MouseStation 79 – 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:
Mela wrote in to say that she was having some problems with the feeed, and
with seeing the latest shows in iTunes. She also asked for information about
the Grad Nite event concept.
We have been having some problems with the feed, partly due to the fact that
iTunes can’t show more than 100 shows on a feed. We’ve resolved that issue
by removing the oldest shows in the feed, leaving only episodes 26 and up
in the feed for now. As we move forward, we’ll keep archiving shows off of
the feed. In the meantime, older episodes will always be downloadable from
the show notes and from the main podcast page.
Mark and Mike chatted about Grad Nite and explained the concept. Mike related
some of his experiences as a cast member working Grad Nite.
Michelle Cappelletti wrote in to say that she was so disappointed with changes
to the Disney Dining Plan that she’s reconsidering buying the dining plan
for her family’s trip this January. Her biggest gripe is the removal of the
gratuity from the plan.
While there can be no changes for the 2008 plan at this point because the
terms are already finalized, perhaps Disney can consider following the suggestion
of a MousePad member who suggested that the amount of the gratuity could be
determined using a set of checkboxes on the receipt. This would allow guests
to control the gratuity to help ensure good service while on the dining plan,
while at the same time allowing the dining plan to return the gratuity to
the plan.
Liana from Simi Valley, CA wrote in to let us know that she had called in
three voicemails, and to tell us about how she got into listening to Disney
podcasts. She also mentioned that she loves listening to the variety of different
podcasts because we all take such different tacks on approaching the material.
We also enjoy the fact that all of the podcasts are different because it
lets all of the different viewpoints get heard, and people can pick the show
that best fills their needs.
We then played one of Liana’s voicemails (the other two were a Tip of the
Week and a Magical Moment, which will appear on future shows). This voicemail
was to thank everybody involved with the October 14 MouseAdventure at Disneyland
Resort. We also heard that everything went really well. Mark is hoping that
the mini-MouseAdventure during MouseFest will go as well. In his answer, Mark
misidentified Mike Hamilton as being from the Disney Podcast Network instead
of the correct Disney
Podcast Directory.
Bob Becker wrote in that he’d love to see the U.S. parks do Halloween the
way that Hong Kong Disneyland is doing it.
Mike said that he’s seen the decorations on the park’s web site and agrees
that it’s really awesome.
Mark chimed in that the U.S. parks are increasing the amount of decorations,
but that you’re very unlikely to see that kind of makeover here, especially
at Walt Disney World. The main reason for that, as he’s stated many times
in the past, is that the other parks are more dependent on local regular repeat
visitors, who sometimes need reasons to keep coming back to the park. Walt
Disney World, though, has a different make-up of its regular guests, as most
are people that only go to the park every few years at best, and oftentimes
once in a lifetime. They’re more likely to get upset that something that they
were looking forward to seeing was not running or completely changed out because
they may not be back for several years, if ever.
Jennifer Webster wrote in to tell of her back luck at two different Mickey’s
Not So Scary Halloween Parties, in 2005 (as Hurricane Wilma approached) and
2007 (where they got drenched and didn’t even get to see the parade).
Mike remembers that night back in 2005, as he was a cast member at the time.
He talked a bit about his experiences during that time.
Rickey wrote in to say that he was going to be at Walt Disney World October
24-29 and was wondering if they still do special events at Pleasure Island
for Halloween. Mark apologized for getting the email on the show late. He
hadn’t read the content closely enough to realize that it was time-dependent.
(And our weird recording schedule doesn’t help that, either.)
Anyway, for the record, Hip Kitty and Dance the Fright Away will be performing
at the rarely-used Waterfront Stage in addition to Untouchables at the Rock
‘n’ Roll Beach Club tonight and tomorrow night.
Another late-read email came from Patrick Toohill, who was going to Walt
Disney World in late October and wondered about which bars would be good places
to hang out at after his family crashed and he was still wide awake and raring
to go. Mike gave some great information based on his experience.
Chad from Lake Arrowhead called with a couple of great stories. Chad loves
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and gave a tip that, during the Boo-to-You
parade, if Captain Jack Sparrow catches you dancing while watching the parade,
he’ll make fun of you and dance like you. He also passed along a Magical Moment
with a neat story of how he and his wife met Roy E. Disney at a special screening
for the launch of the True Life Adventures DVDs.
Mike and Mark expressed their concern for Chad, as Lake Arrowhead is right
at the center of one of the current devastating Lake Arrowhead wildfires.
Pat called in to let us know that he was having trouble with the email form
on the web site and also to pose an Ask the Kid question about how Mark’s
son does at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.
We just found out about the problems with the mail form, and we’re trying
to get it straightened out. (In fact, it may be straightened out by the time
that the show is published.) In the meantime, the podcast@ and stories@ email
addresses still work so you can send the email directly instead of through
the form.
Mark’s son doesn’t do well at Buzz Lightyear due to low vision and teh darkness
inside the attraction, so we’re likely to give that question a pass.
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!
Don’t forget to send in your entry for our Owner’s
Locker contest by Halloween!
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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