Disney Insights

In a recent podcast I overviewed the first three decades of my love of all things Disney and how it eventually led me to a full-time salaried position as a leader providing professional development programs to Fortune 100 companies and others at The Disney Institute. In this next two-part experience I'll canvas that experience and what it was like to wear a name tag and represent The Walt Disney W...

This weekend Splash Mountain ended at Walt Disney World after more than 30 years of operation. Soon Disneyland, which built the first Splash Mountain, will close as well. While there may be controversy of its replacement, there is no question, this attraction was a brilliant Imagineering masterpiece. Led by designers like Tony Baxter and Bruce Gordon, this attraction did what no other ride or attr...

This month marks the 20th anniversary of Performance Journeys, the company I founded not long after I left The Walt Disney World Company. In celebration of that event, I wanted to share how my career has tied in with Disney over the decades. In the weeks to follow I will share a three part series of my history, to include my years working as a leader for The Walt Disney World Company, as well as m...

It's been too long since guests have had the privilege of riding the Walt Disney Railroad, closed over four years ago when construction began on Tron. Still, good things are worth the wait and this attraction is lovelier than ever. We board at the Main Street U.S.A. station and take a scenic journey around the Magic Kingdom. There's much to discuss along the way, such as the upcoming closure of Sp...

The week is already on a roll as many announcements have been made even in the last 24 hours. We'll review each of them to include an opening date for Tron as well as dates for new fireworks shows. More news awaits with changes made to Genie+ and to Annual Passholder perks. Did we mention free parking at the Disney resorts? Plus Disneyland has some changes as well. Then we head out to the high sea...

One of the reasons that Pirates of the Caribbean since it opened in 1967 is my favorite attraction is because there is so much attention to the details. I've been on it literally hundreds of times and in four different versions across the globe--and yet I still see new details from time to time. Imagine that the attraction was not only taken to the next level, but that there was an entire land sup...

After the first day of the New Year, what are we to learn about the Disney Parks at Walt Disney World. We walk through a day at Epcot to discover how things big and small, great and stupid, all come down to one total experience. Genie+ plays a big role here. Parking lot trams played no role, but we do talk about the return of the train over at Magic Kingdom. Journey of Water--Moana, and wait times...

Happy New Year! We ring in a new calendar year with the most comprehensive lineup of what's happening at Disney in 2023. And we're not just sharing what new attractions are on their way, but rather, what are key events will kick off those new offerings. Big press events and milestones are key to when things may be coming your way, and we'll look at all of that. Critical to this is just when all of...

Let's look at the past year not from some list of what happened, but how that list of what happened tiers up into three important lessons any organization should take from Disney out of 2022. These lessons clearly illustrate the importance of customer loyalty, i.e., Disney fans; How demand really inflates price; and why delivery must exceed expectations. We'll bring you examples of how this has oc...

One of the truly wonderful experiences Disney Parks and Attractions offer are uniquely themed dining experiences. Some of the most memorable are those that bring you to a nighttime setting where you dine among the stars all the while being indoors. We look at all of them, represented in nearly every Disney resort from Shanghai to Disneyland; from Walt Disney World to Disneyland Paris. From the ori...

Disney has stated that the 50th anniversary for Walt Disney World goes on until March 31st of 2023. But is that really the case? We canvas the entire Florida property to see if the magic is still calling you to this golden anniversary. From new entertainment to attractions; from food & beverage to anniversary merchandise, we look at whether you can really still celebrate or whether the World's Mos...

We're embarking on a new series here in Disney at Work and Play. Imagineering Explored is an opportunity to deep dive into best practices of Imagineering. We look at what works and more importantly why it works. And on occasion, we'll even make application to life outside Disney's gates. This first podcast in the series looks at great themed transitions that occur in the parks--particularly as you...

Season's Greetings! There's so much to take in during the holidays at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Often in the past we've compared parks, but this time we're going to compare holiday attraction overlays between both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Some of these you may never have heard of, or knew that they offered a holiday version. We will rate attractions as they are given a special yul...

It's been a while and there have been many developments in the construction of new attractions at Disney Parks worldwide. We take a look at the latest and greatest happenings, particularly here at home in Walt Disney World with Magic Kingdom, Epcot and even Disney's Animal Kingdom. This includes some personal insights around what I'm referring to as Genie+ Inflation. But then we head out to parks...

It's been a little over a year since Space 220 opened at Epcot in Walt Disney World. As part of World Discovery, it complements the out-of-this-world themes found in Mission Space and in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. So we take the opportunity to grab a reservation and dine among the stars--as well as a few floating astronauts. We'll share what this experience was like, in ter...

There has been much said in the last week the firing of Bob Chapek and the reinstallment of Bob Iger as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. It's difficult to know exactly what happened and when, but it is clear that this is a tale of two leaders, neither perfect, but one with fatal flaws that contributed to a fall of confidence in Disney. We look at a tale of two Bobs, not just to sort out what happen...

Recently I had the opportunity with my daughter along with David & Leah Zanolla to visit Cirque du Soleil: Drawn to Life. This show has just recently achieved its first anniversary this month. This is the second show the Cirque group has hosted at what was originally Downtown Disney, but is now Disney Springs. We will look in depth as to whether this show is worth the ticket to attend. We'll take...

In a Sunday Night special Disney Cast Members received notice that Bob Iger was being reinstalled by Disney's Board of Directors to return as CEO again of the Walt Disney Company. Minutes later media reported the news as well--and all used words like shocked and surprised. This means Bob Chapek has now been entirely removed from the company and that a new chapter has started. We'll look at what ha...

We are overdue for sharing a review of five different formal dining experiences at Epcot. Three are restaurants I've dined in before. One is a new restaurant, and one has been around for a dozen years and I had yet to eat there. It may have been the best experience. Find out as we do a review of Le Cellier in Canada, La Crêperie de Paris, La Hacienda de San Angel, Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria,...

Many people know some thing about Disneyland Paris. They certainly know that it's somewhere around Paris. They may know about the amazing catapult-style launch of Space Mountain, or the Big Thunder Mountain on an island inside the Rivers of America or perhaps the dragon in the dungeon of Sleeping Beauty Castle. But today I'm presenting insider Baseball when it comes to Disneyland Paris, because th...

In previous weeks we have been highlighting the 1971 Handbooks given to new Cast Members as they opened up the Walt Disney World Resort. There was a handbook for every land of the Magic Kingdom, and one for Disney's Contemporary and Polynesian Village Resorts. Make sure you check those podcasts out, as well as our show notes found on Disney at Play. But there was no Handbook written for Fort Wilde...

I am thrilled to present this podcast on the rebirth of Fantasmic! at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. My torrid love affair with this beloved entertainment classic is a long one. I'll share my experience with Fantasmic! and what this attraction is like behind the scenes. We'll talk about its sister shows (yes there's more than just Disneyland) and how they compare. We talk about t...

This is the last of our 50th anniversary series on the Walt Disney World Resort and the Cast Member Handbooks created in 1971. We have covered the entire Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and now we look at the final gem of Walt Disney World's opening, Disney's Polynesian Resort. We’ll look at how the resort was presented originally. We’ll take a look at the original shops, restaura...

It's the first of November and so many things have been happening around the world of Disney. We cover many of the highlights today, From price increases to lawsuits, closures to cancelations, drones to barge fires. The last four weeks have been both busy and controversial, and we take a look behind the magic as to what is happening. From Shanghai to Tokyo Disney, from Disneyland to Walt Disney Wo...

We return to our 50th anniversary series. We have covered the entire Magic Kingdom, and now we are going to cover the Vacation Kingdom of the World. We'll take a look at Disney's Contemporary Resort, which was a whole new operation as Disney had never been in the resort business before. We'll look at how the resort was designed, and how it stood out from the conventional hotel of the day. We'll ta...