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January 2012

Universal Parks Join in Company’s 100th Anniversary Celebration

As a kid, my trips to Southern California always included quality time with family and almost always a trip to Disneyland. But I also looked forward to our visits to Universal Studios Hollywood. Something about the earnest way in which they presented their cheesy product attracted me. But there was also a tremendous collection of film and entertainment history there.

This year Universal is celebrating their 100th Anniversary. That’s a lot of history. Here’s how they plan to observe the centennial at their parks.

Universal’s Parks and Resorts will help highlight Universal’s 100th Anniversary campaign with centennial specific content and merchandise throughout both the Orlando and Hollywood locations. The Orlando resort will soon announce a specially themed entertainment experience that will celebrate Universal’s heritage. In Hollywood, the world-famous Studio Tour features expert guides that will take guests on a tour through 100 years of moviemaking history on the Universal Studios production backlot. Tours are conducted daily, visiting TV and movie sets ranging from the early Universal Studios monster film classics to current productions.

The full press release detailing all the celebrations across Universal, is below the jump:

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Disneyland Updates Main Street Soundtrack

If you visited Disneyland yesterday you probably sensed that something was different, but weren’t immediately sure what it was. Walt Disney knew that sound plays an important role in the total immersion experience that was his new invention – the theme park. He crafted specific… Read More »Disneyland Updates Main Street Soundtrack

Disney Fantasy ‘float out’ Ceremony marks near completion of 4th ship in fleet

In a ceremony very similar to last year’s Disney Dream ‘float out’ the 4th ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, the Disney Fantasy, left the dry dock at Meyer Werft shipyard yesterday to begin the next stage of its construction. The maiden voyage is… Read More »Disney Fantasy ‘float out’ Ceremony marks near completion of 4th ship in fleet

Passport to Disney World’s Future

At Disney’s Animal Kingdom today we spotted this nice looking jacket. The price was a little out of our range, but it looked warm and comfy. Flipping it over, we noticed a nice embossed looking logo on the back: Who can tell me what’s wrong… Read More »Passport to Disney World’s Future

Disney Studios Marketing Chief Sent Packing

Disney Studios marketing has been maligned by fans and insiders alike. Many place poor box office results for a number of films at its feet. This goes back more than a decade to films like Chicken Little and Meet The Robinsons. Disney’s animated films in… Read More »Disney Studios Marketing Chief Sent Packing

Test Track to get makeover, sponsor change

EPCOT’s popular Test Track attraction will be getting an updated theme to go with a new sponsor. Rather than General Motors sponsoring the ride, it will change to Chevrolet. Chevy is, of course, a GM brand, but the company wanted to focus the new experience on just one brand.

Plans call for closing the current GM Test Track in April 2012, with an anticipated opening of Test Track Presented by Chevrolet scheduled for fall 2012. A few months ago updated cars were spotted testing on the track, they’ve obviously been working on this for a while already.

With the credit crisis of 2007-08 sending GM into bankruptcy, there was a question if the 10 year #10 million sponsorship would continue. But Disney and GM worked out a series of arrangements that allowed them to keep their name on the ride until finances could be lined up to renew the arrangement.

The new theme reminds me a little of how the ‘Sum of all Thrills’ attraction works. But the execution will have to be different to keep the capacity of the attraction moving at a quick enough clip.

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Should Disney sell the Touchstone Label

In the early 1980’s the Walt Disney Studios found it could make money with PG movies like Never Cry Wolf, Condorman, and Tron. The only problem was the heat they were taking for tarnishing the ‘Disney’ name with the more adult fare. So in 1984… Read More »Should Disney sell the Touchstone Label

Disney Cruise Line Returning To Alaska

The fine folks on Disney Cruise Line are lining up fun adventures as they return to Alaska for a 2nd year. The primary port is Skagway, which features a population of 862, or about half the number of people arriving on the Disney cruise ship.… Read More »Disney Cruise Line Returning To Alaska