MouseStation 72 – Collected short subjects
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Run time 0:31:43
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Send in your suggestions, comments or tips via our email feedback
form or via voicemail on our toll-free feedback line (1-866-939-2278). You
can also make suggestions by replying to this post.
If you want to contribute a story for our Monday Magical Moment segment (and possible
inclusion in the Cast Place column here on MousePlanet), you can either use
our email Magical Moment story form or the
toll-free feedback line. (We love it when you use the voice mail system, because
then we can play your call on the show!)
Thanks to our sponsor, and a contest
Today’s show is sponsored by Owner’s
Locker, a new service that gives you a place to leave your vacation-only
stuff until your next trip to visit the Mouse.
This week, Mark talked a bit about his experience with his Owner’s Locker.
He’s got leftover candy from Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in a zip-lock
bag saved in there for MouseFest. (The storage warehouse is climate-controlled,
but the seal isn’t airtight.) Even with ponchos, an umbrella, a sun visor
for the car, a couple of shirts and some other stuff, the locker is still
woefully empty. We’ll have to see what Mark can do about it come December.
Yes, that’s Mark’s actual Owner’s Locker on his hotel room bed. That’s a extra-large
laptop case next to it.
Don’t forget that you’ve got until midnight on Halloween to send
in your ideas on what you would do with an Owner’s Locker. John will again
select his favorite, and he’ll join us on the November 5 show to announce
our next winner!
Tip of the Week
This week’s tip came from Mike, because the tip jar was empty again.. (Send
in your tip now!)
Mike recommended using the PhotoPass discount from the Mickey’s Not So Scary
Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for a mass purchase
for all photos from your trip. This loophole has been around, but as far as
we know it hasn’t been closed, so give it a shot.
Featured attraction
This week, we look at Star Tours in Tomorrowland at Disneyland
Park and the Disney-MGM Studios.
Once again, you’re going on what’s expected to be a fun trip, when Suddenly
Something Goes Horribly Wrong. In this case, the pilot for your speeder trip
is Rex, a first-time pilot who thinks that joining an assault on the Death
Star would be fun because he always wanted to do that.
While Mark enjoys the attraction, he doesn’t feel that he needs to do it
every trip.
Mike had an additional tip that, during Star Wars Weekends, when merchandise
lines at Tatooine Traders get very long and there’s a long wait to get into
the gift shop, you can short-cut the line by going on the attraction, which
lets out into the gift shop. (Of course, now that the collectibles are located
along Mickey Avenue, the lines at Tatooine Traders are much shorter.)
Mike prefers the Disneyland version because he feels that the queue feels
more realistic, while the Studios version feels more like a stage set. Mark
seems to recall that the C-3PO animatronic at Disneyland uses an original
suit from the Star Wars movies. He also noted that there are three web-footed
robots at Disneyland that used to be geese at the America Sings attraction.
Review system spotlight
This week’s spotlight focuses on the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney
World. MousePlanet readers seem to be very split about Coronado Springs, rating
it 3.7 out of five planets on the strength of 18 reviews. Readers seem
to either love it or hate it, so we’re featuring two reviews this week, one
a 1-planet review by AndyMan of Marietta, GA and one a 5-planet review by
pattypre of Colorado Springs, CO.
AndyMan thought that the resort was just too large, and he had problems with
housekeeping, to boot. pattypre didn’t mind the long walk, and really enjoyed
the food there.
Mark agrees that it’s a large, sprawling resort, though he doesn’t know if
it’s larger than the Caribbean Beach or Port Orleans Riverside resorts. He
stayed in a Casitas building for a conference about five years ago. While
the Casitas are fairly close to the main buildings (one reason why conference
attendees are usually assigned those rooms), he did take the 1.1-mile walk
around Lago Dorado a few times, and it’s very enjoyable.
Mark didn’t eat at Maya Grill, though he did eat at Pepper Market. The food
was pretty good, though he really didn’t like the forced gratuity for the
person who brings you your drink.
Mike has mixed feelings about Coronado Springs. He has enjoyed staying there
in the past. While it does seem too big and inconvenient at times, it does
help you to feel like you’re on vacation. He also doesn’t like the forced
gratuity for minimal service at Pepper Market.
Mike doesn’t recommend the hotel for kids because the conventioneers generally
don’t like having kids underfoot, and would recommend the Caribbean Beach
Resort instead.
You can also find the Coronado Springs Resort in our Park
Guide.
Ask the Co-host
We didn’t have any Ask the Kid questions pre-recorded, so we did Ask the
Co-Host, or Ask the Grownup. Mike asked Mark how his trip to Walt Disney World
was.
Mark’s trip was short on sleep and extremely busy, doing a half-dozen interviews,
taking two guided tours in order to review them, doing a bunch of research
for the December’s mini-MouseAdventure and having dinner with John Van Meter
from Owner’s Locker. After his dinner with John, they got to try out the Tip
of the Week from two weeks ago. They stood and walked around talking for over
an hour until they actually did the blow-off. There was an announcement at
around 10:30 that they were going to blow off the remaining fuel, and it was
really cool to watch.
To submit your own questions for “Ask the Kid,” send
us your question to ask Mark’s son.
Magical Moment
This week’s moment came from listener Steve from St. Cloud.
Steve was excited that he actually got a reservation for the Garden Grill
at a reasonable time, 4:50, less than a week in advance, for October 1, the
day of Epcot’s 25th anniversary celebration.
Steve also found an EPCOT Center guide book from 1985, where it says, ?Some
EPCOT Center restaurants require same-day reservations?, ?Reservations may
be made at WorldKey terminals?, and ?Many dining locations in Epcot Center
do not require reservations.? Mark really misses the old days where you could
choose where you were going to eat the same day at EarthStation.
Feedback and MouseFest
Send us feedback via email or by
calling our toll-free feedback line at 1-866-939-2278. Don’t forget that we
love voicemails because then we can put your voice on the show!
Don’t forget that you’ve now got until Halloween to get your entry in for
our second Owner’s Locker contest!
We also wanted to remind you that we have now scheduled our MouseFest meet
for the podcasts. The MouseStation Hustle-tini Meet will begin at 5:30 p.m.
at Classic Concoctions in the Everything Pop food court at Disney’s Pop Century
Resort for Bluetinis to get our nerve up to get up and boogie. We’ll make
sure that we’re in the lobby before 6 p.m. so that we can do The Hustle, then
return to Classic Concoctions or elsewhere to record some more for the podcast.
For more information on the Hustle-tini or any other MousePlanet-sponsored
meet at MouseFest, check out our MouseFest
information page. If you’ve got any ideas on what might make a cool MouseStation
T-shirt for MouseFest, let Mark know!
Wrapping up
Please take a few minutes to complete our listener
survey. It helps us learn more about you and what you like most about
this podcast.
Don’t forget to go to the iTunes podcast directory and give us a good rating!
You can get your MousePlanet (or MouseStation) swag from the MousePlanet
CafePress store and the brand-new MouseStation
CafePress store.
Thanks to our audio engineer and sound editor Steven Ng.
Thank you for listening!
