The Disney Dish with Jim Hill

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about Disney’s recent test of easier-to-understand names for the menu items served at “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.” Then Len reunites with his old “WDW Today” co-host Mike Scopa as these two discuss this year’s offering at Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about the changes that have been made to the menus found inside of “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.” Then Len shares an interview that he recently did with Robert & Alyssa Simmons, a couple who are spending a solid year only staying in hotel rooms at various Walt Disney World resorts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

Len Testa starts off this week’s episode by sharing a first-person account about what it was like to be stranded on WDW’s Skyliner back on Saturday, October 5th. Jim Hill then talks about the changes that have recently been made to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Len Testa starts off this week’s show by talking about some of the operational issues WDW’s Skyliner has had. Len & Jim then talk about “Epcot Forever,” the new nighttime show which debuted out on/over World Showcase Lagoon this past week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s episode by sharing his experience at a Cast Member Only preview of WDW’s new Skyliner system. Then Jim Hill looks back at “Illuminations: Reflections of Earth,” the millennium-themed nighttime show that was originally only supposed to run at Epcot for 18 months but wound up wowing the crowds around World Showcase Lagoon for 19 years instead Learn more about your ad...

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by talking about some rare home movies that he’s recently seen from the early days of Disneyland Park. Jim Hill then talks about how the roles that castles play at the Disney Parks have evolved over the past 64 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about why it’s crucial that WDW’s new Skyliner transportation system has a trouble-free debut. Jim then reveals how WDI used fossil fuels as an excuse to recycle one of the more popular aspects of the Ford Wonder Rotunda at the 1964 – 1965 New York World’s Fair Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by describing what the Disney’s Hollywood Studios version of “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” was like on opening day. He then describes what it was like to go straight from Batuu to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episodes by talking about the “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” Coca-Cola “thermal detonator” controversy. Then special guest Christina Testa-Harrison offers her take on the 2019 edition of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at WDW’s Magic Kingdom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Pass & Mid-Day Magic ticket that the WDW Resort recently began offering. Jim then shines a spotlight on how – back in the mid-1970s – the Imagineers turned Disneyland’s “Mine Train thru Nature’s Wonderland” attraction into the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Learn more about your ad choices...

Jim Hill and guest host Dan Zehr talk about how Halloween is celebrated at Disney theme parks around the globe. Dan then looks back at the three different experiences he had while participating in WDW’s College Program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this episode with a run-down of the past week’s news, including Universal Orlando’s announcement of their Epic Universe project. Jim then shines a spotlight on Walt Disney Productions’ second attempt to build a ski resort up in Northern California Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about some of the new holiday-themed offerings that will be debuting at Disney World this November. Jim then shares some excerpts from “Magic Journey,” longtime Imagineer Kevin Rafferty’s soon-to-be-published memoir Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Len Testa & Jim Hill start things off by talking about what The Walt Disney Company is expected to unveil/announce at this year’s D23 Expo. Len then shares a rumor that he recently heard about an Osborne Lights-like experience that’s supposedly in the works for World Showcase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill talk about WDW’s plans to link the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to the Magic Kingdom via the walk-around-the-world (and what this potentially means for the Electrical Water Pageant). Jim then looks back at what it was like to be at Disneyland’s “Invitational Press Preview” as well as on the very first day that this family fun park was open to the public.  Learn more about your...

Len Testa starts off this week’s episode by talking about his recent visit to Takumi-Tei (i.e., the signature restaurant that just opened at Epcot’s Japan pavilion) and the extraordinary experience he had while dining there. Jim Hill then looks back at the history of WDW’s convention facilities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by discussing which aspects of Future World’s old Communicore / Innoventions area are due to shuttered soon as Epcot gets a facelift out ahead of WDW’s 50th-anniversary celebration. Jim then talks about Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences & Products Bob Chapek’s reported frustration with the cost & speed with which WDI develops immersive lands f...

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by talking about his visit to the newly opened Surfside Inn & Suites, which is Phase One of Universal Orlando’s Endless Summer Resort. Jim Hill then looks back at Skyleidscope, Epcot’s initial attempt at staging a daytime extravaganza out on World Showcase Lagoon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by discussing the troubled history of “Primeval Whirl.” Jim then looks back on when greenmailers Saul Steinberg & Irwin Jacobs were making runs at Walt Disney Productions and threatening to sell off underperforming divisions of the Company to the highest bidders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len & Jim start off this week’s podcast by discussing how Disney’s Hollywood Studios plans on dealing with the crowds once that theme park’s version of “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” opens. Jim then talks about the various ideas that the Imagineers have considered as they’ve looked for ways to expand the U.K. pavilion at Epcot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While waiting for Len Testa to return from Batuu, Jim Hill shares a story about the thrill ride that the Magic Kingdom almost got back in the early 2000s. One that took its inspiration from “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” and would have sent Guests through an erupted volcano aboard a transforming coaster   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Len’s getting ready for the opening of Anaheim’s “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge,” Jim Hill shares an interview that he did with former Imagineer Terri Hardin. She then reveals the role that she played in the creation of a proposed attraction for Disney-MGM Studios Japan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill talk about the significance of a number of surveys that The Walt Disney World Resort has sent out to Guests recently. Jim then discusses how Bob Chapek’s decision to focus in on the Company’s billion-dollar IPs is changing Disney Parks & Resorts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by discussing the mysterious construction that’s going on at Disney’s Animal Kingdom out behind Pandora – The World of Avatar. Jim then talks about “The Ride of a Lifetime,” Bob Iger’s soon-to-be-released memoir (which will hit store shelves on September 10th) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off of this week’s episode by discussing why WDW management opted to push off the opening of “Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios ‘til the Spring of 2020. Jim then continues his Chronological Disneyland series by pointing out how Bob Iger’s approach to that Anaheim Resort differed from Michael Eisner’s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...