When Christopher Robin backed up that giant dump truck, cackled maniacally, and pulled the lever, he buried Atlantis forever beneath several metric tons of pliable playground flooring. Now youngsters crawl through Winnie the Pooh’s house and clamor over Piglet’s Crypt-o-Wheel of Doom, never realizing that just 20,000 leagues below the surface, guests once explored the […]
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Footprints in Cement
Disney’s Hollywood Studios likes to make a big deal out of the celebrity handprints around the Chinese Theater. And I’ve already called out the handprints of famous animators that were once easily accessible at the Animation Tour. But there are even more celebrity footprints over by Echo Lake, and most people just walk right over […]
Who Needs American Idol?
The original Disney MGM Studios had a location to showcase guests’ musical performance skills long before Ryan Seacrest showed up, and I’m not talking about SuperStar Television. It was a shop of sorts, very similar to those photo booths where they will green screen your head onto a movie poster. Only in this case, you […]
Muppet Lockers
The Stage 1 Company Store near the exit to MuppetVision is riddled with gags and in-jokes, just like the 3D theater. But oftentimes it’s easy to overlook some of the nice touches hidden in the clutter. For instance, as you enter through the door pictured on the left, you pass through what is ostensibly a […]
Where Can I Find the Jurassic Park Ride at Disney?
Guests often want to know where they can find Jurassic Park the Ride in a Disney theme park. And they’re often surprised when they can’t. Universal Studios owns Jurassic Park the Ride. Their version in Universal Studios Hollywood even took potshots at Disney in the form of disembodied Mickey Mouse ears floating ominously in the […]
Does the Original Star Tours Break the Star Wars Canon Timeline?
Star Tours is one of those rare Disney attractions based on a property owned by someone else. George Lucas officially sanctioned the ride — and with this level of detail, there’s no doubt Lucasfilm opened the archives to the Imagineers for reference. They scrutinized costumes, painstakingly recreated props, and hired original actors like Anthony Daniels […]
Hands-On Animation
Almost everyone who passes through the gates at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is familiar with the celebrity hands-in-cement that grace the courtyard of the Chinese Theater, right at the entrance to the Great Movie Ride. But most guests don’t know that there is another courtyard honoring some of the greatest actors in movie history. This courtyard […]
