MouseStation 299 – Collected Short Subjects
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Run time 0:52:10
On today’s show, we’ve got Shades of Green, World Showcase’s wildest ride, early congrats on show 300 and more.
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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
Listener Sikandar Durrani (Alex from Houston) recorded his tip of the week, then emailed it to us (a great way to get as many takes as you need to get it right), and recommended that those with iPhones or iPod Touches check out Disney Parks apps in the Apple store. In particular, he recommended apps from UPinPoint.
Mark and Mike do not have either of those devices between them, but the app looked cool. from their Web site. Mark wondered how they were able to access wait times, etc. to use them in the app. He also noted that some of this may become available with the new Verizon deal with Disney.
Featured Attraction
This week we look at the Maelstrom at Epcot’s Norway pavilion.
Mark enjoys this attraction, though he rarely gets to ride it. Mark referred to Paul Torrigino’s great four-part story about the attraction’s design and construction. Here it is: (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). Mark remembered slightly wrong, as Paul was angry with John Hench, but it was Bob Jolley whose office he went barging into.
Review System Spotlight
This week we take a look at the Shades of Green Resort at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. MousePlanet readers love it, rating it 4.2 out of five planets. Our featured review this week is by funmama of North Carolina.
funmama had a great time at the resort, and despite some transportation issues, she and her family had a great time (and saved a lot of money).
Mark noted that, as a MWR resort, the rates for the rooms are based on military rank. The high-ranking officers pay much more than enlisted folks for the same room.
While it’s not likely that Mark or Mike will ever stay at the resort, they recommend it highly to those in the military, though you may want to rent a car to address the transportation issues.
You can also find Shades of Green in our Park Guide.
Magical 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. It’s a little strange now, with MouseFest going on hiatus for 2009, but we’re continuing the memories of MouseFest 2008 anyway.
This week, Mike talks with Colin Brown from Michigan.
Colin had a great time aboard a Disney cruise, and was spending only the Mega Mouse Meet day at MouseFest. He seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, but was having fun.
Don’t forget that MouseAdventure Walt Disney World takes place on November 14. Registration is open now!
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.
Listener Feedback
Bob McGovern called the feedback line to let us know that his favorite episodes of the show include Episodes 101 and 202, plus the interviews – especially Robert Klein – and he also liked the news shows back when we still did them. He also thanked Steven & Andrew for their work on the show. Since he doesn’t have a lot of time to read the MousePlanet Web site, the podcast keeps him in touch. He congratulated us on Episode 300, but he can’t wait for Episode 303.
Vance Cope wrote in for the first time in a long while. He was disappointed about the cancellation of MouseFest 2009, since he had skipped 2008 figured that he could go the next year. He will be moving to Florida in June with is wife and kids, since he is looking for a new job they figured that now was the time to make the move.
Vance is excited about his family’s upcoming 4-night voyage aboard the Disney Wonder.
Commenting on the whole “forcing kids to ride” debate, Vance reminded us of a tip that he sent back in Episode 60, where you should go to the exit and see if you can have your kid talk to another child of around the dame age to get a better idea of what the attraction sis like.
Justin from Pasadena wrote in to congratulate us on 300 episodes and to send us a modified Disneyland poster that he created for us. He did a great job, and we’re going to run the poster in tomorrow’s show notes to commemorat the occastion.
Tina Delaney wrote in because she was excited that we mentioned her respose to one of the Twitter/Facebook polls. She agreed that free dining means the death of spontaneity in dining and that it dumbs down the menus, but it’s a big benefit for her family.
She also invited Mark to a meet while he’s at Walt Disney World with his family.
Mark countered, knowing that Tina is from Minnesota, by mentioning that we MAY have a spur-of-the-moment meet at the Mall of America late next week.
Matt from Gilbert called the feedback line to say that he is “23”, but that he is disappointed with several of the decisions there already.
March of Dimes
Mark was recently named the top walker for the March of Dimes Northeastern New York region for 2008, and second overall in Upstate New York (above the counties of Westchester and Rockland). MousePlanet readers and MouseStation listeners helped Mark to raise over $5,000 for the worthy charity. We’re looking to beat that this year and raise $6,000! Just go to Mark’s fundraising page and help to provide a better chance to prevent prematurity and to help those babies that are born prematurely.
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MouseAdventure at Walt Disney World, November 14
Don’t forget to sign up for the MouseAdventure Newsletter, which will keep you informed as the MouseAdventure on the High Seas cruise and other details are announced!
Wrapping up
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Thanks to our audio engineer and sound editor Steven Ng and to announcer Andrew Rich.
Thank you for listening!
