Four Parks in One Day and More – Listener of the Month Sharla Manglass

MouseStation 274 – Four Parks in One Day and More

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Show run time 0:25:42

In today’s show, Mark and Mike are joined by Sharla Manglass, our first Listener of the Month, who talks about a four-park marathon day, as well as MouseFest, the podcast and more.

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Thanks to our sponsor

Today’s show is sponsored by:

Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center. A luxury hotel one mile from Walt Disney World, where special MousePlanet rates ALWAYS get you at least 15% off the normal rates available for the property.

Advantage Vacation Homes. A great vacation home rental company that gives you a place to stay with lots more space than a regular hotel room for a lot less money.

Feature: Listener of the Month: Sharla Manglass

Mike & Mark caught up with Sharla outside the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot following MousssseFest during MouseFest.

Sharla and her husband Lou were at Walt Disney World with her brother and friends at the end of March last year, during spring break. She planned the day around park hours and the availability of Disney transportation.

Their travels took them from Pop Century to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and finally Disney’s Hollywood Studios (then the Disney-MGM Studios) before returning to Pop Century.

During the course of the day, they rode Expedition Everest (twice, one using the Single Rider line and once with Fastpasses), Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (twice, once with Fastpass and once on standby), Stitch’s Great Escape/Tomorrowland Transit Authority (the group split up), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Mission: Space (everyone but Sharla), Gran Fiesta Tour, Maelstrom, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. They also managed to fit in lunch at Cosmic Ray’s, margaritas at Epcot and funnel cakes along the Boardwalk for nutritional purposes.

While travelling from Epcot to the Studios, they had a run-in with Disney Security when they became lost and eneded up climbing down an embankment to get back to the path that they wanted to be on.

They had to do some rushing, but they made it to finish their itinerary before the start of Extra Magic Hours at the Studios. They were exhausted by the time that they were done, and they were happy to return to Pop Century at the end.

Sharla’s tips for maximizing your time and efficiency while planning an all-parks assault are: (1) use Fastpass & Single Rider lines, (2) plan around Disney transport as best as you can, and (3) take advantage of most-available interpark transit.

Sharla had already planned her vacation for the second week in December and was later very excited to find out that it would also be MouseFest that week. She felt that the Mega Mouse Meet and MousssseFest were a lot of fun, but her Favorite MouseFest Moment was doing her Listener of the Month interview. Her favorite official MouseFest event was the Mega Mouse Meet, because it was so great to see all of the people there.

Sharla had been at Walt Disney World 9 days by the time of the interview, so she was ready to go home. She and Lou were leaving the next day right after the Mini-MouseAdventure. Her favorite non-MouseFest moment of the trip was getting her new all-time high on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (850,000).

Sharla also got to spend lots of time off-property this trip, including eating at many off-site locations, because they were staying off-site at the Grand Beach Resort a timeshare off of S.R. 536. The resort is nice, but it’s a bit crowded with 10 of them crammed into a three-bedroom unit with one pull-out couch. Mark noted that Advantage Vacation Homes has villas with up to seven bedrooms.

Sharla and Lou have driven down from Georgia about 20 times in the last four and a half years. Mike noted that he gets excited when he sees Florida toll plazas. Sharla and Mark agreed that Mike was a bit weird.

Sharla’s favorite thing about the podcast is Listener Feedback because she enjoys hearing from most people who write in. Aside from bringing back Six Degrees of Disney, if she could change one thing about the show, she wishes we would vary our wording during the introduction and wrapup each week. She noted that we’re her favorite podcast hosts, and she has a lot of respect for Steven after seeing what he has to edit. It’s not pretty, people.

March of Dimes fundraising kick-off

Mark has gotten an early start on raising funds for the March of Dimes! Last year, 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.

Facebook

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

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