Le Journal

When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened at Disneyland in 2019, it represented one of the most ambitious themed land projects Disney had ever undertaken. The immersive Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu transported guests into the Star Wars universe with unprecedented attention to detail, interactive elements, and two groundbreaking attractions. Rise of the Resistance […] The post ‘Star Wars’ Section of Disney Park Now Forbidden From Guests, Signage Warns “Access Denied” appeared first on Inside the Magic.

When Disney reimagined Splash Mountain as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the transformation came with high expectations and intense scrutiny from fans on both sides of the debate. Some guests embraced the new Princess and the Frog theming as a fresh take on the classic log flume experience, while others mourned the loss of the original attraction’s […] The post Disneyland Shutdown Incoming? Controversial Disney Ride Left Drowning and Flooded appeared first on Inside the Magic.

Few places in the world inspire the same level of anticipation as a Disney Resort. For generations, families have circled dates on calendars, saved for months, and planned entire vacations around a single moment: walking beneath the railroad tracks and into Walt Disney’s original park. It’s a tradition fueled by nostalgia, storytelling, and the promise […] The post Disney Changes Resort Bookings Overnight, Locking All Guests Into New Policy appeared first on Inside the Magic.

Two years after a board appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took over the former Reedy Creek Improvement District encompassing Walt Disney World Resort, the last two board members appointed by the Republican leader have officially stepped down. Gov. DeSantis vs. Disney The battle between Ron DeSantis and Walt Disney World Resort began in early […] The post After Two Years, DeSantis Loses Government Control Over Disney World appeared first on Inside the Magic.

Lucinda Williams long ago earned the right to make any record she damn well pleases. In recent years, that freedom has led her down a gravel road to re-record earlier work, sample other genres, and pay tribute to her heroes as well as add to her own legacy as a great American songwriter. One of the reasons listeners have so readily followed Williams down these different paths is that she has remained an authentic voice with something to say—and on World’s Gone Wrong, boy, does she have a bone to pick. The latest from Williams doesn’t provide a survival guide to hard times, nor does it promise that things will necessarily get better. Instead, she offers a letter to listeners assuring them that they are not alone in their struggles or the fight to regain what America has lost. The title track and lead single look at daily life from the perspective of a middle-class couple. Over glowing electric guitars and a wafting Hammond B-3, Williams’ familiar smoky voice paints a picture too many Americans know by heart these days. But it’s not just that the husband’s stuck in traffic down at the car lot or that the wife is doomscrolling through the news between shifts; Williams dignifies their struggles by peeling back a layer. He feels genuinely licked, she’s losing faith, and they can’t be gaslit into believing that things are actually going well. “Come on, baby / We gotta be strong / Dark days are getting long,” Williams rallies them. She ends with a sweet moment: the woman trying to distract them from their worries by turning on some Miles Davis and dancing barefoot. Williams desperately wants to believe that this “every-couple” can still make it, and we find ourselves yearning to believe her for all our sakes. Much of World’s Gone Wrong finds Williams surveying the mess from different vantages and musical styles. Legendary gospel singer Mavis Staples lends her voice to Bob Marley’s eerily prophetic “So Much Trouble in the World.” Williams’ crack band have no trouble fusing country rock with wah-wah nods to reggae as she, Staples, and Marley’s words pull from their disparate experiences to find a common struggle. “The dream is deferred / And the churches are burning,” observes Williams as she sings the blues on “Black Tears,” borrowing from a long tradition of blood, tear-stained cheeks, and oppressed voices. And the stark and scathing “Punchline” turns skyward for answers to our shared plight but ultimately lands on humankind’s wickedness, deceit, and cruelty as the reasons so many of us are down and out. It’s hard to make a listenable album that focuses song after song on how our country is going to hell in a 10-gallon hat. The pokey “Low Life” offers us a cocktail and a barstool but fails to take our minds off the harsher matters that await us after last call. And yet, Williams and her band more often than not find a groove that makes our shared downward spiral feel downright danceable. “Now your blood is running cold / And you’re on the road to hell,” she bites acerbically on the driving “How Much Did You Get for Your Soul.” It’s a stinging indictment but too much of a jam to skip over. Guitars circle like vultures on “Something’s Gotta Give,” as Williams points out the anger, division, and danger permeating the air we breathe in each and every day as Americans. It’s her most pointed piece of criticism on World’s Gone Wrong: the fear that we’re about to cross a line that could break our very spirit. As on the title track, Brittney Spencer’s urgent backing vocals help Williams sound the alarm for our souls. The final moments on World’s Gone Wrong find Williams turning from observation to resistance. Norah Jones beautifully duets with her on the clunky, spiritual closer, “We’ve Come Too Far to Turn Around.” For all our shortcomings and the sins of our past, Williams urges us to press on towards something better. “Stand up and fight,” she sings a song earlier on the funky protest march of “Freedom Speaks.” It’s the call to action…