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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...

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...

It was supposed to be Disneyland 's first thrill ride: Monstro the Whale ... Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Which - in much the same way that Dumbo the Flying Elephant ... Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved ... was just a Disneyified version of that amusement...

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...

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...

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 …...

Throughout the country, people are looking forward to Labor Day. Trying to fit in the very last few moments of summer, including one last barbecue, one last dip in the pool, and those final few moments of joy, before the summer season disappears and the Fall grind of work and school arrive. But over...

"Tis the Season to be Jolly ... " Well, normally it would be. But given what's been going on with the economy this year, for a lot of folks holiday time 2008 is shaping up to be "Tis the Season to be Stingy ..." So with so many people cutting back on their holiday spending, why should you spring for...

Danni T writes in to say: You've been posting an awful lot of Disney World stories lately. Isn't it time that you wrote something about Disneyland again? Maybe do another one of those stories where you talk about rides, shows or attractions that never got built? Ask and ye shall receive. The history...

Like most old guys, I tend to get my brain stuck in a certain time frame. So I didn't immediately recognize the man sitting in the limo. For some odd reason, I expected to see the guy I remembered. The slender, dark haired young man with the horn rimmed glasses. However, this older gentleman didn't exactly...

Hey, gang Jim Hill here. My apologies for JHM going dark for three days last week. But between my Mom going in for gall bladder surgery on Monday and my Dad winding up in the emergency room with heart palpitations on Friday (Not to mention that brownout in New Jersey as well as the 60 MPH windstorm in...

In God's Waiting Room (AKA Florida), you're bound to run into a few blue hairs over the course of your day. Though -- that said -- one wonders what the AARP would make of the bunch pictured below. Photo by Nancy Stadler Believe it or not, the multiple Marges that you see above aren't actors. They were...

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...

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...

" Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End " is many things. The highly anticipated conclusion to Disney's "Pirates" trilogy. One of the highest grossing films of the year (Earning over 3/4rs of a billion dollars worldwide in the past three weeks). Not to mention being a merchandising bonanza for the...

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...

It's one thing for Disney Studio executives to decide to base a motion picture on the " Pirates of the Caribbean " theme park ride. It's quite another to take that bare-bones idea and then turn it something truly special. A series of films that people the world over could then enthusiastically embrace...

Kelly T. wrote me yesterday to say: You didn't forget about that Matt McConaughey story that you started last week , did you? At this point, JHM readers have been waiting for almost a week for you to finally finish that story. Please don't leave us hanging ! Dear Kelly -- Sorry about that. Why don't...

Look, if you're a regular reader of JHM, I'm just going to assume that you already know what this is a picture of. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved Yep, that's Johnny Depp. Making his memorable entrance as Captain Jack Sparrow in the very first film of Disney's " Pirates of the...