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This past Thursday, Six Flags Over Georgia had a genuinely festive feel. A Dixieland band played while specially invited guests enjoyed a picnic lunch inside of this closed-to-the-public theme park. “And what was the special occasion?,” you ask. Well, a quick look at the centerpieces on the picnic tables...

Six Flags Over Georgia fans dodged a bullet a few months back. A speeding bullet, to be exact. Copyright Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. All Rights Reserved Last year, Six Flags management gave some very serious thought to shutting down that theme park’s much-beloved Monster Plantation attraction. Worse...

I should have known something was up as soon as I entered the lobby of Disney’s Hotel New York . Which was filled – floor to ceiling – with brightly colored Mickey Mouse mylar balloons. Photo by Eric Craven And as I made my way through Disney Village , there were decorations and posters everywhere …...

"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...

What can one say about IAAPA 's Attractions Expo ? Let's start with Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi. Photo by Nancy Stadler The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions' annual conference & trade show is big. Scarily big. So big that it fills the entire North / South Building at the Orange County...

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...

What with Pleasure Island closing this weekend, I've been getting nostalgic for some of the other attractions that Central Florida lost over the years. With perhaps the most bizarre being Splendid China . I don't know how many of you ever got the chance to visit this 76-acre theme park during the 10...

How many of you remember "Jurassic Park," the movie ? Particularly that moment in this Steven Spielberg film where software engineer Dennis Nerdy (played with sleazy gusto by Wayne Knight ) is recruited to do some corporate espionage. What Biosyn (i.e. the archrival of InGen, the bioengineering company...

You hear that? All over Orlando, the people who work at your favorite theme parks are now heaving a sign of relief. The summer season -- with all its heat, crush & crowds -- is finally over. Which gives us all a bit more breathing room down here. And I mean that literally, folks. When you drop by...

This past Friday night, visitors to the Adventurers Club got to see a brand-new artifact added to the wall in the Main Salon : A video projection screen. Photo by Max Schilling Given that this piece of Pleasure Island is supposed to be a recreation of a gentlemen's club from the 1930s, one might wonder...

As far as Universal Studios Hollywood is considered, this was the Summer of the Simpsons. " The Simpsons Ride ," to be exact. Photo by Shelly Smith But now Autumn's on its way. Which typically means that this is the start of the slow season for Southern California's theme parks. A time when you push...

The Walt Disney World Resort has lots of hidden nooks & crannies. Places that are damn near impossible for members of the general public to visit. But among the toughest areas to access are WDW's corporate lounges. Unless you're an employee of one of the corporations that actually sponsors WDW's...

Judging by the long lines at " Toy Story Mania " as well as the brisk business that "Hey Howdy Hey!" & the gift shop across the way have been doing, it would appear that Pixar Place has already proven to be a very popular addition to Disney's Hollywood Studios . The only problem with the studio theme...

As a kid I'd tune in the Wonderful World of Color every Sunday night. Most of the time Walt would introduce some western or historic feature - or some story like "Melvin, the Manic Marmoset" - and I'd switch over to watch Ed Sullivan . He had ventriloquists ! On a good week, there'd be an animated feature...

Did you catch that story late last month about Shanghai Disneyland? Wen Wei Po , a Hong Kong-based newspaper, reported that " ... after 10 years of tough negotiations ..." the Walt Disney Company had finally cut a deal to build a theme park in China's business hub. What was fascinating about this particular...

What with the Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club closing back in February as well as the island's signature spotlights being sold off one month later, it's not as if the handwriting hasn't already been on the wall for WDW 's Pleasure Island . Earlier this month, another indication that this nighttime entertainment...

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...

Now that " Toy Story Mania " has finally officially opened on both coasts , Disney Parks & Resorts turns its attention to the next high profile project on the horizon. Which is that " American Idol Experience " attraction which is due to open at Disney's Hollywood Studios sometime in January of 2009...

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...

Do you remember that story that JHM ran back in January? You know, the one where we talked how -- in response to guest complaints about somewhat gruesome gags like "Please drag your wretched bodies to the dead center of the room" and "Please follow the blood red carpet into the Foyer" -- the Imagineers...