All Ears® Guest Blog - Page 4 of 107

Hidden In Plain Sight: Mailboxes, Public Phones, and Imagineers’ Tributes

December 9, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

One of my favorite things to do when I visit a Disney theme park is to seek out all the hidden gems. While most other park guests are making a beeline to the next attraction or show – heads down, dodging strollers and wheelchairs with the skill of an NFL running back – I can be found checking out the smallest detail, the tiniest nugget left behind by those clever folks at Walt Disney Imagineering.

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REVIEW: I Paid $95 for Afternoon Tea at Disney World and I Have THOUGHTS

November 20, 2024 by Myranda Juarez

We're trying out the NEWEST experience offered at The Cake Bake Shop in Disney World!

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At Disney, It’s All Relative When It Comes To These Cast Member Connections

November 11, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

Walt Disney was all about family, in his life and in his life’s work. When he created award-winning animated films, it was with family entertainment in mind. And when he conceived Disneyland, the world’s first theme park, the impetus was to build a place where parents and their children could have fun together. So it … Continue reading "At Disney, It’s All Relative When It Comes To These Cast Member Connections"

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The Beauty Of Disneyland Paris, Captured In Photos

October 28, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

Jay Rasulo, then the Walt Disney Company’s Parks and Resorts Chairman who was about to become the company’s Chief Financial Officer, had perhaps his most career-defining moment years earlier when he was tasked with reversing the fortunes of Disney’s one and only European theme park, located 20 miles east of Paris in the town of Marne-la-Vallee. His efforts helped transform Disneyland Paris into Europe's top tourist attraction.

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It Turns Out, It’s Tough To Be It’s Tough To Be A Bug

September 30, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

With the announcement that It’s Tough to be a Bug! in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is closing in favor of a Zootopia-themed show, we thought it might be a good idea to go back to It’s Tough to be a Bug!’s roots, to learn how that attraction came to be.

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Two Legendary Photographers Documented The Early Days Of Disneyland And Walt Disney World

September 9, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

One took photographs of the hell-on-Earth he witnessed on battlefields during World War II. The other snapped photos of death and destruction of a different kind – on the often dangerous highways and city streets in and around southern California in the 1940s and ‘50s. Both rose out of the mayhem to become key figures in documenting Disney history.

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Is A Villains Land The Right Fit For The Magic Kingdom? Thoughts On Recent D23 Gathering

August 21, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

The Magic Kingdom, as Walt Disney himself once said, is a place “where parents and their children can have fun together.” With that in mind, I find the announcement of a villains-themed land to be built near Big Thunder Mountain concerning.

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The Evolution Of – And My Obsession With – Disney Guide Maps

August 5, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

Ever since the first time I entered a Disney theme park in 1972, I have made it a point to get my hands on three maps – one to use during the visit, another to save for posterity and a third just in case something happens to the other two? I've built up quite an extensive collection over the years.

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The Stories Are What Defined Bill [Sully] Sullivan’s Storied Disney Career

July 17, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

The Story — or, more accurately, The Stories — are what defined the 40-year Disney career of William (Sully) Sullivan, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 88.

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The Many Adventures Of Tom Sawyer Island

July 15, 2024 by Chuck Schmidt

The first time I saw Tom Sawyer Island in Walt Disney World, it was a mess. A little more than a year after WDW opened, in the fall of 1972, the future Frontierland attraction was a work in progress. It was, in fact, a busy, somewhat chaotic construction site. Heavy construction equipment was parked in … Continue reading "The Many Adventures Of Tom Sawyer Island"

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