Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by discussing how the Anaheim version of the Avengers Campus is supposed to be opening at DCA on June 4th. They then discuss why the Imagineers opted to transform the Papeete Bay Verandah at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort into ‘Ohana. This episode's Show Notes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa starts off this week’s show by talking about how the “HarmonioUS” barges haven’t exactly improved the view WDW visitors have as they look out on World Showcase Lagoon. Jim Hill then completes his five-part history of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror This episode's show notes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about how the Disneyland Resort is actively getting ready to re-open its theme parks. They also talk about how facial recognition technology may play a role in the next generation of rides, shows & attractions that WDI is developing for Disney Parks. Show notes for this episode are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about Disneyland’s announced April 30th re-opening. Jim then continues his series on the development of the Tower of Terror attraction. Show notes for this episode are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As of today, this formerly-Bandcamp-Exclusive show can now be heard by everyone. Check out what the Imagineers were originally thinking of as they tried to create an Audio Animatronic extravaganza that could then be presented inside of Epcot’s United States pavilion. Cast Listing: Narrator … Barry Silverman Ben Franklin … David Chatel Young Ben Franklin … Peyton Clarkson Mary Twain … Jerry Powell Pilgrim Father / Town Crier … Dennis Gould Susan B. Anthony … Wilma Haupt Will Rogers … Aaron Adams ...
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by discussing the challenges the Disneyland Resort faces as it readies for re-opening. They then talk about why the Imagineers couldn’t decide where to build a Freefall-inspired attraction at Euro Disneyland. This episode's Show Notes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by sharing a survey that shows that the WDW Resort may be rethinking how it handles attraction photos. They then discuss how a thrill ride at Magic Mountain inspired the Imagineers to develop an ambitious addition for EDL’s Frontierland area. This episode's show notes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about when the Walt Disney College Program should resume operations. They also look back at when the Disney Cruise Line first began to expand its fleet. This episode's show notes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by discussing the new mobile checkout feature at Epcot’s Mouse Gear store. They then talk about how the “Voyage of the Little Mermaid” puppet-based show led to the Magic Kingdom’s “Legend of the Lion King.” This episode's show notes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about Epcot’s revamped & repositioned “Leave a Legacy” display. They then complete their look at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort This episode's shownotes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by answering listeners' questions. Then Jim continues his history of Disney’s Vero Beach Resort by talking about Fantasy Island, Frontier Village, and the Magic Kingdom Suites hotel. Show notes for this episode are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill are joined by Seth Kubersky, author of the “Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2021.” These three then discuss the latest theme park-related news coming out of Orlando, Anaheim & Osaka. Shownotes are here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by discussing the Disneyland Resort’s decision to cancel its annual passholder program. They then look back at when the Imagineers proposed building “Disney by the Sea” in Brevard County back in the early 1970s. This episode's shownotes are located here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about WDW’s decision to shut down the Magical Express as well as “Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.” Jim then reveals Disney’s long-range plans for Epcot’s “Person of the Century” poll Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about why WDW may be suggesting that Resort Guests use their own cars to get over to the theme parks. Then they look back on the origins of the “Voyage of the Little Mermaid” show Show notes are available here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about how parking the HarmonioUS barges out in the middle of World Showcase Lagoon is actually a return to the way Disneyland Park used to do things back in the 1960s & the 1970s. They then discuss the Company’s post-pandemic plans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about what sort of discounts the Walt Disney World Resort will be rolling out in 2021 in order to entice more people into traveling down to Orlando. Then Jim looks back at when a key member of the Fab Four stayed at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in December of 1974 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa starts off this week’s episode by talking about why WDW’s Coronado Springs Resort may have changed the name of its Pepper Market food court. Then Jim Hill talks about how Southern Californians seeming to lose interest in Disneyland’s “Bear Country” area led to the creation of “The Country Bear Christmas Special” Shownotes here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len talks about how the Spice Road Table restaurant at World Showcase’s Morocco pavilion may soon see a menu change. Then Jim Hill shares the tale of the Southern Californian family which provided Disneyland Park with its Christmas Trees for nearly two decades Shownotes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wondery’s newest podcast, Little Stories Everywhere, is the perfect immersive experience to share by the fireplace with loved ones this holiday season. Each episode will be the reading of a children’s classic - some of the most magical stories ever told, now reimagined with enchanting sound design for families to enjoy together or adults to enjoy on their own. Little Stories Everywhere is out now, premiering with A Merry Christmas, a collection of holiday tales by Louisa May Alcott that truly em...
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by describing WDW’s new character caravan, which is now making regular stops at several on-property hotels. They then look back at how Disneyland Entertainment director Tommy Walker made that theme park’s earlier holiday celebrations look bigger & grander than they actually were Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by looking back on the career of Joe Rohde, who recently announced that he will be retiring from Walt Disney Imagineering in January. Jim then concluded his series on the renaming / rebranding of Disney’s Dixie Landings Resort Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa starts off this week’s show by sharing a real Thanksgiving dinner conversation starter, the Cube Rule of Food. Jim Hill then continues his series about the development of the Port Orleans & Dixie Landings Resort for the WDW Resort Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about why WDW officials have decided to hold off opening “Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure” at Epcot ‘til the first quarter of 2021. They then share a recent survey that throws a spotlight on what the WDW Resort is considering offering to lure Guests back down to Central Florida once a coronavirus vaccine is readily available Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa shares news about how the Disney Cruise Line must first go through simulated cruises where the boats remain tied up to the dock before the CDC will then clear them for sailings. Then Jim Hill talks about how Dick Nunis once wanted to use the Empress Lilly as the jumping-off point for a Southern-themed expansion of the Walt Disney World Village at Lake Buena Vista Ep 295 Shownotes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa starts off this week’s show by sharing a survey Six Flags recently sent out, which shines a spotlight on the grim reality that the entire theme park industry is facing right now. Then Jim Hill looks back at the history of River Country, WDW’s first water park. Disney Dish Ep 294 shownotes: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa starts off this episode by talking about the problems he has with Governor Newsom’s guidelines for the re-opening of California’s theme parks. Jim Hill then looks back on why it took Epcot’s “Wonders of Life” 12 years to move from its initial design phase in 1977 to when this Future World pavilion officially opens its doors back in October of 1989. Shownotes: https://tinyurl.com/y4tuj9kp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about Walt Disney World’s Swan and Dolphin’s decision to switch over from WDW’s bus system to Mears. Then they welcome their special guest, Smithsonian museum specialist Bethanee Bemis, who talks about Disney theme parks and the American Experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa starts out this week’s show with an enthusiastic review of Foxx Nolte’s “Boundless Realm” book, which takes its readers behind-the-scenes at the Haunted Mansion. Then Jim Hill concludes his Disney Princesses in the Parks series by talking about how WDW’s New Fantasyland project changed course in mid-construction Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about the recent round of layoffs at Disney Parks & Resorts. Jim then explains how Tom Staggs swapping jobs with Jay Rasulo impacted WDI’s original expansion plans for Fantasyland at WDW’s Magic Kingdom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
