A love letter to the best bar at Disneyland www.latimes.com/travel/newsl...

Want to feel more loved? You’re probably going about it the wrong way www.latimes.com/lifestyle/st...

Soarin' Across America. When your IP is the United States in 2026, it raises some potentially uncomfortable questions. www.latimes.com/travel/newsl...

On this week's Disney Dish: - Muppets RnRC, and Soarin' reviews! - LA Times writer @toddmartens.bsky.social joins us to talk new Galaxy's Edge timelines and what it's like to cover theme parks. - A Magic Kingdom survey that might hint at what's next to go. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

The makeover of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is a win. www.latimes.com/travel/newsl...

For Bob Baker Marionette Theater, ‘Choo Choo Revue’ is more than a show. It’s a statement www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Trigger warning: Disney adults. I generally try not to respond to the ‘discourse,’ but media/social media keeps obsessing over Disney adults and keeps getting everything wrong. www.latimes.com/travel/newsl...

With this year being the 100th anniversary of Route 66, we look at one of the most loving odes to the road: Disney’s Cars Land. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

An obituary, of sorts, for the ambitions of Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, once pitched as the most revolutionary theme park land ever. www.latimes.com/travel/newsl...

I had mixed feelings about last year’s Fan Fest but found this year’s event to be vastly improved! www.latimes.com/travel/newsl...

Fresh from a winning performance at Coachella, the Bob Baker Marionettes have some major news to share. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

My favorite event of the year returns, with an all star lineup of participating companies. Get a taste of what LA immersive has to offer, with preview tickets starting at just $25!

Theme parks are art, cultural institutions as vital to Southern California as Griffith Park, Dodger Stadium and the Getty. That’s one reason we’re launching a theme park newsletter. Welcome to Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride! www.latimes.com/newsletters/...

Long been an admirer of former Imagineer Nikkolas Smith. Was happy to talk with him about social justice art and injecting meaning into his Downtown Disney tower. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Legoland has an adorable new grown-up-ish coaster www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Yes, the cars on the Fast and Furious coaster look neat, but how long is the ride? www.latimes.com/travel/story...

One of the nice things about living in downtown L.A. is our community's resident artists, so to speak. I've been following the work of S.C. Mero since I moved down here a decade ago, and am a big fan of her mix of magical realism and social commentary. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

A home for those who have rolled a 20-sided die, once looked up the meaning of the Tower card or just enjoyed a viewing of “The Lord of the Rings.” www.latimes.com/travel/story...

@toddmartens.bsky.social brings the good stuff again.

“Brassroots District: LA ’74” is part concert, part participatory theater and part experiment, attempting to intermix an evening of dancing and jubilation with high-stakes drama. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

“Asses.masses” is theater for the post-Twitch age, performance art for those weaned on “The Legend of Zelda” or “Pokémon.” Most important, it’s entertainment as political dissent for these divisive times. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

New film on Disney+ reveals the frenzied race against time to build Disneyland www.latimes.com/lifestyle/st...

Griffith Park’s old zoo is a “beacon for spiritual phenomenon” in “Ghosts in the Machine,” an augmented reality experience. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Surviving cultural, technological and bureaucratic shifts, Children’s Fairyland has become the little park that could, its durability a statement of defiance in our fast-paced, divisive world. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Disneyland pivots on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Huge thanks to @toddmartens.bsky.social for writing such a thoughtful appreciation of my new project OUT OF THE ASHES that I am co-directing with Nonny de la Peña. Tomorrow night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion we'll be showing excerpts from the project along with a host of other activations.

New VR documentary puts you in the devastation of the L.A. fires — and might help you heal www.latimes.com/lifestyle/st...

Destined to open in late 2026 at West L.A.’s Howard Hughes entertainment complex, Meow Wolf has kept much of its plan for Los Angeles under wraps. Until now. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Great summation of the extraordinary life of Eddie Sotto! He was lightning in a bottle!

An obituary/remembrance for Eddie Sotto, a designer who shaped modern theme parks. Thank you to the former Walt Disney Imagineers who contributed. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

A reminder that there’s no wrong way to play “D&D.”

Been meaning to make it back to @WDFMuseum. Now I have a great excuse: www.latimes.com/travel-exper... via @toddmartens.bsky.social

Do you enjoy theme parks? Watch this documentary, which does an excellent job of portraying the artistry behind these spaces. Full disclosure, I’m in it, but I couldn’t be more thrilled with what the team accomplished and I thank them for interviewing me.

I was lucky enough to get to interview Jay Stein a year ago. He was as fiery as I had hoped. Here’s a story about how he changed all theme parks forever. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Dinner theater, reimagined. “Family Meal” is a pricey but special show. Immersive theater for those weaned on the likes of Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential,” “The Bear” and other high-energy, behind-the-scene looks at the restaurant business. www.latimes.com/lifestyle/st...

Amanda Shires’ ‘Nobody’s Girl’ is one of the year’s most honest explorations of heartbreak www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

The creator of "The Jejune Institute," a crucial modern immersive text, is back with a new experience in "The Cortege." It's an exploration of grief and community via the ancient art of the procession. But is it immersive? Designer Jeff Hull is conflicted www.latimes.com/travel/story...

All the cool kids love theme parks www.latimes.com/travel/story...

“You can make every month horrific.” Universal Horror Unleashed, a Halloween-style haunt opening this month in Las Vegas, is betting big that audiences are craving year-round frights. The belief is that guests today are craving a darker sort of fairy tale. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Laguna Beach’s Museum of Make Believe, a 1,000-square-foot love letter to fairy tales, is a fantastical, mystical wonderland, where fables of lost love, ghostly pets and irresistible avarice are told via miniature installations and ornate, storybook art. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

My colleague @toddmartens.bsky.social looks back on 70 years at "the happiest place on Earth," Disneyland www.latimes.com/travel/story...

The Nintendo Switch 2 is a refinement rather than a reinvention. Is that enough? www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

‘He’s ours.’ Walt Disney’s granddaughter takes a stand against Disneyland’s ‘robotic grandpa.’ www.latimes.com/lifestyle/st...

"“When you’re not evaluating it against some kind of standard,” says Blackley, “you can be a kid again.” A fun article about @seamus.bsky.social and @a-sure-thing.bsky.social's attempts to grow cacao and make chocolate in LA, by @toddmartens.bsky.social.

Too much happiness can be oppressive. Disneyland's 70th launches today, and by the end of its new “World of Color Happiness!,” I found myself wanting to scream at "Inside Out's" Joy: Just leave me alone and let me be down. www.latimes.com/travel/story....

It ‘keeps Walt alive in the medium he pioneered’: Imagineers defend new Walt Disney robot www.latimes.com/travel/story...

My dream of working in animation was dashed at an early age — 8, to be exact — when I failed at drawing a Mickey Mouse in this WDW animation class. But I appreciate that I ambitiously signed it

Loved seeing a Beholder at Uni’s Fan Fest Nights. My father was a TSR exec and I had a lot of nostalgic feels here. Unfortunately the ambitious event is a mixed bag of experiences. Uni wants to elevate the haunt maze to theater, but did not fully commit to it. Hope to see it improve in the future.

As someone who loves a good Disney monorail, it's always a joy to catch up with Bob Gurr. We touched on the new Walt animatronic ("There will be quite a reaction"), the cultural temperature (Trump is a "bully") and more. www.latimes.com/travel/story...

It may not be Star Trek: The Experience, but I’ll take it. www.latimes.com/travel/story...