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  • Blog Post: Over 70,000 New Yorkers visited Disney Theatrical's "Inside the Lion King" exhibit during its 16 day-long run

    Kristin T. sent me an e-mail earlier this week offering her thoughts about Disney Parks ' new Limited Time Magic promotion. To be specific ... ... I can't help but think that this money could be better spent in other ways. Wouldn't it have made more sense in the long run if the Imagineers...
  • Blog Post: Why For aren't more Disney World attractions cloned for Disneyland?

    Maddy Mouse wrote in to say: I have kind of a weird question for you to answer. I notice that Walt Disney World has lots of rides, shows and attractions that the Imagineers originally designed for Disneyland . But when it comes to rides, shows and attractions that the Imagineers originally designed for...
  • Blog Post: Disney World unveils its more boy-friendly plans for the Fantasyland expansion project

    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...
  • Blog Post: "Family Fun Weekends" give Southern Californians an extra incentive to revisit the Disneyland Resort

    There's kind of a perception out there that - once the holiday season wraps up in Southern California - that the Disneyland Resort isn't much as fun to visit as it used to be back in October , November and December. Which is kind of understandable. Right now, anyway. Given that Disney California...
  • Blog Post: Little kids will have big fun at LEGOLAND California's Brick-or-Treat Party Nights

    Okay. Let's say that you're a parent living in Southern California. And you want to give your family a special treat-or-treat this Halloween season. Copyright 2010 Universal Studios. All rights reserved The only problem is ... Your kids are kind of on the young side. 4 to 8 years-old. Which means...
  • Blog Post: Getting A-head at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

    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...
  • Blog Post: “Freedomland” looks back at “The Disneyland of the East”

    “Mommy and Daddy, take my hand, Take me out to Freedomland ” I know, I know. That radio jingle may not be familiar to all you Disneyland and Walt Disney World fans. But for kids who grew up in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in the early 1960s, that was the sweet siren song of “The Disneyland of...
  • Blog Post: How a Toon Elevator helped Mickey Mouse learn how to talk

    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...
  • Blog Post: Would Disneyland’s Dixieland really have made a difference?

    Orange County Mountie writes in to say: I have just been loving these stories that you have been doing about Disneyland ’s expansion plans from the 1970s and 1980s. All of those rides, shows and attractions that the Imagineers wanted to build back then but never got around to. In your last article, you...
  • Blog Post: The Disneyland that You Almost Got: Big Town USA

    MonkFan wrote in to say: I really enjoyed that “ TRON attraction that Disneyland almost got ” you wrote earlier this month. So I was wondering if you have any more stories about rides & attractions that almost got built at the Parks that you could share. Maybe something about my favorite part of...
  • Blog Post: What happens when things actually do sort-of, kind-of go horribly wrong at a Disney theme park

    At the D23 EXPO back in September, I noted – with some amusement – that the new attractions that are now in the works for Hong Kong Disneyland follow the tried-and-true WDI formula. In that the critical event, the thing that sets everything in motion (Be it Albert the monkey opening an enchanted music...
  • Blog Post: Disney Legend Harriet Burns: A model (maker) of a mother

    If you ask Pam Burns-Clair to describe her mother, she’ll tell you that Disney Legend Harriet Burns was not your typical 1950s housewife. “When I was a girl, the shows on TV were Ozzie & Harriet , Leave It to Beaver and I Love Lucy . These women were very much stay-at-home moms with the chocolate...
  • Blog Post: Blaine Gibson remembers Harriet Burns, the First Lady of Imagineering

    Last year, after Disney Legend Harriet Burns passed away, Pam Burns-Clair decided to put together a book about her mother. Mind you, what Ms. Burns-Clair had in mind wasn't a traditional biography. But -- rather -- a gathering of memories. Which is why -- in partnership with noted Disney historian Don...
  • Blog Post: NFFC Disney World Holiday Extravaganza places the emphasis on in-park fun

    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 …...
  • Blog Post: The Disneyland expansion plan that never happened

    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...
  • Blog Post: Remembering Harriet Burns (1928 - 2008)

    This past Friday, the Disney community lost one of its celebrities. Harriet Burns passed on at the age of 79. She was the first woman hired by WED as an artist. She was born in San Antonio and remained in Texas for most of her young life, venturing only to Dallas to pursue a college degree in art in...
  • Blog Post: Mist Direction or How DAK Operations just slipped Joe Rohde a Mickey

    Folks who visited Disney's Animal Kingdom late last month got something of a treat. In that -- for a while there, anyway -- most of " Expedition Everest " 's effects were actually working. The scenic mist that's supposed to drift off of Forbidden Mountain top actually did that. The fog bank that your...
  • Blog Post: Monday Mouse Watch : It's lights out for DAK's "Rivers of Light" parade, while Beastly Kingdomme makes a character-based comeback

    For Disney's Animal Kingdom fans ... It's one of those bad news / good news kind of day. The bad news is ... Plans for DAK's long-in-development nighttime parade -- "Rivers of Lights" -- have been tabled. Not because Animal Kingdom management lost confidence in Steve Davison's original concept. But ...
  • Blog Post: Disney testing new ways to slow down FastPass counterfeiters

    The next time you use as a FastPass at a Disney theme park, pay close attention to what the cast member does once you walk up to that FastPass Return entrance. After you hand over your ticket, do they quickly run their finger along the top of that FastPass before then allowing you to enter that ride...
  • Blog Post: Monday Mouse Watch: Is there really such a thing as putting too much Walt into a Disney theme park?

    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...
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