Luxo Jr. Takes a Rain Check at Pixar Place (Ep. 591)
Len Testa and Jim Hill start this week’s Disney Dish with news from Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Orlando, and the wider entertainment industry before digging into listener questions and recent theme park patent applications. They discuss Typhoon Lagoon’s upcoming maintenance closure, Disneyland’s unusual evening ticket offer, the new pirate-to-skeleton effect in Pirates of the Caribbean, and Universal’s long-awaited Hellraiser Halloween Horror Nights house. Then Jim continues his history of Disney’s Living Character Initiative with a look at Pixar Place, Toy Story Mania, and the short-lived Luxo Jr. figure that hopped into Hollywood Studios history.
NEWS
• Typhoon Lagoon is scheduled to close for annual maintenance on September 9, 2026, leaving Blizzard Beach as Walt Disney World’s open water park.
• Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party sees another sold-out date, with Len and Jim looking at why early weekend parties disappear quickly.
• Level99 opens at Disney Springs, prompting a discussion about interactive play spaces, Disney Quest, and why Disney IP is not part of the experience.
• Disneyland introduces a $59 evening ticket for select summer nights, suggesting softer attendance in Southern California.
• Universal Orlando announces Hellraiser for Halloween Horror Nights, giving Pinhead a long-awaited haunted house spotlight.
FEATURE
• Jim revisits the Living Character Initiative after Disney’s 2006 Pixar acquisition reshaped priorities inside Imagineering.
• Mickey’s Midway Mania becomes Toy Story Mania as Pixar characters move to the center of Disney’s park strategy.
• Hollywood Studios’ Pixar Place is designed as a tribute to Pixar’s Emeryville campus, complete with a Florida version of Toy Story Mania.
• The Luxo Jr. figure debuts as a six-foot-tall living character but vanishes after only about ten months due to weather exposure and trademark complications.
For this episode’s full show notes, click here.
HOSTS
• Jim Hill - X/Twitter: @JimHillMedia, Instagram: @JimHillMedia, Website: jimhillmedia.com
• Len Testa - Bluesky: @lentesta.bsky.social, Instagram: @len.testa, Website: touringplans.com
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PRODUCTION CREDITS
Edited by Dave Grey
Produced by Eric Hersey - https://strongmindedagency.com
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