When planning, Imagineers wanted to open up the space and improve access into the land. However, it was important to maintain its overall complexion—with trees and beautiful planters. As shown in this rendering, guests will soon be entering Tomorrowland on a widened pathway lined with elliptical planters that are filled with swirls of colorful flowers. — Disney

Last July, Disney purchased the rights to develop the property at 4 Hudson Square from Trinity Church for $650 million and earlier this year tapped Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to design a new HQ for the media giant. SOM and developer Silverstein Properties have just revealed the first renderings of the project, which will occupy an entire city block and span across 1.2 billion square feet—including retail on the ground floor—and house up to 5,000 employees. — 6sqft

...Climate change is bad for business. But as I’ve seen firsthand, companies that invest in clean energy, engage customers in sustainability efforts and leverage their influence to drive smart policies can turn a downside risk into tangible cost-savings, customer retention and global leadership. — Forbes

The company announced that a new live entertainment venue off the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street will be modeled after KC’s iconic, bygone Willis Wood Theatre.

The original theater opened in 1902 at 11th and Baltimore streets and stretched for a block and a half. It was a cultural hub for the city before it burned down in January 1917. — The Kansas City Star

An original map of the first Disneyland park has fetched £555,838 ($708,000) at an auction in California.

The 1953 drawing was used by Walt Disney to secure funding, after his own studio refused to fund the site.

The artist's impression was given to an employee, and remained out of public view for more than 60 years. — BBC

After her grandparents passed away, Kelly Wise Valdes found a treasure trove of candid pictures taken by her grandfather, Chester "Chet" Wise, a master craftsman and woodworker who worked on the construction of the Magic Kingdom in Florida. [...]

Thousands of construction workers were there during the Magic Kingdom construction. Disney kept a small handful of these master craftsmen and made them full-time Disney employees, and my grandfather was one of the chosen few. — CNN

The policy, limiting building heights of 75 to 240 feet within a half-mile radius of the Disneyland Resort, isn’t meant to keep outsiders from getting a peek at the rides and attractions.

Rather, the Disney Cone is aimed at limiting views of the outside world for the 25 million-plus annual visitors who walk into the parks for a sense of escape and fantasy – just as Walt Disney had first envisioned on Disneyland’s opening day, more than 60 years ago. — ocregister.com

Our world is now ideas driven and our environment needs to be energetic, inspiring and even provocative. Employers also want people to stay longer at work and making the space awesome certainly helps. — The Daily Telegraph

Rumors have been circulating around the internet for a few days, but later this week Banksy is now set to open a new pop-up exhibition entitled "Dismaland" at in Weston-Super-Mare, UK.

The venue is called "Tropicana", a 10,200-square-foot site to be transformed into "Dismaland", a probable attack on American entertainment giant Disney. [...]

As usual with Banksy, the details are very scarce, but earlier this morning Iain Brimecome and Jon Goff were able to fly their drone above the site [...]. — streetartnews.net

Disney raised more questions than it answered at the D23 Expo with the announcement of plans to unveil Star Wars Lands at Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Fla.

Here’s what we know so far: The new 14-acre lands will each feature two attractions set in a remote frontier town on the outer rim of the “Star Wars” galaxy. No opening dates have been set for either the California or Florida projects. — Los Angeles Times

Our combined team has taken huge steps forward in “imagineering” Pandora as a real place for our guests to see, hear and touch. At the first-ever D23 Expo in Japan, we shared an early glimpse of the plans for AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park and I wanted to share some of these breathtaking images and a short preview of what’s to come with all of you. — disneyparks.disney.go.com

Outside of Paris lies a “Truman Show like über-replica of a French village from the last century, which seems to have sprung up overnight.” — fastcodesign.com

I think Magic Kingdom is an exemplary model of superb light fixture choice in themed design; there is very little overlap and redundancy but very few fixtures call attention to themselves. Still, it would be offensive and out of place to offer modern LED freeway light poles in Liberty Square, so the lamps and light fixtures deserve our respect and appreciation as well: another hallmark of the WED tradition of perfection down to the tiniest detail. — passport2dreams.blogspot.co.uk