Browse By Tags

It's one of the hard realities of the theme park business. You may have this absolutely killer concept for a new attraction in your head. But when you factor in the size of the budget that you've been handed coupled with the amount of time that you have left to actually construct this ride, sometimes...

Did you need a distraction from all of the sad news coming out of Boston tonight? I know that I do. Which is why -- rather than watch that footage of the explosion at the marathon's line yet again -- I picked up a copy of Doug Lipp 's terrific tome, " Disney U: How Disney University develops...

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." This oft-quoted line from Robert Burns ' 1785 poem applies to an awful lot of aspects of modern day life. But none more so than the work that's recently been done in & around WDW 's Magic Kingdom Park . Take -- for example...

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...

One really has to tip their colorful, blinking mouse ears to the Disneyland Paris Creative Entertainment team. Between those two new scenes that were just added to the Disney Dreams! nighttime spectacular and that "Glow with the Show" technology which made its international debut this past...

Figment's Friend sent me a rather anxious e-mail last week. This JHM reader wanted to share a bit of news coming out of WDW's Magic Kingdom which had really upset him: Did you see what happened to that portrait of Tony Baxter which was hung in the new interactive queue of Big Thunder Mountain...

Chris sent me an e-mail earlier this week in regards to the "Unofficial Guide Disney Dish" podcast that I do with Len Testa , where he asked: "Where do you get all of the stories that you tell on these podcasts? I'm a big Disney history buff. But you always seem to have these behind...

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...

I'm really excited about this year's Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival . Normally it's just nice to get out and experience Spring as the frigid Central Florida weather starts to warm up and it is once again becomes possible to go outside after the horrifically cold 50 and 60...

Never mind March coming in like a lion. This month is really more a mouse, given all of the Disney-related events that are going to be happening all over the country in the coming week. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Like what? Well, for starters, today through Monday, March 11th...

To honest, there's wasn't a whole lot of really-for-real news that came out of today's Annual Meeting of Shareholders of The Walt Disney Company in Phoenix, AZ. Chairman and chief executive officer Robert A. Iger spoke with great enthusiasm about the slate of films the Studio would be releasing...

The Internet is really a wondrous place. Especially if you're a young person who's considering a career in animation. If you've ever considered becoming a character designer someday, you can always swing by Tom Bancroft 's Character Mentor Studio or Stephen Silver's blog and then...

Pam dropped me a note on Wednesday to ask: I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not Disney will start producing Minimus the flying horse from Sophia The First in a figure form for the public to be able to purchase? Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved You're talking -- of...

This past Saturday night, I got to do something very fun. As part of the press event for the kick-off of this year's Mardi Gras celebration at the Universal Orlando Resort ... Copyright 2013 Universal Orlando Resort. All rights reserved I got to go backstage at Universal Studios Florida to see the...

Discovery Babe wrote in this weekend to ask: In Friday's Tony Baxter story , you touched on the Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm . Since this is my favorite non-Disney theme park attraction, I was wondering if you had any information about what is currently being done to this flume...

sk anyone who's ever worked in themed entertainment about what the tougher job is: building a brand-new ride, show or attraction from the ground up OR finding a way to shoehorn a brand-new ride into a pre-existing show building. And to a man, they will tell you that the retrofit is always the tougher...

I know that it's usually not cool to peek at your Christmas presents. But given that Ephinany comes at the very tail end of the holiday season ... Well, I'm hoping that it'll be okay if I reveal what Disneyland Park has planned for this weekend's three day-long Three Kings' Day celebration...

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...

Shiver me timbers! The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow has set sail at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Batten down the hatches as the eight-minute immersive experience is a must-see for swashbuckler fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise , whether it...

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...