Editor’s note: Please welcome Michelle Snow with here first guest post for The Disney Blog. Follow her on Twitter @zengrrl. One of the best parts of the Holiday season at Walt Disney World is the annual Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood… Read More »Watch The 2013 Osborne Family Lights From Home
Here’s a little blast from the past; a video from 1989 that details the making of Disney-MGM Studios. The park, even with a new name, has lost touch with the original vision articulated in that video. We keep hearing rumors about how Disney’s Hollywood Studios… Read More »Videopolis: The Making of Disney MGM Studios
Rumors of a fifth gate at Walt Disney World occasionally bubble to the surface and more often than not it takes the form of a Disney Villains themed thrill park (or maybe Heroes vs Villains depending on who you ask). I think that might be… Read More »Disney Villains To Appear at Disneyland and Hollywood Studios this Friday the 13th
The Chili in a Cone Sandwich is a well-themed treat that was first available at Disney California Adventures in the new Cars Land section. It made its first east coast appearance in Downtown Disney with both Chili and Meatball Marinara options. Now the easy to hold food treat is available in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in three new varieties, including the first two cold salad options.
We taste tested two of the selections – The Cajun Shrimp and the Chicken, Bacon & Avocado Salad. Both were made with fresh ingredients and served in large enough portions to be a meal. The Cajun spices weren’t overly hot, but not as mild as theme park food usually is either. The chicken salad was also yummy with a good mix of avocado and bacon. How can you go wrong with bacon? We used a fork to eat both, but it wasn’t strictly required for the Chicken Salad. And then when the salad was gone, you still had the bread cone to eat, which had now soaked up some of the flavor from the salad.
There have been a number of different rumors about the changes coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios should the company decide to spend a few bucks fixing it up. The photo above and descriptions below are a compilation of what a few sources have told me plus a dose of what seems most likely just based on my experience with Disney World’s expansion history.
First, why would Disney be willing to spend a princely sum on Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They’ve just spent a half-billion dollars on expanding Fantasyland, somewhere north of two billion on the next-gen technology that’s bringing us Fastpass+ and MyMagic+, and have committed to building Avatarland, which might approach a billion dollars before all is said and done there as well (I’m including relocating Festival of the Lion King in that total).
There are a number of things lining up that point to DHS getting some TLC soon.
My son Indigo made it onto American Idol Experience as part of the Limited Time Magic Junior Performers. He’ll be in the 6pm show tonight. We hope to get a large group to come to Hollywood Studios and cheer him on. Please come on down… Read More »My Kid’s in American Idol Experience as part of Limited Time Magic Junior Performers
The Walt Disney Company has a long tradition of supporting youth performers, from the original Mickey Mouse Club showcasing some of Hollywood’s best talent to Magic Music Days giving school kids the chance to perform in a Disney theme park. For one week during its Limited Time Magic promotion, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is extending that idea to the American Idol Experience.
The age limit for performing at American Idol Experience has always been tied to the TV shows eligibility requirements. If the winner got a dream ticket they couldn’t use, that would make no sense right?
From August 12-18, Disney will have one Juniors Show, where contestants aged 6-13 can perform. They won’t get a dream ticket, but they will get an amazing experience.
The special taste of showbiz will begin with an audition in front of a Disney producer, just like the regular show. The three contestants chosen for the Juniors Show will get a Hollywood-style showbiz treatment including cosmetology, a vocal training session and walk-through rehearsal before taking the stage in front of the live audience. The three finalists will also get feedback from the panel of judges. It’s not mentioned if the audience will vote for a winner or if some other ending will be involved.
If your child wants to enter, we’ve included the list of songs choices below the jump. Better get rehearsing right away.
Read More »American Idol Experience Opens to Junior Performers for Limited Time Magic
Concept art for Star Wars mini-park planned for Disneyland Paris
Orlando in the 1990’s was bookended by stiff competition between Disney and its rival Universal Studios. When Michael Eisner got wind that Disneyland’s cross-town rival Universal Studios was preparing to open in Orlando as well, he rushed the mouse’s plans for its own studio theme park into production, even opening a whole year ahead of Universal. Universal returned the favor by firing back with Islands of Adventure, which contained rethemed versions of the Beastly Kingdom attractions Disney had cut from its Animal Kingdom project just a year earlier. Universal even hired a lot of the Imagineers Disney had just laid off to help make IOA a quality theme park.
And then things calmed down for nearly a decade. Disney kept churning out new attractions (Expedition Everest, Toy Story Midway Mania to name two) while Universal Studios was the forgotten step-child in a larger corporation that was dealing with ownership and financial problems. Eventually that got all sorted out and two things happened that turned around the fortunes at Universal Orlando Resort.
First, Universal got the theme park rights to use the Kuka robotic arm roller coaster that everyone was excited about at IAAPA in 2004. Second, it was able to convince Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling that they would be better caretakers for her story than Disney. The Kuka robocoaster win had something to do with that, but Universal was also willing to give Rowling final approval on nearly every detail. Disney would not.