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Episode 403: As the world recovers from the pandemic, Disney is making some updates to enhance your visit to the most magical place on earth. Here are the top five updates announced by Disney that will make your visit easier starting in January 2024. We discuss these and give our opinion on them. A few of these are pretty vague but we talk about what we hope these updates will mean.

Park Reservations Will Slowly Be Going Away in 2024
One of the biggest changes announced by Disney is the gradual phasing out of park reservations in 2024. Starting with dates based tickets on January 9th.

Annual Passholders and Cast members Will Have “Good to Go” Days
Annual passholders and cast members will have special days to visit the parks without making a reservation. This is a great perk for those who like to make spontaneous visits to the parks or for those who want to avoid the hassle of making reservations. However, no details are given as to how many “good to go” days will be available. It is a step in the right direction at least.

The Dining Plan Is Coming Back
After being suspended during the pandemic, the dining plan is finally making a comeback. This popular feature allows guests to prepay for meals and snacks at select restaurants throughout the parks and resorts. To start with there will only be 2 plans available to book.

Genie Plus Will Be Available for Advance Purchase
Genie Plus is a new feature that allows guests to skip the regular standby lines for select attractions by paying an additional fee. Disney has announced that Genie Plus will be available for advance purchase. No further details have been given about how far in advance and how many lightning lanes could be reserved in advance. Sounds a lot like they are going back to the way Fast Pass plus was but just with a price tag now.

Resort Guests Will Continue to Have Early Entry and evening hours for Deluxe resorts
If you’re staying at a Disney resort, you’ll continue to have the perk of early entry times. This means that you can enter the parks before the general public and enjoy shorter wait times for popular attractions. Deluxe resort guests will continue to have extra evening hours for select days. This isn’t anything new but at least they are extending this perk through 2024.

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Welcome to Traveling with the Mouse, the podcast that takes you on a journey through the magical world of Disney! In this episode, we bring you the latest news and have some fun with AI by having it write a game for us to play. But First up, we have some exciting news for all the Disney fans out there. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party tickets are now on sale! This is one of the most popular events at Disney World, and it’s not hard to see why. So if you’re planning a trip to Disney World this fall, be sure to grab your tickets before they sell out. Next, Disney has announced a new discount on lightsabers at Galaxy’s Edge. The Galactic Starcruiser has also extended its discounts this summer to Disney Visa card holders. Moving on, we discuss the latest incident involving the fire breathing dragon. This time during a performance of Fantasmic at Disneyland. Finally, we have the latest drama with the Reedy Creek Improvement District. We end the episode with a little game that AI created for this episode.

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Welcome to the 400th episode of Traveling with the Mouse podcast! Today, we have a double trip report for you. Jason and Adam share highlights from their recent trip to Walt Disney World. One of the main focuses of this trip was dining at signature restaurants, and they did not disappoint. Among the standout meals were Takumi-Tei, Le Cellier, California Grill, and Narcoossee’s. They also enjoyed drinks at the beloved La Cava del Tequila and tried out a new experience at Woody’s Roundup Rodeo BBQ. Jason got to experience the Deluxe after hours where he got to ride Tron by himself. We also toured some friends around the parks this week. Thank you for tuning in to this special episode of Traveling with the Mouse podcast. Be sure to follow us on social media and stay tuned for more episodes filled with Disney travel tips and reviews.

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Episode: 397. Welcome back to another exciting episode of Traveling with the Mouse podcast! In this episode, we bring you the latest news from the world of Disney, and a trip report from Disneyland Paris. Our co-host, Jason, recently returned from a trip to Paris, and he has some fascinating insights to share about his experience at Disneyland Paris. From the rides and attractions to the food and atmosphere, Jason gives us a comprehensive overview of his time spent at the park.

In other news, we are thrilled to see that Happily Ever After is mostly unchanged. We cannot wait to see it once again light up the skies with its dazzling display of fireworks and music. We also have exciting news about new meet and greets that will be coming to the parks this year. In addition, we discuss the updated concept for Epcot, which is a bit underwhelming when compared to the audacious concept art from before the pandemic. This week we got a sneak peek of what the inside of Woody’s Roundup Rodeo BBQ looks like. It is more elaborate than we were expecting.

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Episode: 395. In this episode, we’ll be discussing the most relaxing attractions at each park, and we’ll be inviting our listeners to share their opinions on what rides they think are the most calming. In particular, which attractions do you think are the most relaxing at Hollywood Studios? We found that to be the most difficult park to find a truly relaxing attraction. In other news, there’s been some drama surrounding the Florida governor and the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which oversees Disney’s land in Florida. We won’t go into too much detail here, but suffice it to say that there are some concerns about the governor’s influence over the district. On a happier note, the Flower and Garden Festival is in full swing, and guests are raving about the new topiaries featuring beloved Disney characters. And speaking of beloved characters, Mando and Grogu from The Mandalorian have finally made their way to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios. Guests can now see the duo wandering around the land and posing for photos.

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Episode 393: In this episode of Traveling with the Mouse we delve into the world of drinks at La Cava del Tequila in Epcot, We debate which beverage reigns supreme in a bracket-style competition. But the podcast doesn’t just stop at drinks. We also cover some exciting news stories happening around the Disney parks, including the annual passholder preview for the upcoming Tron attraction, the return of Sonny Eclipse to Magic Kingdom, and a hologram of Walt Disney himself to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Company.

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Episode 390: In this episode of Traveling with the Mouse, we dive into the exciting new developments at both Disneyland and Disney World. First up, Tron Light Cycle Run…Disney has released new information regarding its rider experience. Not only will there be lockers for riders to store their loose items, but an on-ride photo will also be available to capture the excitement of the journey. Next, we take a closer look at Woody’s Roundup Rodeo BBQ, the new dining experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The family-style menu has been revealed. We discuss what we look forward to trying but the real test will be the price. We just hope that it will be on par with other family style restaurants like Liberty Tree Tavern. Runaway Railway has finally opened at Disneyland there are some slight differences between the Disneyland and Hollywood studios versions.

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Episode 389: Today the gang is all back together and we discuss the latest Disney news! Splash Mountain is now closed at Walt Disney World and work on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has already begun. We discuss that and how people are reacting to the new Parking lot sections at Epcot. Enchanted Tales with Belle is finally returning as is some more meet and greets that previously hadn’t returned since covid. Is this finally everything that has been closed since covid started nearly 3 years ago? We learned that Bob Chapek got a $20M severance package. The Starcruiser is starting a non-discount, discount promotion. It is still having trouble filling the very expensive 2 day cruises.

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Episode 386. Jason recaps his Every Ride Challenge run with his son Andrew. He talks about using Genie+ with the new modify feature. He used it with great results during his challenge. We do also cover some of the news. Te Fiti is now visible over the constructions walls at Epcot. The Journey of water is scheduled to open in 2023. Speaking of 2023, We discuss more about what we think the timing will be of the new things coming to Disney World in 2023. Woody’s Roundup Rodeo BBQ, Tron and the WDW Railroad to name a few. We also took a detour by coming up with our own challenge to visit 10 lounges in a day. We just have to figure out what those 10 will be and then we will get right on that. Jason then goes into the details of his challenge run where he and his son finished 30 rides and 545 points.

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Episode 379: Jon and I talk Disney news and rumors today. There’s a lawsuit over the park reservation system. We have more thoughts on the price increases and the impacts we think it will have. People went crazy over cups at club cool. Bob Weis is retiring from the company after a 40+ year career. Rumor has it that the Play pavilion is officially cancelled. We have the menu and pricing for Monsieur Paul and we got a little sticker shock. There is also an official date for the return of Fantastic at Hollywood studios. We discuss this and the dinning package that gives you reserved seating.

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Episode 378: Prices are on the rise once again at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. We discuss our disgust with the particularly egregious price hikes. Like genie plus and some of the food and drink increases. We sadly predicted the increases at places like Baseline Taphouse. We know that prices will enviably go up over time but this increases are substantial at a time when Disney is well above inflation on most prices. undenounced to him, Jason got to visit on the last weekend before these prices were increased. He did a split DVC stay starting at Rivera and ending at Animal Kingdom Lodge. He tested out Magic Band Plus and met up with some friends who are non regular guests. We get to hear what they thought of all of the new things to experience at Walt Disney World.

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Episode 377: We discuss our experiences with Epcot throughout the years up to the current day and then we talk about what we think the future will be at our favorite park. We both have a lot of fond memories from the 80’s and early 90’s from the original Epcot center days. We also have a lot from the current Epcot configuration. We do believe that Epcot got the bad luck of having such a big renovation to happen just as the pandemic started. So much has been severely scaled back or outright put on hold during this time that we are getting a fraction of what was planned. We also discuss some news.

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Episode 376: We discuss the impact of Hurricane Ian on Walt Disney World and the surrounding area. Figment is possibly getting his own movie but no word on making his ride any better? Epcot turned 40 this weekend and Jason is getting ready to head back down there this week. The candlelight processional has its full lineup of celebrity narrators. We go through the list and discuss our favorites for this year. It’s hard to believe that it is already that time of year. Also, the after hours events are coming back in 2023. Is it still worth it? We discuss, you decide.

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Episode 375: Jason just returned from a solo trip to Walt Disney World. He utilized some last minute DVC availability and stayed at the boardwalk. On this trip he experience a re-ranking of his favorite coasters at Disney as well as his favorite lounges on property. He was able to fit a lot into his 48 hour trip. He let’s us know his thoughts on the boardwalk and getting the most out of Genie plus during his trip. He visited all 4 parks and was able to get quite a lot done. We do also spend a few minutes talking about the news but there wasn’t much new to discuss at the time.

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Episode 374: This week Jason joins us as he is about to go on a solo Walt Disney World trip. We get his take on the some of the news from D23 as well as some of the News stories of the week. There was a very intoxicated woman who was slowly escorted out of Epcot this week. Kite Tails is officially ending at Animal Kingdom. Mysteriously there was roof work going on at the Play pavilion sight even though there was no update on this project at D23. For the first time there will be cocktails served at the Magic Kingdom over at Skipper Canteen. In Jason’s trip preview we try to guess which song he will get at Guardians of the galaxy. He also discusses his initial plans to see both nighttime shows and see which lounges he can hit up along the way. We will see what all happens next week for his trip report. He will be staying that the Boardwalk in a DVC studio facing the boardwalk/Epcot.

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Episode 371: Today we are coving what we think are the best and worst queues at Walt Disney World. We come up with our top five best queues and we give some honorable mentions. We also go through some of the worst queues at Disney World. If you are stuck with having to wait in the standby line, there are some that are much better than others. We consider things like theming, shade, interactivity, hidden details and more. There is a certain imagineer that was responsible for the top spot on both of our lists. I’m sure that some of you can already guess who that imagineer is. We also cover some news, we both like the new Walt and Roy additions to the enchantment fireworks. There is also more maintenance issues to talk about. Tron is also showing more and more signs of it opening this year. I guess we will know for sure at D23!

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Episode 370: There is an ongoing debate in the Disney Community about which form of Disney transportation is best, Monorail or Skyliner. (sorry Bus) Well, in order to truly get to the bottom of that we must fully explore all of what makes them both great. There are truly some great restaurants that are on the monorail and if you include the boardwalk area there’s many more options on the skyliner. But which of these two forms of transportation has the best overall restaurants? We give our top 5 picks for each and then decide which one overall has the better restaurants. We do also cover some news stories. The Disneyland resort is finally allowing renewals of their Magic Key (annual pass) program. The prices are different though. We also talk a little about this year’s Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party!

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Episode 369: We catch up on the Disney news of the week. Disney had a big earnings call this week and the profits are back up to pre-pandemic levels. We talk about how the parks are a big reason for that and what it could mean for future developments. Disney remains silent about magic key renewals as they try to increase guest yields. We discuss how that could impact things in a negative way in the long term. Meanwhile a new update to Genie plus creates a problem with park hopping and securing lightning lanes. Also, what’s up with Chapek’s Beard?

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Episode 368: This episode marks the 5 year anniversary of Traveling with the Mouse! We go back to our first episode ever and revisit the content of that episode. It just so happened that our first episode was right after D23 in 2017. A lot of big announcements were made that year. We take a look back and see what we think about the current state of things 5 years later. We also try and preview this year’s D23 with what we think could be announced. We also really hope to be surprised by something because there is not a lot of hype surrounding the Parks panel this year. The only thing we feel will be announced is the opening date for Tron. We give our thoughts on what we hope will be talked about, like finishing Epcot, Play pavilion, and a Dinoland re-theme to name a few.

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Episode 367: We’re back with another stellar edition of Traveling with The Mouse! Today we have a special guest host. James’ daughter Emeline joins us for a discussion on the Magic Band plus and we play a game of Would you rather? Disney edition! We also break into ranking the Disney Parks. Spoiler Alert, we have a different order than we did the last time we ranked the parks. We also give our favorite rides at each park…Some of the answers were surprising but if you are a fan of the show then most of them will not shock you.