"If I can dream it, then I can do it; I've got my girls with me, there's nothing to it," Fifth Harmony sang in their official Barbie anthem, 'Anything Is Possible.' Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be true for attendees of Barbie Dream Fest, which is currently running in Fort Lauderdale, FL, from March 27-29. Fans are comparing the event to notorious convention disasters like the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience, DashCon, and Fyre Fest.
Angela Jobson, SVP of global brand at Merlin Entertainments, expressed excitement about bringing Minecraft's creativity and adventures to life at Chessington World of Adventures, emphasizing the immersive experience for fans.
Originally called Treasure Island, it opened on April 8, 1974, three years after Walt Disney World first welcomed visitors. The theme was based on the 1950 Disney pirate adventure film "Treasure Island," with a wrecked ship visible on the shore. Its name was changed to Discovery Island in the late 1970s, and the 11.5-acre nature preserve-accessible by boat-operated until April 8, 1999.
This isn't just about replicating the animation; it's about emulating the creators' intent. To bridge the gap between a CGI snowman and reality, the team had to invent new technologies in the field of legged robotics—cramming a bizarre skeleton into an incredibly tight space—and rely on deep reinforcement learning so the machine didn't face-plant or literally melt its own hardware.
The English-style home on Lyric Avenue was once owned by Disney and his wife, Lilian. Built in 1928, the house incorporates several Tudor features including intersecting gable roofs, multi-paned windows, a balcony and arched doorways.
The storytelling shift moves the Star Wars timeline in Galaxy's Edge back three decades before the birth of Kylo Ren who has been the central villain of the unfolding story in Black Spire Outpost on the Star Wars planet of Batuu ever since Galaxy's Edge debuted at Disneyland in 2019. Imagineering and Lucasfilm knew that Darth Vader and Kylo Ren could never appear side by side in Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland
Ah, the Disneyland of old, when people really dressed the part. Men wore suits and hats in the theme park. Women wore dresses, stockings and high heels. If you know the exhaustion of a park day in athleisure wear and sneakers, imagine what it was like in 3-inch heels. And while those ornately outfitted women were running around chasing their kids in the scorching Anaheim heat, the men were ... enjoying the spa?
A man fell asleep underneath an oak tree in Placerita Canyon, in what's now the Newhall area of Santa Clarita. As he slept, he dreamed of finding gold. When Francisco López awoke, he pulled up wild onions growing nearby and discovered gold clinging to their roots. The legend is real - or at least parts of it. We'll never know if López really dreamed of gold, but we know he found it and that it was the first recorded discovery of gold in the state.
Ever since I was little, I've been a die-hard Disney fan - in fact, most of my T-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts have Mickey on them. I've been to Disney World in Florida more than 20 times and to Disneyland in California more than 10 times. Every time is better than the next, and it's all worth every penny. That's even as the cost of visiting Disney parks has increased over the years, thanks to factors including inflation, rising labor costs, and changes to its pricing approach.
Because it's so immersive and theatrical, it's ideal for keeping kids entertained without requiring parents to plan every second of the day (which, frankly, already makes it feel like a win). This is not a cruise where you sit by the pool while your kids complain they are bored. It is a cruise where they disappear into kids' clubs, beg to stay up late for shows, and talk about the Hydra puppets and Cruella de Vil long after you are home.
Once upon a time, themed restaurant chains ruled America's dining scene. Planet Hollywood gave us a taste of fame, Harley Davidson Cafe let us live on the wild side, and Rainforest Cafe took us on a tropical adventure. But today, as minimalism dominates restaurant design, the dining experience often feels nearly identical from one chain to the next. Just look at one of the country's most popular old-fashioned franchises, Cracker Barrel, nearly unrecognizable after modernizing its iconic look.
Josh D'Amaro appears to be the frontrunner in the race to be Disney's next CEO, and the Mouse House's latest quarterly earnings showed why. Disney's experiences business, which D'Amaro oversees, is the backbone of a company that's being weighed down by the struggling pay-TV business and isn't yet lifted up by its streaming profits. And when that part of the business sneezes, the stock catches a cold.
D'Amaro, 54, has been serving as chairman of Disney's theme parks and experiences division, the unit that generates the majority of the company's operating income through its parks, cruises, and consumer products. He will succeed longtime CEO Bob Iger, who returned to the role in 2022 after previously leading Disney from 2005 to 2020. The move caps a multiyear succession process closely watched by Wall Street, Hollywood, and fans of the company around the world.
Disneyland's Haunted Mansion will soon serve as an eerie new wedding venue for brooding brides looking for a morbid place dripping with tales of mourning, dread and murder to exchange their wedding vows and begin their happily ever after. Disneyland will begin offering weddings in July for the first time in front of the Haunted Mansion starting at $25,000 to $40,000, according to the official Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons website.
Beginning April 29, guests visiting Batuu will be able to step into a new timeline and come face-to-face with characters from the original "Star Wars" trilogy. Set on the remote planet of Batuu, Black Spire Outpost is home to popular attractions such as "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance," "Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run" and "Fire of the Rising Moons," the nighttime fireworks spectacular. For the first time, figures from the Galactic Civil War and the New Republic will appear in the land.