Episodes

May 22, 2018

Episode 163: Unbuilt Epcot Thames River Ride and Maleficient Bursts Into Flames!

Jim and Len walk through a detailed set of sketches for a huge, unbuilt River Thames ride in the UK at Epcot.
May 13, 2018

Episode 162: Strategery! The Projects Disney and Universal Aren't Talking About

Disney and Universal have big theme park plans all ready to go. Jim says each is holding off on those until the other company holds a major event. We're likely to hear more about Harry Potter soon though.
May 13, 2018

Episode 161: Epcot Visit and Galaxy's Edge Tech News

Epcot Visit and Galaxy's Edge Tech News
May 1, 2018

Episode 160: New Epcot Concept Surfaces at Auction

Len and Jim start talking about previously unseen Epcot concept art from Harper Goff and others, up for auction at iCollector.com.
April 27, 2018

Disney Dish Episode 159: More Skyliner and Park News, Plus DCA Wrap-Up

More Skyliner and Park News, Plus DCA Wrap-Up
April 22, 2018

Episode 158: "Oh God - We Never Thought of This!" - Disney Skyliner Edition

Jim hears Disney may have just realized that Epcot's International Gateway won't be big enough to hold Skyliner crowds when Epcot's new attractions open in 2019.
April 16, 2018

Episode 157: WDW Property Developments and Disney Raises the Titanic

In our main segment, Jim tells how Disney really wanted to find the wreck of the Titanic steamship as part of its building of The Seas pavilion.
April 14, 2018

Episode 156: Len's Menu Rants, Galaxy's Edge Technology, and DCA

In other news, Jim updates us on self-driving cars at Walt Disney World.
April 5, 2018

Episode 155: Do Disney's Summer Hotel Discounts Signal a Strategy Shift?

Also, Len and Jim take a listener question about Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar at Disney Springs.
April 2, 2018

Episode 154: Pirates of the Scare-ibbean(?) and Potential Galaxy's Edge Opening Dates

It's a small, extra Dish of Jim and Len as we talk about the new Pirates of the Caribbean auction scene, and discuss what the newly-announced D23 schedule might mean for the opening of Galaxy's Edge.
April 1, 2018

Episode 153: Indiana Jones and Star Wars in Disney's Parks, Part 3

Jim continues the story of how Disney ended up getting George Lucas and Steve Speilberg to create rides for Disney's theme parks (Part 3 of 3)
March 19, 2018

Episode 152: Indiana Jones and Star Wars in Disney's Parks, Part 2

Jim continues the story of how Disney ended up getting George Lucas and Steve Speilberg to create rides for Disney's theme parks (Part 2 of 3)
March 14, 2018

Episode 151: Indiana Jones and Star Wars in Disney's Parks

Jim details the personal history of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' involvement in Disney's theme parks. It all starts with Disney not being able to produce a hit movie for general audiences for almost 20 years. Along the…
March 6, 2018

Episode 149: Marvel in Disneyland Paris and What it Means for Us

Disney recently announced a huge expansion for Disneyland Paris, including Marvel, Star Wars, and other new rides. Jim looks at what this means for domestic parks, especially Disneyland.
Feb. 14, 2018

Episode 148: Who Thought 'Minnie Mouse Madonna' Was a Good Idea?

In the late 1980's, at the height of MTV's cultural relevance, Disney decided to make Minnie Mouse into a pop star along the lines of Madonna. (We're not making this up.)
Feb. 3, 2018

Episode 147: Chronological Disneyland and Is This the Dumb New Name for Hollywood Studios?

In other news, Jim and Len talk about Paid FASTPASS at WDW and toiletries change-out at Pop Century
Jan. 31, 2018

Episode 146: The Be Our Guest Restaurant

News items include monorail doors, potential refurbs at Disney Springs Rainforest Cafe, and some un-implemented fantastic ideas for water effects at the parks.
Jan. 16, 2018

Episode 145: The Finale of SpectroMagic's History / Len's Trip to Disneyland

Jim completes the history of the SpectroMagic parade.
Jan. 3, 2018

Episode 144: 2017 In Review

In what turns out to be a much longer episode than expected, Jim and Len walk through what happened in Disney theme parks in 2017.
Dec. 20, 2017

Episode 143: Part 2 of the History of the SpectroMagic Parade

In part 2 of this show, Jim ALMOST FINISHES the history of the SpectroMagic parade.
Dec. 14, 2017

Episode 142: History of the SpectroMagic Parade, part 1

Jim gives the history of the SpectroMagic parade by starting out with an explanation of *why* Disney needed a nighttime parade to begin with, and what they tried to begin with.
Nov. 30, 2017

(Updated) Episode 141: How Disney's Theme Park Music Affects You (with Gregory Camp)

We talk with musicologist (and Disney parks fan) Dr. Gregory Camp about how Disney chooses music to convey mood and theme inside its theme parks. We've added music to the re-release of this episode, so you can hear what we'r…
Nov. 20, 2017

Episode 140: DisneyDish Live Event! "What's This? with Jim Hill"

In this live event at Walt Disney World, Len shows Jim a set of around 60 slides culled from the Disney archives, and asks Jim to explain what's being shown.
Nov. 7, 2017

Episode 139: Disney's TV Influences in Theme Parks

Jim starts to answer a listener question about how Disney's TV shows end up in the theme parks.