Chuck Schmidt

Chuck Schmidt, bitten by the Disney bug at an early age, remembers watching The Mickey Mouse Club after school in the mid-1950s. During his 48-year career in the newspaper business, he channeled that love of Disney as the Sunday News and Travel editor for The Staten Island Advance. Chuck has written or co-authored seven books for Theme Park Press, including Disney's Dream Weavers, On the Disney Beat, An American in Disneyland Paris, Disney's Animal Kingdom: An Unofficial History and The Beat Goes On. Chuck has shared his passion for all things Disney in his Still Goofy About Disney blog on AllEars.Net since 2015. He resides in Beachwood, N.J., with his wife Janet. They have three adult children and seven grandchildren.


Re-Imagined Country Bear Musical Jamboree Is a Much-Needed Upgrade

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
The Country Bears recently underwent a much-needed refurbishment and my first reaction was: What took so long? Yes, the gregarious, tuneful bruins are wearing new, more colorful costumes and, yes, the script for the show has been rewritten, but to me, the biggest change is the music. After all these years, the powers that be at Disney finally decided to use classic Disney movie songs throughout most of the show.
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Hidden In Plain Sight: Mailboxes, Public Phones, and Imagineers’ Tributes

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
One of my favorite things to do when I visit a Disney theme park is to seek out all the hidden gems. While most other park guests are making a beeline to the next attraction or show – heads down, dodging strollers and wheelchairs with the skill of an NFL running back – I can be found checking out the smallest detail, the tiniest nugget left behind by those clever folks at Walt Disney Imagineering.
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At Disney, It’s All Relative When It Comes To These Cast Member Connections

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
Walt Disney was all about family, in his life and in his life’s work. When he created award-winning animated films, it was with family entertainment in mind. And when he conceived Disneyland, the world’s first theme park, the impetus was to build a place where parents and their children could have fun together. So it … Continue reading "At Disney, It’s All Relative When It Comes To These Cast Member Connections"
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The Beauty Of Disneyland Paris, Captured In Photos

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
Jay Rasulo, then the Walt Disney Company’s Parks and Resorts Chairman who was about to become the company’s Chief Financial Officer, had perhaps his most career-defining moment years earlier when he was tasked with reversing the fortunes of Disney’s one and only European theme park, located 20 miles east of Paris in the town of Marne-la-Vallee. His efforts helped transform Disneyland Paris into Europe's top tourist attraction.
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The Many Adventures Of Tom Sawyer Island

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
The first time I saw Tom Sawyer Island in Walt Disney World, it was a mess. A little more than a year after WDW opened, in the fall of 1972, the future Frontierland attraction was a work in progress. It was, in fact, a busy, somewhat chaotic construction site. Heavy construction equipment was parked in … Continue reading "The Many Adventures Of Tom Sawyer Island"
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