Lost and Abandoned Disney Details

The Great Movie Ride’s LAST secret

This is the coolest part of the Great Movie Ride you have NEVER seen: We all know about Big Al’s bloody saddle but have you ever heard of the Great Movie Ride’s bloody shirt? Thanks to a kind reader and original cast member who helped open the Great Movie Ride in 1989 we have unearthed […]

How to Cope When Disney Closes Your Favorite Ride

The Universe of Energy closing date is almost upon us. Those clever vampires in Disney Merchandising are already selling t-shirts featuring the word “Extinct.” It gives me some ideas about how to monetize my own funeral. This is not the first vintage Disney ride to close. It’s not even the best. In the late 90s, […]

Monsters on Main Street: The Horrifying Masks of The House of Magic

Terror Lurked in the Magic Kingdom Fathers stroll down Main Street hand in hand with their daughters, mothers wrangle the brood keeping everyone on schedule. It’s opening time at The Magic Kingdom and nothing could be more charming or innocent. Yet once there was something much more sinister at play here. Not long ago The […]

Disney Doubles Down on Fading 70s Puppet Show

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 […]

Ship of Theseus Paradox Endangers Universal Studios

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 […]

50 Greatest Park Characters: The Oddballs

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 […]

Ranking the Disneyland Anniversary TV Specials

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), […]

50 Greatest Park Characters: Trading Card Commandos

In case you missed last week’s unveiling, here’s Ted’s set. When they set out to make a trading card deck of the 50 Greatest Park Characters, it was fairly obvious to fans who should be included. Ted landed the primo card on his first try. Mr. Numero Uno himself, Figment. And when you consider the ten […]