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Given that April 1st is typically the day when a number of Disney news sites post these elaborate prank stories where they then try & convince a few poor April Fools that their obviously bogus article is legit, I thought that JHM should go the other way today. In that I'm going to post a story...

First up, Brandon S. writes in to say: Hi Jim, I love listening to the Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish podcasts with you and Len Testa . Even when you guys are touring the resorts and not just the Theme Parks its really cool to here all the stories about how things came to be. One question I always...

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...

Chris B. wrote in on September 10th to say Hi Mr. Hill, Great website and so appreciate how you share your Disney knowledge. With the opening of the New Fantasyland Disney has installed a statue for Beauty and the Beast's Gaston. Disney villains have typically only been out and about for the Halloween...

Pirate Pete wrote in this weekend to say: Have you been following what's been going on with the Luigi's Flying Tires ride at DCA 's Cars Land ? Why exactly did they remove the balls from that attraction? Was it a safety issue? Photo by Paul Hiffmeyer. Copyright Disneyland. All rights reserved...

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...

PixiePal 225 recently wrote into say: I've been following the Fantasyland expansion project at WDW's Magic Kingdom for a couple of years now. And while I love the level of design and attention to detail that I've been seeing in the completed portions of Storybook Circus, as a Tinkerbell fan...

I have to admit that It's been kind of amusing to watch the reaction (both here and elsewhere around the Web) that Tuesday's "What's really behind the sudden change in Disney Parks & Resorts' facial hair policy" story has been getting. With all sorts of would-be Disney scholars...

Wow. Has it really been 15+ years since Beth Dunlop wrote " Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture " ? Obviously Disney's world has gotten a whole lot bigger since 1996. Which is why I think it's terrific that Disney Editions recently decided to revisit Dunlop's book....

It's one of those must-do aspects of a Walt Disney World vacation. Especially if you've got young kids. Character dining . That pricey breakfast, lunch or dinner which is periodically interrupted as Disney characters come by your table, pose for pictures and sign autographs. Copyright Disney...

This week's first Why For question comes from Buddy W. Who asks about a change that was made to one of Disney's Animal Kingdom 's opening day attractions: It seems like "Countdown to Extinction" was tamed down when they changed it to " DINOSAUR ." Besides the movie coming...

Here's a fun factoid for all of you Michael Jackson fans out there: Following the success of "Captain EO," Michael Jackson and the Imagineers actually spent about six months in the late 1980s developing a follow-up attraction. One that would have reimagined the King of Pop as a three-armed...

Picture this: It's the Fall of 1990. And after a highly successful summer (with attendance levels at the Happiest Place on Earth reaching record highs thanks to this theme park's 35 th anniversary celebration as well as the popularity of the Party Gras Parade ), Disneyland management is now facing...

Earlier this week, Steve B. wrote in to ask: Dear Jim, When the Disney-MGM Studios theme park opened, it was promoted as a working studio. Both live action and animation were being produced there. There was discussion in the news about the high costs in California driving production out of that state...

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...

As part of this week's hit-and-run trip to Southern California, I made a special trip to the Disneyland Hotel yesterday. Just so I could then check out that replica of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which had recently been installed in the Frontier tower lobby. Photo by Jim Hill When you're...

Picture this: It's August of 1994. And things are not looking good for the Disney's America project. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved What had once been envisioned as a $558 million regional theme park (which was deliberately designed to appeal to the 19 million tourists...

The redo of Disney California Adventure Park is really coming together nicely. As you can see from these shots that Noe took yesterday, its Pan-Pacific-Auditorium-inspired entrance is getting closer & closer to completion. Photo by Noe Valladolid How close? A quick peek over that Disney-characters...

The Disneyland Resort 's Soundsational Summer media event continued on Friday morning with the opening ceremony for Star Tours - The Adventures Continue . TV crews from around the country were out in front of this recently-refurbished Tomorrowland attraction doing live remotes. And to give these...

I got an e-mail asking me what I thought of that concept painting of the Shanghai Disneyland Resort which was shown at The Walt Disney Company's 2011 Investor's Conference yesterday. Concept art for the Shanghai Disneyland Resort. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved To be honest...