Uncle Walt's Insider Marty, Author at Uncle Walt's Insider

Six Flags "cast member" Luka Fisher, 22.

Six Flags employee pretends he’s a Disney cast member

Six Flags of Texas employee Luka Fisher loves his job. He just wishes it were somewhere else -- specifically, at one of Walt Disney World's four Florida theme parks. And often, in his head, that's exactly where he is. "I grew up loving Disney," Fisher tells us. "My family even visited Walt Disney World a couple of times when I was in elementary school. And my parents will tell you, once I visited there, I wanted to live there. Not just in ...

Paradise Pier at Disney California Adventure Park, soon to be Pixar Pier. Photo by Carlyc999 via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

New “Pixar Pier” to be entirely computer rendered

Most of the former Paradise Pier area at Disney California Adventure Park has been closed, ostensibly to convert it to "Pixar Pier," a celebration of that animation studio's biggest hits. However, Uncle Walt's Insider has learned that the new land will actually be digitally rendered in real time, rather than constructed usually traditional techniques. Falling short of Paradise Paradise Pier was one of California Adventure's original lands -- and one that drew heavy criticism from Disney purists. Up until the park's 2001 opening, ...

January 15, 2018 by Marty in California

The on-again, off-again Earfful Tower at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Earfful Tower to return “seasonally” – News Brief for Jan. 14

Na'vi protest lack of cast members Representatives of the Na'vi people from Pandora have filed a written protest with the administration of the Walt Disney World Resort, saying that the Na'vi should be hired as cast members in the new Pandora - the World of Avatar land at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. The protest letter notes that in the past, Walt Disney World has staffed its various pavilions and hotels representing different countries and areas of the world with cast members ...

January 14, 2018 by Marty in California, Florida

Newsies, a Disney Theatrical Production under the direction of Thomas Schumacher presents Newsies, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein, starring Dan Deluca (Jack Kelly), Steve Blanchard (Joseph Pulitzer), Stephanie Styles (Katherine Plumber), Angela Grovey (Medda), Jacob Kemp (Davey), Zachary Sayle (Crutchie), Anthony Rosenthal or Vincent Crocilla (Les) and Matthew J. Schechter (Les) under the direction of Jeff Calhoun, choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, North American Tour premiere Thursday October 30 Philadelphia.

Lost attractions: Newsies-themed roller coaster

"Lost Attractions" is a recurring feature on Uncle Walt's Insider, where we shine the spotlight on planned attractions that were never built. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Disney's Magic Kingdom Park in Florida is an unqualified success, remaining tremendously popular and generating lengthy standby queues almost four years after its debut. But until now, only a select few people knew that Mine Train's unique roller coaster / dark ride combination was not original, but was based on an unbuilt attraction originally ...

January 10, 2018 by Marty in Spotlight

Unopened Russian theme park most visited in the world – News Brief for Jan. 7

Texas teen tries to find a "Last Airbender" ride in Pandora - Land of Avatar Most guests at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park have been dazzled by the park's new Pandora - The World of Avatar area, and particularly its two blockbuster attractions, Avatar: Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey -- but not Tyler Roth. Roth, a 16-year-old high school student from Round Rock, Texas, is a "huge fan" of Avatar: The Last Airbender ("the TV series and comic books, not ...

January 7, 2018 by Marty in California, Florida, World