow a turn-of-phrase from "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" to describe Saturday's 40 th anniversary celebration at the Magic Kingdom . It wasn't too long. It wasn't too short. It was just...

Brent SD writes in to ask about JHM's 40 th -anniversary-of- Walt-Disney-World coverage. Or lack thereof. I can't help but notice that while many of the other Disney news sites have been doing article after article this week about Disney World's 40 th birthday, JimHillMedia has been posting...

You wouldn't think that - given that Walt Disney World has been staging Halloween events at the Magic Kingdom for nearly 40 years now - that Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party would be still a work-in-progress. But given that Disney World's most popular theme park is right now in the middle...

So you're on the phone with your travel agent. And you're in the process of planning out your family's next Walt Disney World vacation. And because your kids really love to swim, you're then asking this agent about the various themed pools that can be found around the Resort. Which is...

And how was your weekend? Mine contrasted sharply with last weekend. Instead of being inside of the brightly-lit Anaheim Convention Center surrounded by thousands of Disney fans, I was sitting in the dark here at home with Nancy, Alice and the cats. What with all the wind & wet weather associated...

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...

Disneyland Park celebrated its 56 th anniversary of its opening yesterday. But for those who couldn't wait to get that party started, there was the Disneyana Fan Club 's annual convention . Photo by Paul Schnebelen Held just down the road from the Park at the Anaheim Crowne Plaza Resort in Garden...

Though Southern California is over 2500 miles away from the island of Hawai'I, those who dropped by the Westin Pasadena this past weekend got a sample of that Aloha spirit ... Photo by Noe Valladolid ... by attending a DVC presentation about Aulani, that soon-to-open Disney Resort & Spa which...

For most people, when you mention the month of July, they think of the Fourth & fireworks, family get-togethers. The chance to kick back and relax. Whereas for Mouse House enthusiasts, the fun actually starts after the Fourth. When hundreds of these folks hit the road for Garden Grove, CA. so that...

Let me guess. You're slightly bummed that you didn't get to see the Easter Bunny (as well as the lovely Mrs. Bunny) when they made their short, seasonal visit to the Magic Kingdom this past weekend. Photo by Todd Anderson. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Not to worry, though...

This JHM column is for all you Central Floridians out there. To be specific, those folks who live in and around the Orlando area. Copyright Visit Orlando. All rights reserved The upside of living here is that you've got world-class theme parks right at your front doorstep. Which means (if you so...

Care to guess which creatures are the most popular at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park? The answer may surprise you. It's not those real lions, elephants and giraffes that you can see while rolling across the faux-African savanna aboard Kilimanjaro Safaris. But - rather - those all-too-human...