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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...

January used to be the start of the slow season at the stateside Disney Parks. How so? So slow that - immediately after New Year's Day -- Disneyland Park wouldn't even open on Mondays & Tuesdays. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Which -- as far as the maintenance crew...

Fluffy-Not-Fat sent me a new Why For question earlier this week, saying: As a longtime fan, it's great that you've begun writing theme park history stories again. Those stories were always my favorite part of your site. So now that I've kissed your butt a little, I was wondering if you'd...

Whether it’s with relatively big projects (EX: That $300-million-plus expansion of Fantasyland that’s currently underway at the Magic Kingdom) or with somewhat smaller changes (EX: The Imagineers pulling “Bo Peep’s Baaa-loon Pop” out of DHS’s Toy Story Mania! attraction so that they could then replace...

Maybe you’ve heard about this coupon that Cast Members have been handing out at WDW ’s Magic Kingdom ? The one that gets Guests 20% off on all food that they purchase at Columbia Harbour House, Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, Pinocchio Village Haus and Tomorrowland Terrace...

By now, you’ve probably heard about the freakishly cold weather that the Sunshine State experienced back in January. Where temperatures actually dipped down into the 20s in the Central Florida area. Well, it wasn’t just the state’s fruit & vegetable crop that got whomped by these...

With just hours to spare ‘til 2009 gives way to 2010, I thought that it might be interesting to review the year from the Orlando Fun Tickets point-of-view. 2009 got off to a pretty fast start with tens of thousands of runners pouring into the area January 8 – 11th to take part in the Walt Disney World...

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 …...

Throughout the country, people are looking forward to Labor Day. Trying to fit in the very last few moments of summer, including one last barbecue, one last dip in the pool, and those final few moments of joy, before the summer season disappears and the Fall grind of work and school arrive. But over...

Say what you will about the newest “ American Idol .” But Kris Allen is a man of his word. Just 8 days after he stood on stage at LA’s Nokia Theater and said “ I’m Going to Disney World! ” … Photo by Paul Hiffmeyer … Here Kris was. Surrounded by cheering fans as his motorcade rolled through Disney’s...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Disney's Hollywood Studios has its Rock 'n' Roller Coaster . SeaWorld has its Shamu Rocks show. And sometime next year, Universal Studios Florida guests will be able to experience the rush of riding on the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit . But an entire theme park dedicated to rock 'n' roll ? Is the world...

Remember those proposed Liberty Square bridge repairs that I wrote about last month? Well, Magic Kingdom management has finally decided to go ahead with this construction project. Which is why they filed the necessary permits last Tuesday. "So what happens now?," you ask. "Given the huge number of people...

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 ...

Today's lesson: Sometimes our Disney fan obsessions do pay off. When EPCOT Center opened in 1982, Steve Hansen was already an accomplished puppeteer and performer, working as the PuppetMan in World Showcase. Someone as talented & versatile as Steve was bound to go far in the Walt Disney world. In...

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...