While its rival opens up yet another ho-hum thrill ride based on a monkey from the 1930s, Disney has revolutionized the theme park business with announcements for not one but two next-generation themed experiences, aimed squarely at the emerging Millenial audience. Dubbed a “Potter-killer” by industry pundits (a reference to Universal’s well-received Harry Potter lands), the […]
July 15, 2016 Follow @Parkeology on Twitter as we try to complete #WDW47
In just two weeks comes a theme park challenge of mythic proportions… The two halves of Team Parkeology will board airplanes from our respective corners of the country and fly halfway around the world, where we will be reunited at the Tokyo Disney Resort. And there — in the span of just four days!! — […]
Years ago, Disney embarked on a super secret project to re-invent the theme park experience. It came with an abbreviated nickname straight out of Silicon Valley. They called it NextGen. How totes adorbs of them. NextGen promised a turnstile-free park entrance, FastPasses without pesky paper slips, and a breezy vacation experience utterly devoid of hassle. […]
In the first century A.D., noted Greek philosopher and one-time Hunger Games architect Plutarch proposed a thought experiment called the Ship of Theseus. In this puzzle, the Athenians carefully preserved the favorite vessel of hilarious jungle skipper Theseus, setting it up in a permanent museum called One Greek’s Dream, where they charged admission to school […]
If you missed Ted’s cards from last week, click here! I hold in my hand the last five cards. Well, not the last last five. Ted will reveal those next week. But this is my last chance to talk about the super cool deck of vintage trading cards from the 80s, a deck that dared […]
If you’re just joining us, be sure to check out the previous week of trading card reveals! When it comes to the trading card set of the 50 Greatest Park Characters, the designers were careful to include not just attraction headliners, but also the sidekicks who always manage to steal the show. The five cards in this week’s pack […]
Last week, Ted unveiled 5 more vintage trading cards in this improbable but magnificent deck of the 50 Greatest Park Characters of all time, including the rare (and much-coveted) Mexican Aztec Dancer Girl. This week, I thought it would be fun to showcase cards for characters that originated in Walt’s own backyard. Many of these characters […]
With last Sunday’s premiere, the Disneyland 60th Anniversary TV special won the evening with a robust 1.8 Nielson rating, proving once again that nobody understands Nielson ratings. Ted and I live-tweeted the entire 2-hour broadcast because anniversary specials are rare. Through the first half of Disneyland’s history, there were four. Through the second half (i.e. my entire adult life), […]
