Sooner or later every mega-popular movie franchise gets its own theme park attraction, and the latest honors go to Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks’ blockbuster Transformers series. Last night during the Super Bowl a TV spot premiered for the new Universal Studios Hollywood movie-based attraction Transformers: The Ride 3D.

You can check out the video here below.

The ride also has an official website called Prepare for Battle where you view “Intel Videos,” get e-mail updates, and play a special online game. [...]

Disneyland fan Brad Chowen, of Brad’s Disneyland Blog, went last month to Trader Sam’s, an Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA. While there to view the bar’s holiday decorations, he spotted some Indiana Jones-themed artifacts.

Encased in glass was the Indiana Jones voodoo doll seen in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, along with a letter from one of the film’s characters, Short Round, to “Sam” with instructions to destroy the item so it won’t hurt Dr. Jones anymore [...]

Disney has released a photo-realistic image of their upcoming Cars-themed ride, Radiator Springs Racers, which will open later this year at Disney’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim, CA. Check out the full, larger image here below.

Radiator Springs Racers, which has the same ride system as Disney World’s Test Track, will be located in Cars Land, a 12-acre land within California Adventure Park. The ride takes up 6 acres of that space and is the largest attraction at the Disneyland Resort [...]

The Star Tours attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios had its grand opening 22 years ago today on January 13, 1990.

Disney Parks Blog posted a photo from taken in 1989 of the 35-foot AT-AT at the entrance of the Star Wars-themed attraction, which was still under construction at the time [...]

Dave3 and I are heading off for a much-needed vacation to Disney World in Orlando, FL, and if you remember from last year, we shared our experiences with you along the way and sent out some postcards and souvenirs.

Well, we’re doing it again! If you’d like a postcard from us from Disney World, just follow the instructions below to enter this contest. We’ll select 25 people at random to receive a postcard (mailed out to you from Disney World) and then one of those winners will receive a special grand prize — a surprise souvenir from Disney World!

Since we want to actually send the postcards from Disney World, we’re making the contest only a few days long, so be sure to enter right away, and DEFINITELY let us know your favorite things about Disney in the contest entry form in the “Optional Comments” section — this will help us pick out a postcard theme most suited to you (if possible – I’ll try my best!).

25 Winners will each receive:

- One (1) Postcard from Disney World

One (1) Grand Prize Winner

- One (1) Disney World Souvenir [...]

The new year also happens to be a Leap Year, which means we’ll magically get get an extra day this year on February 29, 2012.

In honor of Leap Day this year, Disney has announced their One More Disney Day promotion where both the Magic Kingdom theme park at Disney World in Orlando, FL, and the Disneyland park at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, will stay open for 24 hours straight on Leap Day! [...]

One year I was lucky enough to spend New Year’s Eve in Orlando, FL, at Disney World’s Pleasure Island, the nightclub are where there’s a NYE-style countdown and fireworks display every night. It’s an amazing place to be to bring in the new year.

Check out the video here below from spotlighting some fireworks displays at the Disney Parks throughout the last 40 years; there’s also a video of some of the highlights from last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration at Disneyland’s California Adventure Park theme park (in Anaheim, CA) [...]

One of my places to see the holiday sights is at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Not only are the decorations through the theme parks spectacular, but so are the displays through the entire Resort (meaning, the many hotels located on Disney propriety inside the “World”).

Each resort really does it up nicely, and typically has a giant gingerbread and chocolate display. And if there’s one way to get my attention, it’s to create something cool out of gingerbread and/or chocolate.

JeffLangeDVD has posted a bunch of videos to YouTube of the edible holiday displays at the Disney World Resort, like the Gingerbread Carousel at Disney’s Beach Club that actually spins! [...]

It took paper artist Paul Jackson three weeks’ times and 50,000 folds of paper to recreate Disneyland Paris’ Sleeping Beauty Castle and the results are awesome.

After four weeks of planning for the project, Jackson used 20 different paper-folding techniques to create a 10-foot “pop-up” origami sculpture at the Pancras International station in London, England, where it’s currently on display [...]

Universal Studios announced on Friday on their Facebook page that their Orlando, Florida resort will be closing the Jaws-themed area and water ride Captain Jake’s Amity Boat Tours on January 2, 2012.

The ride, which was inspired by the Jaws portion of the Universal Studios Hollywood resort’s backlot tram experience, has been in operation since the Orlando resort opened in June 1990 at a cost of $65 million [...]

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the elaborate attraction based on the popular film franchise that has drawn more than 7 million people to Universal Studios Orlando, is about bring its Sunshine State to the West Coast. Universal is currently finalizing a deal with Harry Potter film distributor and licensing rights holder Warner Bros. to build a replica of the Wizarding World attraction at their theme park in Hollywood, CA [...]

Everyone loves to have fun on Halloween, even the animals at Disney World‘s Animal Kingdom park, who were given a special treat today in honor of the holiday: pumpkins!

Check out the video here below of the various species of wildlife being playful with their Mickey-themed pumpkin treats before chowing down on them.

Seriously, this is one of the cutest things you’ll watch today: an elephant playing soccer with its pumpkin; bats grabbing at tiny gourds, a tiger pawing at his new snack, and much more [...]

In 1963, Disneyland Records released an album called Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House which contained narrated creepy “haunted house” sound effects taken from the Disney Studios library, with explosions, spooky ghost sounds, attacking birds, and more.

Disney Parks Blog has posted a short video sample of the album, which you can check out here below [...]

You may have seen this coming, but it’s being reported that Disney Parks, James Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox have come to an agreement that will see Disney Parks creating theme parks based on Cameron’s Avatar, the biggest movie ever made.

The first thing up will be at Walt Disney World within the Animal Kingdom where it’s assumed a little piece of Pandora will be built “with emphasis on living in harmony with nature.” Construction on the first park is planned for sometime in 2013.

Of the huge deal, Cameron said “Avatar created a world which audiences can discover again and again and now, through this incredible partnership with Disney, we’ll be able to bring Pandora to life like never before. With two new Avatar films currently in development, we’ll have even more locations, characters and stories to explore. I’m chomping at the bit to start work with Disney’s legendary Imagineers to bring our Avatar universe to life. Our goal is to go beyond current boundaries of technical innovation and experiential storytelling, and give park goers the chance to see, hear, and touch the world of Avatar with an unprecedented sense of reality.” [...]

For decades, Trekkies everywhere have surely fantasized about a special place dedicated to the world of Gene Roddenberry‘s legendary creation, Star Trek. A place where they could escape their own boring lives, and become their favorite Trek characters for a day or two.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, just such a place is on its way…though there’s a bit of a catch that comes with it.

As it turns out, Jordan’s King Abdullah II once appeared in a non–speaking role on Star Trek: Voyager while he was still a prince (you can see it here), and he remains to this day a massive, massive Trekkie. So much so that he’s willing and ready to drop a chunk of the jaw–dropping $1.5 billion cost to make the theme park a reality. [...]

If you’ve been to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Florida recently, you’ve seen that the Fantasyland area is under heavy construction — that’s because the area is currently undergoing a major expansion that will nearly double the size of the original Fantasyland.

One of the main objectives of the expansion is to add a whole bunch of new Beauty and the Beast-themed attractions, eateries, and architecture, including Beast’s Castle!

Check out the image here below, via Disney Parks Blog, that provides a sneak peek of Beast’s Castle, which will house the Be Our Guest restaurant, scheduled to open in late 2012. The restaurant is said to “offer a lavish dining experience in the castle’s elegant ballroom, gallery and mysterious “west-wing.” Eventually, other Beauty and the Beast-themed buildings will open around the Castle, like Gaston’s Tavern, Bonjour! Village Gifts, and the cottage of Belle’s father, Maurice. And of course, there will be a meet-and-greet with Belle and her friends [...]

Disney announced today the addition of three new ports and unique itineraries for the Disney Cruise Line that will open in 2012.

The new port cities are New York, NY; Seattle, WA; and Galveston, TX. The Disney Magic will sail 20 cruises from NY beginning on May 25, 2012 and will have three itinerary options. The Disney Wonder will sail 7-night Alaskan cruises from Seattle beginning May 28, 2012; and beginning September 22, 2012, the Disney Magic will sail 7-night cruises from Galveston to the Western Caribbean.

See below for more details on the itinerary options. Bookings for the new 2012 itineraries open on April 8, 2011 by phone [calling Disney Cruise Line at (888) DCL-2500] and through disneycruise.com [...]

Universal Studios Hollywood has officially announced that Jimmy Fallon will be their brand new virtual host on the famed Studio Tour, which over 150 million people have taken part in.

Fallon will be introducing and setting up videos that will play on the new HD screens that are now part of the tram cars after some major high-tech upgrades were unleashed on the park, including the insane new 3D King Kong experience.

On his new gig, Fallon said, “We really had fun with filming my role. We brought some writers out from our show and added some jokes, more play with the Studio Tour guides, the tram drivers and we added a song or two. The tour itself is a classic, a really great experience. For anyone with any interest in show business, it’s all there: the glamor, the glitz, all the hard work that goes into making a movie or a TV show can be experienced on the Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour. I’m very happy to be a part of it.” [...]

Disneyland Park will be showing an exclusive sneak peek of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Beginning on March 25, 2011, visitors to the California theme park can check out an extended 3D film sequence of the upcoming fourth Pirates movie, due out in theaters on May 20, 2011.

Catch the “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Sneak Peek” on weekend nights from March 25 to May 30, and seven nights a week from April 15 through May 1. Check the park’s Showtimes guide for daily show times [...]

A new interactive queue is coming to The Haunted Mansion attraction at Magic Kingdom Park at Disney World Resort in Florida.

Disney Parks Blog has released a video sneak peek at the ride’s queue, which you can watch here below.

If you’ve ever visited this popular haunted attraction, you’ll recall seeing grave stones and other spooky elements throughout the queue that leads to the ride. Now, the Imagineers at Disney have taken some of those familiar elements and placed them throughout the area, and they’ve also added new features that not only introduced never-been-used concepts, but also make them interactive [...]