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MouseStation 56 - Listener Feedback
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Run time 0:29:20
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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
- 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
- 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:
-
2. C-3PO
Steve Russo sent in two emails. In the first, he responded to Episode 51 (and maybe 52) to let Mark know that corn dogs are available at the BoardWalk at a kiosk across from Seashore Sweets.
Then he recommended that Mark and Mike both go see the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, because he thought that they (and Mark's wife and son) would really like it, and Mark can even use the great Disney Vacation Club discount. Mark keeps trying to convince his wife and son to go see it, but he never wins the discussion. Mike suggested that the two of us go see it during MouseFest. Maybe we'll try to squeeze it in during our copious free time. (Hah!)
Steve closed with a very easy Stump the Hosts this week, asking "Before it became Mouse Gears, what was that Epcot shop called?" Mike doesn't remember the shop before that, but guessed something along the lines of the Emporium, which was close, but Mark knew that it was the Centorium. Mark actually preferred the Centorium to the current MouseGear, both in the layout and the merchandise.
Closing it out, Jim in Merced, CA wrote in to correct Steve Russo's Stump the Hosts from last week. Steve listed the name of one of the characters as "Flora Lawn," but Jim (who worked as Jim Handy at Pioneer Hall as a sub, in 1987-89) wanted to clarify that his leading lady's name was "Flora Long." Sorry Steve, nobody's perfect.
Changing the feed, our contest and MouseFest
We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the new format of shorter, more frequent MouseStation shows. Currently, MouseStation is published three times a week, with short subjects on Mondays, featured topics on Wednesdays and listener feedback on Fridays; the MousePlanetWatch news is published on Thursday. We're still currently maintaining the series of three feeds, one for MouseStation only, one for MousePlanetWatch only and one for both shows.
Based on listener feedback, we will be deciding whether to merge the feeds, and return to a single feed with all shows, folding MousePlanetWatch into the main MouseStation feed. That would still leave us with four shows per week, but there would be only one feed. With the current listener numbers being fairly even between MouseStation and MousePlanetWatch, it seems as if there's a great deal of overlap between the shows.
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 that you've only got two weeks from tomorrow to get your entry in for our Owner's Locker contest!
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
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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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