The Disney Dish with Jim Hill

Len Testa starts off this week’s episode by reviewing some of the food offerings found at this year’s International Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot. Then Jim Hill talks about how Disney’s earlier trackless attractions influenced the design of “Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by reviewing many of the menu offerings at the Regal Eagle Smokehouse, which recently opened at Epcot’s American Adventure pavilion. Then Jim Hill looks back at the career of Disney CEO Bob Iger. More importantly, how Iger has been trying to exit the Mouse House since 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by talking about how all of the construction that’s been going on towards the front of Future World has been negatively impacting Epcot’s “The Seas with Nemo & Friends” pavilion. Then Jim Hill does a deep dive on the development of “Ratatouille: L’Adventure” for Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s episode by talking about the very best way to plan out your FastPasses while visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Jim Hill then talks about why Epcot’s Liberty Inn was recently transformed into the Regal Eagle Smokehouse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by reviewing some of the patents that The Walt Disney Company has recently filed (Including one or two that soon may be in use as part of the Avenger Campus). Then Jim talks about Michael Eisner’s decade-long effort to get a Chautauqua-inspired resort built at Walt Disney World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about how the Imagineers are using survey results to help them determine how scary Epcot’s “Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind” ride should be. They then review some of the more short-lived rides, shows & attraction at the Disney theme parks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by talking about the FastPass-related changes that will be coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting on February 19th. Then Jim Hill looks back at the history of what was once considered the gateway to Future World, Epcot’s Communicore / Innoventions area. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by sharing his thoughts about “Awesome Planet,” “Canada: Far and Wide” as well as the “Beauty & the Beast Sing-along.” Jim Hill then talks about the carousel theater show that was originally supposed to be the centerpiece attraction at World Showcase’s Japan pavilion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts out this week’s show by revealing how Disney World is using an upcoming Free Dining promotion to deliberately steer people away from visiting that Resort over the long Fourth of July Weekend. Then Jim Hill talks about the Imagineers kept circling back on a certain set of ideas when it came to Epcot’s long-in-development Space pavilion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by sharing some surveys that Disney Dish listeners have recently received. Then Jim Hill looks ahead to the coming year and talks about what 2020 will bring to the Disney Parks & Resorts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s episode by revealing how TouringPlans actually cracked Priceline’s code when it came to unnamed WDW resorts. Then Jim Hill talks about the living nativity that used to be a holiday highpoint at the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by sharing his impressions of the latest Disney Vacation Club property to open at Walt Disney World. Then Jim Hill shares the history of the hotel that shares this space with WDW’s Riviera Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this show by talking about the challenges that WDW Guests still face if they want to experience DHS’ “Star Wars: The Rise of the Resistance” attraction in the coming weeks. Then Jim Hill does a deep dive on the history of CircleVision 360 at the Disney theme parks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa shares his experiences from both the press event for “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance” as well as opening day for this new Disney’s Hollywood Studios attraction. He then offers his advice on how to increase your chances of actually getting to experience this ambitious ride while the Imagineers work out its kinks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First Len Testa previews some of the cutting-edge tech that will possibly power Guest interactions at WDW’s “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” resort. Then Jim Hill talks about how the Imagineers have tweaked the “Snow White and her Adventures” attraction since this dark ride first opened at Disneyland Park back in July of 1955. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by discussing how a patent Disney Parks & Resorts recently filed may eventually impact classic attractions like Space Mountain. Then Jim talks about some of the newer holiday offerings he enjoyed during a recent visit to the Walt Disney World Resort Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by talking about how Leslie Iwerks' “Imagineering” documentary series on Disney+ is a must-see for theme park fans. They then discuss why the construction of Hyperion Wharf (i.e., the Downtown Disney renewal project that was originally supposed to replace Pleasure Island) never went forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by discussing how Disney & Las Vegas’ never-ending battle for your tourism dollars would up impacting Epcot’s “Space 220” restaurant. Then Jim walks listeners through WDI’s 66-year-old long struggle to get a Mickey Mouse-themed ride built at a Disney theme park Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by discussing why Disney Parks & Resorts is exploring the idea of a subscription-based service and/or a loyalty program out ahead of WDW’s 50th anniversary celebration. Then Len & Jim look back at that WDW holiday favorite, the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/adchoices

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 choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 for the Company’s theme parks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by discussing what’s significant about that new Disney Cruise Line survey which is currently making the rounds. Jim then talks about how the Imagineers keep trying to get the theme park-going public to embrace an attraction that features binaural sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off by talking about how “Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy” will use promotion to try & overcome its unfortunate, out-of-the-way positioning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They also talk about a patent that The Walt Disney Company has recently filed which Mouse House managers hope will get Guests to look up from the screens on their iPhones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s episode by talking about Disney Villains After Hours, that new hard ticket for WDW’s Magic Kingdom which will be offered on select nights in June, July & August. They also do a deeper dive on that Universal Parks & Resorts survey which offers some clues about what sorts of rides, shows & attractions are possibly in the mix for Universal Orlando’s Fantastic Worlds theme park Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa & Jim Hill start off this week’s show by discussing how The Walt Disney Company is still struggling with “Song of the South.” Jim then continues his Chronological Disneyland series by revealing why the Rockets Rods went down for rehab in September of 2000 and never re-opened Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this episode with an enthusiastic review of Disney Spring’s latest addition, Jaleo by José Andrés. Len & Jim then share a survey that Universal Parks & Resorts is using to zero in on just the right mix of rides, shows & attractions for Theme Park No. 4 (i.e., Universal’s Fantastic Worlds) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Len Testa starts off this week’s show by dissecting Disney World’s latest round of ticket price increases and what that will mean for Resort Guests in the coming months. Jim Hill then talks about the behind-the-scenes decisions that led to the Company recently revealing that “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” would open in Anaheim on May 31st and in Orlando on August 29th a_edr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices