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Disneyland Paris For Nerds (A Guide)
Impressions de FranceThis summer I finally got an opportunity to head out to Disneyland Paris, and it had been a long time in coming. I started to become interested in the France park sometime in the...
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Passport to Dreams 2015 Year-End Review
Out And About In The ParksWhile 2015 can hardly be said to be a banner year for changes in the parks at least in terms of the sorts of things Disney heavily promotes - new rides, expansion areas, etc -...
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Walt Disney World History Hub
Welcome! This is a Hub Page on the blog Passport to Dreams Old & New compiling our extensive Walt Disney World historical articles, photos, essays, videos and more into an easy to navigate,...
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Breakfast at the Riverbelle Terrace
Growing up out East, I didn't really have a lot of ideas about what the heck that Disneyland was all about.In a pre-internet world, my only insights into the place - and indeed the mere fact that it...
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Go Away Green: Three Years Later
About three and a half years ago I published a little essay called Go Away Green, discussing the illusionistic aspects of disguising show buildings inside theme parks.What are show buildings? They are...
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Understanding the Adventureland Veranda
Late last year the Skipper Canteen opened at Magic Kingdom's Adventureland, a move which this author enthusiastically endorsed. Yet not everyone was as complimentary as I - almost immediately...
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The Early Music of Liberty Square
Liberty Square remains the Magic Kingdom's most successful area beyond the upper edge of Main Street; it's as small and effortless as it is accomplished and rich. It's as intimate as Magic Kingdom...
View ArticleThe Music of Liberty Square, 1980 - Now
Welcome back to the music of Liberty Square, where this time, it's personal!This week, we'll be wrapping up our look at the music history of Liberty Square, and taking a deep dive into my personal...
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Lake Buena Vista and Shaping Orlando
"Disney is nearer to what people really want than anything architects have ever given them." - Robert Venturi, 1972Historians don't like question marks. Mysteries are reserved for literature, and send...
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Disney Springs and Invented Florida
"The truth of the matter is the only new towns of any significance built in America since World War II are Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Both are 'new',...
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The Ideology of Future World, Part 1
Oh, EPCOT Center, where are you?!It's not the first time this opinion has been voiced, and it surely won't be the last. It's been said so much by now that it's become a cliche... the 30-something EPCOT...
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The Ideology of Future World, Part 2
The Living Seas, 1986Original Sponsor: United TechnologiesOriginal Message: Teaching respect for the ocean's resources, one supposesCurrent Sponsor: --Current Message: Tough to say, but there are...
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A Day at the Columbia Harbour House
When you think about it, visitors to theme parks really never stop moving. We walk from place to place in order to board attractions that whirl us through scenery. Trams, monorails, boats and buses...
View ArticleFun House: A Dark Ride Documentary
There aren't really too many really terrific theme park documentaries out there - at least ones written and produced with an eye towards objectivity and education. There's always been making-of...
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Nine Essential Disney Theme Park Books
You know what everyone loves? Disney books. There's entirewebsites dedicated to them. It's not an uncommon activity on social media to post photos of your growing library. Every year, new and desirable...
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Lost and Found From the Golf Resort
Let's hop on over to the Golf Resort this week for some historical oddities. I had been looking for a reason to put these online, and a recent episode of the Retro Disney World Podcast focusing on the...
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Marc Davis and Pirate Gold
I've spent a lot of time on this blog praising Marc Davis. I've lauded his character design and taste in designing an attraction which few enjoy, Country Bear Jamboree. I've tried to bring attention to...
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Nintendo's Universal Worlds
I grew up with video games. If you asked me at age seven what my favorite place was, after Walt Disney World I would have told you it was the Mushroom Kingdom. Video games are dreamscapes, fantasy...
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Let's Have A Drink On It! Howling Dog Bend
Alright, let's try something new.Besides Disney, one of my hobbies is food and drink. Disney World has always been a dining paradise, but their drinks have never been all that good. Even in the halcyon...
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Making It "Disney"
Recently, I had a reaction to a new restaurant at Walt Disney World that I can not remember having had before. As this blog has (voluminously) shown, I feel no particular need to like everything Disney...
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