Tag: Imagineering

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AVENGERS: Custody War – Disney & Universal’s Co-Parenting Plans for MARVEL Super Heroes

“Avengers… Assemble!” Well… if only it were that easy.

Forget Thor and Loki; Wanda and Agatha; Iron Man and Thanos. When it comes to Marvel superheroes, one of the most cosmic clashes of all time isn’t been heroes and villains at all. Instead, it’s between two entertainment titans engaged in a decades-long war over control of Central Florida, now embroiled in an unlikely custody battle over a teenager from Brooklyn… with web-slinging powers.

For those outside theme park fandom, it’s one of the oddest bits of “fine print” in modern pop culture: that somehow, despite Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Marvel outright in 2009, the company is forbidden from using its own heroes at its flagship resort. To make matters worse, not only is Disney practically powerless in leveraging its pop-culture-dominating IP in its own theme parks, but those heroes have somehow been ceded to their comic-book-esque archnemesis just a few miles north.

So how can Universal hold Spider-Man hostage? What’s the legal asterisk that explains the slow drip of Marvel heroes into Disney Parks across the globe… including Florida? What does the future hold for Disney and Universal’s uneasy co-parenting of Marvel heroes in theme parks? Like all custody battles, it’s… complicated. So we may as well start at the beginning…

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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The Enchanted Snow Palace: Inside Imagineering’s Icy Quest for “The Snow Queen”

Once upon a time, in a faraway land – farther even than the farthest kingdoms of the North – a queen born with the touch of winter’s breath reigned over a palace as frigid as permafrost and as fragile as blown glass…

Like so many of our trips into what almost was, you may think you know the prologue, but our story may not be quite what you expect… Long before Elsa, another icy princess nearly reigned over Fantasyland in a one-of-a-kind attraction once envisioned for Disneyland. The Enchanted Snow Palace would’ve sent guests on a watery voyage through a musical wonderland of joyful scenes, fantastic creatures, and a finale encounter the Snow Queen herself… Of course, it was never built.

That makes it a perfect fit for Possibilityland – our growing collection of in-depth legends behind the could-be classics that were planned… but never premiered. From an entire theme park dedicated to the hard truths of America; a Californian EPCOT that would’ve redefined Disneyland; an unbuilt backlot of Muppet moviemaking; a sci-fi Tomorrowland that never was; and even complete walkthroughs of “alternate reality” Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios with their never-built E-Tickets in-tact…

En route to the icy realms of fantasy, we’ll dig into Disney’s seventy-year quest to melt the icy antagonist of “The Snow Queen” and trace animators’ on-again, off-again attempts to turn this Scandanavian legend into a workable character in films… and theme park rides!

Continue reading “The Enchanted Snow Palace: Inside Imagineering’s Icy Quest for “The Snow Queen””
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“Ride The Movies!” Disney’s Blockbuster-or-Bust Era of Attraction Design

Frozen Ever After. Jurassic World: The Ride. Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure. TRON Lightcycle Power Run. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

The rising tide of innovation and storytelling is lifting Disney and Universal to new heights, with a seemingly limitless supply of cutting-edge and spectacular attractions debuting year after year. Still, it hasn’t escaped fans’ notice that nearly all of the projects in the pipeline for major U.S. parks have something in common… It’s enough to cause some fans to wonder aloud, Will we ever again see an “original” anchor attraction at Disney or Universal parks? Or is the future filled with E-Tickets backed by billion-dollar box office hits and popular intellectual properties alone?

When did Disney Parks exchange bold, original attractions crafted by Disney Imagineers for the chance to “RIDE THE MOVIES”? How have the “Content Wars” heated up the back-and-forth battle for the Butterbeer budget? And what, exactly, is going to happen next in the ongoing race keep guests at Disney and Universal parks coming back for the hot properties of today? Strap in as we dive into the history of “riding the movies” and see how this character-infused era has been reimagined as never before…

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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DISNEY•PIXARLAND: Inside the “Pixarificaton” of Disney Parks

PIXAR. For a new generation of animation fans, that word appearing against a sky-blue backdrop is as comforting and familiar as “When You Wish Upon a Star’s” grand crescendo against a glowing Disney castle; a squeaking, bouncing, articulating desk lamp as recognizable and iconic as Tinker Bell; Cars Land as obvious, classic, and beloved as Frontierland.

But it wasn’t always that way… and increasingly, some fans are wondering aloud if Disney Parks are becoming Pixar Parks, favoring the computer-generated stars of Pixar’s modern classics at the detriment to Disney’s own animated favorites… So today, we’ll dig into the story of Pixar, its relationship with Disney (including some epic breakups and multi-billion-dollar make-ups), and – most importantly – trace the timeline of Pixar attractions joining Disney Parks. Is there too much Pixar in Disney Parks? That’ll be up to you to decide. But along the way, we’ll also uncover some surprising stories.

When did Disney’s connection to Pixar first begin? Longer ago than you might imagine… How many Pixar-themed attractions have Disney Parks hosted? More than you might think… How far will Pixar permeate into Disney Parks? Think, “to infinity and beyond…” 

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.


Log In ​or Join Now
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

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