MouseStation 63 – Listener Feedback
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Run time 0:35:59
Reminder: We have returned to a single
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Featured Topics, Thursday MousePlanetWatch news and Friday 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:
Terry wrote to ask us what “Scopa Towers” is that many people talk
about. Scopa Towers, of course, is Mike Scopa’s favorite resort, Disney’s
Pop Century Resort. (Mike will be spending his 100th night there in January.)
Terry also started
a thread on MousePad to ask the question, which was answered both by Mike
Scopa and the originator of the term, Len Testa.
We got a lot of responses to our discussion of “The
End of Spontaneity” in Episode 58.
The first one came from Lori, who hates having to make dining reservations
six months in advance. She doesn’t want to have to plan every minute of her
trip months in advance.
Mike noted that she didn’t think that a vacation should be a major military
operation, and she’s a Shades of Green patron, which would indicate that she
knew what she was talking about.
Alicia kept delaying in making dining reservations, and finally made two
reservations for a five-night trip. She thinks that all reservations should
be eliminated and all dining should be first-come, first-served.
Steve Russo used a response to the show to plug his book again, offering
an excerpt that basically agreed with everything that we had discussed about
dining reservations on Episode 58. He gave examples of how setting up your
reservations before the entertainment schedule is finalized can backfire on
you.
Responding to a comment about SpectroMagic, Mike accidentally remarked about
Spectrobes, instead. That reminded Mark that the copy of Spectrobes finally
went out to Todd Anger, and now we’d love to hear his review of the game.
Heather wrote in complaining about having to make dining reservations six
months in advance. (Three months was bad enough!) She was also wondering what
effect the expansion of the dining plan would have.
Mike remembered being told as a cast member that he was not allowed to eat
at table service restaurants during certain times of year. Mark talked about
how Walt Disney World needed to add more opportunities to have table service
meals because people were getting blocked from using all of their table service
dining credits.
Pete Altemese wrote two emails, first noting that he refuses to make reservations
30-60 days in advance, as his family is happy enough eating at a counter service
location. His second email noted that he was fine with us moving to a single
feed, and that he’d even like the shows to be longer. Since we’re already
doing two hours of audio a week, that’s plenty for us.
Kelly wrote that she didn’t mind planning trips six months in advance. She
has only made two trips so far, though, and has only been visiting since the
advent of the dining plan.
Mike noted that some people really like planning. Mark replied that he does
some planning, but keeps it loose and is nearly always willing to call an
audible.
Kim Shoening was upset at the reservation process, as she was only able to
call for reservations two and a half months in advance due to uncertainty
about the trip. It took several iterations of calls and checking for availability
before she could find anything with the times that they need for their family’s
requirements.
Alan Cranford wrote that touring plans were to help people maximize their
Disney experience with the same amount of time and money, but that plans should
only be a starting place, and if you become a slave to your touring plan,
you lose.
Mike noted that you shouldn’t take the touring plan to the nth degree, but
that various touring plan tools do a good job of cramming things in.
Mark said that if you keep it loose, that’s fine. If you do the heavily ambitious
plans like the “Dumbo in a Day or Die” touring plan from The Unofficial
Guide, you’re going to drive yourself nuts trying to keep up. Mike didn’t
get Mark’s “It’s not so much a code as a guideline” reference.
Peter Ciarcia is attending his first MouseFest this year, but hasn’t been
back to Walt Disney World since 1991. He was caught completely unaware when
he tried to make dining reservations in September, as some restaurants are
already booked through February.
Mark noted that the only dining reservations he has were made by someone
else and he was just taking one seat.
Mike realized that he needs to make some reservations himself. Mark recommended
that he quickly check the DaisyDuck001’s MouseFest dining
reservation status post on the MousePad discussion forums to grab any
remaining seats.
Mike also recommended that this is a good reason to consider using a Disney
specialist travel agent, who would be on top of these things and help
you plan your trips.
Thomas Melanson wrote that he really likes planning things out. Since his
family only visits Disneyland every three years, they plan things out as much
as possible, and storm the parks from gate opening to gate closing. He also
finds that all of the planning helps them to anticipate the trip even more.
Still, he wouldn’t want to impose his family’s touring styles onto anyone
else.
Mark noted that sometimes he has to do an uber-planned trip, such as his
research trip next week. He’s completely planned from touchdown to wheels-up
with interviews and the like. While he’s generally a Type A planner, he doesn’t
like to do it on trips for pleasure.
Mark Winters (a.k.a. RideMax Mark) wrote to tell co-host Mark that if he
ever wanted to give a RideMax plan a try, RideMax Mark would be glad to set
him up, and even tag along. Co-host Mark isn’t sure if there will be an available
day during MouseFest, so he’ll have to figure out when he could set up this
trial day. RideMax Mark also noted that most RideMax plans include a large
block of “free time” in the afternoon to allow some flexibility.
With that, we ran out of time and had to hold the rest of the emails and
voicemails for next week.
Feedback and MouseFest
Please weigh in on the idea of returning to a single feed 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!
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 West Coast correspondent Andrew Rich, and audio engineer and
sound editor Steven Ng.
Thank you for listening!
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