By Keith Mahne

What you are about to see is extremely special! It's the Disney University film that was used for new cast member orientations at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, The Disney Studio, WED Enterprises and other Disney facilities, from the early 1970's through the late 1980's. The film is a testament to a time when the Disney company understood and honored the traditions, values and standards of quality upon which it was founded. Knowing that every single cast member tasked with carrying on Walt Disney's vision for his company during this time watched this video is what makes seeing this so significant. Continue after the page break as we watch the Disney University film Disney Traditions...

Disney Avenue is extremely excited to kick off our very first raffle to support the Walt Disney Birthplace. This is your chance to win a magical evening with Jodi Benson, the voice of the Little Mermaid and support a great cause! Starting now until June 30th, we are offering you raffle tickets to have dinner with this amazing Disney Legend. Find out all the details and grab your raffle tickets now after the page break...

By Keith Mahne

The year was 1964, Walt, through a variety of dummy corporations, secretly began buying large areas of land, sparking speculation about the identity of the mystery buyer. At the time, the average price for an acre of land was roughly $185. Howard Hughes, General Motors, General Electric, U.S. Steel, Boeing, and just about every other major corporation was under suspicion as the mystery buyer. There was even a group who believed it was the Mafia buying land in order to hide bodies in the swampland or to build a casino. While this mystery continued to escalate, Disney had to respond fast and so a major press conference was scheduled. Continue after the page break for the story behind the Florida Press Conference...

By Keith Mahne

As you probably know by now, we always like to fill you in when we add new music to the Disney Avenue Music Player. Today, I've added an album that I think you're really going to enjoy. Continue after the page break and have a listen...

By Keith Mahne

Welcome back to another Motion Monday article! This week we'll see Marc Davis explaining the “elongating stretching room” in the Haunted Mansion for the Disneyland Tenth Anniversary Show in 1965. It's a wonderful moment in time and a perfect fit for Disney Avenue's Motion Monday segment! Have a look after the page break...

By Keith Mahne

On March 5, 1983, the original Journey Into Imagination attraction debuted in FutureWorld at Epcot, introducing guests to Dreamfinder, Figment and a lovely little song titled “One Little Spark.” In today's article, we'll take a look back at the original Journey Into Imagination attraction as it appeared in 1983...

By Keith Mahne

Have you ever seen every single Walt Disney Animation movie posters before? Let me just tell you that they are all beautiful, especially the older ones! From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Frozen, we are about to see the first-run theatrical poster for every movie released by the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Are you ready? Continue after the page break and let's have a look...

Welcome to the April 2015 episode of the Disney Avenue Podcast! This month we have legendary animator Floyd Norman joining us. Though he prefers to be called a “cartoonist,” few other artists working in animation today can boast a career as varied as that of Floyd Norman. From the 1950s to today, Floyd’s diverse career, insightful viewpoint, and unflinching honesty have truly made him a Disney Legend. Have a listen to this amazing interview with an animation legend after the page break...

By Daisy Sparks

Last weekend, an exclusive and extended preview of the upcoming movie, Tomorrowland , began its run at the Tomorrowland Theater (also known as the Magic Eye Theater). The theater previously hosted previews for Big Hero 6 and Guardians of the Galaxy. This movie really ties into the area so it makes perfect sense that a special preview is being shown in this particular venue. Let's have a look at what's being done at the Tomorrowland Theater for the Tomorrowland movie in this week's Walk in the Park article...

By Sam Vlas

Try to imagine, just for a moment… a world where one is surrounded by giant heaps of popcorn, aggressive bees, Dining Plans and late night shifts. That was the amazing world of Outdoor Foods in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. A place filled with kernels, cheese and the craziest nuts… Let’s continue where we left off...

By Keith Mahne

Today, I'd like to share with you one of the best vintage Walt Disney World commercials around. It's undoubtedly one of the best most heartwarming commercials ever produced for Walt Disney World (circa mid-1970s) by Eastern Airlines, who sponsored the Tomorrowland attraction "If You Had Wings" from 1972-1987. Have a look after the page break...

By Keith Mahne

It's Monday again and that can only mean one thing...it's time for another Motion Monday article! This week we'll take a look back at when Mary Poppins became a member of the Disneyland family of characters. Walt Disney was a huge fan of the Mary Poppins character. In the Disneyland Tenth Anniversary Show (1965) he stated “From now on no Disneyland Celebration is going to be complete without Mary Poppins.” Have a look as Mary makes her entrance after the page break...

By Keith Mahne

I'd like to share with you Walt Disney's last radio interview from September 1966. It's from a South African radio program recorded at the Burbank Disney Studio and Disneyland between Lesley Steyn and Walt Disney. It's an interesting mixture of music and interviews that also include the Sherman Brothers and Disneyland Ambassador, Connie Swanson. Have a listen after the page break...

By Keith Mahne

I'm thrilled to inform you that I have just added 36 new songs to the Disney Avenue Music Player. On my recent trip to Walt Disney World, I picked up a couple of really wonderful new Disney CDs. After listening to them, I immediately thought that I had to include them in our music player. Continue after the page break and let's have a look and listen to our new music additions...

By Keith Mahne

Mary Blair, oh my God where to start?! Mary Blair was an artist who was prominent in producing art and animation for Walt Disney, drawing concept art for such films as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South and Cinderella. Blair also created character designs for enduring attractions such as Disneyland’s ’It’s a Small World’, the fiesta scene in ‘El Rio del Tiempo’ for the Mexico pavilion at Epcot‘s World Showcase, and an enormous mosaic inside Disney’s Contemporary Resort. We often hear about "Walt's Nine Old Men", but if you ask me, the title should be "Walt's Nine Old Men and the Sweetheart" as Mary could hang with the best of them! Let's reflect on the art and flair of Mary Blair in today's new article...

By Keith Mahne

One of my favorite parts of the Haunted Mansion is when you hear that good ol' music coming from the Graveyard Band. As someone who loves to peek behind the curtain, let's do just that in today's article and catch a close look at the band and even their back up singers, the Crypt Kitties. Continue after the page break and check it out...

By Krista Joy

Let’s take a walk around Disney Springs to check out some of the new storefronts, Goofy’s Candy Company, the awesome new amphicars at The Boathouse, and top it all off with a flight in the largest helium balloon in the world! We'll see all this and more in this week's Walk in the Park article...

By Keith Mahne

Epcot is the second of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. It opened as EPCOT Center on October 1, 1982, and spans 300 acres, more than twice the size of the Magic Kingdom park. It is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely technological innovation and international culture, and is often referred to as a "Permanent World's Fair." Many Disney fans are fascinated with the original EPCOT Center, myself included, and long for the day it returns to its original goals of being a demonstration and proving ground for prototype concepts, a ongoing forum of the future, a communicator to the world, and most importantly, being a permanent international people-to-people exchange by advancing the cause of world understanding among its citizens. Will this day ever return? We can only dream, however we can, here today, step back into the past and remember what the beginning of EPCOT Center was like...

By Keith Mahne

Did Walt Disney receive a dishonorable discharge from the military during World War I? Is it true he hung that dishonorable discharge letter in his office upside down? You hear these claims being made about Uncle Walt all the time, but are they true? To find out the real answers to these questions we need to first know the entire story. We need to go back to 1918 and examine the facts and that's just what we'll do in today's new article...

By Keith Mahne

This week's Motion Monday article has a look back at the legendary animator Ward Kimball. In it we'll see Ward animating Goofy in The Reluctant Dragon (1941). Continue after the page break and have a look...

By Keith Mahne

Many audio and video biographies of Walt Disney have pulled clips or sound bytes from this 1963 interview conducted by Fletcher Markle, an actor-announcer-writer-producer-director who had just finished directing Walt Disney’s The Incredible Journey. There are few cutaways to Markle during the single-camera interview; the focus stays on Walt in long takes, making the conversation a rare and illuminating glimpse of Disney in his 60’s. I really love this interview because one can almost replace them self with the interviewer to get a good idea of what it would be like to sit in a room, one-on-one with Walt and have a conversation about his life. Here now is the full Fletcher Markle interview of Walt Disney which seems to be pretty hard to find these days. Enjoy friends...

By Keith Mahne

What is it about seeing a Disney attraction with the lights on that gets us Disney fans all excited? For me, it's getting to see our favorite experiences in a whole new way. It also allows us to see the extreme detail the Imagineers produce in creating these marvelous scenes like no other company can. (except maybe with Harry Potter, although most of Universal Creative are ex-Imagineers) Today, we'll get an up close and personal look at Spaceship Earth during an evacuation and also with the lights on. Let's get to it, shall we...

By Keith Mahne

Don't you just love seeing old Disneyland maps? I know I sure do! Today let's take a look at the evolution of Disneyland's park maps from 1955 to 2015. It's so fun watching the park evolve over the years and what better way to witness that evolution than through it's own park maps! Continue after the page break and take a look...

By Daisy Sparks

The Disneyland castle, Sleeping Beauty Castle has been very busy preparing for its big 60th birthday. Sleeping Beauty Castle might only stand at 77 feet in height but she is the grand dame of all the Disney Park castles. This particular castle is the only one that Walt Disney ever walked through. It was one of the first structures to be completed in 1955 so that it could be a symbol of hopes and dreams for the people working feverishly to meet the opening day deadline. Let's have a look at all the new additions to the Castle as it prepares for the 60th celebration in this week's Walk in the Park article...

By Keith Mahne

The year was 1990, and February of that year a perfect day at Disneyland occurred. An artist/musician by the name of Chris Zabriskie is about to share with us an extremely heartfelt VHS tape which ‘miraculously never wore out’. After you see this you'll understand what I mean by "a perfect day at Disneyland." I warn you now, this VHS tape your about to see WILL provoke emotions! Have a look at this "perfect day" after the page break...

By Kristina Brandt

With the Walt Disney World Flower and Garden Festival continuing in Epcot until May 17, 2015, parks guests can experience extra Disney magic by wandering through character-inspired topiaries and beautiful landscapes. But did you know you don’t have to be a horticulture expert to bring Disney magic to your own garden? Now that Spring is here it’s the perfect opportunity to get your garden ready with some inspiration from your favorite Disney characters. All it takes is some creativity and a willingness to get your hands dirty. Continue after the page break to find out more about adding a touch of Disney to your garden...

By Keith Mahne

Welcome back to another Motion Monday article here on Disney Avenue. This week we'll have a look at the Submarine Voyage at Disneyland from the Kodak Presents Disneyland ‘59 special. Have a look after the page break...

By Keith Mahne

The following magically vintage pictures of Disneyland you are about to see, during its opening year of 1955, will surely make you wish you had a time machine! There may be a few you've seen before, but some are really seldom seen (like the one pictured above). However, all of them are stunning and bring with them a wonderful sense of nostalgia that us Disneyland fans love. Continue after the page break for 18 absolutely wonderful photos of Disneyland from 1955...

By EPCOT Explorer

History pops up in the most unusual places, from time to time.

In comparing photos and videos, I’ve come to notice that the Enchanted Tiki Room’s figures have undergone a colorful transformation of sorts over the years. While this isn’t exactly a scientific study (I hope to expand my findings, in the future) what is here is a interesting look at the artistic changes made on the tikis over the years. See what I mean after the page break...

By Krista Joy

Spring is in the air at Walt Disney World! There are so many new and wonderful things to see this time of year – it’s hard to stay in just one park! There’s no better time than now to hop (like the Easter Bunny!) around property and get a glimpse at some of the best things that spring has to offer at Walt Disney World! Let's have a look around the resort in this week's Walk in the Park...

By Randy Crane

Kids love petting sheep and goats. Who am I kidding? A lot of adults do too, and this is a great location to do exactly that. Sheep seem cute and cuddly, but have you ever really looked at one? We’ll do just that, especially since we're called “sheep” sometimes, as well. It might be helpful to know what being a sheep means, wouldn't you say? Let's take a closer look at Disneyland's Big Thunder Ranch Petting Zoo and relate it to our lives in today's new article...