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Blog Post:
Why For haven't the Imagineers built more rides, shows and attractions around the Disney Villains?
Jim Hill
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...
on
16 Sep 2012
Blog Post:
Why For did Storybook Circus wind up replacing the Pixie Hollow portion on WDW's Fantasyland expansion project?
Jim Hill
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...
on
31 May 2012
Blog Post:
"Be Our Guest" features an unvarnished take on Disney Company history
Jim Hill
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...
on
26 Jan 2012
Blog Post:
Updated edition of "Building a Dream" covers even more of Disney's world
Jim Hill
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....
on
10 Jan 2012
Blog Post:
The Easter Egg hidden in Disney "Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa" is finally revealed
Jim Hill
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...
on
15 Dec 2011
Blog Post:
"Festival of the Lion King" show at Disney's Animal Kingdom proves that recycling can be fun
Leslie Navarro
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...
on
10 Feb 2011
Blog Post:
Disney's Night Kingdom lives to see another day (sort of) with DAK's Wild Africa Trek
Jim Hill
Do you remember that niche park which the Imagineers toyed with building back in 2008? You know, that project which went by a variety of names among them Disney's Night Kingdom & Disney's Jungle Trek )? Which then would have given WDW Guests the opportunity to have all sorts of hands-on experiences...
on
18 Oct 2010
Blog Post:
Mickey always plans a few moves ahead when it comes to Walt Disney World
Jim Hill
There have been lots of looky-loos lately over that Fantasyland Forest construction fence. Which has resulted in an equally large number of theories floating around online about what's currently going on with this $300 million project. Take - for example - all that soil that's been piled up towards...
on
23 Aug 2010
Blog Post:
Imagineering Field Guide goes in for a close-up on Disney's Hollywood Studios
Jim Hill
It's the Disney's Hollywood Studios icon that makes fan boys foam at the mouth. That 122-foot-tall Sorcerer Mickey Hat which stands of Hollywood Boulevard, blocking the view of the Chinese Theater. So if this icon is so controversial, why then did Alex Wright opt to put the Sorcerer Mickey Hat...
on
11 Aug 2010
Blog Post:
How a Toon Elevator helped Mickey Mouse learn how to talk
Jim Hill
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...
on
7 May 2010
Blog Post:
Mickey & Minnie say "Farewell" to Toontown Fair, "Hello" to the Town Square Exhibition Hall
Jim Hill
What with all of the excitement associated with the Fantasy Forest project , Disneyana fans seem to have overlooked one important aspect of this Magic Kingdom expansion. As in: Given that Mickey's Toontown Fair is going to be flattened to make way for new Dumbo Circus & Disney Fairies -themed areas...
on
29 Sep 2009
Blog Post:
Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready for WDW's monstrous new coaster
Jim Hill
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...
on
21 Jul 2008
Blog Post:
Monday Mouse Watch : Has WDI solved all of "Toy Story Mania" 's problems? Not Yeti
Jim Hill
By now, you've probably heard about the Mr. Potato Head that's been installed in the queue area of " Toy Story Mania ." How this 5 foot, 2 inch AA figure (Which reportedly cost a million dollars to build) will actually address individual quests as they stand there, waiting in the attraction's queue area...
on
27 Apr 2008
Blog Post:
Monday Mouse Watch : It's lights out for DAK's "Rivers of Light" parade, while Beastly Kingdomme makes a character-based comeback
Jim Hill
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 ...
on
23 Mar 2008
Blog Post:
Get ready for Central Florida's coming coaster war
Jim Hill
As you enter SeaWorld Orlando , it's really hard to miss the thing. Photo by Robert Bish That enormous construction wall that's been erected around the front of this theme park. Photo by Robert Bish Not to mention the rumble of heavy equipment, as that behind-the-scenes construction team clears brush...
on
5 Mar 2008
Blog Post:
Does WDI plan on gagging our next Commander-in-Chief as part of the 2009 redo of WDW's "Hall of Presidents" ?
Jim Hill
While some of us are obsessing about the impact that today's primaries may have on the upcoming presidential race ... The Imagineers are already looking ahead. Nine months ahead, to be exact. To that period immediately after the U.S. has selected its next Commander-in-Chief. Which means that it will...
on
3 Mar 2008
Blog Post:
Monday Mouse Watch: Let the West Side Waltz begin
Jim Hill
An item posted this past Friday on Screamscape about how the Cheesecake Factory will soon be pulling out of DisneyQuest got tongues wagging around the Web. As Disneyana fans began wondering if this intriguing new tidbit meant that WDW's indoor interactive theme park -- long rumored to be on the ropes...
on
24 Feb 2008
Blog Post:
Did Disney World visitors "Myst" out on an amazing new interactive attraction?
Jim Hill
In Las Vegas parlance, they're known as whales. Those really big spenders who want to do more than just stand in a line, doing what typical tourists do at Walt Disney World. So -- with the hope that this project might make WDW more whale-friendly -- back in the late 1990s, the Imagineers began meeting...
on
24 May 2004