Episodes

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.
Oct. 25, 2017

Sneak Peek of Jim's new podcast Marvel Us / Episode 1: Spidey's Long Road Back Home

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…
Oct. 19, 2017

Episode 138 - The Mineral King Project, Part 2

Jim finishes the history of the Mineral King project, which fell apart for a number of reasons.
Sept. 28, 2017

Episode 137 - Mickey's Toontown in Disneyland, Part 2

Jim continues talking about how Toontown was formed, including what happened after it just opened.
Sept. 14, 2017

Episode 136 - Mickey's Toontown in Disneyland

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 "s…
Aug. 31, 2017

Episode 135 - The History of Fantasmic, Part 3 of 3

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 e…