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  • Blog Post: When it comes to D23's Fanniversary events, it's all about making those connections

    So what does it actually take for D23 to pull together those Fanniversary events that they've been presenting around the country for the past few weeks? According to Jeffrey Epstein, spokesman for the Official Disney Fan Club, it takes a solid six months of behind-the-scenes effort to produce each...
  • Blog Post: Disney Legend Alice Davis finally honored with her very own Window on Main Street

    So why exactly did so many reporters & photographers make a special trip out to Anaheim last Thursday? Was it because some star was making a special appearance at Disneyland Park ? Photo by Noe Valladolid Well, not a star per se. But -- rather seamstress to the stars, Disney Legend Alice Davis ....
  • Blog Post: "Be Our Guest" features an unvarnished take on Disney Company history

    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...
  • Blog Post: Are the Imagineers taking another shot at getting a shoot-the-chutes built at a Disney theme park?

    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...
  • Blog Post: The post-Christmas origin of character dining at Walt Disney World

    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...
  • Blog Post: "Jason's Disneyland Almanac" is a ridiculously detailed, highly entertaining & informative read

    In the Stadler / Hill household, it's kind of a tradition that - as Thanksgiving rolls around - we reach for the latest edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac and then find out what sort of winter we're in for up here in New Hampshire. But this year, given that we're still four weeks out...
  • Blog Post: How come Hong Kong Disneyland can have a frightening Halloween event but the Anaheim original can't?

    So how did Disney diehards react to the recent news that Walt Disney World would soon be getting a brand-new interactive experience, " Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom " ... Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved ... and Disneyland Park would soon be bumping out the borders of...
  • Blog Post: Disneyland Alumni Club presents “55 Years of Music Magic”

    You’re a Disney fan, right? So I’m guessing that I don’t really need to explain the significance of the upcoming July 17 th to you. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved Which brings me to my next question: Where are you planning on spending Disneyland ’s 55 th anniversary? Disneyland...
  • Blog Post: An Olympic-sized Why For

    First up, Davis P. writes to ask about JHM’s American International Toy Fair coverage this week : I thought that Jim Hill Media was a website that mostly covered Disney’s theme parks and animated films. What made you decide to go to New York and cover Toy Fair this year? Dear Davis P. Why did Nancy and...
  • Blog Post: D23 fine-tunes its selection of special events for 2010

    D23 is still a few weeks out from its really-for-real birthday (Just for the record, The Walt Disney Company launched its Official Community for Disney Fans back on March 10, 2009). But given that D23 just revealed that it will be holding first anniversary parties at Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom...
  • Blog Post: "Clown Prince of Disneyland" is a must-own ... If you can find a copy to purchase, that is

    For the better part of five years now, I have been waiting on “Wally Boag: Clown Prince of Disneyland” (August 2009, Disney Editions). Ever since I first learned that this project was in the works, I have been dying to get my hands on Gene Sands & Wally ’s book. So imagine my surprise last week when...
  • Blog Post: How "One Little Spark" nearly fried the Dreamfinder

    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...
  • Blog Post: M-I-C ... as in "I wish that this microphone would work properly"

    Now THAT'S Dedication... Shortly after Disneyland opened in 1955, someone found an unpaid bill in a desk drawer amounting to thousands of dollars. When Walt heard about it, he is supposed to have said, “Well, when you do big things, you make big mistakes.“ Here's another example of this phenomenon, from...
  • Blog Post: Wally Boag feted at Golden Horseshoe event

    It's a lonely business, being the devoted fan of a theme park show that closed 22 years ago. Or so I thought until last Saturday's Golden Horseshoe Revue Dinner Show and Celebration, presented by the grand folks of Ape Pen Publishing and The Magic Makers. The evening grew out of the friendship of Ape...