Category: Member Vault

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EDITORIAL: 20 Years Later, Dinoland Still Doesn’t Work. Here’s Why, and What Could Be.

Look – it wouldn’t be the first time dinosaurs went extinct. 

Since 1998, Disney’s Animal Kingdom has played host to an entire land dedicated to the ancient reptiles that once walked the earth. From day one, Dinoland, U.S.A. has been an oddity – a meticulously designed in-joke philosophically exploring humanity’s relationship with creatures we’ve only encountered through fossil evidence and feature films. But arguably, Dinoland has always fallen a bit flat… Anchored by a swing-and-a-miss attempt to relive the glory of one of Disney’s best rides ever, then accentuated by a fan-frustrating carnival, Dinoland has never truly entered the pantheon of great Disney projects.

And now, things are changing once again. With the recent news that one of the land’s few attractions will never open again, Dinoland’s looking more desolate than ever. So what if Disney were drawing up plans to replace Dinoland entirely? Today, we’ll take the trek through the history of Dinoland and toward the conclusion many Imagineering fans have already drawn (sometimes literally)… Could Animal Kingdom’s land of ancient animals become a land of ancient adventures? Here’s our in-depth assessment of how we got here… 

This in-depth article is just one entry in Park Lore’s one-of-a-kind Special Features collection, where we explore the threads that connect between rides, parks, and pop culture! From Imagineering’s secret Society of Explorers and Adventurers, to the history of Chuck E. Cheese; from Disney and Universal’s AVENGERS: “Custody War” to the two-part tale of animation’s rebirth in the generation-defining ’90s Disney Renaissance!

Special Features are typically available exclusively for those who support this evolving theme park history project with a monthly Membership. It’s been unlocked for a limited time, but if you enjoy what you read, consider becoming a Park Lore Member for as little as $2 / month!

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Gold and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Gold and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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12 Iconic (Both Nostalgic and Nauseating) Smells at Disney and Universal Theme Parks

How can you visit a Disney or Universal park without a ticket? It’s not as impossible as you think. It’s been suggested that smell is more closely connected to memory than any other sense. Don’t believe us? Take a read through our absolutely unforgettable theme park scents (good and bad!) and just imagine… it’s almost like you can smell them right here, right now…! Which have we missed? Add your favorite Disney and Universal park smells in the comments below!

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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8 Luxurious Hotels Where You Can Sleep “INSIDE” Your Favorite Theme Parks

Let’s face it: spending the night inside your favorite theme park is probably one of the coolest ideas on Earth. Problem is that there are precious few legal ways to do it. But all is not lost. Sensing guest’s deep connection and love for their parks, some resorts have gone out of their way to create premium, outstanding hotel and resort accomodations that are completely and totally immersed into the stories and settings of their parks, and featuring exclusive entrances just for hotel guests.

Below, we’ve selected eight of the best examples of awesome hotels placed right inside your favorite adventures. All of the experiences below are pretty high-tier. Some are so exclusive, there’s practically no amount of money or time on a wait list that can promise you a stay. As for the rest, they may take some saving up, but it’s a lot more comfortable (and legal) than camping out in the bushes hoping to go undiscovered all night long. Have you had the chances to stay in any of these deluxe accomodations? Which would you most like to experience?

Do you love armchair Imagineering, in-depth storytelling, and seeing the theme parks we love differently? Park Lore is an ad-free, quality-over-quantity, one-person project centered on building a world-class collection of the interconnected stories of theme park attractions, design projects, and industry explorations.

This feature is one that’s usually locked in our Member Vault, where Park Lore patrons can find hand-drawn art, armchair Imagineering walkthroughs, and other in-depth Special Features, as well as quick-read, just-for-fun Extra Features. Thanks to supporting Members, this feature is temporarily unlocked as a preview!

But if you value my mission to provide clickbait-free, ad-free deep dives and new ways to see the parks, consider becoming a supporting Member of Park Lore for as little as $2 / month. That support is what keeps this unique themed entertainment storytelling project open, ad-free, and available to all. Thank you!

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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“It’s Not My Disneyland Anymore:” An Emotional Lament on the Inevitibility of Theme Park Reimaginings

NOTE: This op-ed is a time capsule; a piece concieved of and written during a time of major upheaval at Disneyland Resort. I stand by the emotional perspective I hold in this piece, and even as the changes then became the “new normal,” I recognize that the time will come if it hasn’t already when my favorite parks don’t look like the places I remember. I hope you’ll read it with an open mind and consider how it applies to “your” Disneyland, too.

I think I’m done with Disneyland for a while.

Before you go telling me “Good! Shorter lines for me!,” give me a chance to explain.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Gold and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Gold and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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6 Tried-and-True, Tell-Tale Signs of a “Bad” Attraction Story… And Exceptions to Every Rule

For many Disney Parks fans, the only thing more interesting than a great ride is a bad one. In fact, our Declassified Disasters series exists to dive deep into the not-so-successful attractions, lands, and parks that have existed across Disney and Universal’s properties.

But what makes a bad attraction? What fundamental features tend to handicap a story? And for all of us at-home, “armchair Imagineers,” how do we know what mistakes to avoid? Today, we’ll offer our takeaway of tell-tale signs of a bad attraction story – foundational flaws that tend to signal that the ride isn’t going to be a masterpiece. It’s not that attractions can’t rise above these narrative hurdles (and in fact, we’ll offer exceptions for each), but when you imagine a ride that just didn’t live up to its promises, chances are that one of these giveaway goofs was involved. 

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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ROYAL RANKING: The Definitive Castle Countdown of All Six Disney Parks Palaces

Disney Castles are some of the most iconic architectural structures on Earth. Standing among the Eiffel Tower, the State of Liberty, the Taj Mahal, and the Sydney Opera House, they can be identified by silhouette by young and old alike. Every single one of Disney’s resorts on Earth contains a castle as its icon… but not all of these princess palaces are made equal…

In Disney’s long-running quest to reinvent, repurpose, revolutionize, and reimagine the icons of their parks, some Disney castles rise to the top while others fall behind. Reimaginings, new color schemes, and overlays have affected them all, but on our quest to compare Disney’s castles, we’ve got to make some hard decisions about which of these palaces are truly the most beautiful.

Take a look at our countdown from ugliest to most beautiful and let us know: which Disney castles could use a rebuild, a repaint, or a redesign? Which are timelessly beautiful?

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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“A Tram By Any Other Name:” 7 Studio-Tour-Scenes-Turned-Standalone-Stars

Lights, camera, action! In the modern history of Disney and Universal Parks, one thing is often said: good ideas never die. In fact, sometimes, ideas grow, evolve, and are reproduced across the country. Such is the case with the sixty-year tradition of taking pieces of Universal’s fabled Studio Tour in Hollywood and transforming them into full, standalone attractions in Florida.

In fact, some of the world’s most well-loved classics actually began in very different forms before being recreated on the East Coast in expanded, up-sized, and big-budget variations. If you didn’t already know it, you probably wouldn’t have realized from riding that these legendary attractions got their start in very different forms… So let’s examine three groups of attractions to see where this cross-country strategy has paid off… and where it hasn’t.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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9 Attractions Disney Would NEVER Build Today (For Better or Worse), and Why…

What if the very first Disney theme park was being built today? What if the modern Walt Disney Company decided to break into the theme park business? Would the classics make the cut?

For most of Disney’s iconic attractions, the answer just might be “no!” That’s why today, we’re taking a close look at nine major hurdles today’s Disney Parks leadership might have a hard time getting over, and the nine (or more!) beloved, fan-favorite attractions that would probably NEVER get the green-light today… including the questions we suspect executives would ask about each.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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These 13 “Endangered” Attractions May Not Survive the 2020s! Will Your Next Ride Be Your Last?

If you’ve been a theme park fan long enough, one thing you’ve learned to deal with is change. It seems that attractions are always coming and going from Disney and Universal’s parks, and with both operators’ new unspoken commitment to featuring box office blockbusters and “hot” intellectual properties (sometimes at the expense of classics!), that tempo seems likely to only increase… 

In June 2020, Disney dropped the surprising announcement that Splash Mountain would soon be reimagined entirely, swapped to a new ride featuring Princess and the Frog. Though we’d altogether call the change one for the better, the switch brings us to a hard truth: standing at the dawn of a new decade, we have to imagine that there are quite a few other classics that won’t survive the 2020s. To guide us through this rundown of “endangered” attractions, we’ll use the same rising classification used on at-risk species.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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Rest In Pieces: Parting Words to The Awesome (and Awful) Rides We Lost in the 2010s

Friends, family, we are gathered here today to close a chapter; to say our last goodbyes; to send a decade of attractions to the big theme park in the sky. In the 2010s, we bid adieu to no less than 20 once-ambitious attractions. Some went out in a blaze of glory; others, a wimpering spark of a doomed fire.

Yet for each of these 20 closed attractions – the good, bad, and downright ugly – their closures marked the end of memory-making for some. Indeed, your children or your grandchildren may never see these attractions in person, and unlike the 13 “Endangered” Rides We Worry May Not Survive the 2020s, for some of these attractions, their endings were a total shock. For others, that may be for the best… but in any case, here are our last goodbyes to 20 attractions we lost in the 2010s, in order of closure.

Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.



This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!

If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.


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