Last week we embarked on a different trip through the parks: The Opening Day Tour. We started with the opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but today, our time machine is rotating backwards to a magical land of mullets and bangs. Get ready to visit all that remains of the Disney MGM Studios Opening Day Attractions. The […]
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Sunset Ranch Market Ruins Unearthed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Parkeology was always intended to be a place to talk about the truly hidden aspects of Walt Disney World. The ruins of theme park history lay scattered throughout the property. I would spend hours wandering past shuttered buildings, old props, and the lost vestiges of long-gone storytelling civilizations, reminiscing about the past and tracking down […]
Advance Screening of My Magic Plus
A few weeks back I posted some screens that had appeared in the Expedition Everest queue. A reader comment subsequently blew my mind with the information that not only is Wilby Daniels a Dean Jones character, but every single name on all the different posters seemed to be a different Dean Jones character from a […]
“Singin’ in the Rain” is Disney’s Favorite Non-Disney Song
Singin’ in the Rain returned to theaters tonight in one of those Fathom events that you sometimes see commercials for at movie theaters. You know these things. Pay inflated prices to watch a simulcast rock concert from Berlin, or gasp in horror as Andrew Lloyd Webber desperately tries to recapture the magic of his younger […]
This Stunningly Boring Office Facade is a Theming Masterpiece
As a long-time park fan, it’s always fun for me when first-timers get hit over the head with a classic bit of Disney magic. Some people truly have no idea just how great the parks are — until they round the corner and see a boring office facade. My all-time favorite bit of boring office […]
Here There Be Monsters: Visiting the Last Unexplored Corner of Hollywood Studios
This series was almost over before it even got off the ground. Last week I made a commitment to visit a different Disney World park each week and seek out some random place which I had never before set foot in. I started in Magic Kingdom, took a tour of the Speedway Grandstand, threw up […]
Indiana Jones’ Whip and How the Great Movie Ride Mishandles a Classic Movie Prop
It is hard to be a bigger Indiana Jones geek than me. I’m not sure it’s possible. Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all time favorite movie. Unless I’m in an Empire Strikes Back mood. But no really, it’s Raiders. Today, at least. As a true Indiana Jones fan, I possess secret knowledge that […]
Gangster Rap
There are certain things I should know by now. Hollywood Studios is, what, 22 years old now? You’d think I have a good understanding of how some of these things work. But sometimes stuff slips by me. Simple stuff. Last Friday, I just noticed something for the first time, and if it weren’t for the […]
The Costume Store Revisited
Just a quick update to settle the debate about what The Costume Shop actually was. I got a note the other day from Ryan, who runs the fantastic Main Street Gazette site. Here’s some scans he provided of the MGM guidebook for this time period: As you can see, the Costume Shop was essentially Villains […]