MouseStation 56 – Listener Feedback
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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).
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!)
Listener Feedback Friday!
In this week’s Listener Feedback:
Shawn Coomer wrote from Guatemala again, to thank us for reading his email
on the air and to let us know that he’ll look for obscure Disney references
as he and his family travel the globe.
He also sent along the location of the web
site where he’s tracking their travels. Mark has caught up as far as Maine
so far, and hopes to catch up with Shawn soon. If anyone is interested in
following along on a great journey, check the site out.
Deborah wrote in to say that the multiple, shorter shows make it much easier
to listen to.
Tracy B. from Hercules, California wrote in to say that we’re doing a “swell
job,” and to ask a planning question.
She wants to stay as close as possible to the Magic
Kingdom, but while she is looking for a family-friendly place to stay,
but also looking for something economical. She is concerned because the Resort
hotels are pretty pricey so she have not ruled out staying at a good neighbor
hotel.
She doesn’t want to have to rent a car. Also, she was wondering whether the
park-hopper options is worth it or if it would be a waste of time due to the
amount of time that it takes to get from park to park.
Mark noted that for an accurate price comparison, it would cost $11 per day
for parking if she doesn’t stay on property. Also, most off-property shuttle
buses do not run nearly as frequently as Disney buses. Some off-property shuttles
only run two or three buses in the morning, and another two or three back
in the evening. (Note that buses for the Downtown
Disney Resort Area Hotels – of which Hotel
Royal Plaza is a MousePlanet sponsor – do run every 30 minutes, from
1 hour before park opening until 2 hours after park closing.)
Also, if her family needs to take a break in the middle of the day (such
as hitting morning Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom – a perk only
available to on-property guests – then take a break around lunchtime
to go back to the hotel and nap or go swimming as the crowds build at the
parks, and go back to a park in the late afternoon as the crowds start to
thin and stay through the evening’s fireworks), the ability to go back and
forth is much easier with Disney transportation.
Mike noted that value resorts are a good option, though they aren’t really
close to the Magic Kingdom. He also recommends park-hopping, though it does
take some time.
Mark noted that the Magic Kingdom-to-Epcot
transfer could take as little as 25 minutes if you catch the monorail just
right.
Mike recommends that people park-hop from the Disney-MGM
Studios to Disney’s Animal Kingdom or
Epcot to the Magic Kingdom. He also suggests walking or taking a boat from
the Studios to Epcot. Mark thinks that the boat takes about 20 minutes, and
walking could take about the same amount of time depending on how fast you
work.
Mark likes to park-hop with a lunch at a hotel in between, or start with
morning Extra Magic Hours and then hop elsewhere when the crowds build. But
that’s how he tours the parks. Park hopping all depends on your touring style.
Mike noted that, during seasons when some of the parks close early, you can
hop to a different park that closes later, or has evening Extra Magic Hours.
Brandon M. wrote in to share his Top 3 list for Disney’s
California Adventure:
- Restaurants
- 3. Wine Country Trattoria at the
Golden Vine Winery - 2. “Ariel’s Disney Princess Celebration” at Ariel’s
Grotto - 1. Taste Pilots’ Grill
- 3. Wine Country Trattoria at the
- Entertainment
- 3. Disney’s Electrical Parade
- 2. Turtle Talk with Crush
- 1. Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical
Spectacular
- Attractions
Bonnie from San Diego also wrote to share her DCA Top 3, though she took
Mike to task for picking the Mission Tortilla
Factory.
- Restaurants
- 3. Bakers Field Bakery
- 2. Karl Strauss Beer Garden
- 1. Corn Dog Castle
- Entertainment
- 3. Characters at the Magic of Disney
Animation (or sometimes right out in front of the building) - 2. Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical
Spectacular - 1. Disney’s Electrical Parade
- 3. Characters at the Magic of Disney
- Attractions
She also wanted to second the idea of a Top 3 Disney book list, and noted
that Disney fans love top 3 Disney anything, and that if we did a top 3 bathrooms
pick she’d be pulling out her guide maps to look for hers. She also wanted
to confirm that we were doing Epcot next.
Yes, Epcot will be next on October 3, then we’ll do the other three domestic
parks, then maybe a Top 3 for all Disney parks. After that, we’ll consider
all sorts of other Top 3 lists. If you’ve got an idea for an interesting Top
3 list, let
us know!
And as far as Top 3 bathrooms, we probably won’t be doing it unless we’re
desperate, but (while it hasn’t been updated in quite some time) the old Happiest
Potties on Earth section is still accessible on the old MousePlanet site.
Steven Walker wrote to contribute another idea for a different Top 3, the
Top 3 Audio-Animatronics at each park. He also contributed his own choices
for the Top 3 Audio-Animatronics at Disneyland Park: