500 episodes listed below
Theme-park news with a long memory.
The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network treats entertainment news like park maps with footnotes. Its shows move from fresh rumors and listener questions into attraction history, box-office context, operational trivia, and why a small change in a park often means more than it first appears.
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The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network is a wide-ranging home for theme-park and entertainment obsessives who like their news with history attached. Its individual shows move across Disney, Universal, Marvel, Pixar, animation, merchandise, and park culture without flattening those worlds into one generic fandom. A segment might begin with pay-per-ride access at Epic Universe. Soon it is talking about Minions, Wicked the Experience, Hollywood Boulevard at Universal Studios Florida, and the former home of Lucy A Tribute. That is the basic rhythm: start with the week’s question, then follow the operational and historical trail. Disney episodes work the same way. Rides people refuse to wait for become a conversation about vacation budgets, road trips, and the crowded field of Disney podcasts. Utilidor chatter becomes a look at cast-member reality, Keys to the Kingdom expectations, TikTok jokes, Reddit reactions, and how the hidden infrastructure of Magic Kingdom can make the magic feel more practical than mystical. The network also gives space to merchandising and media strategy. Muppets, Disney Ducks, Star Wars products, Daredevil Born Again, Smiling Friends, Netflix animation, and theatrical releases all sit inside a larger discussion of how companies reuse characters, test ideas, and turn fandom into places, products, and timelines. It is knowledgeable without getting stiff. The hosts and collaborators often qualify what they know, what they have heard, and where speculation begins, which keeps the conversation grounded even when the topic is rumor-heavy. The appeal is not just access to facts. It is the pleasure of hearing people connect a park plan, a piece of concept art, a retired exhibit, a TikTok comment, and a studio decision into one readable map. For fans who already know the difference between an overlay and a show building, it feels comfortably detailed. For newer listeners, the conversation usually explains just enough before moving on.
Made for: For Disney, Universal, Marvel, animation, and theme-park fans who enjoy practical park talk, industry context, and deep backstory more than quick headlines. It especially suits listeners who like fan conversation with historical receipts and a little dry humor.
What sets it apart: The network’s strength is its habit of connecting present-day park and media news to older attractions, concept art, operations, merchandising, and studio strategy. It feels conversational, but it keeps returning to timelines, names, places, and business logic.
The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network features weekly shows hosted by Jim Hill and his collaborators. The lineup includes The Disney Dish with Len Testa, Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor, Epic Universal Podcast with Eric Hersey, I Want That Too with Lauren Hersey, Marvel Us Disney with Dan Graney, The Case For with Chris Cox, and more. Each series offers industry reporting, history, analysis, and insider stories spanning Disney, Universal, animation, film, streaming, and themed entertainment. With over 25 years of online storytelling and thousands of hours of content, the network delivers trusted, in-depth coverage for fans, enthusiasts, and industry professionals.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
The network connects themed entertainment's visible pleasures to the design choices, licensing deals, and historical decisions operating behind them.
Jim Hill approaches themed entertainment through the machinery behind it, pairing current developments with the design history, licensing arrangements, and business decisions that shaped what visitors see.
A Vegas scare actor's timing and Disney hotel plans: two tabs your brain can leave open.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A hotel-over-park premise opens into a detailed, lightly funny lesson in Disney design history.
Jim Hill and Len Testa turn a hotel-over-park premise into a lively Disney history dig. The best stretch ties Live the Dream to concept art, specific buildings, and Walt-era design instincts, which gives the discussion real shape and texture rather than loose nostalgia.
A listener-led Universal chat that makes Peanuts at Universal Studios Japan feel deliberate.
Jim Hill and Eric Hersey shape a listener-led check-in into a clear look at why Universal Studios Japan is bringing the Peanuts characters into its 25th anniversary celebration.
A strange Mater collectible leads into the publishing deal that helped make Disney merchandise a source of leverage.
Disney merchandising takes shape here as a story about leverage, with Jim Hill and Lauren Hersey moving from a strange Mater collectible into the Western Publishing deal that gave the company exclusive book rights to Disney's licensed characters.
The utilidor sounds more functional than magical, and the cast-member perspective makes that distinction worth hearing.
Disney's utilidor mythology gets a grounded backstage check as Lauren and Eric weigh fan expectations against the working reality cast members describe.
A loose animation-news discussion turns trailer skepticism into a closer look at craft, release timing, and screen experience.
The episode treats animation news as a way into a sturdier question: what makes an animated film worth seeking out? Jim Hill and Drew Taylor use Swapped as the test case, setting a plain-looking trailer against more promising details: appealing character design, Michael B.
A focused look at why Peanuts made sense for Universal Studios Japan's anniversary programming.
Jim Hill and Eric Hersey treat Universal Studios Japan's Let's Smile Together show as a compact example of how a park can turn familiar characters into anniversary programming.
A practical, detail-rich look at how a Las Vegas horror attraction builds its scares.
Jim Hill and Eric give Universal Horror Unleashed a practical first look after visiting the Las Vegas attraction around opening time. They place it within the off-Strip Area 15 setting, then spend most of the conversation on how the scares actually work.
Rolling Stone conversations, loose but sharp.
This episode discusses animation news including Zootopia 2's success, Firefly's animated comeback, and explores LA's art scene, featuring insights from entertainment writers.
Jim Hill and Eric visit Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas after arriving right at opening.
The hosts discuss Marvel's quiet release of the Wonder Man series and its implications for the company's current strategy, particularly in contrast to typical hype around events like the Super Bowl.
This episode discusses recent Disney developments, including the closure and reimagining of Rockin' Roller Coaster, Villainsland updates, Joe Rohde's popularity, and fan reactions to Olaf taking over the Animation Academy.
The podcast opens with entertainment writer Jim Hill and co-host Eric Hersey checking in before Hersey heads to the car for a drive to Virginia and a cheer competition.
Jim Hill traces Halloween Horror Nights to Universal Studios Hollywood's 1986 event, first advertised as two nights of monsters and nighttime tram rides.
This episode discusses the introduction of pay-per-ride at Epic Universe, the closure of Lucy A Tribute at Universal Studios Florida, and includes updates on Minions movies and Wicked.
This episode discusses Disney merchandise trends, including Muppets on TikTok, Disney ducks in theme parks, and the massive Star Wars merch industry.
This episode discusses which Disney park rides are worth waiting for and how much people typically spend on their Disney vacations.
The hosts discuss Marvel's recent developments, suggesting they are building a street-level saga, with a focus on season two of Daredevil Born Again and its fourth episode as a turning point.
This episode discusses Pixar's mysterious 'Be Free' project, Netflix's expansion in animation, the future of theatrical animation, and the shutdown of Smiling Friends on Adult Swim despite renewal.
Len Testa opens with news and maybe a preview of Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster songs, then Jim Hill and Len answer listener questions.
Jim Hill and Eric Hersey open with a quick status check before Eric heads to Virginia for a cheer competition.
["Lauren and Eric open with their daughter Lainey's TikTok, which used a Disney-themed basement and drew about 700,000 views.", "Eric says the room follows a 1994 Utilidor map, with blue, purple, orange, green, red, and brown sections tied to Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Main Street U.S.A., Liberty Square, and Frontierland.", "Peter Petrella, a former cast member and TikToker, responds to the video and the hosts compare fan fascination with cast-member complaints about smell, trash, and \"tunnel juice.\"", "The conversation then moves to Golden Oak and Celebration, where Eric cites $4 million to $18 million houses, $10,000 monthly HOA fees, and Celebration housing roughly 39% above the U.S.
I Want That Too's Crocs, Figment, and the Book That Made Disney Take Control mixes Disney merch chatter with a long publishing-history segment.
This episode features a debate between theme park experts on whether the Epic Universe Express Pass is worth the cost, covering wait times and strategy tips for visiting Orlando theme parks.
The episode opens with a used-bookstore detour before Jim Hill and Drew Taylor settle into Swapped, where character design, a pretty generic trailer, Michael B.
The hosts review their visit to Universal Horror Unleashed, a year-round horror attraction in Las Vegas, discussing its location, experiences like Area 51, and other pop-ups like Barbie and John Wick.