Everyone has a favorite scene in Pirates of the Caribbean. For 95% of the theme park public, this scene is either Johnny Depp hiding in a barrel or Johnny Depp fondling a dressmaker mannequin. The remaining 5% have a modicum of good taste. We know the classic iconography. The dog with the keys, the wench […]
Echoes of Aulani
I recently got back from a week on Oahu. For those of you that don’t speak Hawaiian, Oahu is an island whose most famous feature is Pearl Harbor, the site of some obscure bit of American history. If you’ve heard of Pearl Harbor at all, it’s only because Ben Affleck made a movie about it. […]
The Top 10 Disney Elevators
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a great movie. Well, to be more accurate Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a great book that was made into a great movie (re-titled Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory in an early attempt at product placement) that was then remade into a kind of mediocre movie. Sadly author […]
Disney World is for Addicts
If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about something serious that is affecting the parkeology community. It’s the sad dark side to being a Disney park fan: Addiction. This social disease has claimed more than its fair share of Disney bloggers. It’s not something we like to talk about, but I’m afraid it must […]
Another MGM Building
Sorry we’ve been kind of quiet lately. As the dedicated parkeologists that we are, we have been jetting all over the world to bring you hard-hitting articles about Paris, Disneyland, and Hawaii. In other words, we have been vacationing, and trying to figure out if there’s any way we can claim a tax deduction on […]
Stage One Company Store
There’s an old argument among parkeologists about what passes for theming. You can have a themed birthday party, in which kids wear cowboy hats and eat boot-shaped cake and try to lasso the cat. That fits the definition of “theme.” What Disney does is something else, something more story-based (though Imagineering heroes like Marc Davis […]
Hidden Jafar Lives!
Just checking in from my non-stop tracking of all the incredible news breaking loose at the D23 Expo. Apparently we are getting an entirely new section of Fantasyland! And there will be a Seven Dwarfs Mine Car Coaster! And maybe some meet-n-greets or something! Okay, I actually feel a little sad, because there are still […]
A Crack in the Liberty Belle
It has come to my attention that Disney may have been lying to me. It seems that many of the things at the parks have no basis in reality. I mean, besides the wait times listed on that oh-so-helpful tip board (is a little accuracy too much to ask?). Apparently those rifles in Fort Langhorn […]
The Beast That Haunts My Nightmares
It is time for me to finally speak of that which terrifies me in the dark. It is a monster, a foul creature from beyond. I know not from whence it came. I wish it would return to its hellhole and leave me in peace. But my hopes are false. There will be no escape […]