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John Frost

7 Walt Disney World Upgrades I would like to see.

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There’s a lot of talk about a major upgrade coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom is getting a whole land based on James Cameron’s Avatar. Both big projects that will help Disney stay relevant for another generation. But there are some smaller projects Disney could implement on a shorter timescale that would also have a big Impact.

1. Night time parade at the Magic Kingdom – With “Festival of Fantasy,” the Magic Kingdom finally has a modern day parade, now it’s time to re-light the night. It’s time to ditch the 70s era tech of the Electrical Parade and paint the street and sky with a parade as-yet unseen in the states. There are a couple candidates out there in Asian parks, but I’d also be happy to see something original.

2. Rivers of America – First, Disney needs to bring back more boats to the river, something like a steamboat from “The Princess and the Frog” would do nicely. Then they need to upgrade existing show scenes and add more to make a cohesive story. Ideally, the River would transform at night into a dinner or dessert cruise with a Jazz Band aboard the new ship.

3. Conservation station/ Rafiki’s Planet Watch – Update the animal care message, include more success stories (Disney has a ton of them), remove train and add more up close animal encounters with new-to-the-park animals. I suggest animals from Polynesia / Australia to capitalize on upcoming movies and Finding Nemo.Read More »7 Walt Disney World Upgrades I would like to see.

Magic Kingdom Merchandise Line

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Sometimes the merchandise Disney creates is a home run and it flies off the shelf as fast as Disney can stock it and sometimes it just fails to move. Take a look at this recently released collection of Magic Kingdom souvenirs and tell me which category you think it belongs in.

Head below the jump for my thoughts and a closer look at some of the souvenirs.

Read More »Magic Kingdom Merchandise Line

Big Hero 6 helps Disney reach major box office milestone

2014 has been a good year at the box office for Disney. With the help of Marvel’s “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the retold fairytale “Maleficent,” and now “Big Hero 6,” the company powered past $4 billion in total box office… Read More »Big Hero 6 helps Disney reach major box office milestone

Explaining the Math in Pixar’s Computer Modeling

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It’s a bit awkward to think about when you’re in the theater, but today’s computer animated movies are not just works of art, but they’re millions of mathematical calculations as well.

Without the math that gives the illusion of smoothness in computer animated characters, the visuals would not be nearly as appealing.

Pixar’s current President, Ed Catmull was the one who came up with the first formulas that helped the animators bring their art to life. These days there’s a whole group at Pixar in charge of researching new.Read More »Explaining the Math in Pixar’s Computer Modeling

Videopolis: The Real Frozen

Dan McNeely, Kevin T Willson, and friends wondered how the characters from Disney’s Frozen would react if they were all roommates, like in a reality TV show similar to “Big Brother.” The result is “The Real Frozen” and today’s videopolis: I really liked the guy… Read More »Videopolis: The Real Frozen