For more than 40 years, Cinderella’s Castle has stood tall as the Magic Kingdom’s most indisputably iconic landmark. At 190 feet high (and cleverly designed to look even taller), the castle has dazzled millions of visitors with its polished stone walls and 27 turrets which strike an elegant silhouette against the expansive Florida sky.

Cinderella's Castle, photograph by Valerie Champagne

The castle’s central location – where Main Street ends and the Magic Kingdom’s six lands converge – has guaranteed that Cinderella and her Prince reign as the supreme royals of Walt Disney’s Florida kingdom. Of course, they’ve never had any real competition. Until now.

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If you’ve never seen a spectacle of five million brilliant lights dancing in sync with beloved holiday songs, then you’ve never experienced Christmas at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park.

Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, photograph by Samantha McElhaney

Disney first acquired the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights in 1995 from Jennings Osborne, an Arkansas family man who designed the holiday display for his young daughter. Over the years, the residential display grew increasingly more popular – and elaborate – attracting thousands of visitors every year until a court case initiated by overwhelmed, angry neighbors forced the family to shut it down.

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When it comes to thrilling attractions, Epcot might not rank highly on the Walt Disney World theme park scale (Test Track and Soarin’ are standout exceptions), but what Epcot lacks in rides, it makes up for in sheer square footage and seasonal events that draw thousands of visitors every year.

2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival, photograph by Samantha McElhaney

For more than six weeks in the fall of 2012, Epcot hosted its 17th Annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival which featured mouthwatering edibles and thirst-quenching drinkables from more than 20 countries worldwide.

During the 46 day festival, park visitors were encouraged to “Taste Your Way Around the World“, by visiting Epcot’s expansive World Showcase International Marketplace and sampling delicacies from around the world. 2012′s Marketplace featured booths dedicated to the cuisines of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Caribbean, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hawaii, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Poland, Scandinavia, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea.

Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=3041

Three days ago, Disney Animation Studio’s 52nd feature, Wreck-It Ralph, debuted in theaters at the top of the domestic box office, earning $49 million domestically and a total of $61 million worldwide. The film was released only four weeks after Disney’s last animated feature, the stop-motion Frankenweenie from director Tim Burton.

Promotional image for Disney Animation Studio's Wreck-It-Ralph, image copyright Disney

Even since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) defied expectations with its wildly successful theatrical debut, critics have predicted the demise of Disney animated films. Walt Disney Animation Studios has suffered setbacks several times over its 80 year history, from suspended animation during World War II, to the studio’s decline in quality and popularity in the 1970s, to the massive layoff of animation staff in 2000.

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In the fall of 2009, the Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion dollars, transferring control of Marvel’s comic book and movie library to Disney, along with a library of 5,000 characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Daredevil, and Captain America.

Logos from Various Marvel Superhero Franchises

This summer, Disney released the blockbuster megahit, Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), which grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide, and the studio has several more Marvel films in production, including Iron Man 3 (2013), sequels to Thor (2013), Captain America (2014), and The Avengers (2015), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), a film starring that OTHER team of Marvel superheros: Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, and Gamora. Never heard of them? Me either!

Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=2999