MouseStation 271 – Collected Short Subjects
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Run time 0:47:30
On today’s show, we’ve got Soarin’, Sommerfest, souvenirs, a quick MouseFest chat with Mike Newell, listener feedback and more.
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Let us hear from you!
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).
We’ve put together a new listener survey to help us learn more about you and what you like most about this podcast. This one is much more targeted than the old Podtrac survey. Please take a few minutes to fill it out and let us know what you think.
If you want to contribute a story for our Tuesday 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 sponsors
Today’s show is sponsored by:
MouseEarVacations.com. Providing Magical Vacations for over 21 years.
Scooter Vacations. Official mobility scooter charitable partner to Kids Wish Network and Starlight Starbright Foundation.
Owner’s Locker. Why bring all that stuff back and forth, when you can leave it at Disney and have it waiting for you when you come back?
Tip of the Week
Sean Jones wrote in to recommend turning off your flash when taking photos at night. The colors in the photo tend to get washed out when you use a flash. Sean and his friend Rob took some examples during a recent trip to Disneyland.
The difference between using a flash (left) and not using a flash (right) becomes extremely obvious when looking at the lighting from a glow cube. Photos by Sean Jones.
The iconic Bluetini image of Mike was taken without a flash. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
If a flash had been used, the glow of these Bluetinis would have been entirely washed out. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.
One thing to bear in mind is that your camera will try to compensate for the lack of flash by lengthening the exposure time, which makes it that much harder to handhold the camera in these situations. You’ll either need to brace yourself very well to avoid movement or use a garbage can, wall, etc. as a substitute tripod.
The wild lighting in the Space Mountain entry passage becomes much more visible on photos with the flash turned off. Photo courtesy of Sean Jones.
The dramatic theatrical lighting at the elevators in the Tower of Terror would have been washed out by a flash.. Photo courtesy of Sean Jones.
For more tips on low-light photography, check out Frank Anzalone’s column on the subject.
Featured Attraction
This week we look at Soarin’ Over California at Disney’s California Adventure and Soarin’ at Epcot’s The Land pavilion.
It’s kind of hard to believe that we haven’t covered Soarin’ as a featured attraction yet, but since our farewell meet at MouseFest was a Soarin’ meet, it seemed timely.
Mark talked about a trivia question that he asked at the Soarin’ meet about the digitally-inserted images in the film. (Hint: Think about the prop wash from the helicopter carrying the Omnimax camera and what might have been affected by that it.)
Mike and Mark discussed whether it was time for a new film for the Epcot version and whether the film at DCA should be changed.
Review System Spotlight
This week we look at Sommerfest at Epcot’s Germany pavilion. One MousePlanet readers love it, rating it 4.7 out of five planets. Our featured review this week is by Tina Delaney of Farmington, MN.
Again, this selection was influenced by MouseFest, as Sommerfest was the site of a 60-person post-Illuminations dessert gathering with the Passporter folks, and we got to meet Tina at MouseFest at several meets.
Tina gave Sommerfest high marks across the board on service, food and atmosphere (though she rates the atmosphere in the courtyard ahead of that near the counter location).
During the Passporter meet, we ordered 60 desserts, which pretty much wiped out the entire stock at the location. The chef came out and talked with those doing the ordering to let them know that they were baking more strudel and taking all of the cheesecake out of the freezer in order to accommodate the demand. They actually brought out the entire order of 60 desserts on a rack of trays in order to get everything out for us. The staff worked well with us and the desserts were delicious!
You can also find Sommerfest in our Park Guide.
Ask the Kid
This week’s question comes from Brian, who asks: “Kid, If you could be in charge of designing Souvenirs for a Disney park what would you create? For which park?”
The Kid would love to bring back the miniature ride vehicles, since he still has a collection of them and wants to get more vehicles. He’d also love for them to bring back the monorail play sets, so that he could finish his model of Walt Disney World.
You can submit your own question for The Kid.
Last Week on MousePlanet
Andrew Rich, down at MousePlanet Global Headquarters told you what you may have missed on the MousePlanet site last week if you’re not visiting regularly.
MouseFest Moment
Rather than doing a big show compiling a whole bunch of short interviews Mike did during MouseFest, we’re going to string them out for a few months as an extra segment on our Monday show.
This week, Mike talks with Mike Newell at PodFest. Mike runs MouseWorldRadio, and is the producer and co-host of the WDW Today podcast. Mike’s wife Mary is fighting breast cancer, so the podcast helps to raise money for Deb Wills’ Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It’s a great cause, so please help to support it!
Listener Feedback
Lisa Hall (who only reads the show notes, but doesn’t listen to the show) wrote that she was stunned that we didn’t mention Artist Pointe at the Wilderness Lodge in our latest dining roundup. We both enjoy Artist Pointe, but we have have enough places that we like better that it just didn’t make our final lists.
By the way, Lisa, in order to listen to all of the shows without having to download anything, click here. You can also just download the audio file to your computer and run it directly by clicking on the Download show link at the top of the show notes for each show. In either case, all you need are speakers on your computer. We’ve also got information on Podcasts for Beginners on the main podcast page.
Big Brian called in to let us know about how to find out about show times for live entertainment in the parks. Not only is it on the show times handout available in the parks, there are also lists of entertainment that’s not on the schedule that are available from the folks staffing the Tip Boards. Of course, you can also find out everything that you need to know about show times from Steve Soares’ site.
Alex Durrani from Houston (we got the pronounciation of his name confirmed during the spot for Scooter Vacations earlier in the show) wanted to know if they remodeled the entrance to the Jungle Cruise. As far as Mark can tell, there really isn’t any major change, though he’s not sure about the display cage out front. Mike didn’t go over to Jungle Cruise on this trip, but he doesn’t remember anything being different. If anybody out there knows for sure whether anything was changed during the last refurbishment, please let us know.
March of Dimes
If you’re looking for a last-minute tax deduction this year, Mark has been able to set up his March of Dimes site early this year. For more information or to donate, go to his fundraising page.
We’re now on Facebook! Join the MousePlanet and MouseStation groups. You can also become a fan of MousePlanet or the MouseStation. If you join the club and use Pieces of Flair, you can get your MousePlanet and MouseStation flair from Mark (though you have to friend him first).
Wrapping up
We’ve put together a new listener survey to help us learn more about you and what you like most about this podcast. This one is much more targeted than the old Podtrac survey. Please take a few minutes to fill it out and let us know what you think.
Don’t forget to go to the iTunes podcast directory and give us a good rating for the combined feed!
You can get your MousePlanet (or MouseStation) swag from the MousePlanet CafePress store and the MouseStation CafePress store.
Also remember to go out to our main podcast page and stick a pin into our Frappr map.
Thanks to our audio engineer and sound editor Steven Ng and to announcer Andrew Rich.
Thank you for listening!
