Episodes

Jim completes the history of the SpectroMagic parade.

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.

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

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.

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're talking about.

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.

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

In the first installment of a brand-new series of podcasts, Jim Hill and Aaron Adams use "Spider-Man Homecoming" as an excuse to look back at the past 15 years worth of Spidey movies. They also talk about the "Venom" project that Sony just put into production earlier this week.

Jim finishes the history of the Mineral King project, which fell apart for a number of reasons.

Jim continues talking about how Toontown was formed, including what happened after it just opened.

Jim starts telling us the story of how Mickey's Toontown came to Disneyland. It all started - and who'd believe this? - when Disney found itself in need of a quick attraction to boost short-term attendance numbers. And by "short term" we all know it was 20 years. Here's how it got started.

Jim finishes the history of Fantasmic at Disneyland. After the initial success of the show, Disney faced challenges in updating it and in rolling it out to Walt Disney World. Jim tells those stories, as well as what we can expect from the next version of the show.

Jim and Len look back at the career of Disney Imagineer Marty Sklar, who passed away on July 27. Marty started his career editing the Disneyland newspaper in 1955, working directly with Walt. Over the years he was responsible for crafting the scripts, messaging, and themes of some of Disney's best …

Would you believe that Maleficent's flames involve non-dairy coffee creamer? In this episode, Jim and Len continue the history of Fantasmic, talking about how Disney Imagineers came up with some of the show's iconic effects and scenes. Jim also explains the pressure that Disney was under as the sho…

Jim is back from D23 where he interviewed lots of people attached to lots of projects, some of which got announced and some that didn't. Jim tells why the things that didn't get talked about, didn't get talked about.

With the impending re-opening of Disneyland's Fantasmic!, Jim walks us through the history of the attraction.

Jim walks through the history of Pixar's involvement in Disney's theme parks, from inspiring films, to parades, and rides.

Jim also updates us on the Star Wars hotel idea that's being considered for Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Jim attends the opening day ceremonies at Universal's Volcano Bay water park, then flies across the country for the debut of Guardians of the Galaxy at DCA.

Jim and Len walk through the food and merchandise to tell you what's interesting and what's tasty.

It's been almost 6 years in the making, but Disney's Animal Kingdom has finally opened Pandora - The World of Avatar, based on James Cameron's film franchise. Jim and Len walk through the land and rides to tell you how it turned out.

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Disney wanted to build malls as part of its Downtown Disney strategies. In order to get elite, anchor stores like Harrods into Florida, Disney supposedly offered them a two-for-one deal that involved Florida and ...

Jim talks about how Imagineer Kim Murphy's aquarium-centered career at SeaWorld and Epcot's The Seas leads to the ideas for another of Disney's nautical-themed second gates for California - Disney Seas.

Jim tells the story of how back in the early 1990's, when Disneyland was looking to expand, it considered the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor as part of its expansion plans.